Writing a business plan is probably the least thing an entrepreneur want to spend their time on. Unfortunately, whether you like it or not, it’s a must-do – for some major reasons:
- Avoiding mistakes – simply because you don’t have a proper plan
- Keep you focused on your goal – more logic, less emotions
- To keep everyone in the company on the same page
- To give you a road map – you’ll be lost without one.
- A requirement for raising capital – it’s that simple: no plan, no loans/investments
…and many more! It’s that important, indeed; but we understand that writing one is challenging. That’s why you need tools to help you write a plan. The following article can give you some suggestions.
Whether you are in the construction industry or run a retail business, every owner needs a solid business plan. If you develop a well-written plan, you will be able to easily convey your business strategy to potential investors and your employees, partners and customers. Furthermore, many banks and investors won’t even consider loaning you money if you don’t have a business plan.
Even if you aren’t looking for a loan, a business plan will help you focus on your goals and allows you to better estimate your profits and expenses so you can put productive strategies in place to ensure a bright future for your small business. Bottom line: If you haven’t written a business plan yet, it’s in your best interest to do so.
Writing a business plan can be daunting, especially for time-strapped small business owners, so invest in one of these software programs to make the task less challenging:
Business Plan Pro Complete
This best-selling software offers 500-plus sample templates that walk you through the process of developing a plan for your business. Business Plan Pro Complete, available for instant download, allows you to create sophisticated charts and graphs based on your financial numbers, and it provides profiles of more than 9,000 industries, as well as financial information that you can incorporate into your plan.
The software starts at $100 and is backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee.
LivePlan
After you provide answers to questions about your business, this software automatically calculates your financials and creates charts based on your financial picture. Within minutes, you can sign up and begin working on your plan.
An annual plan is around $12 per month and the monthly plan is $20 per month.
Ultimate Business Planner
Touted as a top choice for entrepreneurs, this software boasts more than 1,000 business plan samples and 25 complete sample plans to guide you as you develop your own plan. It offers a simple two-part approach to building your business plan: forecasting your financials and writing your plan. It also offers hundreds of resources for business start-ups.
The program starts at $99 and offers a 90-day money-back guarantee.
PlanWrite
The new 2014 edition of PlanWrite allows you to pull data from Microsoft Excel and offers samples, free support and online tutorials to guide you as you write your plan. It also offers expert analysis of your plan and even a grammar and spell check.
The software costs $130, but discount packages are available, and it offers a 60-day money-back guarantee.
As you can see, for less than $150 dollars, you can drastically simplify the time and effort it takes to create a thorough business plan. Make the small investment now to ensure the future success of your business.
Jaimy Ford is a professional business writer with nearly a decade’s worth of experience developing newsletters, blogs, e-letters, training tools and webinars for business professionals. She contributes to both The Intuit Small Business Blog and Docstoc.com. She also serves as editor-in-chief of Sales Mastery, a digital magazine written specifically for sales professionals.
