Assessors read hundreds of plans. They are looking for a small number of specific things, and most plans fail on the same ones.
Can you repay?
This is the whole question for a lender. Everything else is context. Your plan must show that the business generates enough cash, after costs, to service the repayment.
If your own projections do not show that, no amount of narrative will fix it.
Do the numbers hold together?
Assessors check internal consistency before anything else. Revenue that exceeds stated capacity. Margins that contradict the cost structure. A cashflow that does not follow from the income statement.
Inconsistency reads as either carelessness or optimism, and both undermine the application.
If you can serve 15 customers a month at R3,500, your maximum monthly revenue is R52,500. A plan projecting R70,000 without adding staff, equipment or price is not credible.
This is the most common failure in small business plans, and it is immediately visible to anyone who checks.
Do you know your break-even?
Fixed costs divided by gross margin percentage. It is a single number and you should know it without looking.
A founder who cannot say what monthly revenue covers their costs signals they are not managing to the numbers.
What exactly does the money buy?
Itemise it. Not “working capital and expansion” but the specific machine, the specific vehicle, the specific stock, with costs you can support with quotations.
Round numbers with no breakdown suggest the amount was chosen rather than calculated.
Is there evidence of demand?
Signed contracts, purchase orders, letters of intent or a trading history all count. Market research alone is weak evidence compared to one customer who has committed.
What they will hold against you
- Hockey-stick projections with no mechanism
- No mention of risk or competition
- Owner drawings that leave nothing for repayment
- Numbers that contradict the bank statements
- A funding amount that does not match the itemised need
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Built on a real financial model: 12-month projections, break-even, cashflow and a funding readiness score. Free preview, full plan from R499.
General information, not financial advice. Funder criteria and products change. Confirm current requirements directly with the institution.