01
Written for the wrong reader
A lender wants to know how the loan gets repaid. An investor wants to know how the business grows. Many plans answer neither and bury the request on page twenty.
Camderson Academy · CA-BE-002
Write a business plan a lender can read, check and say yes to.
A practical, self-paced course for small business owners preparing a plan for a bank or SBA-backed loan, for investors or for their own planning. Back every claim with evidence, build projections from documented assumptions, show how the loan gets repaid and assemble a concise, lender-ready package.
About 5 hours · 18 lessons with video · Intermediate · Self-paced · Certificate of completion · 30-day money-back guarantee
A plan full of passion and round numbers does not answer the reader's question.
02
Claims without evidence
"A growing market" and "loyal customers" mean nothing to a reader who cannot check them. Without a source, a date or a number, a claim reads as hope.
03
Projections nobody can trace
Revenue that climbs 30% a year with no drivers, statements that do not tie and no monthly cash view make a reader stop trusting the whole plan.
Learning outcomes
What you will be able to do
Eight practical outcomes, each practiced in an exercise and checked in the final assessment or the capstone.
- Explain who reads a business plan, what each reader decides and looks for, including the five Cs of credit, and what research says about the value of planning.
- Choose a traditional or lean format and structure a plan for its reader.
- Write a company description, a market analysis sized with credible public data, and an honest competitive analysis.
- Write operations, management, and marketing and sales sections that are consistent with the numbers.
- Build driver-based financial projections from a documented Assumptions Log, with projected statements that tie, a monthly first year, break-even and sensitivity.
- Prepare a funding request with sources and uses, debt service coverage and collateral, and identify SBA loan programs and free help at a general level.
- Adapt the plan for equity investors and recognize when securities rules apply.
- Assemble a concise, honest, lender-ready plan with an executive summary, and use it to manage after funding.
The Camderson method
Teaching tools for a plan a reader can check
The Reader Map and the Five Cs Self-Check
Reader · Decision · What they read first · What would make them say no
Start with the person who decides, then check your plan against capacity, capital, collateral, conditions and character the way a lender will.
The Claim-Evidence-Number Check and the Three-Way Market Check
Claim · Evidence · Number · Top-down · Bottom-up · Customers
Tie every important claim to evidence a reader could verify and to a number in the projections, and size the market three ways before you trust it.
The Assumptions Log
Assumption · Value · Basis · Source and date · Confidence · Test
Build the forecast from drivers you can explain, record where each number came from and how sure you are, and test the ones that matter most.
The Plan Readiness Review
Consistent · Evidenced · Logged · Tied · Tested · Honest · Complete · Reviewed
Before you send the plan, check that the sections agree, the statements tie, the downside is shown and the right professionals have reviewed it.
Every claim, evidence. Every number, a source.
Curriculum
Inside the course
Six modules, 18 lessons with worked examples and video
01
Plans That Get Read
What a business plan is for and what research says about planning, choosing a traditional or lean format, and how lenders and investors read a plan, including the five Cs of credit.
02
The Story: Company, Market and Competition
A company description where every claim has evidence and a number, a market analysis sized with credible public data, and an honest look at competitors and alternatives.
03
Operations, Management, and Marketing and Sales
How the work gets done, with capacity and a purchase timeline, who runs the business and where the gaps are, and a marketing and sales plan that bridges to the forecast.
04
Financial Projections With Realistic Assumptions
A five-year forecast built from drivers and an Assumptions Log, three projected statements that tie, a monthly first year, break-even and sensitivity.
05
The Funding Request
How much you need and what it pays for, sources and uses, debt service coverage and collateral, and SBA loan programs and free help as SBA describes them.
06
Investors, the Final Package and Using the Plan
When the reader is an investor and when securities rules apply, the executive summary and lender-ready package, and managing with plan versus actual after the money arrives.
What is included
Everything you need to write a plan a lender will read
- 18 lessons, each with a written lesson, worked examples and diagrams, and a narrated lesson video, at your own pace
- A running example from Driftline Linen Service, a fictional linen and laundry business preparing a $360,000 expansion loan, so you can see every section built from one consistent set of numbers
- A fillable Workbook with Try it and Reflect pages for every lesson
- A Driftline projections practice spreadsheet with a solutions file, and a Plan Projections Template for your own five-year forecast
- A Lender-Ready Plan Template and a 14-page Driftline Sample Plan
- The Five Cs Self-Check, the Plan Readiness Review and a market data source guide
- An optional visual companion PDF with the course diagrams
- Knowledge checks for every module and a 20-question final assessment
- A lender-ready capstone plan for your own business or a fictional one, reviewed by a person
- A Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion when you pass the final assessment and the capstone
- Access to the Camderson Academy community
Is this course right for you?
This course is for you if
- You own or run a small business and are preparing a plan for a bank or SBA-backed loan, for investors or for your own planning
- You have a tested offer and real numbers, and you want a plan that shows a reader how you will repay or grow
- You are comfortable with a spreadsheet and want every finance term explained the first time it appears
It is not the right fit if
- You are still testing whether your idea will sell (start with CA-BE-001 Starting a Business: From Idea to First Customer, which this course builds on)
- You want to compare loans, investors, grants and other funding types side by side (a later Camderson course, Funding Options for Small Businesses, covers that)
- You need tax, legal, accounting or lending advice for your situation (the course points you to a CPA, an attorney, your lender or a free SBA resource partner)
Your instructor
Meet your instructor
Ruben Tejada
MA, MS, PHR
Managing Partner · Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
Ruben Tejada is a strategic advisor and organizational leader whose career spans healthcare, public service, human resources, operations, and learning and development. He has advised executives and leaders on leadership development, talent development, employee experience, culture and succession planning, and has led initiatives to strengthen leadership accountability and build workforce capability. That work gives him a practical view of how decision makers read a proposal and what makes them trust the numbers. In this course he helps you write a plan a lender or investor can read quickly, check easily and act on.
About
About Camderson Academy
Camderson Academy is the education division of Camderson Advisory Services. Camderson helps leaders build organizations that work without them in the room. Everything we teach has been used in a real organization first.
Training a team?
We offer group enrollment for business support organizations, accelerators and teams that want founders or managers to plan with the same structure and checks. Email connect@camderson.com to talk through your group.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a finance background?
No. You need to be comfortable with a spreadsheet. Every finance term is explained the first time it appears, and the Driftline example walks through each calculation step by step.
Is this only for bank loans?
The examples center on a small business borrowing to grow, because that is the most common lender conversation. Lesson 6.1 covers how to adapt the plan for equity investors, and the same structure works for internal planning.
How long do I have access?
Your access does not expire. We review the course regularly, and any updates are added for you at no extra cost.
How long does it take?
About 5 hours in total, including the written lessons and their videos, the Try it exercises, the knowledge checks, the final assessment and the capstone. Everything is self-paced.
Do I have to use my own business?
No. If you are not ready to use your own business, complete the capstone for Glasswing Mobile Auto Glass, a fictional company with a brief and a projections template. If you use your own business, leave out account, Social Security and tax ID numbers and customer personal information; rounded figures are fine.
Is this legal, tax or lending advice?
No. This course is general education about business planning and financing, not legal, tax, accounting, lending or investment advice. Loan programs, securities rules and lender requirements change and depend on your situation. For a specific situation, consult qualified professionals: a CPA, an attorney, your lender or a free SBA resource partner such as a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or SCORE. Program terms in the lessons are dated and described as SBA's pages state them; confirm current terms before acting.
Is the certificate accredited, or does it carry professional credit?
Neither. You receive a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion after passing the final assessment and the capstone, a lender-ready plan that a person reviews. It is not an academic credential and does not carry continuing education, continuing professional education (CPE) or other professional credit.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes. You are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the course is not right for you, email connect@camderson.com within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. No questions asked. Your course access ends when the refund is issued.
What tools do I need?
A spreadsheet program that opens .xlsx files (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers or LibreOffice Calc), a word processor that opens .docx files and a PDF reader. All templates and practice files are included as downloads.
Every claim, evidence. Every number, a source.
Self-paced, about 5 hours, with a Workbook, a projections practice spreadsheet, a Plan Projections Template, a Lender-Ready Plan Template and a 14-page sample plan to help you write for your reader, back your claims, build projections that tie, show how the loan gets repaid and send a concise, honest plan.
Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.
This course earns a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion. It is not an academic credential and does not carry continuing education, continuing professional education (CPE) or other professional credit. This course is general education about business planning and financing, not legal, tax, accounting, lending or investment advice. Loan programs, securities rules and lender requirements change and depend on your situation. For a specific situation, consult qualified professionals: a CPA, an attorney, your lender or a free SBA resource partner such as a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or SCORE.