Types

• Software programs available on the market to help small businesses vary in their features. Programs often provide templates for different types of business plans and allow the user to add or remove topics to customize the plan. Business owners can also purchase presentation-focused business planning software for creating visually powerful plans. Other programs include online tutorials with the purchase of software, offering a more interactive user experience.
  
  

Function

• Small-business planning software is intended to make the process of planning a business easier. A small business often has unique financial or operational requirements, so software programs must be flexible and contain templates that are designed to project financials for very low revenue levels if needed. Guidance and tips are provided in plain language to make business terminology more accessible and understandable for the small-business planner.
  
  

Benefits

• Business planning software can make it easier for small-business owners to identify their strategic goals and determine how to grow and operate their businesses. By taking the guesswork out of organizing the plan, business planners can focus on the content and create a clear picture of the future of the business. Financial tables in certain programs are often linked, and the software makes all the calculations based on the financial information that small-business owners enter into the program. This makes small-business planning a faster process.
  
  

Features

• Features of small-business planning software may include sample business plans for small businesses in different industries. Detailed instructions are often provided at each step of the planning process to give users guidance while they write. In addition, certain small-business software programs may import data from Microsoft Excel and then export the business plan to Microsoft Word. These document converters make it easier to organize your plan into a format that most computer users can read (reference 1).
  
  

Warning

• Although small-business planning software is intended to make planning easier, a business plan is only as strong as the effort and research put into it. The software may warn the user when an unusual financial number has been entered, but it's still up to the user to locate and fix any errors. Small-business owners should do as much research as possible about their industry and market situation to get the most out of small-business planning software.