Anyone know anything about biz plan software? Looking at Palo Alto's Business Plan?

With respect to WilliamWaco. He's not exactly right. But he's not exactly wrong either.

Used incorrectly, anything, including software will result in a cookie cutter document that looks as though you have put in very little effort in figuring out your business. That's just a fact. If Business Plan Pro was in any way a "fill in the blank" software product, then he would be correct.

But it's not. What a good business planning software will accomplish is allow you to gather all your thoughts in one place. Challenge you to research your company and give you examples and help every step of the way.So you can either use Word and several Excel sheets, work to collate and create graphs and struggle to make a document that looks close to professional.

Or you can use a software like Business Plan Pro and concentrate /only/ on the content - the ideas, the financials, the vision, implementation - and let the software worry about how it looks. BPP allows you to export the plan into a word document and modify it to your hearts content. I think the most important point I have to make is this: No, you /don't/ need software to write a business plan.

But it sure does make it easier. Full disclosure - I work for Palo Alto Software, the makers of Business Plan Pro.

Do not use business plan software. If you use a template, modify it massively and cut out all the boilerplate. Most investors read hundreds and most lenders thousands of business plans.

They will recognize boilerplate and common software at a glance. IT YELLS! HE COPIED THIS.

HE DIDN'T DO THE WORK! Nothing will turn them off your deal quicker than recognizing that it is a template they have seen a hundred times before that you paid $50 for. The main purpose of the business plan is to convince them you have done massive homework and research and know every angle of your business, especially the problems and pitfalls.

The only thing worse than a template, is overly optimistic sales projections. They know from published studies how much product "X" can be sold and what kind of net margin can be realized. Do NOT try to snow them with pie in the sky projections and claims.

If they think - that you think - you are going to make a killing real quick with little or no work, You will not get funded. I wish you the best of luck and prosperity.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.