Financial Model Templates: Scaling Models vs Single Operation Models

Many of the financial models I've built here on the site can be grouped into one of two categories. Scaling or single location. An example of 'scaling' would be a financial plan for opening 10 franchises over 5 years. An example of a single location is just like it sounds, a financial plan for opening a single laundromat or single mobile home park.
scaling financial models

Usually, with a scaling model you define configurations for things or units and then define how many units exist over time and how those units change over their specific lifetimes. It is less granular but is able to get closer to understanding the financial impact of your scaling economics. With a single granular location model, it is all about tweaking all the specific assumptions related to just operating one location or one unit / one thing. Both types of models are useful in their own way.

The idea is to go higher level on the assumptions so that it is not too cumbersome to fill out. This is more for directional strategy planning, while still having control over the most important assumptions. For example, let's say you want to start acquiring multiple mobile home parks. In that model, there will be inputs for various expected purchase prices / financing rates, but the rent roll is run by a single input for weighted average lot rent rather than having a full schedule of rent roll inputs for all the different unit types.

Or, for a laundromat single location model, you may have assumptions for all the various individual machine purchases for the location and input specific opex items, but in a scaling model you may just have inputs for the expected starting total revenue and total expenses for 3 location types and how that revenue changes over time.

I've done lots of models for both types over the years and here are a few in each category:

Multiple Location Scaling Financial Model Templates:

One big benefit to scaling models is that the user can see how long it takes to build capital and continue to expand by using profits to fund new locations as what must be true to do such things. Having a model that lets you see the capital requirements of various scaling aggression is useful.

For these, it may not be something like adding multiple retail locations over time, but it could be something like adding arbitrarily large numbers of vending machines or ATM machines over time. These are scaling financial models with no real physical location, but still meet the criteria of being able to scale based on a configuration of a given unit type and how many of those units exist over time. Sometimes you might even find yourself working with a business that is in a single location, but needs the ability to scale over time based on growth. For example, a security systems company may have a single location, but no limit to the number of customers it can sign up over time. The only expansion requirements would be for customer service reps / sales reps. So, this is a spectrum of possibilities.
Single Location Templates

These models work just like they sound. You can get granular and plan out all aspects of revenues, expenses, financing, and capex for a single location. This is mostly for brick-and-mortar businesses, but also includes things like a manufacturing plant.
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Article found in General Industry.