Using Business Planning Software

Over the years I have written several business plans. If you have not had the experience as of yet, get ready for some work. There are some great resources on the web to get more information. One I particularly like is Tim Berry's Hurdle Book. Berry gives some good insight and practical methodology to putting your plan together.

Berry is President of PaloAlto Software, who produces Business Plan Pro. Business Plan Pro has come a long way over the past few years and is very flexible. In 2001, I tried this application for a plan I was writing. Although the plan templates were very comprehensive and helped guide me through the key areas of the plan, I found it hard to work with and eventually put the plan together using Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The current version (2007) offers much more flexibility in the areas where you will need it most (importing and exporting). I am currently completing a new plan and Business Plan Pro has been great. In the future I hope PaloAlto offers increased flexibility with their spreadsheet formulas.

Business planning is a long arduous process. PaloAlto is not a sponsor of this blog, and I don't work for Tim Berry, but I have looked at a few different business planning tools and found Business Plan Pro to be the best.via Arizona Small Business