If you are starting a freight trucking business, it is likely that you will require a business plan at some point. The professionals at Pro Business Plans have prior experience working with trucking companies to prepare plans for investment and strategy. This article provides information about what is included in a freight trucking business plan and how it is structured.
Freight Trucking Business Plan
There are several things to consider when creating a freight trucking business plan. Among the most important are the size of the operation determined by the fleet size, operating structure, and region of operations. For instance, an independent freight trucker with one company that focuses on contracts in the Southeast is very different than a trans-national freight trucking company that has two dozen trucks and a management team. Investors will want to understand the unique aspects of your freight trucking business plan in order to analyze the risk and project its profitability.
Business Model
When analyzing financial statements for the freight trucking industry, investors will review comparable financials relative to your company’s performance. In order to perform this analysis, they may request three to five years of forward looking financial statements for your review. The best way to complete these statements are to base them on the prior operating history of your company, or upon similar freight trucking companies. The comparable companies used should be similar in size as measured by their asset base, number of employees, and revenue.
In some cases, investors may also request additional financial information such as a break-even or sensitivity analysis. This will help them to more effective gauge your ability to repay a loan based on various scenarios that deviate from typical revenue streams.
Positioning
The positioning of a freight trucking company depends upon several factors. For instance, some companies may focus on a specific rig such as liqid natural gas and others may provide general logistics services for a specific company or solicit request for proposals. The specific positioning for a trucking company is a definitive feature.
Operations
The operations section of a freight trucking business plan outlines how the company is to be structured. For instance, some freight trucking companies have a team of full-time drivers whereas others contract them out and lease the trucks on a case-by-case basis, but this does impact the level of competition for their bid.
Marketing Plan
Most of the marketing for a Freight Trucking company is done at the sales level using business development professionals. Some firms do use marketing as a form of lead generation, but the client needs to be awarded over the phone by a business development professional in order to scale. Therefore, there is often a lead acquisition and business development strategy outlined in Freight Trucking business plans. This will help your company to attract, acquire, and retain the loyal clients that are critical to your company growth.
Lead Generation
Qualified lead generation is extremely important for those seeking consistent access to contracts. As the company grows, it may be less dependent upon lead generaiton and may more effeciently target qualified companies as based on referal networks and established relationships.
Business Development
The term business development convers a wide range of topics as it includes soliciting request for proposals, establishing strategic partnerships, and affiliate deals. Business development is critical to any company, particularly those based in any market where bid analysis plays an integral role.
Financial Projections
The financial forecasts for a Freight Trucking business plan are designed to provide banks with a solid three to five-year period of profit estimations. This is typically done in the form of a set of income statements, cash flow forecasts, balance sheet, and consolidated P&L. The projections for a Freight Trucking studio can range depending on the average customer order price, costs associated with acquiring the business, and the expenses related to its implementation.
Revenue Projections
The revenue forecasts for a freight trucking business is generally based upon the amount of contracts in the pipeline and the probability of receiving them. The existing pipeline will help prospective lenders and investors to better understand the future earning potential over the course of the next three to five years based on the historical and projected contract pipeline.
Budget Forecasts
The budget estimate is largely driven based upon the structure of the company. Some freight trucking companies already have a fleet that they have been using, whereas others will acquire a new fleet with third-party financing or from a leasing model. The variance will be on a case by case basis so its based to use actual quotes from vendors and service providers.
