When you want a business plan, business plan software can be a real boon. Besides showing you how to organize your business plan, good business plan software provides you with the resources and tools to actually write the business plan, from the executive summary through the detailed financials, and format and print it to produce a finished business plan that will impress any lender or investor. But how do you know if a particular business plan software is good or just another boring template that won't suit your needs? Here are the features you should look for.
1) Flexibility
How customizable is the business plan software? A generic business plan template can be just that. You need business plan software that has the scope to allow you to show the uniqueness of your business proposition.
- If large amounts of text are provided, how much are you able to edit them?
- Can you move sections of the business plan around or even cut sections completely if they don't apply to your business?
- Can graphs, charts and spreadsheets be moved around easily and positioned in different places or is the business plan software an "as is" proposition?
- Are there different printing options? (For instance, are you able to export the business plan into Word or put it online as well as print it from within the program?)
2) Financial and planning tools
What types of business financial documents are you able to create with the business plan software? And how easily? The financial plan section of every business plan needs to include three basic financial documents, the income statement, the cash flow projection, and the balance sheet. You may want to include others, though, such as sales forecasts or working capital requirements. I favor business plan software programs that allow you to prepare a variety of financial documents automatically.
You should also look to see if the business plan software you’re considering includes business plan evaluation tools. After all, one of the main reasons to write a business plan is to determine how feasible a particular business idea may be.
3) Help features
Does the business plan software include contextual help or other integrated help features?
What help is available if you have questions about either how to use the business plan software or about your personal business plan? Is there website technical support? Phone assistance with an 800 number? Is the assistance available free?
ou will definitely have questions as you work through your business plan. If the only help offered with the business plan software you’re considering buying is to fill out a form on a website and send some email, I advise giving it a miss.4) Resources bundle
What resources does the business plan software come with? Are these resources you would actually use or that are important to the development of your business plan? It may sound exciting that a business software program includes an ebook on future industry trends and/or a free business logo, but would you use either or both of these resources?
A business plan guide, a variety of business plan samples, and industry data on the other hand, are resources you will want to have when you’re writing a business plan.
5) Compatibility
It may be important to you that a business plan software program is compatible with other software. For instance, you may want to be able to import financial data from a small business accounting program such as Quickbooks or a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or to be able to export your completed business plan into Microsoft Word for editing and printing. Not all business plan software does any or all of these.
6) Interface
Business plan software comes with two different types of interface basically, interactive or template based. Interactive business plan software has an interview-based format while with template-based business plan software a user works through the model provided filling in blanks. As the software user, you need to decide which interface you prefer.
