Most E-2 business plans we review are written like marketing brochures. They describe the founder's passion, the market opportunity, and the brand. Then, near the back, there is a single table of five-year revenue that grows 40 percent a year with no explanation.
A consular officer reading that plan is not a venture capitalist, but the questions are similar. The regulations require that the enterprise not be marginal, meaning it must have the capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or show a significant economic impact, within five years. 8 CFR 214.2(e)(15). The plan is where that capacity is demonstrated, and it is demonstrated with numbers.
Start with the capital budget
Before any projection, the plan should show exactly where the investment goes. This is the evidence that the investment is substantial and committed.
A useful capital budget lists:
- Acquisition price or startup costs, by category
- Lease deposits and build-out
- Equipment, vehicles, and technology
- Initial inventory
- Licenses, permits, insurance, and professional fees
- Opening working capital, stated in months of operating expenses
Each line should tie to a document in the application: a signed lease, invoices, a purchase agreement, bank statements showing payments. If the budget says $85,000 for build-out, there should be a contractor agreement for $85,000.
Working capital deserves attention. A business that has spent its entire investment on fixed assets and has no cash to meet payroll for its first six months will look undercapitalized, even if the headline investment is large.
Build revenue from the bottom-up
Top-down projections ("the market is $2 billion and we will capture 0.1 percent") are unpersuasive. Revenue should be built from operating drivers the officer can test:
- For a restaurant: seats, turns per day, average ticket, days open
- For a services firm: billable staff, utilization, rate, client count
- For a franchise: franchisor disclosure data on unit economics, adjusted for location
- For an acquisition: historical financials, with any assumed improvement explained
The ramp matters. Real businesses take time to reach capacity. A plan that shows full capacity in month two is less credible than one that shows a gradual build supported by a marketing plan and hiring schedule.
Hiring is the heart of the plan
Job creation is the clearest evidence that an enterprise is not marginal. The staffing plan should list positions by year, with titles, start dates, and compensation at market rates for the location.
Two consistency checks catch most weak plans:
- Payroll must appear in the expense projections. If the plan shows eight employees in year three, the income statement must carry eight salaries plus payroll taxes and benefits.
- Headcount must be supported by revenue. Eight employees on $400,000 of revenue does not work. The officer will notice.
The investor's own compensation belongs in the plan as well. If the business cannot pay its owner a living in year three, it is by definition at risk of being marginal.
Show three financial statements, not one
A complete plan includes a projected income statement, a cash flow statement, and a balance sheet for five years, with monthly or quarterly detail for year one. The cash flow statement is the one most often omitted and the one that answers the real question: does the business run out of money?
State the assumptions on a separate page. Growth rates, pricing, cost of goods, rent escalation, and hiring dates should all be listed where they can be reviewed. A reader who can see the assumptions is more likely to trust the output.
The plan is also your renewal benchmark
The plan filed with the first E-2 application does not disappear. When the investor applies for a new visa or an extension of stay, the officer can compare actual results to what was projected. A business that projected six employees by year three and has one will have to explain the gap.
That argues for conservative projections. Missing an optimistic plan is a problem at renewal. Exceeding a realistic one is not.
It also argues for keeping clean books from day one: monthly financial statements, payroll records, and tax filings that match. When renewal arrives, those records are the application.
A short checklist
- Capital budget ties to source documents
- Working capital covers at least the early operating period
- Revenue built from testable drivers
- Hiring plan appears in payroll expense
- Owner compensation included
- Five year income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet
- Assumptions page
- Projections conservative enough to beat at renewal
A business plan written this way does double duty. It supports the visa, and it is the operating budget the investor will actually need.
Gerardo Kloss is the firm's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and is not an attorney.
Sources
Finance and Operations Executive of Samper Law, Gerardo directs the firm's financial architecture and advises the corporate and private wealth practice groups on multinational structuring, due diligence, and the financial side of investor-visa matters. He is not an attorney.
