Business plan software is well worth the money. Sure, you can write your own business plan from scratch. But using business plan software will save you time on every aspect of creating a business plan from creating a table of contents through creating your financial documents. Business plan software comes with templates and sample business plans that make it easier for you to put your business plan together. And most business plan software also comes with the benefit of expert advice, either through integrated help features, technical support, or both. Here are what I think are the best business plan software.
PriceGrabber.comThis interactive business plan software uses an interview process to help you create a business plan with step-by-step guidance. It includes over 500 sample business plans and some particularly nice features such as a Keep It Simple plan option where you can complete a business plan in several hours, and the ability to publish your business plan to the 'Net to share and/or get feedback with SecurePlan.com. Standard and Premier editions are available; the Premier edition has additional features such as Cash Flow Planning and Business Valuation tools. There is also a Canadian edition.
Business Resource Software's Plan Write also uses an interactive interview process to guide you through writing the business plan. I really like the flexibility of this business plan software; there's an outline view, for example, that lets you jump between topics easily and insert new text topics, spreadsheets, or charts anywhere you like. There's a library of sample business plans and complete financials. The Expert edition includes an 'MBA Wizard', a virtual consultant that provides expert advice about your business plan and its feasibility. There are online tutorials as well as free support via email and phone. My only complaint is that Plan Write is Americentric; no other currencies or taxes can be dealt with easily.
Why this business plan software rather than other template-based business plan software? Flexibility. Different versions are available for specific industries such as PlanMagic Construction, PlanMagic Bed and Breakfast and PlanMagic Retail, just to name a few. PlanMagic business plan software is also available in languages other than English (including Spanish) and currencies other than American. That means it can handle GST or VAT when you're doing up your financials rather than just U.S. sales taxes. The browser-like interface with wizards is easy to use and a business plan guide and sample plans are included. An Advanced Edition is also available with added features for long-range planning and more advanced financials.
This template-based business plan software uses an interview based interface. I like the resource base of this one; it includes more than 250 business plan samples, a library of case studies and industry profiles and even a package of clip art if you want to illustrate your business plan. Financials are automatically created and easy to update and there's a PlanAudit utility that you can use to check and correct errors. Multi-User Plan Collaboration is available (if you purchase a separate PlanWrite Central membership). Business PlanWriter is head and shoulders above most of the "just fill-in the blanks" business plan software.
This is another template-based business plan software; basically you are presented with customizable Microsoft Word format documents and you format and edit the supplied text any way you like as you work through the plan. Two features that separate this software from the rest of the template-based business plan software herd are the expert comments feature that guides you through the writing the business plan process and the remote access and collaboration features make it easy to share your business plan with a team and/or work on it from any location. This is also the only business plan software on this page of business plan software reviews that is available in a Mac version.
EBP's Business Plan Designer has some features that I really like. First, it's interactive business plan software, using a wizard interface for creating a business plan. Second, the program automatically creates all the sales forecasts, cash flow, profit and loss and balance sheets, graphs and tables once the basic data is entered. You can also import graphs and tables from other sources if you wish. However, you don't get the big resource bundle with this one, such as hundreds of business plan samples and you don't get features such as business plan evaluation tools or collaboration tools. On the other hand, maybe you don't need them.
