Are you trying to write a business plan? If so, it’s a good idea to use a software to help you write your business plan.If you’re thinking about using Best Business Plan Pro Software , lets look at two examples of how it can be used to help with writing your business plan.
Business planning software can be a great way to organize your thoughts and get some business planning done. But it can also overwhelm you with features you don’t use and make it difficult to keep track of what’s going on. Fear not though, because we have tested quite a lot of these kinds of software, and have rounded up the best business plan software available at the time of writing this article in September 2017 (for Windows and MAC users).
As a business owner, you need to write a plan that will be able to guide your business on the right track. A business plan is basically an outline of what your company’s goals are and how you plan on achieving them. It gives you a blueprint for your future and helps you keep your end goals in mind at all times. The best way to ensure that you have a productive business plan is by using the best business planning software available.
Let’s quickly discuss how business plan software can help you and why it may be the missing link to getting your business started correctly.
Why Business Plan Software?
A business’ lifecycle will require the creation of a business plan depending on the need. Below are three reasons why you may want to create a business plan.
- Secure funding: Before they hand over money, investors will want to see a comprehensive business and financial plan that includes projections and a well-thought-out strategy and goals.
- You’re starting a business: A business plan can help you determine future profits (or lack thereof) and provide a roadmap for the future. Essentially, it can be your safety net and tell you whether or not your business idea has merit.
- Your startup is stagnant and/or needs strategic planning: A business plan can help you dig into data to organise your business into a plan that will make you more competitive and ready to scale.
The problem: Creating a business plan is a big job, and if you are new to business, you may not know what to include or how to craft it to ensure you are doing it correctly. It’s a tedious process with a lot of items to consider, many of them you may not even be aware of.
Business plan software can walk you through each section of the business plan and also provide professional templates and expert advice. With the right software, you will be able to create a professional business plan that reflects the current state of your company and projects its future growth and potential to all stakeholders, in the best way possible.
The 10 Best Business Plan Software Tools
Below are 10 of the best business plan software tools on the market. We hand-picked these tools because they satisfy most of the needs our community encounters when creating a business plan. Each offers unique features, and your choice will depend on your current needs.
- LivePlan: Best intuitive and cost-effective business plan software
- Business Plan Pro: Best business plan software for small businesses (not cloud-based)
- Enloop: Best business plan software with a free version
- BizPlanBuilder: Best user-friendly, cost-effective option with financial forecasting and management
- Bizplan: Best for startups interested in raising capital
- GoSmallBiz: Best for small businesses and nonprofits looking for a comprehensive suite of business management tools at an affordable price
- PlanGuru: Best business plan software focused on financial planning and budgeting
- Business Sorter: Best for small businesses looking for a fast, simplified planning process without sophisticated financial forecasting
- MAUS MasterPlan Lean: Best for businesses looking for a fast, simplified planning process with financial forecasting
- iPlanner.NET: Best template-heavy business plan software for a low price
Below is a comparison chart to help you quickly assess the top features and pricing of the 10 best business plan software tools and match them to your needs.
Let’s go into more detail on each tool, its pricing and notable features.
#1 LivePlan
Best intuitive and cost-effective business plan software
LivePlan is an excellent solution for the beginning entrepreneur (or entrepreneur at any stage) who needs a step-by-step process to create a professional business plan. LivePlan also offers a comprehensive online learning centre that teaches you how to create and manage companies, make your investor pitch, write your business plan, and more.
We like LivePlan’s simple, intuitive interface and its one-page business plan that gets you thinking about answers to essential questions as it relates to your business strategy.
Once you complete your one-page business strategy plan, graduate to customise one of LivePlan’s 500+ SBA-approved business plan templates and create a custom plan, step-by-step.
Connect LivePlan to your financial software, and with the financial dashboard, track your budgets, revenue, expenses, and current and future sales as you progress toward achieving your goals.
Features:
- One-page business plans
- Detailed business plans
- 500 SBA-approved industry-specific templates
- Step-by-step instructions
- Financial forecasting
- Build financial reports
- Financial software integration
- Financial performance tracking
- Market research tools
Pricing:
No free trial; 60-day money-back guarantee
LivePlan has a straightforward pricing plan that changes depending on how far ahead you want to pre-pay. If you pay annually, it breaks down to $15/month. If you pay every six months, the cost is $18/month. The pay-as-you-go plan is $20/month with the first month billed at $10.
LivePlan also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee.
#2 Business Plan Pro
Best business plan software for small businesses (not cloud-based)
Business Plan Pro was created by the same company that created LivePlan. It is an off-line version of LivePlan’s cloud-based solution, without the bells and whistles of cloud-based software.
Similar to LivePlan, Business Plan Pro includes more than 500 professional templates to customise for your business. It also offers Easy Plan Wizard, step-by-step guidance from business planning expert Tim Berry, founder of the software and the website Bplans.com.
With Business Plan Pro, you will get detailed step-by-step instructions with error checks to help you craft a foolproof plan. Also, access financial spreadsheets, 11,000+ industry profiles to compare and match your business plan to, a graphic forecaster, QuickBooks import, and settings for nonprofits.
Features:
- Detailed business plans
- Industry-specific templates
- Step-by-step instructions
- Financial forecasting
- Build financial reports
- Financial software integration
- Market research tools
- Not cloud-based
Pricing:
60-day money-back guarantee
The Standard Edition costs a one-time fee of $99.95 and is robust enough to create a custom professional business plan. The Premier Edition costs a one-time fee of $159.95. It includes additional features such as plan templates, business valuation, Excel import function, 24-month extended financial data, visual cash planning, and advanced financial analyses.
#3 Enloop
Best business plan software with a free version
Enloop is a simple business plan solution perfect for the entrepreneur who wants to try before they buy. Enloop is one of the few tools that provide a free version.
One unique feature of Enloop is automated text writing (Autowrite) which auto-generates the business plan text from data you already inputted. Another unique standout feature is TextSync which automatically syncs your financial data into your text when you make changes to your numbers. No manual updating required.
The blue data bubbles below show the data-sync technology and act as editable fields that pull in the data from your financial forecasts.
We like Enloop’s forecasting comparisons that predict losses and analyse performance. Enloop helps you discover problems before they happen by comparing your financial ratios against industry averages.
Enloop also has a scoring feature that rates your business plan in real-time so you can adjust and watch your score improve over time.
One downside to Enloop is the lack of integration with financial software. You have to input your financial data manually. Enloop also only comes with a single business plan template.
Features:
- Detailed business plans
- Business plan scoring
- Financial forecasting
- Multi-user access
- Automated text writing
- Data-synced text
Pricing:
7-day free trial offered
All of Enloop’s plans include every feature (automated text writing, data-synced text, real-time performance score, pass/fail reporting, text formatting, charts, and country currency formatting). Still, you will need to upgrade if you want additional users and financial ratios. The Free plan includes 16 financial ratios analysed and no additional users.
Premium plan pricing starts at $19.95/month, billed monthly for the Detailed plan, which includes three financial ratios and two shared users. The premium Performance plan costs $39.95/month billed monthly and adds on up to 16 financial ratios and five shared users.
All pricing plans include the creation of three business plans. Additional business plans are offered at $9.95 each per month.
5. PlanGuru
Best for financial planning and budgeting.
Finally, for some of the strongest financial features among business plan software options, including budgeting and forecasting, you might check out PlanGuru. Whereas the other solutions we’ve reviewed were first and foremost focused on writing a business plan, PlanGuru is dedicated to business financial planning—providing the tools you need to create budgets, financial forecasts, reports, and more.
Therefore, if you need a software solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business planning processes, PlanGuru will certainly have the most to offer.
Pros
- Extensive financial tools and detailed forecasting, budgeting, and reporting capabilities
- Substantial library of resources
- Cloud-based and desktop options
- 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Expensive, especially for additional users
- Only focuses on the financial aspect of business planning; no templates or tools for basic business plan writing
- Difficult to use without prior financial knowledge
Features
- Cloud-based version of software, as well as locally installed Windows version (desktop version has a few more features)
- Works with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Excel
- Budgeting and forecasting for up to 10 years
- Over 20 standard forecasting methods
- Formula builder to create custom methods
- Ratios and KPIs
- Dashboard and reporting tools
- Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and live U.S.-based customer support
Pricing
- 14-day free trial
- $99 per month (additional users $29 per month)
- $899 per year (additional users $299 per year)
What to look for in business plan software
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide, which, if any, of the best business plan software solutions on our list is right for your business.
So, if you’re trying to figure out how to choose between the various options out there, it might be helpful to compare your top choices based on the following criteria:
- Features: As we’ve seen different business plan software solutions offer different features. You’ll want to look carefully at the feature list of any software and determine what features are most important for your business needs. Do you need an extensive library of templates with detailed customization? Would you prefer software that includes an online learning center for business skills? Are you looking for a solution that combines business plan writing with other tasks? It may be useful to list out your ideal feature set, so you can compare individual software plans to that list.
- Price: Although you might be able to find some free business plan software options (or at the very least, free trials), in most cases, you’ll need to pay a subscription fee to access the platform you choose. Therefore, you’ll want to think about what your budget is for this business tool and what type of software is most cost-effective for your needs.
- User experience: User experience can vary widely among different business plan software options. You’ll find some programs that are newer or have been recently updated. Others might have the kind of interfaces that felt new years ago but are now pretty out of date—and, subsequently, make them a little harder to use. The right user experience for your needs is genuinely a matter of opinion and comfort—nevertheless, it’s worth testing thoroughly testing out a platform to ensure that it can truly work for you before investing in a monthly or annual subscription.
Conclusion
Have you ever wondered what the best business plan software on the market is in 2018? Well you’re in the right place. In this review, I will be breaking down and evaluating the top 12 business plan software programs on the market. Since there are so many choices available (most which have a hefty price tag), it can be hard to choose which program to go with. I’ve spent hundreds of hours researching these programs and have come up with a list of recommendations below.