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Business How to Write a Business Plan Business Plans for a Freelance Business Creating a Plan

Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points
Posted by Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points

Is it necessary to include a cash flow forecast in a business plan for a simple freelance business?

It doesn't seem to be covered in this series of videos. I don't have any real idea of what cash flow will be like for the next year or more.

3 Answers

Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points
Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points

Hey Gemma,

From my experience with freelancing I'd say yes.

However, I recognise that it's difficult to come up with the figures, especially in a freelance business. Just try to estimate as best you can and then refine your figures as you learn more about your upcoming costs and revenue. I follow the general rule of overestimating my costs and underestimating my revenue, just to be safe :)

Don't worry too much about getting the figures spot on. The goal of a cashflow projection is to help you identify any potential issues while you've still got time to turn things around.

Hope this helps.

I thought this article on the FreeAgent blog was pretty good: http://www.freeagent.com/central/cashflow-projection

Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points
Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points

Thanks. Do you think I should just forecast the first 6 months, or would it be better to forecast the first year?

Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points
Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points

Forecasting the first year would be ideal :)

I try to keep my cashflow forecast updated for the next 12 months as it gives me a high-level view of how things are going. My main focus is on making sure there's enough cash for the next three months though.

Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points
Gemma Weirs
Gemma Weirs
15,054 Points

Cheers! Now I know what I need to do. :)

Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points
Matt West
Matt West
14,545 Points

Best of luck! :)

Basil Lyayuka
Basil Lyayuka
13,203 Points
Basil Lyayuka
Basil Lyayuka
13,203 Points

As teacher said but I'm telling you mine: Sometimes too much planning wastes time when cash flows don't reflect. So as freelancer do it. Pivot. Fail fast and cheap till you make it 😊 Maybe if you are in business plans competitions just do it for the sake of winning.

Jonathan Handel
Jonathan Handel
4,877 Points
Jonathan Handel
Jonathan Handel
4,877 Points

I'm still pretty early on in the Business track but I've seen a bunch of the videos so far. In my personal opinion, I don't think it's necessary at least in the beginning stages. Obviously, this may need to come up when you're in the process of seeking out capital but significantly more planning should be done before you reach that stage.