PaloAlto Software's Business Plan Pro 2007 provides a super software program that enables you to quickly create a business plan. Once you have installed the program, it gets right to work for you. Opening the program presents a prompt allowing you to choose from starting a new business plan, open a sample plan, or open a plan already in progress.
Most new owners will likely want to jump right into creating their plan, and will be pleased that the program structures most of this with handy wizards to guide you through the initial setup process. For example, the EasyPlan Wizard will guide you though the steps to start a business plan with selections at the bottom of the screen, and a set of brief instructions at the top.
The wizard asks you a series of questions dealing with whether you are going to sell products or services, and if you are running a profit or nonprofit business. The wizard will also present questions that are very specific to the type of business plan you want to set up, just like a consulting service.
After the initial “Plan Setup” is complete, the program presents its concept kick-start. This section is where the basic business assessment is completed. Things like the mission statement, objectives, and keys to success are entered into this portion of the Wizard.
Next, the program presents the “Your Company” part of the wizard, which lists a reference to one of the resource books Palo Alto includes with the software. The “Starting a Business” section of the book is meant to help users with filling out the next step.