A plan outline, a documents checklist, an early-payment discount priced against interest, and the payment worksheet, all tested on an invented lumber restock at a Chillicothe, OH hardware store.
A one-page business plan for a loan request, written for a Chillicothe, OH hardware store's lumber restock
A business plan for a loan request does not need to run long; five lines on one page can carry it. Illustration only, invented figures for a hardware store restocking its lumber yard:
| Line | What it says | Invented hardware store entry |
|---|---|---|
| The cost | What the money buys, with the quote behind it | $20,850 of lumber and sheet goods, on the yard supplier's quote |
| The sales behind it | Who buys what the money pays for | Contractor house accounts bought $31,400 of lumber last quarter |
| The payment | The funding type, term and monthly figure | Working capital over 9 months, 12.85% annual rate, $2,442.47 monthly |
| The room for it | What is left each month after supplier bills, rent and payroll | $5,860 a month before the new payment |
| If sales slip | What the owner changes first | The next sheet-goods order shrinks until house-account payments catch up |
In this invented case, the 9 payments total $21,982.23, so the restock carries $1,132.23 of interest. A partner may ask for more than one page; the outline gives the call a place to start.
Lumber orders on paper: the business loan documents checklist for a Ross County, OH hardware store
The records behind a lumber order are mostly papers the store already keeps. Gathered in one folder, they can answer the questions a funding partner may raise:
- Statements from the lumber yard supplier, showing what was ordered, what was paid and what is still open
- The written quote or pro forma invoice for the restock the request would cover
- Recent business bank statements, with contractor house-account payments marked as they clear
- House-account balances by contractor and by age: under 30 days, 30 to 60, over 60
- The store's federal business returns for recent years, with the owner's own returns ready in case a partner wants them
- Current debts and leases with their monthly payments, such as a forklift note or a mixer lease
Each partner sets its own list, so this one is a starting point to bring to the phone call rather than a complete file.
Supplier terms first: how to prepare for a small business loan at a Ross County, OH hardware store
Illustration only, invented figures: the yard supplier bills $18,400 for a lumber order on 2/10 net 30 terms: a 2% discount for payment by day 10, the full amount due on day 30. Paying on day 10 takes $368.00 off the bill, so the store pays $18,032.00 in this invented case.
If that payment comes from a line of credit draw at a 13.1% annual rate, carried 20 days until the date the full invoice would have been due, the invented interest is $129.44. In this invented example the discount is worth $238.56 more than the interest, which is why this preparation order starts with supplier terms:
- Pull each supplier's terms from its statements: net 30, net 60, any early-payment discount, any late charge
- Mark which orders lose a discount when cash runs short, and what each discount is worth in dollars
- Price the restock or the machine with a written quote
- Match the cost to a funding type: inventory financing for a supplier invoice, a line of credit for gaps that repeat
- Pull together the papers in the records checklist here
- Call with the amount, the supplier and the date the money is needed
Testing a lumber-restock payment with the cash flow gap worksheet before a Chillicothe, OH call
The cash flow gap worksheet pairs a weekly cash book, kept by hand, with a loan payment calculator. Its calculator asks for an amount, a yearly rate and a count of months. Back come three figures: the monthly payment, the term's interest and everything paid over the term.
Entering the restock from the plan outline, $20,850 at 12.85% for 9 months, tests the invented payment against the room the store has each month. The calculator works level payments only; it does not say whether a partner would offer that rate or term. A term typed in years instead of months inflates the payment far beyond the real figure.
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