The business plan is the written heart of your takeover. It describes how you will run and develop the business you are buying over the coming years. In a takeover it is often called a „takeover concept“, because you are not starting from scratch but carrying on an existing operation.
A good plan starts with the current situation: what does the business do today, who are the customers, what does the market look like? Then come the numbers. Planned revenue, costs, needed investments and the takeover financing all belong here. It ends with an honest forecast of whether the business stays profitable and whether liquidity is enough to cover the purchase-price instalments and your own salary.
When you buy instead of found, you don't plan with pure assumptions. You plan with real figures from the past. The last annual accounts show what the business actually earns, and that makes your plan far more credible than any start-up dream on paper.
For the bank and funding bodies, the business plan is the central basis for lending you money. They want to see that the ongoing cash flow carries both the instalments AND your salary. A clean plan often also opens the door to a subsidised loan.
You don't need consultant jargon. Down-to-earth, honest and with figures anyone can follow: that is a business plan that fits a small workshop or shop, and one your bank adviser will actually understand.
For business sellers
When you hand over your business, it helps enormously if your buyer has a solid business plan. It shows the business succession rests on firm ground and your life's work stays in good hands.
The better you prepare your figures and documents, the easier it is for your successor to build a workable plan from them. And the smoother the financing runs on their side.
For corporate buyers
Take time for an honest business plan. It forces you to think through every number, and that protects you from taking over a business whose profitability won't add up in the end.
Use the real figures from the annual accounts as your foundation and plan cautiously on top. That is how you convince the bank the cash flow carries your instalments and your salary.
Example
Lena wants to take over a small bike workshop for 180,000 euros. In her business plan she shows: 210,000 euros annual revenue over the last three years, 30,000 euros profit after her own salary. This proves to the bank that the yearly loan instalment of 24,000 euros is comfortably covered by the cash flow.
FAQ
What belongs in a business plan for a business takeover?
The current situation of the business, market and customers, planned revenue and costs, needed investments, the takeover financing and a realistic forecast of profitability and liquidity. What matters is that everything fits together and can be followed.
Why does the bank insist on seeing a business plan?
The bank only lends you money if it believes you can repay the instalments. In the plan it wants to see that the ongoing cash flow carries the purchase-price instalments AND your salary. Without that proof there is usually no approval, and often no subsidised loan either.
Is „buying instead of founding“ really easier for the business plan?
Yes, noticeably. In a takeover you plan with real figures from the past instead of pure assumptions. The existing accounts show what the business truly earns. That makes your plan more credible and the financing easier than for a new start-up.
How long does a business plan need to be?
For a small business, 10 to 20 pages are often enough. What matters more than length is that the figures are right and the forecast is honest. A short, clear plan convinces more than a bloated document full of empty phrases.
Do I have to write the business plan myself?
You can write it yourself, and nobody knows your plans better. For the figures and the forecast a tax adviser or a start-up coach often helps. But you have to understand and stand behind the plan yourself, because you are the one sitting in front of the bank.
When should I start on the business plan?
As soon as you have a specific business in mind and know the first figures. The plan grows with the due diligence: the more you learn about the business, the more realistic your forecast becomes. It should be finished before the bank meeting.
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