After going through this process myself — twice — and helping others structure theirs, one section causes more requests for evidence than everything else combined: the financial projections.
Not the executive summary. Not the market analysis. The numbers.
Why this section trips people up
Most first-time founders build financial projections the way they'd build them for a bank loan or an investor pitch: optimistic, growth-heavy, light on assumptions. That's exactly wrong for an E-2 filing.
An officer reviewing your case isn't evaluating whether your business could be a huge success. They're evaluating whether it's a real, viable, non-marginal business that will do more than provide just a living for you and your family.
What actually needs to be in there
- Grounded assumptions, each one tied to a source — market data, comparable businesses, a signed supplier quote. Not "we assume 20% month-over-month growth."
- A path to hiring, even if it's modest. A business that only ever employs you personally is considered "marginal" and can be denied on that basis alone, regardless of investment size.
- Break-even math that's actually shown, not just asserted. If you claim break-even in month 8, the projection needs to visibly get there.
The fix
Build the projection last, after you've documented your actual costs, actual lease terms, actual equipment quotes. Work from real numbers up, not from a growth story down. It's less exciting to write, and it's the version that gets approved.
This is the exact structure we walk you through in the business plan builder — because it's the one that worked, twice.