How to write up a business proposal

lhmaloney

lhmaloney

Well-known member
What;s up guys. I have an investor who is willing to invest. He really doesn't give a crap about the production, he just wants to know when and how long he can get his money bank (excuse my frankness just trying to get to the point) any how he's asked me to draft up a business proposal. We know the agreed upon numbers now its just to get it on paper. U guys know of any dl or samples sights, anything would be great
 
Wow, what you're asking is a pretty big thing. Most people think that business proposal for a film is something you sit down in a weekend and whip up. If you're a business major with a legal minor...maybe. :) In reality it can be pretty complex. On my first feature I spent $5k in legal fees and about 4 months researching and writing a 40 page proposal only to have my serious investors just glance over it.

A good place to start is this very simple book:

http://www.amazon.com/Movie-Busines...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211867225&sr=8-1

Take what's in here and then distill the memorandum down to about 12-15 pages and then do a 2 or 3 page summary of everything. All in all, if this person is serious, they will just want to glance over things. Anybody that understands film investment knows that the figures and numbers you will put in will mean nothing so what they will want iis the production timeline and then the timeline for distribution and distribution of profits.

A memorandum is really just to make investors fill comfortable that you aren't just an artist and that you are willing to look at the business side of things. Again, in the end the people that WILL ultimately invest will be investing in you and not much else. It's a gamble even under the best circumstances.

Good luck,

J.
 
insanityfw said:
Wow, what you're asking is a pretty big thing. Most people think that business proposal for a film is something you sit down in a weekend and whip up. If you're a business major with a legal minor...maybe. :) In reality it can be pretty complex. On my first feature I spent $5k in legal fees and about 4 months researching and writing a 40 page proposal only to have my serious investors just glance over it.

A good place to start is this very simple book:

http://www.amazon.com/Movie-Busines...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211867225&sr=8-1

Take what's in here and then distill the memorandum down to about 12-15 pages and then do a 2 or 3 page summary of everything. All in all, if this person is serious, they will just want to glance over things. Anybody that understands film investment knows that the figures and numbers you will put in will mean nothing so what they will want iis the production timeline and then the timeline for distribution and distribution of profits.

A memorandum is really just to make investors fill comfortable that you aren't just an artist and that you are willing to look at the business side of things. Again, in the end the people that WILL ultimately invest will be investing in you and not much else. It's a gamble even under the best circumstances.

Good luck,

J.
Click to expand...

you basically hit it right on the nose. I just got an update, I needed a memorandum, not a proposal. the guy basically wanted an outline of how much he's giving estimated time of completion and return on his investment, ill check out that book though.
 
I posted my film's business plan. Search for A Lonely Place For Dying, which is the film I'm currently making. You'll see a link in one of the thread's messages for the business plan.

I raised $160,000.00 with the plan. It took me three days to write it and I didn't waste money on an attorney. Attorneys, by and large, are useless. How on earth is an attorney going to know your business model as well as you? At best they can clean up the language.

I can hire a business major at a local college to do that for 10 bucks an hour.

Save yourself the headache and use my business plan as the model for your own. Don't copy it, because that won't solve your problem. But, it will save you a lot of time.
 
One thing that's different with most business plans in a film plan is recoupment -- how does the investor get his money back, when, and how much.
 
Be careful about making too many assumptions on ROI. Better to show typical revenue streams, proposed finance structure and a few models based on existing products.

In entertainment, as in any venture capital scenario, you should be presenting under a safe-harbor statement at minimum. While you cannot guarantee ROI on entertainment ventures, you can show other benchmark projects that illustrate different results.

e
 
Thanks guys, especially the guy who provided the business plans, I love samples. Fortunately for me my father is a lawyer. He's a poet and a novelist, so he has been getting into entertainment law for the last couple of years, the guy basically wanted an moa, so me and my dad drafted one. Thanks again though for the responses and the plan.
 
pmark23 said:
One thing that's different with most business plans in a film plan is recoupment -- how does the investor get his money back, when, and how much.
Click to expand...

I politely disagree.

Recoupment is as much an issue in a "traditional" business as it is for a feature film. And the road to recoupment is the same.

In fact, the #1 way filmmakers make their lives more difficult is by assuming "the film business" is extremely different than "traditional business." Heck, I'm not even sure what a "traditional business" is. You think opening a restaurant is safe? How about a real estate company? Or a comic book shop? Or a car repair shop?

Our business is no different. We make a product, we take it to market and we sell it. The product is the film, the markets are AFM or Cannes Du Marche and buyers decide if they want to buy it. If we've made a good product our chances of sales increase substantially. If we make a poor product we're no different than three-day old fish at a top-notch Sushi market in Tokyo.

We all began as lovers of cinema. And it is important to keep the misty-eyed reverence we all hold for cinema. But, if your assumption is that our business is significantly different than a software company or meat packing plant you're wrong. The only differences are superficial.

Again, this comments are intended with the utmost respect. I disagree with the point of view, not the person. :)
 
Erik Olson said:
Be careful about making too many assumptions on ROI. Better to show typical revenue streams, proposed finance structure and a few models based on existing products.

In entertainment, as in any venture capital scenario, you should be presenting under a safe-harbor statement at minimum. While you cannot guarantee ROI on entertainment ventures, you can show other benchmark projects that illustrate different results.

e
Click to expand...

All investment plans are expected to make assumptions about the ROI. I've read 100 business plans, ranging from extruded aluminum factories in Beijing to animation studios in Chennai. They all contain ROI's.

All one has to do is add the word "estimated" or "projected" as a precaution. And, of course, you should...because everything in a business plan is an estimation.

People shouldn't fret about this stuff so much. It's very logical.

Are you the type of person to walk up to someone with lots of money and say "Gimme your money! I'm gonna be rich! I GAURANTEE IT! HOOBOY!"

No? Then, stop fretting. If you're already sensible, polite and conservative in your estimations then take those same character traits and apply them to a business plan. Write something sensible, polite and conservative.

I posted my business plan so this process could be demystified. Flaws and all, you can study and say "Okay, this raised $160,000.00 and untold number of donated services. This took one weekend to write. I can do this, too. In fact, its easier now because I have something to compare it too."
 
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