It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when starting a new business, thinking about all the different products and services you’ll develop and the success you’ll have running the company. On the other hand, as is the case with most things, the devil is in the details. If you don’t have a solid plan for your firm before you start, you risk making errors at the beginning that will snowball into bigger problems as time goes on. In addition, if you do not spend time developing a solid plan for your firm, it won’t be easy to persuade potential investors of the direction you want to take in the future. If you utilize one of our six best business planning tools and follow our guidance on choosing the one that’s right for you, you’ll have a far higher chance of getting your company off to a strong start right away.
What is a Business Planning Tool?
Business planning tools is a free web program for small businesses that may help you set objectives, organize tasks, track progress, and learn new skills regardless of the stage of your business.
How To Pick Your Business Planning Tools
Here are some measures to follow that will assist you in selecting the most appropriate business plan tool for your requirements and help you achieve greater success.
Step #1. Consider your level of Expertise
If you have started businesses in the past, you may be able to choose a business planning tool that has more advanced features and less step-by-step guidance.
This is especially true if you have started multiple businesses.
However, if you are starting, it is best to use software that walks you through the process step by step so that you don’t miss anything.
Enloop is one of the most excellent business plan creation alternatives available for beginners, in our opinion, and we recommend using it.
We appreciate LivePlan as a tool for business planning because it can get newcomers up and running fast while also meeting the needs of more experienced users who have some familiarity with the business plan creation process.
Step #2. Do you want help from experts?
Suppose you find the process of developing a business plan intimidating. In that case, the next step is to seek the guidance of seasoned business professionals on how to develop a business plan that will assist you in getting your firm off the ground and continuing to expand successfully.
There is a collection of instructional videos available on GoSmallBiz, each presented by a professional in the field of business.
These videos offer guidance on developing an excellent business plan and locating funding sources to improve your chances of success.
Step #3. Determine the number of users
The next step is to determine the total number of participants.
It is essential to select a tool for your business plan that can accommodate the entirety of your team to give each individual the impression that they are an integral part of the group.
The usage of certain software is restricted to a single user, and more users can only be added by paying an additional fee.
Some alternative software packages for developing company plans support multiple users or an unlimited number of users.
Because Business Sorter offers a wide variety of pricing tiers, each of which may be matched with a certain number of user licenses, you can customize the cost of the software to correspond with the total number of people who will be using it.
Step #4. Set a goal for investment capital
One of the reasons you’re putting out a business plan may be so that you may attract investors who will give you money to get your firm off the ground.
After completing some of the preliminary tasks associated with your strategy, you may be able to determine the target quantity of investment capital you desire.
To persuade investors to give you money, you need a detailed business plan covering all bases.
This plan should demonstrate how you will help investors earn a solid return on their investment.
Step #5. Do you need other business management tools?
As you get closer and closer to finishing your company plan, you might discover that you need assistance in constructing a marketing plan or estimating sales at this point.
Alternatively, once you begin presenting your strategy to potential investors, you might find that the investors are interested in hearing about your ambitions for the aforementioned sectors.
Because all of these tools are consolidated into one user interface, PlanGuru allows you to go fluidly from the tool for creating a company plan to the tools for marketing and budgeting.
Best Business Planning Software 2023
#1. Liveplan
Our first list of the best business planning software is LivePlan.
LivePlan is one of the greatest options for creating a comprehensive company plan.
It offers features that will assist you in getting your firm off the ground, establishing a strategy for expansion, and generating professional reports and paperwork that would entice investors.
LivePlan has a lot going for it, including a fair monthly cost.
Some plans may have additional fees if numerous persons simultaneously work on the business plan.
The number of users is not restricted in any way in LivePlan.
LivePlan provides a fantastic, step-by-step guide to ensure you cover all the bases potential investors are looking for when creating your business plan.
This streamlines the business plan-making process, letting you go at your own pace while yet being thorough.
It is also one of the best-integrated business planning tools.
Pricing: $15 to $20 per month
#2. Business Sorter
If you’re new to developing company plans, Business Sorter can help you get started quickly with its pre-written cards.
The data on the cards can then be customized to fit your needs.
Business Sorter streamlines collaboration when numerous people are working on your business strategy at once by providing flexible pricing plans.
However, if you’ll be working on your business plan, these price points may be a bit of a mystery.
Business Sorter organizes your business strategy into six sections to assist you in determining the best next steps.
Business Sorter will guide you through developing a comprehensive business plan ready to be presented to investors. It is one of the free business planning tools.
Pricing: $54 to $80 per month
#3. BizPlan
Another one of the best business planning software in 2023 BizPlan.
Bizplan is an excellent tool for developing a business plan for those with ambitious plans for starting a firm and obtaining finance; nevertheless, the software is not overly complicated and can be picked up and put to use immediately.
Developing a business plan can be made much easier with the assistance of Bizplan, which enables you to concentrate on finishing individual steps along the way rather than attempting to complete the entire process all at once.
It also makes it very evident when you finish off smaller projects, which ensures that you can understand exactly what needs to be done soon.
The capacity of Bizplan to assist you in acquiring the necessary cash is one of the platform’s most notable advantages.
It helps you construct a well-rounded plan to impress investors while also providing channels to get your enterprise’s finance.
You are going to find the variety of templates that are included in Bizplan to be very helpful.
These templates will show you different concepts for elements that you can include in your business plan.
It also ranks among the free business planning tools.
Pricing: $20.75 to $29 per month
#4. Enloop
Enloop is another free business planning tool.
It is the solution if you are having trouble beginning a business plan because it is one of the simplest software products that can be used immediately and does not require any training.
It will even aid you by automatically inputting text into various portions of the software, providing suggestions on what to write so you can have a head start.
Enloop excels in this particular area, which is one of the most important reasons to put together a business plan in the first place: to show potential investors how the financial projections look.
It allows users to add stunning detail regarding financial estimates, which ought to assist you in producing the most accurate data.
The method en loop employs to provide a score for your business plan is an intriguing component of the platform; higher scores indicate a greater likelihood of success for the startup.
In real time, you will be able to watch how the modifications you make to your strategy will affect the score.
It will be among the best business planning software in 2023.
Pricing: $24 to $39.95 per month
#5. GoSmallBiz
Another free business planning tool is GoSmallBiz.
Building a business plan from scratch may be a very intimidating task for people with little to no experience with launching or managing a business.
However, developing a marketing strategy and locating sound guidance can be equally challenging.
GoSmallBiz is a formidable competitor, although its price is higher than that of its competitors because it offers guidance for all of these areas in a single bundle.
GoSmallBiz provides you with links to videos created by industry professionals at each stage of the process of creating your business plan.
These videos will assist you in making more informed decisions regarding the information that should be included in your plan.
This function is perfect for someone who does not have any prior expertise in the process of constructing a business.
GoSmallBiz may be a bit of an overkill for individuals who are only interested in using a straightforward tool for company planning because many of the additional functions offered by the software may not be relevant to their particular needs.
However, the additional instruments are of such good quality that those who require them will find that the increased price is more than justified.
GoSmallBiz is also one of the best business planning software in 2023.
Pricing: $39 per month
#6. PlanGuru
On our last list of the best business planning software in 2023 is PlanGuru.
PlanGuru’s greatest advantage is its adaptability; it can be used effectively by extremely small startup enterprises that require simply the fundamentals of business planning and by larger startups looking to raise significant funds to get their business idea off the ground.
PlanGuru does an excellent job of taking your business’s historical results and applying them to the future when creating financial projections.
This results in projections that potential investors will be able to trust because of the accuracy of the projections.
One of PlanGuru’s assets is its ability to assist you in making budgets and managing the business’s performance using the company’s past financial results.
PlanGuru contains elements that are difficult to understand for users who do not have significant prior expertise in launching new businesses.
In addition to this, the price is somewhat high in comparison to the others on our list. However, if you require various financial tools in addition to software for business planning, this is a solid contender to consider.
It is also one of the free business planning tools in 2023.
Pricing: $25 to $29 per month
What are Examples of Planning Tools?
Examples of planning tools include:
- SWOT analysis
- Affinity Diagram
- Matrix
- Priority Matrix
What Tools are Available That Can Help You With Your Business Planning?
You can try out these tools for your business planning:
- Templates
- Business plan software
- Graph and chart Programs
- Database
- Cloud-based applications
Why is Planning Tools Necessary in Business?
An effective planning tool can help you turn your goals into reality. To do anything, one must first make a plan.
Setting and working to reach goals is crucial for any entity, be it a business, school, or person.
What are the 4 Types of Business Plans?
There are four main categories of business plans. Mini plans, presentation plans/decks, working plans, and what-if plans are all different types of plans.
What are the 7 Steps of a Business Plan?
Here are the 7 steps of a business plan:
- Execute Summary
- Business description
- Market Analysis
- Company Organization
- Services provided
- Financial Outlook
- Summary
Conclusion
Finding the correct tools to help you create a business plan might simplify your life.
You won’t make a mistake using LivePlan because of its comprehensive range of functions and the online learning resources it provides.
In addition, the cheap starting cost of Business Sorter and the one-time payment structure of BizPlanBuilder make it simple to invest in either product.
GoSmallBiz and Wise Business Plans are scalable solutions that can grow alongside your company if you have expansion plans.
However, the requirements of various businesses are distinct.
Therefore, it is recommended that you look into several options until you find the most suitable software for your company.
Related Articles
- BUSINESS PLAN TOOLS: What It Is And All You Need To Know
- Financial Planning: Overview, Types, Importance, Concept (+ Free PDFs)
- MONEY MANAGEMENT TOOLs: What It Is, How To Use It, And Free Online Tools
- PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Guide to Personal Financial Management
- Project Planning: A Guide To Project Planning Techniques
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