IN THIS GUIDE · Rebuilding multi-line revenue projections so segment losses stay visible
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Split the combined total into named revenue lines
List each revenue line the U.S. enterprise actually operates and describe what a customer buys in each one. In a hypothetical plan, retail sales, installation services, and a small wholesale channel sit inside one total. Give each line its own name, start date, and person responsible. A reviewer reading a single consolidated figure cannot tell whether the enterprise is genuinely operating or whether one line carries the rest. For each line, retain invoices, contracts, merchant records, and customer evidence that explain the reported revenue. A first review should separate actual sales from hoped-for sales and identify the decision: keep the line, revise its launch date, or remove it from the forecast. Combining unlike activities can conceal the assumption that needs testing.
Assign direct costs before allocating overhead
Attach direct costs to the line that causes them: materials, hourly labour, delivery, payment processing, and any subcontracted work. Only then allocate shared costs such as rent, insurance, and software using a method you can explain, whether that is floor area, hours, or revenue share. Record the method in writing. A line that looks profitable on gross revenue often turns negative once its own labour and fulfilment costs sit beside it. Keep the allocation worksheet with the projection and state why the chosen method fits this business. A reviewer can then trace a rent or payroll figure back to a contract and see whether the method changes the commercial conclusion. If a cost belongs entirely to one activity, do not dilute it across profitable lines for presentation purposes.
Decide what to do with a losing line
Once losses are visible, make a decision rather than averaging them away. A line can be repriced, reduced, closed, or retained for a stated reason such as customer acquisition. Non-marginality can rest on capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or on significant economic contribution; either argument is stronger when the projection shows which lines produce that capacity and when. Record the reason for any retained loss and the dated event expected to change it, such as equipment delivery or a signed customer commitment. The decision must be commercial first: whether the enterprise will actually operate on those terms. Immigration conclusions should follow the supported operating plan rather than rescue a line the owner has already decided is unworkable.
Tie the rebuilt projection to committed capital
Connect the rebuilt numbers to money already committed and at risk in the U.S. enterprise. Show which line each purchase, lease, or deposit supports, and keep business expenditure separate from immigration-preparation legal costs, whose treatment should be reviewed on the actual facts. Substantial capital is judged relative to the cost of the particular enterprise, not against a fixed minimum, so the spending pattern should match the plan you are presenting. Reconcile each claimed expenditure to the bank trail, signed obligation, and the business purpose in the plan. The record should show what happens if a contingency occurs and whether the investor can simply reclaim the money. That sequence distinguishes money available for a venture from capital actually placed at risk in it.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.