Writing a business plan is one of the most important and effective things you can do when starting a business or start-up. Most people believe that this is a time-consuming and difficult task. In fact, if you do not know what tools to use, it can be. However, it does not have to. Writing a successful business plan is crucial, and can be as simple as determining a budget! Most business tools provide a pre-made outline or template and ask you basic questions about your business. The advantage of writing a business plan is figuring out your goals, creating a clear vision, and determining your budget. This can be an effective method no matter what stage your business is on. In this article, we want to take you through a number of tools you can use to write a successful business plan.
What is the best way to start writing a business plan?
When writing a business plan, it is better to start with simple and general concepts. Ask yourself questions regarding your business and aspirations, and try to figure out what it is that you exactly want. Remember that following an online tool will help you lots. Depending on what level your business is on, and how much time and effort you can put into writing a plan, it can differ in length and depth. When you are working with collaborators or investors, you might need to write a more in-depth business plan. However, if you are short on time you can begin with a simple, straightforward plan and make alternations later.
10 best tools for writing a successful business plan
Using tools to help you with your business plan is one of the smartest things you can do to save time and energy; while creating something that suits your business perfectly. Below is a compilation of the best tools you can use for this matter:
Small Business Association (SBA)
The SBA gathers a list of free online tools to write a business plan, such as templates and samples. For instance, these samples include questions about the concept of your business, your plans, current obstacles, and potential solutions.
Enloop
Enloop is a business tool based on the cloud. More than 300,000 users partook in this application. This tool helps with creating performance and financial reports, easing your planning process. Enloop supports around 100 currencies, making it suitable for a wide range of users. The subscription is not very cost worthy and there is a free trial as well.
LivePlan
For business starters, LivePlan can be a very suitable option. The creators of this tool claim to build their plans up to 30% faster than their competitors. By providing design templates and options, LivePlan lets startups build a more eye-catching business plan in order to attract investors. You can access this tool with prices starting from 20$ per month.
SCORE
SCORE is a unique and interesting tool that gathers business mentors from all around the world, sharing their expertise with new businesses and startups. There is also a special business template in this tool that takes you through a step-by-step process of writing your own business plan.
StartPad
StartPad is a great software for entrepreneurs who wish to write a business plan. This software is currently dedicated to iPad users and aims to take you through a pre-planned process of writing a smart business plan. StartPad is easy to work with, making it suitable for starters, and people who are new to working with business tools. There are training videos, customer service, and business strategies you can learn from.
Bplans
Bplans offers over 500 business plan templates for free. These resources are great for entrepreneurs, and especially startups that are looking for less pricy materials. You can use templates to write your business plan and use other resources in order to gather efficient information regarding your profession.
TheBizPlanner
The BizPlanner is another tool that can help you plan your business. By providing four special properties, each focusing on different factors, TheBizPlanner makes sure you are all ready for stepping into the professional world. This tool features a dashboard, which shows you reports as well.
PlanGuru
PlanGuru is another great software for startups. This tool helps with planning your business and your budgets, providing up to 20 forecasting options for businesses. This tool also provides detailed data analysis. This software, including desktop and cloud versions, starts from 99$ per month.
IdeaBuddy
IdeaBuddy provides so many different services for business entrepreneurs and startups, from helping you create a suitable business plan to managing your budget and finances. This software provides a 2-week free trial, just to prove to you how well it performs.
Business Sorter
Business sorter is a cloud-based tool you can use for creating an efficient plan for your business and tracking it later on. This all-inclusive tool lets you create more than one plan at a time, making it more suitable for bigger businesses as well. This software also provides a two-week free trial before asking you for subscriptions. Business Sorter claims to help you manage your finances, grow your sales rates, improve your services, plan your marketing activities and overall business strategies and make individual plans for team members.
The Bottom Line
When starting a new business or expanding your current profession, having a plan is one of the most important factors. A business plan helps you prioritize your tasks and take efficient steps. This process may sound daunting and exhausting to entrepreneurs and business owners. However, you can use various tools to help you with this process. These online tools, ranging from free apps to more pricy options, all provide several different capabilities for any sort of business. Whatever you do, make sure you do not rush over this step as it is among the most important ones for any business, no matter how big or small. Good luck!
Founder Dinis Guarda
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