BDC Small Business Loan · Commercial Real Estate · Tech Capital · LIFT
Business plan for a BDC loan.
Written to the structure BDC's underwriting team publishes — use of funds, repayment capacity, owner contribution, collateral, and 3-year cash flow with downside scenarios. One business, one program, no recycled prose.
BDC programs
What BDC funds.
Small Business Loan
Up to $350,000 for equipment, working capital, start-up costs, and digital transformation. Most common BDC product for first-time borrowers. Targets approval in under 30 days for files up to $350K (under 10 days for files up to $100K). Thinner credit-history tolerance than the chartered banks.
Commercial Real Estate
Larger commercial files for purchasing, building, or renovating commercial property. Typically $500K+. Underwriting is closer to big-six commercial: tangible collateral, owner-occupant or stable tenant base, professional appraisal, environmental site assessment for industrial files.
Tech Capital
BDC's growth-stage lending for tech-sector borrowers. Higher tolerance for intangible assets and pre-profitability — the plan emphasizes product traction, unit economics, sales pipeline, and the path to sustainable cash flow.
LIFT
BDC's AI / tech-adoption program. Funds $25K–$5M for businesses adopting AI or digital tooling. Plan must demonstrate the technology investment, expected operational lift, and how the deployment is staged. Newer program (post-2024); criteria are still evolving.
What we write
What BDC underwriters expect in the plan.
BDC publishes its own business plan template. Most successful BDC files expand significantly on the financial assumptions narrative and the risk plan beyond what the template prompts for — that's where most rejections originate.
- Line-itemed use of funds. Each dollar of the loan request mapped to a specific category — equipment by item, leasehold improvements by line, working capital by month. No "bucketing."
- 3-year financial projections. Monthly Year 1, quarterly Years 2–3. Revenue, payroll, rent, COGS, debt servicing, owner draw, and working capital modelled as separate lines. Base, downside, and upside scenarios. DSCR target 1.10–1.20× per BDC guidance.
- Repayment narrative. A credible, prose explanation of how the business actually generates the cash to service the loan — tied to the financial model line by line.
- Owner contribution and credentials. 25–30% equity injection is the BDC norm for start-ups, lower for established borrowers. Owner CV emphasizing relevant operating experience.
- Risk and mitigation section. Specific risks (sector, market, key-person, supplier, customer concentration) each paired with a mitigation. Generic risk lists trigger follow-up questions and slow the file.
- Market analysis with Canadian data. Industry Canada / Statistics Canada / ISED sources; local market sizing where applicable. US-only data is a credibility flag.
How Bridge Note writes a BDC plan
From discovery call to BDC submission.
Standard BDC engagements are 2 weeks from signed scope. The bottleneck is rarely drafting speed — it's waiting on financial documents during intake. Clients who arrive with three years of financial statements in hand often compress the timeline by a week.
01
Discovery call (free)
30 minutes to confirm the BDC program, loan size, and timeline. Fixed quote and delivery date by end of call.
02
Structured intake
60–90 minutes covering the business, financials, ownership, target lender contact (if known), and any BDC-specific requirements flagged for your file.
03
Draft + revision
5–7 business day first draft. One revision round included. Final delivery: PDF, Word, and the underlying Excel financial model.
Applying to BDC? Bring it to the discovery call.
30 minutes, free, no obligation. We confirm the right BDC program for your file and give you a fixed quote.