It all adds up to a business plan software that works great for internal planning.
Business Sorter uses a unique card-based method to help you craft the perfect business plan. (You can watch a demo video to see how it works.) You’ll plan some of the usual things, like finances and marketing. But Business Sorter also lets you make plans for specific teams and team members. It also emphasizes more internal matters, like operations, that might get overlooked in a business plan for outsiders.
BizPlanBuilder also offers lots of helpful guidance for actually writing your plan. It gives you pre-written text, in which you just have to fill in relevant details. It offers explanations for what information you need to include in each section of your plan and way. It even gives you helpful tips from experts, so you’ll have all the information you need to plan like a pro.
There’s a lot to like about LivePlan. It has pretty much all the features you could want from your business plan software. LivePlan gives you step-by-step instructions for writing your plan, helps you create financial reports, lets you compare your business’s actual financials to your plan’s goals, and much more. And if you ever need inspiration, it includes hundreds of sample business plans that can guide your writing.
GoSmallBiz: Most extra features
Data effective 1/4/21. At publishing time, amounts, rates, and requirements are current but are subject to change. Offers may not be available in all areas.
With a great balance of features and cost, LivePlan offers the best business plan solution for most businesses.
Even if you’re not seeking funding right now, a business plan can help your business. A formal plan can guide your business’s direction and decision making. It can keep your business accountable (by, for example, seeing if your business meets the financial projections you included). And a formal plan offers a great way to make sure your team stays on the same page.
- Basic information about your business
- Your products/services
- Market and industry analysis
- What makes your business competitive
- Strategies and upcoming plans
- Your team (and your team’s background)
- Current financial status
- Financial and market projections
- Executive summary
- PlanGuru App – $39 per month or $899 per year
- PlanGuru Desktop – $99 per month or $899 per year
With the free version, you can do up to three business plans. The software also analyzes 16 critical financial ratios based on your specific industry. Furthermore, the software automatically generates bank-ready financial forecasts for the next 36 months.
A step-by-step procedure isn’t only easy to use but ensures that you do not miss any crucial information. Some software offers suggestions, prompts, and examples to make the entire process easier.
Some options also allow you to give access to only some parts of the business plan if you don’t want to reveal sensitive financial data.
Business Plan Templates
BizPlan partners with Fundable and Launchrock so you can share your business plan with potential investors on these platforms. Alternatively, you can share a link to your business plan directly with investors of your choice.
- 100+ currency formats and symbols
- Real-time performance score
- Synced data and text
- Pass / Fail report
- Text, tables, and images formatting
LivePlan also offers 500+ business plan templates, so you won’t have a problem finding one for your industry. You can also configure most fields and even itemize some sections by individual or job category. The software also provides multiple example texts for each section that you can copy-paste or use for inspiration.
Putting together a business plan can be time-consuming, even with the extra help of business plan software. For business owners not interested in complex financial projections and steep learning curves, Business Sorter is an appealing option.
Whether it is during good times or bad times, you must know what direction you want to take your company in order to better compete with rival businesses. Examples of different strategic approaches might be:
If you're not completely sure of what strategic approach you will be undertaking, now is the time to perfect and market an approach that is most likely to secure business now and in the future.
When business is slow, it can be a great time to investigate different types of alliances that would be a good fit and start communicating with potential alliance partners.
As your business starts having an upturn, then your marketing strategy can be updated. Marketing is an integral part of any business and cannot be ignored, even during times of trouble. Having a marketing strategy allows you to connect with current customers, identify potential customers, and then convince everyone that your products and services have intrinsic value to meet their needs.
10 Ways To Reduce The Damaging Impact Of Unconscious Bias On Your Business
Planning involves many different aspects of a business. Consider these five areas in your planning to help your business survive the pandemic:
To the contrary, planning is a must. When the recovery starts (and it certainly will one day), long-term growth will be a by-product of planning, instead of doing nothing or making haphazard business decisions.
Despair, gloom, isolation, depression . words we've been hearing during this global pandemic. With the current state of a depressed economy, many small business owners feel as though there is no need to plan ahead. Their idea is to just endure these uncertain times as best as possible, hoping for a brighter future.
The operations section is how your business works. It’s the logistics, technology, and other nuts and bolts. Depending on the type of business you are starting, you may or may not need the following sections. Only include what you need and remove everything else.
“For the businessperson who is starting a new company, launching new products or seeking funding or partners, LivePlan is software that produces professional business plans quickly and easily. Unlike [name omitted], LivePlan creates a real business plan, with real insights—not just cookie-cutter, fill-in-the-blank templates.”
And you don’t have to start with the full, detailed business plan that I’m going to describe here. In fact, it can be much easier to start with a simple, one-page business plan—what we call a Lean Plan—and then come back and build a slightly longer, more detailed business plan later.
Your income statement, also known as the profit and loss (or P&L), is where your numbers all come together and show if you’re making a profit or taking a loss. The P&L pulls data from your sales forecast and your personnel plan and also includes a list of all your other ongoing expenses associated with running your business. You can download a free example of an income statement here.
Strategic alliances
However, having forecasts and projections for your core financial statements will not only help clarify the feasibility of your strategy but prove to investors that you have thought ahead. To help you develop this section, try to answer the following questions.
Again, you don’t need to go into excruciating detail here, but you should identify some companies that might be interested in buying you if you are successful.
“Our patent-pending product is a no power, easy-to-use device that replaces traditional ventilator machines used in hospitals at 1/100th the cost.”
You’ll also use this section of your business plan to demonstrate what sets your solution apart from others, and how you plan to expand your offerings in the future.
You don’t want to rush your business plan — take time to perform proper research, and then go back to edit and complete each section when you are ready. You can access the SBA business plan template here.
- Project timelines
- Data visualization
- Project checklists
- Business models
- Strategies
- Payments
- Security
- Revenue
In order to download the business plan created, you will have to sign up for a trial subscription, but that can be cancelled if you don’t plan on using the service.
This 21-slide template helps you define and present your market, your competition, and the future roadmap. The deck visually supports the pitch story you’ve worked so hard to craft.
2. Slideshop Business Pitch template
“You don’t have to go overboard with an over-the-top design, but it’s very important to at the very least incorporate your company’s branding into your business plan. This little extra effort can go a long way, giving you a much more professional presentatioN.”
- Your business concept. Tell everyone what you’re about, why you’re in business and how you’re going to succeed.
- Your products or service. This is your chance to outline what makes your company special. How will you differ from the competition? What pain points do your products/services solve for?
- Your overarching strategy. It’s great to identify what you want to do, but it’s vital to note how you’re going to accomplish it. What key personnel will be involved? What’s your go-to market strategy? Who are you going to target? What actionable goals do you have in mind?
- Financial information. Every business needs funding. Don’t forget to incorporate the all-important dollar amounts.
The user experience sets the LawDepot business plan template apart from the best business plan templates, with simple input fields and a nice preview option that lets you watch the progress.