Business Plans Software Reviews

Business Plan Professional Indeed!
Business plan pro indeed!I started my business in 2002 and needed a business plan. I didn't know where to start. The bank said that an accountant needed to review the figures and projections.Geez! I am in a service business and whereas an accountant may know the numbers, they didn't know the business. My accountant said that I should write the plan and let him go over it. Yeah..right! SO I searched the Internet and came across this software. Gosh, just .00 bucks to secure my future obtain a business loan and get started. Seemed a fair deal, so I ordered the software and some books as well on writing a business plan.The books said it might take a couple of months to write a proper plan to present to investors and convince them. The software said it would produce a winning plan. Ok, time to get started. Ahh.. They had sample business plans that one could look at. Nice! Well, I followed the instructions and got started. It took a couple of weeks of editing but at the end there it was. Nicely generated plan, indexed, pages numbered nicely double-spaced. A truly professional and legal looking plan which I proudly presented to my accountant. He said, this is a lot, it is even more that they need and you will have no problems with the bank. Needless to say I wanted to believe him.Then the day came and I presented my plan to three separate banks and waited...and waited...and waited...Then the first bank called, apologetic. My plan was so comprehensive it took them more time than usual to go through but..it was approved! They would offer 50% financing. Then the second bank called.. Approved! They would offer 90% financing. The third bank called.. needed more time, they had NEVER seen such a comprehensive and well written business plan..needed another week to fully digest it. Then they called about two weeks later. They wanted my accountant and I to meet with the Manager. They wanted a few things explained. This did not look good! There were a few figures they could not understand how they were generated. My accountant explained that the numbers were generated in a computer program, Business Plan Pro and he had gone over it and it was using a different recording method to what they were accustomed. [ It was all accountant talk that I have summarized]. All smiles! APPROVED! 100% financing.Needless to say, you know which bank I went with in the end!Thanks business plan pro. I can truly say that this software was worth every penny and I heartily endorse it!

The best resource if you need to write a Business Plan
I needed to write a business plan, but didn't really want to, and didn't know where to start. Business Plan Pro was recommended to me, and was the best investment I've made in a long time. The software really helped me to understand what a business plan was all about and to get organized and get it done. It wasn't as hard as I thought!

Just bought the latest version - Very Pleased!
I have just upgraded to the latest version of Business Plan Pro and am very pleased with it. I have been using Business Plan Pro since I started my business last year, and thought I would only use my business plan to get a loan and never look at it again. Instead I have found myself keeping it updated monthly, cos its so easy to jump into the program and make changes to it.The newest version has a new interface that is more user friendly and I the whole program a lot more manageable. My only criticism of the last version is that there was so much on the screen you didn't know where to start.I would recommend any business owner or wannabe business owner to get themselves a copy of this software.

Made my life easier!
I've been struggling with getting my new business off the ground, and then a friend recommended this software. I am not a business person and have no head for financials, but this software made me feel confident that what I was producing was a complete and professional plan. I haven't received the official word about my loan, but the officer who I met with was extremely impressed. I was too!

I didn't think it would be this easy!
I had no time left to write a business plan and little experience putting one together. On a suggestion from a friend I ordered the Business Plan Pro software and started it up. Imagine my relief when the software literally walked me through the entire process!! I put together a basic plan, and wrote it over the span of 3 lunch hours. Easy to understand process, outstanding resource help, great customer service and a tech service department that didn't make me feel like I was asking stupid questions.I would recommend this product to anyone who needs a helping hand in writing, but doesn't have the money to spend on an expensive consultant.

Great for small business
Ultimate Business Planner cost is under 0 and has a feel to it that definitely lets you know you have a product worth well over that amount. UBP is easy to use, easy to understand and is customizable the entire time you are working with it. It provides easy to understand help with each section and gives you the necessary fields to get your business plan initiated. Overall I am very pleased with UBP, but as with any product there are some downfalls.

Upon install you are given 15 'trial' uses of the software before you are required to register it. I understand the need to deter piracy, however I feel this is imposing itself onto one of my computers. If I install it on one system and later choose to move it (which means I would take it off the first one) to another, I would have to purchase another license. I find this a little irritating, but overall it does not detract from the value of the software. I also would assume you could contact the company to have this "taken care of" without purchasing another license, but it doesn't say this is an option.

As a small business just starting up and trying to get things sorted out as well as obtain financial backing, this software is an excellent source to help you along your way.

Nothing great...
Bought it, installed it, attempted to use it and now it gathers dust.

I can definitely see where the plan on developing this was there and it sounds like a great package. I just think the execution as to how they developed this was faulty. Also the books that come with this weren't very helpful in my opinion.

Ultimately if you are looking to start your own business then I would recommend you hire someone professional who does business planning and that can think of questions or answers that you haven't thought of.

If you don't have a solid business plan then your business will fail so honestly why not hire someone professional to help you out?? That or use some of the free services that your local SBA offers you.

Good For Business
I have enjoyed the product for many years and as always they have created a great product and upgrade...also appreciate the added in box perks...helps with many subjects; marketing.

Be careful with Vista
BPP 2006 ran fine on xp for me. I transferred it to my new laptop with vista and could not run it. when I tried to start it, the message "unexpected error, quitting" kept coming up. I decided it wasn't ready for vista so I upgraded to 2007. Same problem. I spent a day with tech support through email trying to fix it. I "repaired" it through control panel, uninstalled and reinstalled, ran as an administrator, updated windows, ran spybot and ad-aware. At least four clean installs and twice I ran Palo Alto's diagnostic program.

It still doesn't work. Maybe it's my machine but I don't think so - I've never had that error message before and I run everything from Word to Photoshop to Vegas 7 video editing. So - try it before you buy it.

Good software
This is a great program that could make anyone look like a genuis business-plan writer. I did not have any problems with it crashing at all. I would say that before using, you might want to do a lot of research on your business and also have some knowledge of how the financial statements work. For startup businesses, you want to have an estimate on all your expenses, the cash you would need, your maket analysis, and for existing businesses the same plus your current expenses and revunues.

What worked for me was also saving a lot of the information as I went along. The software is lengthy, but there is a way to delete those extras that you don't want on there. What's great about it is that you just put in your estimated numbers and it does all the math for you and all the graphs as well. I strongly recommend. However, for someone just starting their first business and who have not been familiar with these documents and procedures, it might be challenging. One good thing though, is that it gives you examples that you can take from so you're not doing it alone at all.

A nice package
The program is interesting, but you really need to check out the books to make it work. The book The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki is very helpful.

On the technical side it is weak... on the business side it is hard to ask for more...
Over all this software is very good.

The software does crash. But not as often as other reviews make it appear. Also, I had to download the latest update manually because it couldn't auto-magically figure out my internet connection is persistent.

My experience with this can be summed up easily. It is easy to use, when you have a question or you are at a loss, the answer is already on the screen or one click away.

This software was obviously designed with end users in mind. It has a simple layout and it just couldn't be easier to use in my opinion.

The reports look professional and clean. I find it hard to believe others were complaining about the final reports. If the reports generated aren't clean and/or professional enough, I would have to say someone is living in a fantasy world. No banker, angel, or VC wants to see animated gifs or pinstripes on a business plan. Please get a grip on reality before you attempt to start a business!

All the numbers are integrated and calculated so they are consistent across the entire business plan. If you had to do that manually you would be screwed every time you made a revision to a single entry. You would have to find where that entry was calculated across your entire plan and make the changes everywhere... This feature ALONE is worth the price of admission!

The software comes with two books also. No, not user manuals. Books that help you understand more about starting a business and how to plan appropriately.

I can see why this is highly recommended. I will recommend it to anyone who is serious about starting a business and wants to validate their assumptions or get funding.