what are business planning tools

9 Strategic Planning Models and Tools for the Customer-Focused Business

Published: July 11, 2023

As the economist and business strategy guru, Michael Porter, says, “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

With strategic planning, businesses identify their strengths and weaknesses, choose what not to do, and determine which opportunities should be pursued. In sales operations, having a clearly defined strategy will help your organization plan for the future, set viable goals, and achieve them.

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So, how do you get started with strategic planning? You‘ll begin with strategic planning models and tools. Let’s take a look at nine of the most prominent ones here.

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Strategic planning models.

Strategic planning is used to set up long-term goals and priorities for an organization. A strategic plan is a written document that outlines these goals.

Don't confuse strategic planning and tactical planning . Strategic planning is focused on long-term goals, while tactical planning is focused on the short-term.

Here are a few strategic planning models you can use to get started.

1. The Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard is one of the most prominent strategic planning models, tailored to give managers a comprehensive overview of their companies' operations on tight timelines. It considers both financial and operational metrics to provide valuable context about how a business has performed previously, is currently performing, and is likely to perform in the future.

The model plays on these concerns: time, quality, performance/service, and cost. The sum of those components amount to four specific reference points for goal-setting and performance measurement:

• Customer: How customers view your business
• Internal Process: How you can improve your internal processes
• Organizational Capacity: How your business can grow, adapt, and improve
• Financial: The potential profitability of your business

Those four categories can inform goals that are more thoughtful and focused while surfacing the most appropriate metrics with which you can use to track them. But the elements you choose to pursue and measure are ultimately up to you. As there's no definitive list, they will vary from organization to organization.

That being said, there‘s a universally applicable technique you can use when leveraging the model—creating a scorecard. This is a document that keeps track of your goals and how you apply them. Here’s an example of what a scorecard might look like:

Image Source

The Balanced Scorecard is ideal for businesses looking to break up higher-level goals into more specific, measurable objectives. If you're interested in translating your big-picture ambitions into actionable projects, consider looking into it.

Example of the Balanced Scorecard

Let‘s imagine a B2B SaaS company that sells a construction management solution. It’s been running into trouble from virtually all angles. It‘s struggling with customer retention and, in turn, is hemorrhaging revenue. The company’s sales reps are working with very few qualified leads and the organization's tech stack is limiting growth and innovation.

The business decides to leverage a Balanced Scorecard approach to remedy its various issues. In this case, the full strategic plan—developed according to this model—might look like this:

• The company sets a broad financial goal of boosting revenue by 10% year over year.
• To help get there, it aims to improve its customer retention rate by 5% annually by investing in a more robust customer service infrastructure.
• Internally, leadership looks to improve the company's lead generation figures by 20% year over year by revamping its onboarding process for its pre-sales team.
• Finally, the business decides to move on from its legacy tech stack in favor of a virtualized operating system, making for at least 50% faster software delivery for consistent improvements to its product.

The elements listed above address key flaws in the company‘s customer perception, internal processes, financial situation, and organizational capacity. Every improvement the business is hoping to make involves a concrete goal with clearly outlined metrics and definitive figures to gauge each one’s success. Taken together, the organization's plan abides by the Balanced Scorecard model.

2. Objectives and Key Results

As its name implies, the OKR strategic planning model revolves around translating broader organizational goals into objectives and tracking their key results. The framework rests on identifying three to five attainable objectives and three to five results that should stem from each of them. Once you have those in place, you plan tactical initiatives around those results.

After you‘ve figured out those reference points, you determine the most appropriate metrics for measuring their success. And once you’ve carried out the projects informed by those ideal results, you gauge their success by giving a score on a scale from 0 to 1 or 0%-100%.

For instance, your goal might be developing relationships with 100 new targets or named accounts in a specific region. If you only were able to develop 95, you would have a score of .95 or 95%. Here's an example of what an OKR model might look like:

It's recommended that you structure your targets to land at a score of around 70% — taking some strain off workers while offering them a definitive ideal outcome. The OKR model is relatively straightforward and near-universally applicable. If your business is interested in a way to work towards firmly established, readily visible standards this model could work for you.

Example of the Objectives and Key Results

Let's consider a hypothetical company that makes educational curriculum and schedule planning for higher-education institutions. The company decides it would like to expand its presence in the community college system in California, something that constitutes an objective.

But what will it take to accomplish that? And how will the company know if it's successful? Well, in this instance, leadership within the business would get there by establishing three to five results they would like to see. Those could be:

• Generating qualified leads from 30 institutions
• Conducting demos at 10 colleges
• Closing deals at 5 campuses

Those results would lead to initiatives like setting standards for lead qualification and training reps at the top of the funnel on how to use them appropriately, revamping sales messaging for discovery calls, and conducting research to better tailor the demo process to the needs of community colleges.

Leveraging this model generally entails repeating that process between two and four more times, ultimately leading to a sizable crop of thorough, actionable, ambitious, measurable, realistic plans.

3. Theory of Change (TOC)

The Theory of Change (TOC) model revolves around organizations establishing long-term goals and essentially “working backward” to accomplish them. When leveraging the strategy, you start by setting a larger, big-picture goal.

Then, you identify the intermediate-term adjustments and plans you need to make to achieve your desired outcome. Finally, you work down a level and plan the various short-term changes you need to make to realize the intermediate ones. More specifically, you need to take these strides:

• Identify your long-term goals.
• Backward map the preconditions necessary to achieve your goal, and explain why they're necessary.
• Identify your basic assumptions about the situation.
• Determine the interventions your initiative will fulfill to achieve your goals.
• Come up with indicators to evaluate the performance of your initiative.
• Write an explanation of the logic behind your initiative.

Here's another visualization of what that looks like.

This planning model works best for organizations interested in taking on endeavors like building a team, planning an initiative, or developing an action plan. It's distinct from other models in its ability to help you differentiate between desired and actual outcomes. It also makes stakeholders more actively involved in the planning process by making them model exactly what they want out of a project.

It relies on more pointed detail than similar models. Stakeholders generally need to lay out several specifics, including information related to the company's target population, how success will be identified, and a definitive timeline for every action and intervention planned. Again, virtually any organization — be it public, corporate, nonprofit, or anything else — can get a lot out of this strategy model.

Example of the Theory of Change

For the sake of this example, imagine a business that makes HR Payroll Software , but hasn‘t been doing too well as of late. Leadership at the company feels directionless. They think it’s time to buckle down and put some firm plans in motion, but right now, they have some big picture outcomes in mind for the company without a feel for how they're going to get done.

In this case, the business might benefit from leveraging the Theory of Change model. Let‘s say its ultimate goal is to expand its market share. Leadership would then consider the preconditions that would ultimately lead to that goal and why they’re relevant.

For instance, one of those preconditions might be tapping into a new customer base without alienating its current one. The company could make an assumption like, “We currently cater to mid-size businesses almost exclusively, and we lack the resources to expand up-market to enterprise-level prospects. We need to find a way to more effectively appeal to small businesses.”

Now, the company can start looking into the specific initiatives it can take to remedy its overarching problem. Let's say it only sells its product at a fixed price point that suits midsize businesses much more than smaller ones. So the company decides that it should leverage a tiered pricing structure that offers a limited suite of features at a price that small businesses and startups can afford.

The factors the company elects to use as reference points for the plan's success are customer retention and new user acquisition. Once those have been established, leadership would explain why the goals, plans, and metrics it has outlined make sense.

If you track the process I‘ve just plotted, you’ll see the Theory of Change in motion. It starts with a big-picture goal and works its way down to specific initiatives and ways to gauge their effectiveness.

4. Hoshin Planning

The Hoshin Planning model is a process that aims to reduce friction and inefficiency by promoting active and open communication throughout an organization. In this model, everyone within an organization—regardless of department or seniority—is made aware of the company's goals.

Hoshin Planning rests on the notion that thorough communication creates cohesion, but that takes more than contributions from leadership. This model requires that results from every level be shared with management.

The ideal outcomes set according to this model are also conceived of by committee to a certain extent. Hoshin Planning involves management hearing and considering feedback from subordinates to come up with reasonable, realistic, and mutually understood goals.

The model is typically partitioned into seven steps:

• establishing a vision
• developing breakthrough objectives
• developing annual objectives
• deploying annual objectives
• implementing annual objectives
• conducting monthly and quarterly reviews
• conducting an annual review.

Note: The first three steps are referred to as the “catchball process.” It's where company leadership sets goals and establishes strategic plans to send down the food chain for feedback and new ideas. That stage is what really separates Hoshin Planning from other models.

Example of Hoshin Planning

For this example, let‘s imagine a company that manufactures commercial screen printing machines. The business has seen success with smaller-scale, retail printing operations, but realizes that selling almost exclusively to that market won’t make for long-term, sustainable growth.

Leadership at the company decides that it's interested in making an aggressive push to move up-market towards larger enterprise companies. However, before they can establish that vision, they want to ensure that the entire company is willing and able to work with them to reach those goals.

Once they‘ve set a tentative vision, they begin to establish more concrete objectives and send them down the management hierarchy. One of the most pressing activities they’re interested in pursuing is a near-comprehensive product redesign to make their machines better suited for higher volume orders.

They communicate those goals throughout the organization and ask for feedback along the way. After the product team hears their ideal plans, it relays that the product overhaul that leadership is looking into isn‘t viable within the timeframe they’ve provided. Leadership hears this and adjusts their expectations before doling out any sort of demands for the redesign.

Once both parties agree on a feasible timeline, they begin to set more definitive objectives that suit both the company‘s ambitions and the product team’s capabilities.

Strategic Plan Example

The strategic plan above is for a fictitious shoe company and outlines the way in which it'll differentiate itself within the market. It effectively uses each step in the strategic planning model framework and is written in a way to give a brief overview of how the company will enter the market and sustain longevity.

If you're working on a strategic planning model for an existing business, your plan will look similar, but have a few tweaks to the goals, including more goals about improving sales and processes. When drafting the action plan and evaluation parts of the plan, be sure to think tactically about the actions that will help you achieve the goals, and use your mission, vision, and values to guide the choices you make.

Strategic Planning Tools

There are additional resources you can use to support whatever strategic planning model you put in place. Here are some of those:

1. SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool and acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It's used to identify each of these elements in relation to your business.

This strategic planning tool allows you to determine new opportunities and which areas of your business need improvement. You'll also identify any factors or threats that might negatively impact your business or success.

2. Porter's Five Forces

Use Porter‘s Five Forces as a strategic planning tool to identify the economic forces that impact your industry and determine your business’ competitive position. The five forces include:

• Competition in the industry
• Potential of new entrants into the industry
• Power of suppliers
• Power of customers
• Threat of substitute products

To learn more, check out this comprehensive guide to using Porter's Five Forces .

3. Visioning

Visioning is a goal-setting strategy used in strategic planning. It helps your organization develop a vision for the future and the outcomes you'd like to achieve.

Once you reflect on the goals you‘d like to reach within the next five years or more, you and your team can identify the steps you need to take to get where you’d like to be. From there, you can create your strategic plan.

4. PESTLE Analysis

The PESTLE analysis is another strategic planning tool you can use. It stands for:

• P: Political
• E: Economic
• T: Technological
• E: Environmental

Each of these elements allow an organization to take stock of the business environment they're operating in, which helps them develop a strategy for success. Use a PESTLE Analysis template to help you get started.

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14 Exceptionally Useful Tools for Writing a Business Plan

Alyssa Gregory is an entrepreneur, writer, and marketer with 20 years of experience in the business world. She is the founder of the Small Business Bonfire, a community for entrepreneurs, and has authored more than 2,500 articles for The Balance and other popular small business websites.

Writing a business plan is a necessary part of starting a business, yet many small business owners struggle with the process. Not only can it be time-consuming and stressful to conduct the necessary research and gather the required materials, but it can also be difficult to know exactly what format your business plan should be in and what information it should include.

To help you streamline the process, here are 14 tools you can use to get started with your business plan.

Online Tools

This set of online tools walks you through each section of a traditional business plan in a step-by-step format.

• SBA's Build Your Business Plan Tool - The SBA's Business Plan Tool is a step-by-step guide that allows you to save your progress and come back to it for up to six months.
• Enloop - With this tool, you add in your information, and Enloop automatically writes your plan based on your details.
• LivePlan - LivePlan is an online service that simplifies the business planning process while providing assistance with budgeting, forecasting, and performance tracking.
• RocketLawyer - Business owners can create a customized, printable business plan with RocketLawyer by following an online step-by-step interview process.
• StratPad - StratPad's step-by-step approach and cloud-based business planning software help small business owners create a plan in less than a day.

Business Plan Tutorials

These five business planning how-to documents will help you get your business plan started.

• How to Write a Simple Business Plan - An easy 8-step business plan tutorial that results in a streamlined and brief business plan that you can use as-is or as a starting point for a more traditional business plan.
• SBA's Video Business Planning Tutorial - This series of video tutorials includes nine videos that are about 2-10 minutes each. You can pick and choose where to start or run through them in the original order.
• Entrepreneur's Elements of a Business Plan - An in-depth review of the seven essential sections of a business plan: what you should include, what you shouldn't include, how to work the numbers and additional resources you can turn to for help.
• Comprehensive Business Plan Outline - A business plan outline that walks you through each section of a basic business plan, including an overview of what should be included, examples and tips for writing each section of your business plan effectively.
• Shopify's Ultimate Guide to Business Plans - This comprehensive 9-chapter business plan guide covers every important aspect of writing a business plan.

Business Plan Templates

If you prefer more of a "fill-in-the-blank" format to get your business plan started, one of these templates may be exactly what you need.

• SCORE Business Planning Templates - A collection of business planning templates that are for both new and established businesses.
• BPlans' Business Plan Template - A downloadable template that gives you a clear idea of what a traditional business plan should look like. (Free sign-up is required to download.)
• The $100 Startup One-Page Business Plan - Download and fill in the blanks with this one-page business plan template.
• Office Depot's Business Plan Templates - These templates include the most important elements of a business plan that demonstrate how the nature of a business and the target audience for the plan impact the content.

Keep in mind that the best business plans are those that are updated and regularly used as a way to keep your business on track. Whichever tool you use, make it a goal to create a plan that you can use as an action document and can grow with your business over time.

7 Best Business Plan Software for Startups in 2024

• Resources for Planning a Business
• Best Business Plan Software

Last Updated: January 23, 2024 By TRUiC Team

Launching a new startup is an exciting yet challenging endeavor. Crafting a comprehensive business plan is a critical first step for any founder to outline their vision, objectives, and strategy. It acts as a roadmap to help guide important decisions and next steps as a company grows.

With so many options available, finding the right business planning tool can be daunting. The best software should be affordable, user-friendly, and offer a robust set of features to aid in financial modeling, strategic planning, and more.

In this review, we'll explore some of the top business plan software solutions designed specifically for entrepreneurs. We'll compare capabilities, ease of use, templates and resources, integrations, pricing, and more. Whether you’re looking to create an investor-ready plan or simply organize your strategy, choosing the right tool can help you get started on the right foot.

Best Business Plan Software for Startups: LivePlan

Top Business Plan Software Solutions

In this review, we'll look at seven of the best business plan software platforms — discussing their pros, cons, features, pricing, and more — so you can decide which one is right for your startup.

Best Business Plan Software for Startups 2024:

• LivePlan - Best Overall
• Bizplan - Easiest to Use
• Enloop - Best Automation Features
• PlanGuru - Best Financial Forecasting
• IdeaBuddy - Best for Idea Validation
• iPlanner - Best for Nonprofits
• Wise Business Plans - Best Professional Services

The following tools all have their own great features. Based on its affordable pricing and usability, LivePlan is our top business plan software choice for startups.

Try LivePlan today or continue reading to explore your options!

Best Business Plan Software: LivePlan

LivePlan is the overall best business plan tool, offering a large number of features at an affordable price.

Visit LivePlan

1. LivePlan - $15/month to $30/month

We love LivePlan overall because it offers great value at an affordable cost. The software lets you quickly create a business plan from anywhere in the world using what is arguably the best business plan software available on the market. It does everything better than its competition and costs way less.

What’s more, the online “cloud-based” platform is easy to use and you are under no contract or obligation to keep paying for the service. Even better, if you decide to stop service for whatever reason, Palo Alto Software, the makers of LivePlan, will keep your account active and data preserved for at least a year should you decide to reactivate your account later.

• Create an unlimited number of business plans
• A forecast feature for those less mathematically inclined. Plug in data, and it will generate charts, graphs, figures, and even the profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements
• 500+ business plan templates spanning all major industries
• Real-time financial data tracking
• Performance dashboards track sales and budgeting
• Create one-page pitch plans for potential investors
• Milestone scheduling feature — Some people will use it when working with others on their plan; it will let you assign milestones to people.
• Low-cost annual plans
• Affordable pay-as-you-go plans
• No cancellation fees
• Data saved for 12-months, even after cancellation
• Clean, modern platform
• Cloud-based; works on any business machine (Linus, Windows, Mac)
• Integrates with Quickbooks and Xero to import your data easily
• Knowledgeable customer support to get help with your plan
• No valuation capabilities
• Templates built on Palo Alto Software’s earlier software Business Plan Pro require some modifications to be used on LivePlan

Insider Information

Talking to the nice people at LivePlan we learned some inside information that we wanted to share with our readers.

Here's what we learned:

• LivePlan has been used by contestants on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank" to win over angel investors to help them get their ideas and businesses funded.
• Accountants use LivePlan as an added-value service to sell to their clients.
• Businesses continue using LivePlan because of a feature called “Dashboard” which lets you manually enter your actuals or pull actuals from Quickbooks online to do comparative forecasting and analysis.
• LivePlan helps with business continuity planning (BCP).
• LivePlan executives use LivePlan to make important business decisions.
• "Dashboard" does profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet reports and lets you compare and contrast your actuals from your forecasts to be able to show to investors.
• LivePlan lets you create business plans in 1/5th the time it takes using templates.

Customer Reviews

LivePlan receives great feedback from customers. LivePlan reviews average 4.5 stars out of 5 on GetApp. LivePlan is an easy company for us to recommend for the best business plan software.

2. Bizplan - $29/month, $249/year, $349 lifetime

Bizplan rates high on our list because they offer a lifetime plan that gets you "forever access" to their business plan software. As an added bonus, you also receive free access to Startup Courses and LaunchRock, a landing page builder.

• Easy, "fill-in-the-blanks" plan builder
• Publish your business plan online
• Unlimited business plans
• Bizplan takes care of the financials
• Cloud-based (use any browser on any computer)
• Options to add more graphics and photos
• Low-cost yearly plans
• Create unlimited business plans
• Xero to import your data easily
• Excellent and responsive customer support (email/chat/phone)
• Free access to Startup.com and LaunchRock.com
• Discount at Fundable.com (connect with lenders and investors)
• Can't export in Word
• Doesn't currently integrate with QuickBooks
• No free trial
• No third-party app integrations

Talking with BizPlan insiders, we learned that the premise behind BizPlan is to help startups easily create professional business plans to give them a leg-up with lenders and investors.

Here's what else we learned:

• BizPlan's does all your financial calculations for you.
• BizPlan strives to be an all-in-one solution for Startups needing funding.
• BizPlan is constantly making improvements to its software.

BizPlan receives great feedback from customers. BizPlan reviews average 4.4 stars out of 5 on GetApp. Still a relatively new option, BizPlan already has over 30,000 satisfied customers. As their platform grows, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them integrate even more valuable features. Keep a close eye on this one.

3. Enloop - Free to $39.95/month

If you’re looking to try before you buy, Enloop is a strong choice as one of the only business planning software tools with a free trial.

• User-friendly platform
• Compare your financials against your industry's performance
• Bank ready financial statements (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash flow)
• Lets multiple team members work on a business plan
• 36-Month detailed financial reports
• Sync date and text into your business plan
• Real-time performance rating
• Generated business plan Pass/Fail report
• Multiple currency formatting
• Seven-day free trial (no credit card required)
• Advanced financial ratios
• Financial projections
• Video tutorials to help you with the writing process
• No phone or chat support, just a "contact us" form.
• Three business plan limit per account
• Doesn't integrate with QuickBooks or Xero
• No financial forecasts beyond 36-months
• No 30-day money-back guarantee

We learned that the premise behind Enloop is to make business planning easier for entrepreneurs. Enloop achieves this by making software simple to navigate through and takes risks off the table with their no credit card needed seven-day free trial. Their business plan creation software offers financial forecasting features for up to 36 months.

• Enloop utilizes 16 financial ratios to get your business ready for investors.
• Enloop offers some sample business plans that are easy to modify.
• Enloop's performance score increases as you create your detailed plan.
• A new business or small businesses benefit the most from Enloop's solutions.

Enloop receives fair feedback from customers. Enloop's reviews average 3 stars out of 5 on PCMag. Enloop's main complaint is its lack of instructional text for writing mission statements and other key sections. What they rank high on is their efficiency and the speed at which the software lets you write a business plan.

Even beyond the free version, Enloop Basic is just $9.95/month ($6/month when paid annually), so they’re one of the least expensive tools for writing a business plan.

4. PlanGuru - $99/month to $299/month

PlanGuru is a good option if you’re looking for considerably more robust software that offers quite a bit more. The most notable feature we like is the valuation tool, only present on the desktop version of the software. PlanGuru lets you calculate the valuation of your business using three different methods. No other business plan software offers this that we know of.

PlanGuru also offers budgeting, forecasting, and performance tools to help you put together a business plan. In the main, PlanGuru allows you to get a custom-tailored three financial statement budget model up and running out of QuickBooks or Xero in a matter of minutes. PlanGuru's business plan writing software takes you through a setup process where it asks you questions such as:

• What's the first month of your fiscal year?
• How many historical years do you want to import?

And, once you answer these questions, PlanGuru then generates a model for you that you can then populate with your historical data if you have it. Then you can go through PlanGuru's 20+ projection methods.

Some financial data projection methods include:

• Expenses, like payroll, etc.
• Balance sheet items, like accounts receivable, accounts payable, crude expenses, prepaid expenses, loans, etc.

These are only a few of the features the business plan software offers. Here are some more.

• Budgeting/Forecasting Software
• Analytics Service for Financial Performance & KPIs
• Valuation calculations (desktop software only)
• Desktop and cloud-based options
• Free 14-day trial and 30-day money-back guarantee
• Great customer support and knowledgeable sales staff
• Lower-cost yearly plans offered
• Advanced financial calculations
• Business valuation calculations
• No contracts
• Integrates with QuickBooks and Xero
• Costlier than LivePlan and most other business plan software options
• Additional cost per user can add up quickly

The great thing about PlanGuru is that the only thing you have to worry about is the income statement and balance sheet projections because the cash flow statement is automatically generated.

Then once you have the cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet in place, you can then lock down the budget.

• PlanGuru's desktop version has three different types of valuation methods that calculate the worth of your business.
• PlanGuru has some really nice reporting tools that pull together your financial statements into table formats, say, for the bank, line-by-line.
• PlanGuru also has some nice charts, graphs, scorecards, and some easily digestible reports that can help you visualize how your company is performing.
• Exports to Excel, PDF, and Word documents --and, there's even a tool that lets you create customized reports.
• You can print your plan off too to show partners, lenders, and investors.
• PlanGuru now offers a cloud-based version of its software, though it will take some time to catch up to the rich features offered by the current desktop software version.
• With PlanGuru you also get free updates, bug fixes, and new releases as they become available.

Important Note: These tools are important because investors may want to see not only historical performance but also projections.

5. IdeaBuddy - Free to $35/month

IdeaBuddy makes our list because of what's behind their approach. IdeaBuddy focuses on helping entrepreneurs develop their idea first, then share it, and then refine it into a plan. If you have a business idea and don't know what to do next, IdeaBuddy could be what you're looking for in a business plan software.

• Single-page business plan pitch (Idea plan)
• Clean modern design platform combined with great financial tools
• Marketing plan for selling and promoting your products
• Market overview plan where you create targeted customer profiles, identify your competition and calculate the market potential
• Business plan creation that includes forecasting performance and cash flow projections
• A proprietary algorithm calculates a final score for your idea providing recommendations for improvement after you complete "Story Mode"
• Idea Journal, that is an internal business plan for you to show potential investors
• A lifetime plan costs only $178
• Great for developing ideas
• Great for doing market research
• Pay-as-you-go plans offered
• Email-only customer service
• Software lag time issues
• Fewer software options than most other small business options

IdeaBuddy has some great features that are fantastic from idea conceptualization down to cost projections and the laying out of steps to take to start a business. We would have liked, however, to been given more KPIs that would notify us of tasks, help with idea validation, and help us measure other objectives to better monitor the health of our business. Another thing lacking was the design of the finished plan--it contained some noticeable structural issues.

IdeaBuddy has received some outstanding customer reviews on GetApp. IdeaBuddy has earned a 4.6-star rating out of 5 possible stars.

6. iPlanner - Starts at $55/year

iPlanner is a comprehensive business plan software that has been aiding entrepreneurs since 2007, providing a robust framework for developing business plans, models, and financial forecasts online.

• Unlimited Team Members & Collaboration
• A La Carte Pricing Model vs Packages
• Discounts for Serial Entrepreneurs & Business Coaches
• Solid amount of industry knowledge and experience.
• They've got two trademarked business planning services, Startup Framework™ and Strategy Designer™
• All of their business planning packages allow you to have unlimited collaborators and assign people three different roles: Project Owners, Advisors, and Viewers.
•  Their Startup Framework software has a business modeling section where you can design a business model canvas and strategize as much as you need before diving into your plan.
• Doesn't have a month-to-month option for either of their services. Their Strategy Designer is payable only annually, while their Startup Framework is available for 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month payments.
• They don't offer refunds
•  Their website is pretty old school and tough to navigate.
•  Unlike other business planning software, iPlanner doesn't offer a free version or trial. However, you can take a tour of their Startup Framework software or view a demo of the Strategy Designer to get a feel for them.

iPlanner's Business Planning Software

If a simple framework is all you're looking for, iPlanner can help you out. They don't have many bells and whistles, but at these price points, they offer a good value for nonprofits and corporations.

7. Wise Business Plans - Pricing by Request

Wise business plans website is a little confusing to navigate, and pricing is by request only, which can get frustrating. They do have a lot of options for different kinds of business plans for various types of business types, which makes them versatile. They also have business building and funding options as well. And, if you wish to establish business credit, they offer net-30 accounts that get reported to Equifax business.

• Claim to be the only business plan company to write for Fortune 100 and 500 companies
• Business formation services
• Business license searches
• EIN services
• Digital marketing services
• Business website design and branding
• Has a lot of helpful information
• Helpful options for forming your business
• Options to help after you start your business
• Helps small businesses establish business credit
• Not an actual business plan software
• Expensive by comparison
• Website is difficult to navigate
• Pricing is by request only
• Limited products and features
• Turnaround is one month
• Requires some work on your end

Business Plan Software Pros and Cons

• By using business plan software providers, you’ll be able to create a solid outline for your business. Although some of the options above are better than others, each will walk you through from start to finish.
• No matter how you look at it, business plan software is cost-effective. As long as you actually use the tool, you’ll generate significantly more value than you’re spending on monthly subscription fees.
• If you spend the time to create a solid plan, you’re much more likely to hold yourself accountable. Think of planning software like an accountability buddy for entrepreneurship.
• Your business plan tool will help set realistic financial goals, and most can also keep your bottom line in check by integrating your accounting software.
• Business planning software enables you to collaborate with partners, mentors and investors.
• Some of the business plan tools don’t offer support and can have slightly buggy features. That said, if you’re serious about writing a solid plan, go with a tool that’s constantly updated and well made.
• Although some business plan tools have a collaboration feature, none of them can review it when you’re done. All business planning tools lack a human touch.

How to Choose the Right Business Plan Software

With the array of business planning tools available, it can be daunting to select the right one for your needs. Here are some tips for choosing a business plan software solution:

• Consider your skill level – Opt for software like a wizard-guided template if you are less experienced in writing plans. Choose more advanced software with greater flexibility once you know what you are doing. Look for drag-and-drop tools to easily organize sections.
• Determine your budget – Prices range from free to several hundred dollars. Know how much you can spend before shopping.
• Compare features – Look for software with the specific tools you need, like financial projections, sample text, customizable templates, and more.
• Evaluate the financial tool capabilities – The software should provide extensive financial tools like forecasting, modeling, projections, and dashboards to streamline financial planning.
• Check reviews and ratings – Get feedback from other users about their experience with the software. High reviews indicate easier, more user-friendly software.

Which Is the Best Business Plan Software?

You know the unique requirements of your startup better than we do. These are all quality services that offer business planning software tools for entrepreneurs like you. Feel free to read over our full reviews if you’d like to know more about any of them or even visit the websites directly.

In general, we do prefer LivePlan because they have a huge library of business plan templates, and we love their convenient dashboard. They're the planning software that is most likely to help you via customer support, continue updating their tool, and figure out ways to make your business experience better. Enjoy!

What is the purpose of a business plan?

The purpose of a business plan is to provide a structured outline and roadmap for a business's goals, strategies, and operations. It serves as a guide for decision-making, resource allocation, and management. 

Furthermore, it can be a crucial tool for attracting investors, securing loans, and ensuring that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the business's direction and objectives.

What does business plan software do?

Business plan software assists entrepreneurs and businesses in creating, organizing, and refining their business plans. It provides tools, templates, and guidance to streamline the planning process. 

Features often include financial forecasting, market analysis, visual aids like charts and graphs, collaboration capabilities, and even integration with other business tools. This software aims to simplify the task of creating a thorough and professional business plan.

How do you write a business plan?

To write a business plan, start by writing an executive summary that provides an overview of your business idea, products/services, market opportunity, and projected growth. Outline your company description, industry analysis, target customers, competitive advantage, marketing and sales plans, operations, management team, and financial projections.

How long should a business plan be?

The length can vary based on the complexity of the business, its stage, and its intended audience. In general, it might range from 15-50 pages. However, the key is to ensure that the plan is comprehensive yet concise. 

For many situations, especially when seeking investment, a more detailed one is preferable. Yet, for internal purposes or for businesses at very early stages, a shorter, more concise plan might suffice.

Are there business plan templates on Word?

Yes, Microsoft Word has business plan templates you can download and customize. The templates provide section headings, instructions, sample text, and tables to input your specific business information.

What is Palo Alto Software?

Palo Alto Software is a company that's been around since the late 1980s. They created business management software for startups and existing businesses. The software has since been updated and rebranded as LivePlan and today happens to be one of the most sought-after business plan software available in the marketplace.

Individual Business Plan Reviews

Featured articles.

What Is a Business Plan?

Lean Startup Business Plan Guide

How to Write a Business Plan

Strategic Planning Tools for 2024

What is strategic planning, what are the benefits of strategic planning, types of strategic planning tools, which strategic planning method is right for your business, charting your course.

Ever feel like your small business is navigating a never-ending maze of decisions, deadlines, and daily demands? You're not alone. Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) struggle with many issues, like being short-staffed, having limited resources, and more. In this environment, making the right decisions and keeping things running can seem like monumental tasks.

But they don't have to be. Strategic planning can help you conquer this chaos. It's not a magic wand, but it's a structured step-by-step process that enables you to define your vision, set achievable goals, and chart a course for growth.

Strategic planning is the process of laying out a clear path for your business. It's about defining what you want to achieve, how you'll get there, and what steps you need to take along the way. Think of it as a map that guides you from where you are now to where you want to be.

SMBs often grapple with many challenges, including limited resources and fierce competition. Strategic planning is the antidote to these challenges. It's not just a theoretical exercise but a practical solution that allows you to identify, prioritize, and tackle the hurdles obstructing your path to success.

Strategic planning can unlock tangible benefits for your business by removing the obstacle of uncertainty and opening up a path to smoother, more efficient growth . Here are just a few of the benefits:

Sharper focus and increased clarity : By defining your core values, long-term goals, and target audience, you give everyone in your organization a shared understanding of where you're heading.

Improved decision-making: Strategic planning facilitates important big-picture conversations among leadership about capabilities, market forces, and scenarios. This aligns everyone on where they should be heading in the future.

Increased productivity: Strategic planning provides a roadmap for action, streamlining your workflow and maximizing your team's potential.

Better motivation and improved morale: By creating a shared vision and purpose, you give your team a reason to feel invested in the business's success, leading to a more engaged and productive workforce .

Greater adaptability: Strategic planning equips you with the tools to anticipate change and adapt quickly. By identifying potential risks and opportunities early on, you can develop contingency plans and adjust your course as needed.

There are many tools for strategic planning, each offering a unique perspective and approach. These tools serve as the strategic gears that set your business in motion toward its envisioned future.

According to Gartner, “CIOs should use strategic principles to provide a framework that ensures all decisions made when creating and executing strategy are aligned with the enterprise's objectives, goals, and strategies.” [1]

Strategic principles come first, and they guide how you use strategic planning frameworks. Here are some common strategic planning tools, along with strategic plan examples.

SWOT analysis

In SWOT analysis, strategic planning teams brainstorm to come up with several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for their business and list those items in four quadrants.

Teams identify connections between the quadrants—especially connections between strengths and opportunities—to inform their strategy. The thing about SWOT analysis is that you can use it for annual strategic planning or everyday decision-making. Adapt SWOT analysis to a rapidly evolving market by using it at the individual project level.

For example, say your office cleaning service is considering expanding. Using SWOT, you could come up with the following assessment:

Strength: Efficient, established cleaning teams

Weakness: Limited client base

Opportunity: Expand services to home cleaning

Threat: Market is nearly saturated with existing home cleaning services

In this case, the business could match its strength to the opportunity to expand and leverage its experienced teams to make headway in an already competitive market.

OKRs work by establishing a clearly defined goal (the objective ) along with a handful of key results —that is, measurable checkpoints that are designed to achieve the target goal. Here is how it works:

Define your objective: Articulate a clear and inspiring goal that captures your team's aspirations.

Identify key results: Establish three to five measurable outcomes that, when achieved, will demonstrate meaningful progress toward your objective.

Track and adapt: Regularly assess your progress for each key result, typically on a quarterly or monthly basis.

The key to OKRs is their adaptability. They empower you to respond to shifts in market conditions, seize emerging opportunities, and pivot strategies when needed. An example is adapting to the Great Resignation:

Original objective: Achieve a 95% employee retention rate

By adjusting key results, the company can tackle the challenges of the Great Resignation head-on, fostering a more engaged and resilient workforce.

PEST analysis

With PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological) analysis, strategic planning teams weigh socioeconomic factors into their business forecasting . PEST analysis can also include legal and environmental factors (PESTLE analysis). For PEST analysis to be used effectively, it helps to have representatives on the strategic planning team with a working knowledge of the component factors.

PEST analysis is somewhat complex due to the breadth and depth of the factors it accounts for. On one hand, this necessitates an experienced strategic planning team to use PEST analysis effectively. On the other hand, this makes PEST adaptable to changing conditions. Think of each of the factors that make up PEST as levers. When the market changes, you may have to pull one or more of those levers to adjust your planning.

Here is an example of PESTLE analysis on the rise of electric vehicles:

Political: Government incentives for EV adoption

Economic: Fluctuations in oil prices

Social: Growing awareness of climate change

Technological: Advancements in battery technology

Legal: Intellectual property rights for battery technology

Environmental: Impact of lithium mining on natural resources

Balanced scorecard

Balanced scorecard is a strategic planning model designed to incorporate both financial and non-financial (customer, internal, innovation) measures.

To use the balanced scorecard, strategic planning teams seek to answer the following four questions:

How do customers see us?

What must we excel at?

Can we continue to improve and create value?

How do we look to shareholders?

Teams should answer those questions in four quadrants, linking them together where possible (similar to SWOT analysis), then translate those answers into operational strategy , individual performance goals , and business planning.

Here is an example of balancing financial goals with non-financial measures using this model for a small independent bookstore:

Customer perspective: Achieve a 95% positive rating on online review platforms.

Internal process perspective: Train staff on hosting author talks and literary workshops to create engaging experiences.

Growth and learning perspective: Invest in staff development by sponsoring book club memberships and industry conferences.

Financial perspective: Increase revenue year-over-year by 5% through diversified income streams from events and merchandise.

Hoshin planning

Hoshin planning guides your organization toward long-term goals through a collaborative, step-by-step process. Its core lies in a top-down vision, where leadership sets ambitious company-wide objectives. These goals then cascade down through the organization, transforming them into smaller, achievable objectives customized for each department and team.

Through open dialogue and feedback, every level of the organization participates, fostering understanding, buy-in, and a shared sense of ownership. Visual management tools, like strategic boards, become the canvas upon which progress is tracked, keeping everyone on the same page and celebrating victories along the way.

Here's an example of Hoshin planning in a manufacturing company that wants to increase production by 20%:

This vision cascades down to departments and goals like reducing setup time by 10% and minimizing waste by 5%, which become part of it.

Each department then creates action plans to achieve its objectives.

Regular meetings facilitate communication, address roadblocks, and ensure alignment.

Progress is visualized on Hoshin boards, motivating teams and celebrating success.

Throughout the process, the company learns from setbacks and adapts its strategies for continuous improvement.

Selecting the ideal strategic planning techniques requires considering your unique needs and goals. While each tool offers valuable insights, its strengths and complexities cater to different business types. Here's a quick guide to finding the best match:

Common mistakes to avoid during strategic planning

Once you choose a strategic planning method, make sure to steer clear of these pitfalls:

Going solo: Strategic planning thrives on collaboration , with perspectives from different levels of the organization. According to Gartner, CIOs should work with key stakeholders to develop strategic principles to provide a shared view of business goals. [1]

Vagueness: Set clear, measurable goals with concrete timelines and actionable steps.

Data blindness: Back up your decisions with data and insights to avoid guesswork and ensure evidence-based planning.

Ignoring reality: Be realistic about your resources, capabilities, and market conditions. Don't set yourself up for failure with unrealistic goals.

Static vision: The world is constantly changing. Be flexible and adaptable, revisiting and adjusting your plan as needed.

Navigating the ever-changing business landscape doesn't have to be a guessing game. By exploring the diverse world of strategic planning processes, you can identify the perfect map for your specific journey. From the adaptable flexibility of OKRs to the comprehensive foresight of PESTLE analysis, there's a tool perfectly suited to help you achieve your vision.

Now it's your turn to:

Evaluate your business context and goals to identify the tool that best fits your size, stage, and industry context.

Involve key stakeholders , gather diverse perspectives, and leverage the collective intelligence of your team.

Regularly revisit and adapt your strategic approach and embrace the mindset of continuous improvement.

In the meantime, here are some resources that will help you plan your business's future:

Strategic Planning Software

How to Balance Short-Term Execution and Long-Term Strategy

How To Track Project Progress Effectively in 4 Easy Steps

Use Strategic Principles to Provide Direction for Strategic Planning and Execution , Gartner

Home > Business > Business Startup

• 5 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2023 for Your Small Business

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

We are committed to sharing unbiased reviews. Some of the links on our site are from our partners who compensate us. Read our editorial guidelines and advertising disclosure .

A business plan can do a lot for your business. It can help you secure investors or other funding. It can give your company direction. It can keep your finances healthy. But, if we’re being honest, it can also be a pain to write.

Luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch or go it alone. Business plan software and services can help you craft a professional business plan, like our top choice LivePlan , which provides templates, guidance, and more.

You’ve got quite a few choices for business plan help, so we’re here to help you narrow things down. Let’s talk about the best business plan tools out there.

• LivePlan : Best overall
• BizPlanBuilder : Most user-friendly
• Wise Business Plans : Best professional service
• Business Sorter : Best for internal plans
• GoSmallBiz.com : Most extra features
• Honorable mentions

Business plan software 101

The takeaway, business plan software faq, compare the best business plan software.

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LivePlan: Best overall business plan software

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. *With annual billing

LivePlan has been our favorite business plan software for a while now, despite the stiff competition.

There’s a lot to like about LivePlan. It has pretty much all the features you could want from your business plan software. LivePlan gives you step-by-step instructions for writing your plan, helps you create financial reports, lets you compare your business’s actual financials to your plan’s goals, and much more. And if you ever need inspiration, it includes hundreds of sample business plans that can guide your writing.

LivePlan software pricing

But the best part? You get all that (and more) at a very competitive price. (You can choose from annual, six-month, or monthly billing.) While LivePlan isn’t quite the cheapest business plan builder out there, it’s not too far off either. And if comes with a 60-day money back guarantee. So there’s no risk in trying LivePlan out for yourself.

With a great balance of features and cost, LivePlan offers the best business plan solution for most businesses.

BizPlanBuilder: Most user-friendly

Need something easy to use? BizPlanBuilder fits the bill.

BizPlanBuilder doesn’t have a flashy, modern user interface―but it does have a very clear, intuitive one. You’ll be able to see your plan’s overall structure at a glance, so you can quickly navigate from your title page to your market trend section to that paragraph on your core values. And as you write, you’ll use a text editor that looks a whole lot like the word processing programs you’re already familiar with.

BizPlanBuilder software pricing

Data effective 3/13/23. At publishing time, amounts, rates, and requirements are current but are subject to change. Offers may not be available in all areas.

BizPlanBuilder also offers lots of helpful guidance for actually writing your plan. It gives you pre-written text, in which you just have to fill in relevant details. It offers explanations for what information you need to include in each section of your plan and way. It even gives you helpful tips from experts, so you’ll have all the information you need to plan like a pro.

So if you want planning software with almost no learning curve, you’ll like BizPlanBuilder.

Wise Business Plans: Best professional service

• Custom quote

Unlike all the other companies on this list, Wise Business Plans doesn’t offer software. Instead, it offers professional business plan writing services―meaning someone does all the hard work for you.

Now, you might think that sounds expensive―and you’re probably right (you have to request a custom quote for your plan). But there’s a lot to be said for expertise, and Wise Business Plans has plenty of that. Your business plan will get written by an experienced writer (with an MBA, no less). They’ll get information from you, do their own research, and then write your plan. You get one free revision, and you can always pay for more.  

Wise Business Plans service pricing

Your end result will be a polished, entirely original business plan. (You can even get printed copies.) And best of all, you won’t have to spend your precious time working on the plan yourself. Wise Business Plans takes care of all the hard parts, and makes your business look good while doing it. Sounds like a service worth paying for, right?

Put simply, if you want the most professional business plan possible, we recommend using Wise Business Plans’s writing service.

Business Sorter: Best for internal plans

Many businesses need plans to show to people outside the company (to get financing, for example). But what if you just need a plan for internal use? In that case, we suggest Business Sorter.

Business Sorter uses a unique card-based method to help you craft the perfect business plan. (You can watch a demo video to see how it works.) You’ll plan some of the usual things, like finances and marketing. But Business Sorter also lets you make plans for specific teams and team members. It also emphasizes more internal matters, like operations, that might get overlooked in a business plan for outsiders.

Business Sorter software pricing

After you’ve made your business plan, Business Sorter also helps you stay accountable to it. You can create tasks, give them deadlines, and assign them to team members―giving you basic project management tools to make sure your business plans become business actions. (Oh, and did we mention that Business Sorter has the lowest starting prices of any software on this list?)

It all adds up to a business plan software that works great for internal planning.

GoSmallBiz: Most extra features

Want to get way more than just business planning software? Then you probably want GoSmallBiz.

See, GoSmallBiz offers business plan software as part of its service―but it’s just one part of a much bigger whole. You also get everything from discounts on legal services to a website builder to a CRM (customer relationship manager) to business document templates. And more. In other words, you get just about everything you need to get your startup off the ground.

GoSmallBiz software pricing

Don’t worry though―you still get all the business planning help you need. GoSmallBiz gives you business plan templates, step-by-step instructions, and the ability to create financial projections. And if you get stuck, GoSmallBiz will put you in touch with experts who can offer advice.

If you want business planning and much, much more, give GoSmallBiz a try.

• PlanGuru : Best financial forecasting
• EnLoop : Cheapest tool for startups

We recommend the software above for most business planning needs. Some businesses, though, might be interested in these more specialized planning software.

Honorable mention software pricing

Planguru: best financial forecasting features.

PlanGuru is pretty pricey compared to our other picks, but you might find its forecasting features worth paying for. It has more forecasting methods than other software (over 20) plus it lets you forecast up to 10 years.

EnLoop: Cheapest tool for startups

EnLoop doesn’t have our favorite features or interface, but it does have really, really low pricing plus a seven-day free trial. It's the most affordable software for startup business planning and still provides all the essential features like financial analysis, team collaboration, charting, and more.

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. * With annual billing

Several of our previous favorite planning software, including BusinessPlanPro and StratPad, seem to have gone out of business.

A business plan is a written, living document that tells the story of your business and what you plan to do with it. It serves as the source of truth for you—the business owner—as well as potential partners, employees, and investors, but it also serves as a roadmap of what you want your business to be.

Why you need a business plan

While some small-business owners don’t see the point of creating a formal business plan, it can have some concrete benefits for your business. For example, one 2016 study found that business owners with written plans are more successful than those that don’t. 1

Still too vague? Then let’s get specific.

If you ever seek business funding (from, say, banks, angel investors , or venture capitalists ), you’ll have to prove that your business deserves the money you want. A formal business plan―complete with financial data and projections―gives you a professional document you can use to make your case. (In fact, most potential investors will expect you to have a business plan ready.)

Even if you’re not seeking funding right now, a business plan can help your business. A formal plan can guide your business’s direction and decision making. It can keep your business accountable (by, for example, seeing if your business meets the financial projections you included). And a formal plan offers a great way to make sure your team stays on the same page.

What to include in your business plan

Not all business plans are created equal. To make a really useful business plan, you’ll want to include a number of elements:

• Basic information about your business
• Your products/services
• Market and industry analysis
• What makes your business competitive
• Strategies and upcoming plans
• Your team (and your team’s background)
• Current financial status
• Financial and market projections
• Executive summary

Of course, you can include more or fewer elements―whatever makes sense for your business. Just make sure your business plan is comprehensive (but not overwhelming).

How business plan software can help

With so many elements to include, business plan creation can take a while. Business plan software tries to speed things up.

Most business plan software will include prompts for each section. In some cases, you can just fill in your business’s specific information, and the software will write the text for you. In other cases, the software will give you specific guidance and examples, helping you write the text yourself.

Plus, business plan software can help you stay organized. You’ll usually get intuitive menus that let you quickly flip through sections. So rather than endlessly scrolling through a long document in a word processor, you can quickly find your way around your plan. Some software even lets you drag and drop sections to reorganize your plan.

Sounds way easier than just staring at a blank page and trying to start from scratch, right?

Choosing business plan software

To find the right business plan builder for your business, you’ll want to compare features. For example, would you rather write your own text, getting prompts and advice from your software? Or would you rather go with a fill-in-the-blank method?

Likewise, think about the elements you need. If your plan will have a heavy focus on finances, you’ll want to choose business plan software with robust financial projection features. If you care more about market and competitor analysis, look for software that can help with that research.

You may also want to find business plan software that integrates with your business accounting software . Some plan builders will import data from Xero, QuickBooks, etc. to quickly generate your financial data and projections.

And of course, you’ll want to compare prices. After all, you always want to end up with software that fits your business budget.

The right business plan software can make your life easier. With LivePlan ’s wide breadth of features and online learning tools, you can’t go wrong. Plus, BizPlanBuilder 's one-time pricing makes it easy to invest while Business Sorter has a low starting cost. And if you're business is looking to grow, GoSmallBiz and Wise Business Plans will scale with you.

But of course, different companies have different needs. So shop around until you find the software that’s best for you and your business.

Now that you've got a business plan, take a look at our checklist for starting a small business.  It can help you make sure you have everything else you need to get your startup off to a good start!

Related content

• 7 Steps to Build a Successful Project Management Sales Plan
• Best Project Management Software and Tools in 2023
• 4 Cost Management Techniques for Small Businesses

Creating a business plan can take anywhere from a couple hours to several weeks. Your timeline will depend on things like the elements you choose to include, whether you use software or hire a writing service, and how much research goes into your plan.

That said, much of the business plan software out there brags that it can help you create a fairly detailed plan in a few hours. So if you’re going the software route, that can help you set your expectations.

If you want to get the most out of your business plan, you should update it on a regular basis―at least annually. That way, you can continually refer to it to inform your company’s strategies and direction.  

At the very least, you should update your business plan before you start looking for a new round of funding (whether that’s with investors or lenders).

Thanks to business plan software, you can easily write your own business plan rather than pay someone to do it for you. And in most cases, software will cost you less than a professional business plan service.

There are some times you might want to go with a service though. If time is tight, you might find that it’s worth the cost of a service. Or if you’ve got big investor meetings on the horizon, you might want the expertise and polish that a professional service can offer.

Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether business plan software or a business plan service will work better for your company.

Methodology

We ranked business plan software and tools based on features, pricing and plans, and connections to project management and other services. The value of each plan and service, along with what it offers, was a big consideration in our rankings, and we looked to see if what was offered was useful to small businesses or just extra. The final thing we looked at was the ease of use of the software to see if it's too complex for small businesses.

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Sources 1. Harvard Business Review, “ Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed .” Accessed March 13, 2023.

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5 Best Business Plan Software in 2022

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When you’re starting a business, developing a strong business plan will be one of the first steps you take. Your business plan will cover everything from a detailed explanation of your products or services and pricing model to at least three years of financial projections—plus much more. Therefore, whether you’re not sure how to get started or you’re just looking to make the process easier, you may want to turn to business plan software for help.

In this guide, we'll break down five of the best business plan software options—discussing their pros, cons, features, pricing, and more—so you have all the information you need to decide which solution is right for your small business.

Looking for tools to help grow your business?

Tell us where you're at in your business journey, and we'll direct you to the experience that fits.

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The 5 best business plan software options

The right business plan software will make the process of writing your business plan much simpler. Like many business software solutions, however, there are a number of different business plan software options out there—each of which has a unique set of features, user experience, and price.

This being said, if you're looking for a place to start your search for the best business plan software, you can explore the five top options below:

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

1. LivePlan

Best overall business plan software.

If you want template-rich, modern-feeling business plan software, then LivePlan may be the right pick for you. LivePlan excels with their user interface, which feels updated and slick, and also offers intuitive, easy-to-use features and options.

Their step-by-step instruction will help you kick things off from the beginning, and you can take advantage of their online learning center to continue to gain business skills.

Affordable plans, including pay-as-you-go option

No long-term contracts or cancellation fee; 60-day money-back guarantee

Modern, intuitive interface; cloud-based, can be used on Mac, PC, as well as tablets

Ability to create unlimited plans in one account; over 500 customizable templates

Variety of business resources including video tutorials, step-by-step instruction, and general customer support

Limited integration options

Challenging to enter your own financial modeling projections

Can be difficult to learn

Ability to create an unlimited number of business plans on one account

More than 500 business plan templates spanning various industries

Integration with Xero and QuickBooks Online

Real-time tracking of financial data with accounting integrations

Ability to export your business plan to Word or PDF

Expert advice and step-by-step instruction included

Performance dashboards for tracking against budgets and sales goals

Ability to create and export a one-page pitch executive summary

Annual plan: $15 per month, billed every 12 months

Six-month plan: $18 per month, billed every six months

Pay-as-you-go plan: $20 per month, billed once every month

2. GoSmallBiz

Best for multiple business management tools in one platform.

Next on our list of the best business plan software options is GoSmallBiz, which is much more than just a business plan software. With GoSmallBiz, you have access to business continuity planning software with features that cover creating a roadmap, working through business and legal forms, building a website, and more.

In this way, GoSmallBiz is great for startups or newer businesses looking to access multiple business management tools through one platform.

Unlimited business consultation and extensive library of online resources

Multiple business tools in one software

Website consultation analysis and business assessment

Industry-specific business plan templates with emphasis on financial projections and statements

Expensive monthly cost compared to alternatives

Limited business plan features

Entire business plan can only be exported to Microsoft Word

Outdated interface

Industry-specific business plan templates with step-by-step building wizard

Ability to create financial statements and projections

Free website hosting and website builder

Customer relationship manager with integration with MailChimp

Digital marketing dashboard with social media and Google Analytics integrations

HR document builder

Corporate minutes writer

Business documents library

Business courses library

Unlimited business consultation

$39 per month, no contracts, free cancellation

Best for simple, fast business plan creation.

If you're looking for free business plan software, Enloop will be one of your closest options—they offer an all-inclusive seven-day free trial, no credit card required. Additionally, unlike some of the other options on our list, Enloop is strictly dedicated to business plan creation, including automated text writing, financial forecast comparisons, and a real-time performance score that tracks your progress.

This being said, if you'd prefer the most straightforward, fast, and simple way to write your business plan, Enloop will be a platform worth considering.

Simple and straightforward software, solely dedicated to business plan creation

Seven-day free trial

Automatic text generation available to streamline the writing process

Affordable plans with annual discount option

Limited additional educational resources

Only one template option

No integration options

Ability to create three business plans with customizable text, images, tables, charts, and over 100 currency symbols and formats

Includes automatic text generation for each plan section that you can then customize

Automatically generated financial statements

Includes financial performance comparison analysis (using three ratios with Detailed plan and 16 with Performance plan)

Real-time performance score to track your progress

Ability to invite users to edit (two with Detailed plan, five with Performance plan)

Pass/fail report and certificate to help you identify issues with your plan

Free plan: Seven-day free trial with no credit card required

Detailed plan: $19.95 per month or $11 per month, paid annually

Performance plan: $39.95 per month, or $24 per month, paid annually

Best for startups looking to acquire funding or find investors.

Part of the Startups.com suite, Bizplan gets top marks for their user interface—it’s intuitive, easy to use, and modern. You’ll work with a step-by-step business plan builder to get exactly what you’d like from your business plan. It may remind you of a modern website builder, since it has drag-and-drop tools to build templates.

Moreover, for one subscription fee, you have access to all of the tools in the Startups.com network, including self-guided courses, how-to guides, masterclass videos, and more. All in all, with a direct connection to Fundable, Bizplan is a top business plan software option for startups looking to acquire funding and find investors.

Subscription gives you access to all Startups.com tools

Lifetime access subscription option

User-friendly drag-and-drop business plan builder

Excellent educational resources

Connection to Fundable great for businesses looking for capital

No free trial

No templates based on industry

No mobile access

Drag-and-drop templates for business plan building

Financial command center to track all business financials in one place

Unlimited account collaborators

Ability to share business plan online with investors

Online resources including self-guided courses, masterclass videos, how-to guides, mentorship access

Unlimited software use for Fundable, Launchrock, and Startups.com

Monthly plan: $29 per month

Annual plan: $20.75 per month, billed at $249 per year

Lifetime access: $349 one-time fee

5. PlanGuru

Best for financial planning and budgeting.

Finally, for some of the strongest financial features among business plan software options, including budgeting and forecasting, you might check out PlanGuru. Whereas the other solutions we've reviewed were first and foremost focused on writing a business plan, PlanGuru is dedicated to business financial planning —providing the tools you need to create budgets, financial forecasts, reports, and more.

Therefore, if you need a software solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business planning processes, PlanGuru will certainly have the most to offer.

Extensive financial tools and detailed forecasting, budgeting, and reporting capabilities

Substantial library of resources

Cloud-based and desktop options

14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

Expensive, especially for additional users

Only focuses on the financial aspect of business planning; no templates or tools for basic business plan writing

Difficult to use without prior financial knowledge

Cloud-based version of software, as well as locally installed Windows version (desktop version has a few more features)

Works with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Excel

Budgeting and forecasting for up to 10 years

Over 20 standard forecasting methods

Formula builder to create custom methods

Ratios and KPIs

Dashboard and reporting tools

Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and live U.S.-based customer support

14-day free trial

$99 per month (additional users $29 per month)

$899 per year (additional users $299 per year)

What to look for in business plan software

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide, which, if any, of the best business plan software solutions on our list is right for your business.

So, if you're trying to figure out how to choose between the various options out there, it might be helpful to compare your top choices based on the following criteria:

Features: As we've seen different business plan software solutions offer different features. You'll want to look carefully at the feature list of any software and determine what features are most important for your business needs. Do you need an extensive library of templates with detailed customization? Would you prefer software that includes an online learning center for business skills? Are you looking for a solution that combines business plan writing with other tasks? It may be useful to list out your ideal feature set, so you can compare individual software plans to that list.

Price: Although you might be able to find some free business plan software options (or at the very least, free trials), in most cases, you'll need to pay a subscription fee to access the platform you choose. Therefore, you'll want to think about what your budget is for this business tool and what type of software is most cost-effective for your needs.

User experience: User experience can vary widely among different business plan software options. You’ll find some programs that are newer or have been recently updated. Others might have the kind of interfaces that felt new years ago but are now pretty out of date—and, subsequently, make them a little harder to use. The right user experience for your needs is genuinely a matter of opinion and comfort—nevertheless, it's worth testing thoroughly testing out a platform to ensure that it can truly work for you before investing in a monthly or annual subscription.

The bottom line

There's no doubt that properly crafting your business plan is important for the future growth and success of your small business. Luckily, the right business plan software should make the process much simpler.

This being said, whether you opt for one of the best business plan software options listed here, or another platform entirely, you'll want to take the time to compare multiple solutions and ensure you choose the one that's right for your business.

As we mentioned, it can be helpful to think about the features you're looking for, your budget, and your user-experience preferences ahead of time—that way, you'll have a set of criteria in mind as you explore different solutions.

Ultimately, perhaps the best thing you can do to find the right software is to actually test out the platforms themselves—either by using a free trial or a money-back guarantee.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

On a similar note...

The Best 10 Business Planning Tools for Startups

Business planning is one of the significant strategic approaches that startup companies use to showcase their core objectives and programs to achieve organizations goals. Young businesses also prefer to make solid business plans to attract investors.

Therefore, the use of authoritative business planning tools is crucial for startups. That is why this article shares one of the top business planning tools with all necessary features and pricing models.

• 1 Top 10 Business Planning Tools for Startups
• 2.1 Features
• 2.2 Pricing
• 3.1 Features
• 3.2 Pricing
• 4.1 Features
• 4.2 Pricing
• 5.1 Features
• 5.2 Pricing
• 6.1 Features
• 6.2 Pricing
• 7.1 Features
• 7.2 Pricing
• 8.1 Features
• 8.2 Pricing
• 9.1 Features
• 9.2 Pricing
• 10.1 Features
• 10.2 Pricing
• 11.1 Features
• 11.2 Pricing
• 12 Conclusion
• 14 What is Business Planning?
• 15 Why business planning is important?
• 16 What are ten of the best business planning tools?

Top 10 Business Planning Tools for Startups

Here are ten of the best tools that will help you writing a business plan.

Enloop is a cloud-based business planning tool that 323,180 entrepreneurs, students and businesses have used. It can create around 16 financial ratios and real-time performance reports.

Financial Forecast —  Businesses can automatically anticipate their financial reports with this tool.

Currency Support —  It supports around 100 currencies, so people from different countries can smoothly use this app for business planning.

Real-Time Score —  Enloop permits the startups to watch their real-time score to improve performance.

Its Free plan enables the businesses to get a 7-day free trial. But the monthly cost of its Detailed plan is $19.95.

2. LivePlan

LivePlan could be a reliable option for startups to nail down a solid business plan. Moreover, it also claims to build business plans 30% faster than the rivals. Luckily, 1 million small businesses, enterprises and entrepreneurs have shown trust in this tool.

Sample Plans —  It is the perfect business tool for new teams because they can get guidance from 500+ already available sample plans.

Professional Documents —  LivePlan also enables the startups to design an engaging business plan and other documents to convince investors.

LivePlan comes with two plans Standard and Premium, and its monthly charges start from $20.

3. IdeaBuddy

If you are finding an ingenious business planning tool, then you shouldn’t ignore IdeaBuddy. With planning, development and real-time evaluation, its financial projection properties are also appealing.

One-Page Plan —  Startups can build a business plan within 30 minutes, and yes, it could consist of a single page for ease of understanding.

Financial Properties —  Financial calculators, profit and loss statements, and forecasts benefit from using IdeaBuddy.

The yearly cost of its Dreamer plan is $65, but only 1 collaborator is eligible for it. However, for 3 and 30 collaborators, you can also consider its Founder and Team plans. The yearly charges of these plans commence from $115.

Cuttles is one of the most straightforward business planning tools that 20,000+ startups are using. It could surely be a great option when it comes to building startup plans.

Canvas —  This property aids the young companies to smoothly architect and corroborate their business idea.

Suitable for Teams —  It also allows the startups to easily include the teams’ ideas while making a business plan.

Its Free plan is applicable for 1 member and offers restricted features. On the other hand, you can consider its Seed, Grow and Series plans with more advanced characteristics. Its Seed plan bills €8/month to users.

5. Vizologi

Vizologi is an AI-backed business planning tool that is the foremost choice of students, strategists, managers, entrepreneurs and consultants. The availability of free business models also differentiates it from rivals.

Business Intelligence —  Companies can make wise decisions using premium analytics and data reports.

Business Plan —  Its business plan includes a mash-up method, canvas, SWOT & PEST analysis.

Although Vizologi confers a free trial, but its monthly charges commence from $9.

6. TheBizPlanner

TheBizPlanner is also a unique business planning tool. This end-to-end business planning software comes with four significant properties: profile, connect, plan and collaborate.

Dashboard —  The single screen dashboard provides all reports to businesses.

Campus Edition —  It has also released an exclusive edition for educators.

Fortunately, TheBizPlanner Pro is free for startups now. Howbeit, you can talk with the sales team to get the pricing of its Competition plan.

7. AchieveIt

AchieveIt is a purpose-built Georgia-based strategic business planning solution that was founded in 2010. This is an ideal business planning platform for all sectors, including credit unions, commercial, healthcare, federal and local governments.

Integrated Tool —  It provides data uniformity and great accountability for execution.

PowerPoint Digestibility —  This tool could be easily connected with PowerPoint.

This platform bills $70 per user and month under its Core plan.

8. PlanGuru

PlanGuru is also a considerable business planning, forecasting and budgeting software that startups should use. Furthermore, it is more suitable for accountants, small businesses and nonprofit organizations than big enterprises.

Forecasting —  PlanGuru provides 20 powerful forecasting tools to businesses.

Analysis in Minutes —  Users can get all historical data analysis within minutes.

The monthly cost of its cloud and desktop version starts from $99.

Jedox is a unified business planning and forecasting solution that 2500+ companies use worldwide. The major brands that are practicing Jedox are ManpowerGroup, McDonald’s and Bosch.

Timely Insights —  Time-intensive planning has become essential for startups, and it is only possible with timely insights.

Predictive Forecasting —  It is packed with artificial intelligence-based predictive forecasting and planning features.

Jedox comes with four major plans Essential, Business, Professional and Performance. However, you will have to click the ‘Get A Quote’ tab to explore the pricing.

If you want business planning software for VC funded companies, growth and accounting firms, then Jirav is the best option for you. This is a smart and all-in-one budgeting, planning and forecasting tool.

Automatic Imports —  Jirav could automatically integrate all of your business data. Companies can also connect it with accounting and workforce software like Gusto, Xero and QuickBooks.

Reports & Dashboards —  It provides both commercial and non-financial information.

Starter and Pro are core plans of Jirav that monthly cost $250 and $850, respectively.

Business planning is critical for startups and founders to execute a business idea successfully. The use of smart and interactive business planning software and solutions definitely help the new businesses in convincing VCs to fund them. In this regard, entrepreneurs can utilize the above best performing business planning tools.

To discover more startups tools, please refer to the article Top Startup Tools .

What is Business Planning?

Business planning typically applies to organizing ideas in a formal business plan that summarizes the business’s current state.

Why business planning is important?

– Steer the business – Define milestones – Help with funding

What are ten of the best business planning tools?

– Enloop – Live Plan – IdeasBuddy – Cuttles – Vizologi – TheBizPlanner – AchieveIt – PlanGuru – Jedox – Jirav

Jessica Clark

I'm a professional software engineer freelancer. I'm passionate about coding and tech startups.

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LivePlan has helped over 1 million business owners build better businesses

It’s proven, companies that plan and track against their plan grow 30% faster than those that don’t. No matter your industry, location, or size — LivePlan helps you get your business off the ground and grow

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“Before LivePlan, my team and I had no idea where or how to start [...] It helped us focus on and build every single area of our business strategy and recognize that some aspects of the company needed to be adjusted before we could launch.”

“LivePlan has eased my business planning processes and have provided me with easy access to credit from both banks and investors alike.”

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“I didn’t have a business plan and using LivePlan helped give me an easy tool to build a strong business plan for myself and clients. My clients have gone on to enhance their plans and grow their businesses.”

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“LivePlan provides the balance between stating your vision, the framework to support it, and the numbers.”

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• Business strategy |
• What is strategic planning? A 5-step gu ...

What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. In this article, we'll guide you through the strategic planning process, including why it's important, the benefits and best practices, and five steps to get you from beginning to end.

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. The strategic planning process informs your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals.

Strategic planning helps you clearly define your company’s long-term objectives—and maps how your short-term goals and work will help you achieve them. This, in turn, gives you a clear sense of where your organization is going and allows you to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact. Think of it this way—if your goals and objectives are your destination on a map, your strategic plan is your navigation system.

In this article, we walk you through the 5-step strategic planning process and show you how to get started developing your own strategic plan.

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What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization’s mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives. The product of the planning cycle is a strategic plan, which is shared throughout the company.

What is a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is the end result of the strategic planning process. At its most basic, it’s a tool used to define your organization’s goals and what actions you’ll take to achieve them.

Typically, your strategic plan should include: 

Your company’s mission statement

Your organizational goals, including your long-term goals and short-term, yearly objectives

Any plan of action, tactics, or approaches you plan to take to meet those goals

What are the benefits of strategic planning?

Strategic planning can help with goal setting and decision-making by allowing you to map out how your company will move toward your organization’s vision and mission statements in the next three to five years. Let’s circle back to our map metaphor. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).

When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:

Build a strong organizational culture by clearly defining and aligning on your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

Align everyone around a shared purpose and ensure all departments and teams are working toward a common objective.

Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go and achieve desired outcomes.

Promote a long-term vision for your company rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.

Ensure resources are allocated around the most high-impact priorities.

Define long-term goals and set shorter-term goals to support them.

Assess your current situation and identify any opportunities—or threats—allowing your organization to mitigate potential risks.

Create a proactive business culture that enables your organization to respond more swiftly to emerging market changes and opportunities.

What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?

The strategic planning process involves a structured methodology that guides the organization from vision to implementation. The strategic planning process starts with assembling a small, dedicated team of key strategic planners—typically five to 10 members—who will form the strategic planning, or management, committee. This team is responsible for gathering crucial information, guiding the development of the plan, and overseeing strategy execution.

Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the planning process. 

Step 1: Assess your current business strategy and business environment

Before you can define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. Understanding the external environment, including market trends and competitive landscape, is crucial in the initial assessment phase of strategic planning.

To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders, like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:

Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future.

Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services.

Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether about the product, business practices, or the day-to-day company culture.

Consider different types of strategic planning tools and analytical techniques to gather this information, such as:

A balanced scorecard to help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process). 

To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:

What does your organization currently do well?

What separates you from your competitors?

What are your most valuable internal resources?

What tangible assets do you have?

What is your biggest strength? 

Weaknesses:

What does your organization do poorly?

What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?

What do your competitors do better than you?

What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?

What processes or products need improvement? 

Opportunities:

What opportunities does your organization have?

How can you leverage your unique company strengths?

Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?

How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?

Is there an emerging need for your product or service? 

What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?

Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?

Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?

Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company? 

Step 2: Identify your company’s goals and objectives

To begin strategy development, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your vision, mission, and current position to identify and define your goals—these are your final destination. 

To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” “What’s the ideal future state of this company?” This can help you figure out which path you need to take to get there.

During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents, such as:

Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose.

Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision.

Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company.

Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market.

Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years.

Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in.

Step 3: Develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics

Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Take your current business position and strategy into account, as well as your organization’s goals and objectives, and build out a strategic plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your plan should be created or revisited as the quarters and years go on.

As you build your strategic plan, you should define:

Company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.

Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals . 

Related key results and KPIs. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable. These KPIs will help you track progress and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.

A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.

Step 4: Implement and share your plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action. Strategy implementation involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success. 

Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to the strategic plan, so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and the overall strategy map. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management platform .  

A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch: 

Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process, to ensure all team members understand the strategic plan and how to implement it effectively. 

Define what “success” looks like by mapping your strategic plan to key performance indicators.

Ensure that the actions outlined in the strategic plan are integrated into the daily operations of the organization, so that every team member's daily activities are aligned with the broader strategic objectives.

Utilize tools and software—like a work management platform—that can aid in implementing and tracking the progress of your plan.

Regularly monitor and share the progress of the strategic plan with the entire organization, to keep everyone informed and reinforce the importance of the plan.

Establish regular check-ins to monitor the progress of your strategic plan and make adjustments as needed. 

Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed

Once you’ve created and implemented your new strategic framework, the final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.

Remember, your strategic plan isn’t set in stone. You’ll need to revisit and update the plan if your company changes directions or makes new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan. Make sure to review your plan regularly—meaning quarterly and annually—to ensure it’s still aligned with your organization’s vision and goals.

Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever, even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.

Build a smarter strategic plan with a work management platform

To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done. 

A work management platform plays a pivotal role in this process. It acts as a central hub for your strategic plan, ensuring that every task and project is directly tied to your broader company goals. This alignment is crucial for visibility and coordination, allowing team members to see how their individual efforts contribute to the company’s success. 

By leveraging such a platform, you not only streamline workflow and enhance team productivity but also align every action with your strategic objectives—allowing teams to drive greater impact and helping your company move toward goals more effectively. 

Strategic planning FAQs

Still have questions about strategic planning? We have answers.

Why do I need a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics that will help your company be successful.

When should I create a strategic plan?

You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed.

Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets. 

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a tool organizations can use to map out their strategic plan and track progress. Typically, a strategic planning template houses all the components needed to build out a strategic plan, including your company’s vision and mission statements, information from any competitive analyses or SWOT assessments, and relevant KPIs.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. business plan?

A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.

You should create a business plan when you’re: 

Just starting your business

Significantly restructuring your business

If your business is already established, you should create a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements?

Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.

Simply put: 

A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose.

A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose.

A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction. 

For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:

Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.” 

Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.” 

Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners. 

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. company objectives?

Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time. 

Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a business case?

A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business. 

You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a project plan?

A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan. 

What’s the difference between strategic management vs. strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning how you will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

Related resources

Solve your tech overload with an intelligent transformation

9 steps to craft a successful go-to-market (GTM) strategy

Unmanaged business goals don’t work. Here’s what does.

How Asana uses work management to effectively manage goals

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Blog Business

8 Best Business Plan Software for 2024

By Krystle Wong , Jan 01, 2024

Gone are the days of staring at blank pages and struggling to structure a business plan effectively. With user-friendly interfaces and a wide range of business plan templates catering to various industries, creating business plans that are polished, professional and data-driven can now be done in a fraction of the time.

For startups, business plan software guides them through the crucial early stages with comprehensive business plan templates and financial modeling tools. Established businesses on the other hand benefit from the software’s collaborative features, enabling seamless teamwork as they pivot, innovate and pursue new growth opportunities.

In this article, let’s delve into exploring the seven best business plan software for 2024. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a groundbreaking idea or a seasoned business owner ready to elevate your enterprise to new heights, these software solutions have all you need to create a solid business plan.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a business plan software?

• 7 Best business plan software for 2024

Factors to consider when choosing a business plan software

7 steps to create your own business plan, business plan software faq, key takeaway.

A Business plan software is a specialized digital tool designed to assist entrepreneurs, startups and established businesses in creating, organizing and presenting comprehensive business plans. 

Business plan software significantly reduces the time and effort required to create a comprehensive business plan . The availability of business plan templates, financial modeling tools and automated features streamlines the process of business planning and eliminates the need for starting from scratch.

Some advanced business planning software even integrates market research capabilities. This feature provides users with access to market trends, industry benchmarks and relevant data. Access to such data helps users make informed decisions and demonstrate a thorough understanding of their target market.

8 Best business plan software for 2024 

1. venngage.

Venngage specializes in transforming traditional business plans into captivating visual stories. Visuals can communicate complex information effectively, ensuring your ideas stand out and resonate with your audience.

When it comes to business planning, conveying your ideas with impact is just as important as the content itself. In this digital age, visual storytelling has emerged as a powerful way to captivate audiences and leave a lasting impression. That’s where Venngage steps in.

With a rich library of templates, Venngage offers a variety of themes and styles to suit different industries and business types. Customize your business plans with our user-friendly drag-and-drop tools by adding your brand elements, customizing colors, fonts and visuals to make your business plan truly unique. Check out our library of sample business plans to get started today.

However, while Venngage excels in visual storytelling, it might not be the go-to tool for in-depth financial forecasts and analysis. Users seeking extensive financial modeling might want to complement Venngage with a comprehensive business planning tool.

Pricing options:

Create your first 5 designs with Venngage for free and upgrade to a premium or business plan for $10/month per user and $24/month per user respectively to enjoy premium features. For larger teams who need extra support, controls and security, the enterprise plan starts from $499/month for 10+ seats.

Can I collaborate with team members using this business plan software?

Yes, absolutely! Venngage offers collaborative features that allow you to work seamlessly with multiple team members when creating business plans. You can invite team members to join your Venngage account and they can contribute to the design process in real time. 

Can I export my business plan to different file formats?

Upgrade to a premium or business plan on Venngage to export your professional business plan to different file formats. After designing your business plan, you can choose to export it as a high-quality PDF document, which is ideal for sharing and printing. Additionally, Venngage allows you to export your business plan as an image file (PNG or JPG), making it easy to use in presentations or on your website. 

Is this business plan software suitable for startups or established businesses? 

Venngage is great for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to enhance their business plans with visually engaging infographics and visual assets.

Instead of sharing a lengthy, 50-page document that may bore your audience and fail to effectively convey your message — present your business plan with infographics. Here’s how you can create a business plan infographic that will wow your readers and showcase your business at its best. 

2. LivePlan

Source: Screenshot from LivePlan

In the realm of business planning software, LivePlan stands out as a reliable and user-friendly tool. With a focus on seamless financial forecasting and budgeting capabilities, LivePlan streamlines the planning process, helping businesses transform their visions into reality.

The software’s financial forecasting tools provide users with the ability to project revenue, expenses and cash flow accurately. This financial insight is invaluable for making informed decisions and setting realistic goals.

For hassle-free data integration, the business plan software offers seamless integration with accounting software . This feature allows users to import financial data effortlessly, saving time and reducing manual data entry.

While LivePlan excels in financial planning and user-friendliness, some users may find the customization options for design and layout to be limited. For businesses seeking highly tailored visual aesthetics, LivePlan’s template-based approach might be less ideal.

The standard plan is available at $20/month for monthly billing and $15/month for annual billing. For businesses seeking extensive financial tools to support their operations and growth, the Premium plan costs $20 for the first month and $40/month (monthly billing) or $30/month (annual billing) for subsequent months.

LivePlan facilitates seamless collaboration among users within your account, allowing multiple individuals to work on the same plan concurrently. To prevent conflicting edits, LivePlan restricts access to specific sections, allowing only one user to edit at a time while others observe the locked section.

You can export your business plan by using the print to PDF feature. This generates your plan content in a standard file format compatible with Adobe Reader and other free reader programs. Alternatively, you can export your plan to Microsoft Word (2007 or later).

A great tool for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs looking for easy-to-use software with solid financial planning tools.

3. Upmetrics

Upmetrics is an AI-powered business planning software that helps businesses of all sizes and industries write their business plan.

With Upmetrics AI Assistant, you can write your plan faster, get answers to any business-related queries, and prepare financial forecasts in no time. 

Besides, the subscription includes access to 400+ sample business plans, various informative guides, and video tutorials to keep your business plan writing process on track. 

Additionally, it has collaborative features, so that everyone on the team can share their insights. Not just that, the software provides you with an AI pitch deck generator, so you can make a stellar pitch.

As an AI business plan builder , Upmetrics is suitable for entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses to write their plans at any stage. Although it has various cover page designs and immense customization options, it might still lack visual appeal. 

Pricing plan options 

• Starter plan – $7 monthly 
• Premium plan – $14 monthly 

Yes, you can collaborate with your team members while using Upmetrics. It offers collaboration tools that allow you to work effortlessly with your team on the business plan. You can invite team members to collaborate, assign tasks, and track the progress together. 

You can download your business plan as a PDF or directly as a document in Word. Besides, you can share the business plan directly to any email, and they will get the viewer access to the plan. 

Upmetrics is a versatile business planning software suitable for startups and established businesses. But its financial planning features, step-by-step guidance, and AI Assistant make it more useful for startups writing business plans for the first time.

4. BizPlan by Startups.com

Source: Screenshot from BizPlan

If you’re a startup aiming to raise investments, BizPlan is the one for you. As a universal professional business plan builder, BizPlan offers the added advantage of seamless integration with all the tools within the Startups.com network.

Designed with startups in mind, BizPlan’s step-by-step approach allows you to break down the entire scope of work into manageable steps and the built-in Progress Tracker tool keeps you on track towards success.

Once you subscribe, BizPlan opens the door to utilizing all the tools offered by Startups.com, making it a one-stop shop for your entrepreneurial needs. Whether it’s lifetime access to the service, connectivity to Findable to attract financial investments, a wealth of online educational programs or the ability to connect multiple owners to a single account, BizPlan delivers comprehensive support.

While the business plan software offers an array of benefits, it’s essential to consider the possible downsides. The absence of a free version and a mobile app, along with a lack of industry-specific templates for business plans may be worth considering before making your decision

Pricing plan options:

• Monthly plan ($29 per month)
• Annual plan ($20.75 per month or $249/year)
• Lifetime access (one-time fee of $349)

Bizplan encourages collaboration with partners, team members, advisors and subject matter experts by allowing threaded comments throughout the entire plan. It provides control over who can access sensitive financial data and enables convenient cloud-based access from anywhere.

Bizplan provides multiple options for sharing your business plan with others. You can generate an online version of your plan, which can be set as private by default or made publicly accessible through a unique shareable URL. Additionally, Bizplan offers the option to create a custom-branded PDF of your business plan. 

BizPlan is great for entrepreneurs and small businesses who value a vast collection of resources and need support in financial analysis.

Source: Screenshot from Enloop

Enloop emerges as one of the best business plan tools for startups, catering to entrepreneurs who crave a streamlined planning process. With the ability to automatically generate basic text for each section of your plan, Enloop saves time and effort in crafting your business vision.

A highlight of the business plan tool is its automatic generation of financial projections, offering accurate insights based on your entered data. This powerful feature empowers entrepreneurs to make informed decisions and project future outcomes with confidence.

For those with a penchant for strategic thinking, Enloop’s “what-if” scenario analysis becomes an invaluable tool. It allows users to explore various business strategies and assess their potential impact on plan outcomes, enabling sound decision-making.

Enloop doesn’t stop at generating numbers; it goes a step further by providing a business plan grading system. This insightful feature assesses plan quality, giving users valuable feedback to refine and enhance their business plans.

However, it’s essential to consider the software’s limitations as customization and design options are relatively limited. Additionally, the basic version of Enloop might not meet the needs of all users, as it lacks certain advanced features. 

• Seven day free trial (no credit card required)
• Detailed plan ($19.95/month or $11/month when billed annually)
• Performance plan ($39.95/month or $24/month when billed annually)

Enloop’s online business plan writing app lets you invite and collaborate with anyone on your business plans using the ‘Invite & Share’ feature.

Enloop allows you to download your business plan in PDF format whenever you’re ready. The plans remain accessible in your paid account, encouraging regular updates to keep track of your business’s health and have an up-to-date plan ready for financing needs.

Suitable for entrepreneurs seeking a tool that simplifies financial forecasting and scenario analysis.

6. PlanGuru

Source: Screenshot from PlanGuru

PlanGuru’s standout feature lies in its ability to forecast all three financial statements – income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement so that users can make data-driven decisions.

Creating detailed analyses becomes a breeze with PlanGuru’s general ledger import utilities, allowing seamless historical data import. The software facilitates budget vs actual reporting and enables building rolling forecasts with just a few clicks each month.

Unlimited budgeting flexibility is another advantage offered by the business plan builder. Users can craft simple high-level small business budgets or delve into intricate multi-department operating budgets with ease.

With scenario analysis capabilities, PlanGuru empowers users to interpret the financial impact of specific events accurately. This feature enables making critical investments and strategic decisions with confidence, knowing thorough due diligence has been performed.

Given its sophisticated features, PlanGuru may be more suitable for financial professionals and analysts looking for in-depth financial analysis and budgeting tools. Users not familiar with financial modeling may face a steeper learning curve when utilizing Enloop’s robust capabilities.

• Single entity ($99/month or $75/month when billed annually)
• Multi-department consolidations ($299/month or $225/month when billed annually)

You can add up to 3 users with the multi-department consolidation plan. Additionally, all plans allow you to add on $29/month (billed monthly) or $25/month (billed annually) for each extra user.

What other apps does PlanGuru integrate with?

The cloud-based platform is also accessible as a Windows-based desktop version, giving you the freedom to choose the format that suits you best. Additionally, PlanGuru seamlessly integrates with MS Excel, QuickBooks Online and Xero, providing further flexibility and convenience in using the software.

The cloud-based version is suitable for SMBs or nonprofits budgeting for a single entity while the multi-department consolidations plan is for companies with multiple departments needing consolidated budgets.

7. Business Sorter

Source: Screenshot from Business Sorter

With Business Sorter’s card sort system, crafting the foundation of your plan becomes a breeze. Featuring 273 cards covering various business situations, the business plan generator offers flexibility, allowing users to customize their plan by adding their cards or modifying existing ones, tailoring the plan to their specific needs.

The platform also provides the convenience of viewing your plan on any device, including smartphones, which not many business plan apps have. Additionally, guidance is at hand with Business Sorter as the software provides valuable tips and advice for every key step, empowering users to implement their business strategy with confidence.

While Business Sorter excels in its interactive features, it may not offer as extensive financial analysis tools as other business plan software. For businesses requiring advanced financial modeling capabilities, Business Sorter might not fully meet their requirements.

• For small teams with up to 3 users ($10/month or $80/year)
• For medium teams with up to 10 users ($30/month or $240/year)
• For large teams with up to 30 users ($80/month or $640/year)
• For enterprises with unlimited users (custom pricing)

Your business plan can be edited by only one user at a time. When a user opens a plan, it automatically locks to prevent any data loss and remains locked until the user finishes their work and exits the plan.

You can print each business plan directly from the plan summaries on your dashboard. 

Suitable for both entrepreneurs and businesses looking for an interactive and visually appealing planning approach.

9. AchieveIt

Source: Screenshot from AchieveIt

AchieveIt stands as a versatile software for business plans, designed to simplify the planning process for businesses of all sizes and planning methods. With AchieveIt, you can easily build plans, ensuring alignment and engagement among your employees and optimizing plans for seamless execution.

Regardless of your preferred planning method, AchieveIt empowers you to construct plans effortlessly, providing a flexible solution for any planning use case. The software ensures your plans are well-aligned with your organization’s objectives, engaging all team members for successful plan execution.

The business plan tool provides robust tracking and reporting features, allowing businesses to monitor the progress of their plans and measure performance against set goals. Users can create customized dashboards to visualize key performance metrics, making it easier to identify trends and insights.

That said, In comparison to most business plan software, AchieveIt’s pricing might be relatively higher with its extensive features. On top of that, for users new to strategic planning software, AchieveIt may present a learning curve during the initial adoption phase.

The business plan software packages for AchieveIt varies based on factors like organization size, required functionality and the number of users. AchieveIt being an enterprise-level software offers custom pricing to cater to the specific needs of each business. For accurate pricing details, it’s best to contact their sales or customer support team.

AchieveIt allows team members, stakeholders and advisors to have shared access to the platform, providing them with visibility into the latest updates and progress on the plans. Users can assign tasks to team members and track their progress within the platform. 

Can AchieveIt integrate with existing systems?

AchieveIt’s Data Integration API lets you import key metric data from existing systems, saving time and reducing errors by eliminating the need for data entry in multiple places.

AchieveIt is best suited for medium to large-sized businesses and organizations that require a comprehensive and collaborative strategic planning platform. It caters to teams and enterprises seeking to improve their planning processes, track performance and drive organizational alignment to achieve business objectives effectively.

No idea what your business plan should look like? Check out these business plan examples for inspiration. 

When searching for the best business planning software, you may be wondering — what features should I look for in business plan software? You want to make sure it meets your specific requirements and streamlines the planning process effectively. Here are the top six factors to consider:

Ease of use

The software should have a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of creating a business plan. Look for intuitive navigation, clear instruction and a layout that makes it easy to input and organize your information.

Features and business plan templates

Check the range of features and business plan templates the software offers. Look for a diverse selection of business plan templates catering to various industries and business types. The software should provide essential sections like executive summaries, market analysis, financial projections and more.

Financial modeling tools

Your business plan software should allow you to input financial data and generate accurate and comprehensive financial projections. These business plan creation tools are vital for assessing the financial viability of your business.

Collaboration and sharing

If you’ll be working with a team or seeking feedback from others, consider software that enables real-time collaboration and easy sharing. The ability to work together seamlessly can enhance productivity and improve the quality of your business plan.

Built for fast-moving teams that need to be on the same page, Venngage’s real-time collaboration enables you to polish your design with your team in real time, leave comments on each other’s work,and save your designs in one shared folder. With your  Venngage Business  account, you can easily invite and manage your team members to collaborate on a design, all in real time.

Security and data protection

Since a business plan contains sensitive information, prioritize software that prioritizes security. Ensure that the software uses encryption and data protection measures to keep your data safe from unauthorized access.

Exporting and sharing options

Check the software’s export options. You’ll likely want to share your business plan with others, so ensure it can be exported in popular formats like PDF or PowerPoint.

Are you an entrepreneur starting a new business or expanding your existing business? This guide on how to create a small business plan might come in handy for you. 

Creating business plans can be a crucial step in setting your entrepreneurial vision on the right track. To help you through the process, here are 7 steps to guide you in crafting a comprehensive business plan:

Step 1: Executive summary

Start with an attention-grabbing executive summary. This section provides an overview of your business. In your executive summary, make sure to highlight your mission, goals, products or services, target market and the unique value you offer. Keep it concise, yet compelling.

Step 2: Company description

Give a detailed description of your company. Explain your business’s history, its legal structure (e.g. sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation) and the reasons why your business will succeed in the market.

Step 3: Market analysis

Conduct thorough market research to understand your industry, target market and competition. Identify your ideal customers, their needs and preferences. Analyze your competitors and highlight your competitive advantages.

Step 4: Products and Services

Describe your products or services in depth. Explain their features, benefits and how they meet the needs of your target customers. Emphasize what sets your offerings apart from the competition.

Step 5: Marketing and sales strategy

Outline your marketing and sales strategies to reach your target audience. Explain your promotional activities, pricing strategies, distribution channels and sales tactics. Detail how you plan to acquire and retain customers.

Step 6: Financial projections

Project your financial performance over the next three to five years. Include estimated revenue, expenses and cash flow. Detail your startup costs and funding requirements if applicable. Be realistic and supported by market research.

Step 7: Implementation plan

Create a detailed roadmap for executing your business plan. Set specific goals and milestones. Break down tasks and assign responsibilities. Include timelines and a plan for measuring progress.

A great tip here is to start with a well-structured outline. This guide on how to create a business plan outline will help you in creating your blueprint to easily identify your business’ resource needs, including finances, personnel and equipment. 

Is my business data safe with business plan software?

Most reputable business plan software providers prioritize data security and employ encryption and other measures to keep your business data safe from unauthorized access.

What are the benefits of using business planning tools?

Business planning tools offer time efficiency, professional presentation, error reduction, collaborative features and accessibility, making it easier to create a comprehensive business plan that impresses investors and stakeholders.

Do I need any specific skills or expertise to use business plan software?

No, many business plan software solutions are designed to be user-friendly, requiring no specific skills or expertise. They often come with templates and step-by-step guidance to assist you through the planning process.

In the dynamic landscape of 2024, businesses are on the lookout for innovative tools to stay ahead of the curve and drive their growth. These 7 business plan software picks for 2024 offer a wide range of features, from user-friendly interfaces and real-time collaboration to sophisticated financial analysis tools and customizable dashboards.

Whether you’re looking for user-friendly platform business planning tools that aligns with your business planning processes or a business plan writing software that allows you to tailor the business plan according to your industry, goals and unique requirements — I’m quite certain I’ve got them all covered. 

The value of these business plan software options lies not only in their efficiency but also in their ability to save time and reduce errors. By integrating with existing systems through Data Integration APIs, users can seamlessly import key metric data, eliminating redundant data entry and streamlining the process.

If you’re still unsure about which is the right business plan software for your business, you can always take advantage of free trials or video tutorials and demos offered by software providers. Testing the platform firsthand will give you a practical understanding of its usability and suitability for your business.

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10 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2024

Do you know what’s common between a global IT firm and a small food truck business?

Like any other business on the planet Earth, they both require a  solid business plan  to make their business a runaway success.

Business plan. No entrepreneur is a stranger to this term, but do they all consider it seriously? Not sure.

Results? Spending a lot of time, money, and resources on the wrong marketing strategies, missing several growth opportunities, and of course, facing tough times raising funds. 

No one wants to be in this situation! 

That’s where a perfect business plan software can help you out. These tools make drafting an investment-ready business a breeze.

So how exactly can these business planning tools help?

Simply put,  business plan software  can help you create a winning business plan, develop marketing strategies, and predict your financial future—ultimately helping your business grow.

Now, how to choose a tool that will suit your business’s requirements and your budget too? The answer is right here.

In this article, we’ve narrowed down our search for the best business plan software to the 10 best paid and free software considering factors like—pricing, features, performance, and credibility. 

So you can easily pick the one that best suits your requirements.

All sorted? Shall we begin? Let’s roll.

Best Paid and Free Business Plan Software and Tools

Jump to section, 1. upmetrics.

Upmetrics  is a top business and financial planning software helping entrepreneurs and small business owners start and grow their businesses.

Its 200+ fully customizable sample business plans, video tutorials, well-written documentation, and go-to guides make writing a business plan a lot easier for someone new to business plan writing.

The best part about Upmetrics is—it’s affordable, reliable, and best for beginners. 

In fact, the creators of Upmetrics believe that creating a business plan requires no special qualifications, nor a degree in finance to draw financial projections.  

And the tool they’ve created speaks volumes of their words—making it a go-to solution for budding entrepreneurs. 

Let’s have a look at the features you get with Upmetrics—the #1 business plan software: 

• 400+ fully customizable business plan templates to get started.
• Easy-to-use business plan builder with drag and drop tools.
• Financial forecasting tool to plan and manage your cash flow with ease.
• Easy to share or collaborate with the team in real time.
• Pitch deck creator to create perfect pitches and impress investors.
• Create actionable business strategies using various business model canvases.
• Easily customize and edit cover pages.
• Real-time updates and cloud storage, eliminating the risk of data loss.
• Business resources, video tutorials, and guides to help get started.
• Intuitive, seamless, and responsive user interface.

The Upmetrics subscription starts at $7/month (billed annually) with one workspace; it also provides a free demo and a 15-day money-back guarantee —so no risk at all!

Create winning Business Plans with ultimate

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2. Liveplan

LivePlan  is one of the best and most renowned business planning, budgeting, and performance-tracking software for startups and small business owners.

Whether you are a startup looking to attract potential investors or an established organization that needs help creating a forecast of your business’s financial future—LivePlan can help.

LivePlan simplifies the process of creating a professional business plan with its instruction manuals, tutorials, and expert guidance, whereas its automated financials built-in with formulas ensure precise financial forecasting.

LivePlan provides a wide range of features which may include:

• Business plan templates
• Budgeting and expense tracking
• Online learning tools & resources
• Collaborative planning
• Pitch deck creator
• Dashboard and reporting
• Integrated document storage

Though LivePlan has been in the market for a long time now, it isn’t suitable for short-term business planning. That’s why we recommend exploring some LivePlan alternatives.

LivePlan’s subscription model consists of two plans: standard and premium. The standard plan costs $20/month, whereas the premium plan costs $40/month. However, they do not have any free trial or demo as a part of their pricing plan.

What I didn't like about LivePlan?

Here are the average user ratings, comparing the experiences on Liveplan and Upmetrics.

Compare Liveplan with Others

Liveplan vs. Enloop: Which is Best for Your Business?

IdeaBuddy vs. Liveplan: Which is Best for Your Business?

Bizplan vs. Liveplan: Which is Best for Your Business?

Enloop  is an advanced business planning and financial forecasting tool helping business owners maximize the potential of their business venture.

Unlike Upmetrics and LivePlan—Enloop is designed for individuals with prior financial knowledge and business planning experience.

Understanding all of its functionalities is tough, but it has a lot to offer once you figure out its basic functionalities. Still, it’s not the most intuitive and user-friendly application in this space, so it may take a while to get used to it.

If you’re not a beginner and are willing to invest some time understanding and learning its functionalities—it’s well worth it. But, if you’re not, you may consider looking for a few other business plan software.

Enloop provides a wide range of advanced financial tools and business planning features, which may include:

• Business plan creation
• Automated financial forecasts
• Collaboration and sharing
• Funding and investor tools
• Exporting and integrations
• Auto-generated financial reports
• Automated text writing

Enloop’s monthly subscription plans range between $19.95 and $39.95, depending on your plan and functionalities. It also has a 7-day free trial with no credit card details required.

What I didn't like about Enloop?

Here are the average user ratings, comparing the experiences on Enloop and Upmetrics.

4. IdeaBuddy

Ideabuddy  is an innovative business plan software helping new-age entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful business plans.

Customizable templates, industry-based guides, and streamlined idea and business plan creation make it one of the most user-friendly applications on the list.

It is designed on a principle where users can develop, test, and launch their business idea—all in one place. While it’s great for idea creation, it may lack several comprehensive business planning features.

Financial forecasting is vital to a business plan, but IdeaBuddy may not provide all the necessary financial tools for accurate projections.

So if your business is in the idea stage—choosing IdeaBuddy could be a fair call, but if you plan to build a comprehensive business plan, you need another tool.

IdeaBuddy provides a wide range of features, which may include:

• Modern business plan with a click
• Export your plan and financials
• Mobile-friendly platform
• Customizable templates and industry-based guides
• Test to score your idea
• Step-by-step business guide
• Brainstorm ideas with your team

IdeaBuddy’s subscription model consists of four plans: free, dreamer, founder, and team pro.

Depending on the plan specifications and features, these plans may cost between $15 to $40 a month. You can also save up to 60% on annual memberships.

What I didn't like about IdeaBuddy?

Here are the average user ratings, comparing the experiences on IdeaBuddy and Upmetrics.

Planful  is a business planning and financial performance management cloud software. It provides a structured framework for industry-wide businesses to develop, track, and execute their plans.

The tool specializes in financial performance management with advanced features like—financial close management, reporting, and consolidation.

While the tool has numerous advanced features and functionalities—they all come with a high price tag as it’s mainly designed for medium and large-scale enterprises.

Let’s have a look at the extensive financial tools and features you may get with a planful subscription:

• Budgeting and forecasting
• Financial consolidation
• Scenario modeling
• Reporting and analytics
• Financial close management
• Data integration and connectivity
• Responsive web and mobile apps

Planful has no structured pricing model on their website; users may contact their sales team for a custom quotation.

What I didn't like about Planful?

6. iPlanner

iPlanner  is an enterprise business plan software that has been helping entrepreneurs develop their business plans since 2007. It is suitable for businesses looking to secure funding, better understand and manage risks, or communicate the company’s business model and strategy to the team.

Though the business plan software has been around for over a decade now, it didn’t seem to cope with the technological advancements, so it may not provide the most intuitive and visually appealing user interface.

But if you are searching for an affordable business planning and performance tracking tool with KPIs, analytics, and reporting features, iPlanner can be a good investment.

Here’s an overview of the key features of iPlanner—business plan software:

• Financial forecasting
• Secure and accessible
• Data security and backup
• How to articles and guides

iPlanner’s subscription model consists of two plans: professional and corporate. Professional subscriptions start at $24 for a 3-month subscription with one project, while corporate subscriptions start at $59 for a 6-month subscription with 12 projects

What I didn't like about iPlanner?

7. PlanGuru

PlanGuru  is a business planning software that helps entrepreneurs make better decisions, increase profits, and accomplish their business goals through strategic business planning and accurate forecasting.

Budgeting & financial analytics, rolling forecast, and strategic planning are three critical components of PlanGuru’s feature list.

PlanGuru specializes in forecasting financial statements, scenario analysis, budgeting, and gaining insights through reporting tools.

It offers many advanced financial forecasting features but is quite expensive— making it unsuitable for startups with limited investment capital.

PlanGuru provides a wide range of financial tools and business planning features to create business plans, which may include:

• Business valuation tool
• 20+ standard forecast methods
• Budget/forecast for up to 10 years
• Archive budget feature
• Standard report export to PDF, Excel, and Word
• Custom report builder for Excel
• Online dashboard, scorecard, and reporting tools

PlanGuru has two different pricing plans; one for businesses and nonprofits and another for business advisors. Depending on the plan specifications and features, these plans may cost between $99 and $299/month.

What I didn't like about PlanGuru?

8. The Business Plan Shop

The Business Plan Shop  is a business & financial planning and analysis platform for small and medium-sized business owners and financial advisors.

Its business plan templates make writing a business plan relatively easier for beginners. Despite its many features, the business plan software specializes in financial analysis, forecasting, and KPI tracking.

It surely has a few advanced features but can be expensive for startups and small businesses.

This business plan software provides a wide range of features, which may include:

• Financial forecasting software
• Sync accounting data
• Drag and drop templates and editor
• Integration with financial data
• Faster than Microsoft Word

The Business Plan Shop has two different pricing plans; one for businesses and CFOs and another for advisors. The business & CFO plan costs $25.50 per month, and the Advisor plan costs $94.20 per month.

What I didn't like about The Business Plan Shop?

Bizplan  is a comprehensive business plan software helping startups, entrepreneurs, and small business owners create business plans with direct access to planning experts. 

Financial tools help create detailed financial projections and financial and cash flow statements in no time, so entrepreneurs can spend more time growing and scaling their businesses.

The platform also has a fundraising tool to help startups connect with potential investors—which has already helped raise over $500 million for startups.

It has all the features to create a basic business plan but may lack industry-specific guidance or assistance.

Let’s have a look at the wide range of features that come with a Bizplan subscription:

• Financial modeling
• Integration and export
• Reporting and presentation
• Progress tracking
• Step-by-step guidance

Bizplan’s pricing plans start at $29/month, whereas the lifetime access costs $349. You may check their pricing page for more information.

What I didn't like about Bizplan?

Here are the average user ratings, comparing the experiences on Bizplan and Upmetrics.

Brixx  is a financial forecast software for cash flow, budgeting, and financial planning. Apart from helping users create a basic business plan, the platform also helps them with financial modeling, scenario planning, and goal tracking.

Its interactive charts and graphs can help you clearly present your financial data and cash flow statements for enhanced reader understanding.

Integrating Brixx and other accounting software automates the syncing of your actuals and forecasts, giving you a head start using Brixx.

The tool primarily focuses on financial projections and forecasting, so there are only a few features for other parts of the business plan.

Let’s have a look at the wide range of features that come with a Brixx subscription:

• 1-10 year financial forecasts
• Professional charts and reports
• Automated tax forecasts
• Quick-start templates
• Share plans in real-time
• Business Resources
• 3-way forecasting

Brixx has four packages in its subscription model: Foundation, Essentials, Professional, and Enterprise. The pricing for these packages may range from $0 to $66 per month.

What I didn't like about Brixx?

How to Choose the Right Business Plan Software?

All the business plan tools on our list are credible and can help you create a winning business plan. However, it’s critical to understand each tool specializes in certain aspects of business planning.

Let’s understand which factors to consider while choosing the right tool to help you create a professional business plan:

The most obvious factor. Ask yourself how much you can afford to spend on a business plan maker.

A free or low-cost tool may provide only some necessary functionalities to create a detailed plan. So, figure out your budget and shortlist the tools that you can afford to invest in.

2. Your specific requirements

The next step. Learn your specific requirement. For instance, if your business is in the idea stage, you may not require a tool with advanced financial features like—PlanGuru; Ideabuddy may work.

Both tools cater to specific audiences; if you are not sure, you may go with Upmetrics. It has pricing plans suitable for all business sizes.

3. Business plan templates

Custom designing a business plan can be tedious, so make sure the business plan software you choose has industry-specific templates to help you get started.

4. AI assistance

Artificial Intelligence has revolutionalized the way people get their things done. Make sure you select a platform that also provides AI assistance while creating a business plan.

With tools like  ChatGPT  and  AI business plan generators,  you can draft a business plan in a breeze.

5. Charts and graphs

Let’s face it, no one likes to read long paragraphs. The tool you choose must be able to turn your financial data and balance sheets into appealing and easy-to-understand charts and graphics.

6. Financial projections

Most critical section of a business plan. Understand your requirement regarding financial projections and the level of features the tool provides.

For instance, a large-scale organization may require a tool that can easily do  business financials  for ten or more years.

7. Contribution and sharing features

Make sure the tool you choose must provide the contribution and sharing features so that you can work with multiple team members.

8. Convenience and user-friendliness

A no-brainer. Ensure the software you choose has a user-friendly user interface and a manageable learning curve to understand all the working features.

9. Integrations

Some of the best business plan software integrates with accounting software. This feature can be handy while transferring financial details into your business plan.

10. Step-by-step guides

These user guides and tutorials can help you easily outline and prepare the first draft of your business plan, so make sure you consider this as one of the factors while selecting a tool.

11. Support

You are new to business planning software and may need help using some of its features. A responsive support team can help you get back on the right track.

Think of these factors as a checklist while researching the right business plan software. Once you have checked off all the boxes, you will have the right business plan software by your side.

Pros and Cons of Using Business Plan Software

Undoubtedly, business plan software can be a worth-it investment for your business, but it surely has a few disadvantages too. Let’s get to that:

• Time Saving: business plan software can be a big time-saving investment.
• Step-by-step guidance: These guides make it easier to get started for beginners.
• Accurate reporting: Good business plan software guarantee the accountability and accuracy of the reports generated.
• Customizations: Business plan tools also offer options to personalize your reports.
• Generic templates: These planning tools often provide generic templates that may not suit your requirements.
• Limited flexibility: In terms of formatting, content, design, and layout.
• Learning curve: Using these tools requires a learning curve to navigate the software.

There have to be a few disadvantages, but they are negligible when you look at the positive side of having a business plan software onboard.

And this section leads us to our conclusion!

That was the article for today with some of the best business plan software. Now over to you. Revisit the top business planning software on the list, do your research, and select the one that best suits your requirements.

Got any more burning questions in mind? The FAQ section starts right after we wrap this article up, feel free to explore. Happy business planning! 

Other Business Plan Software Alternatives

• Best 8 Liveplan alternatives
• Top Bizplan alternatives & competitors
• 8 Growthink alternatives
• Best Ideabuddy Alternatives
• Best Enloop Alternatives

Say No to Expensive Business Planning Software!

Get Affordable and Feature-Packed Business Planning with Upmetrics

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best business plan software for startups.

We’ve already mentioned the best business plan software in the blog post earlier; you may choose one amongst those depending on your specific needs.

However, Upmetrics can be a go-to business planning software for startups as it only costs $9 per month to get started—which is worth it against the value you get.

Which tool is used as a one-page business plan?

There are many business plan software providing features to create one-page business plans like—Upmetrics and Ideabuddy. You can use Upmetrics’ canvas modeling feature to develop actionable and entrepreneur-focused one-page business plans.

Can I write a business plan myself?

Of course, you can. It’s easier than ever to write a business plan with the emerging use of tools like ChatGPT. Though you can write a business plan, you need assistance making it presentable for your investors.

And business plan software providers like Upmetrics can help you do that. With 200+ sample business plans, you can easily write the first draft of your business plan.

What is the best way to write a business plan?

There cannot be a standard answer to this question. There are various business planning processes, and all of them might not work for you. Still, considering the time-saving approach, using an industry-specific template and editing it as per your requirements can be an easy way to write a business plan.

Using ChatGPT for business plan writing can also be one of the best ways to write a business plan. As mentioned, there can’t be a specific answer to this question; find a way that best suits your needs.

Is there any free business plan software available?

It’s really challenging to find the perfect business plan software, that too, for free. IdeaBuddy from our list has a free plan, but it comes with very limited features, not so helpful for creating a business plan.

Business plan software like Upmetrics, Bizplan, and LivePlan also have free trials, so you may try their features before purchasing. Furthermore, you can get a 30% off on an Upmetrics subscription if you are a nonprofit or student.

How much does business plan software typically cost?

The cost of a business plan software can widely depend on the level of features and functionalities they provide. Still, the monthly subscription of a business plan tool can range anywhere between $5 to $300.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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5 top strategic planning tools and frameworks [templates & examples]

If you want homemade bread, you need access to the right appliances and ingredients. And if your strategic plan is a loaf of sourdough, your strategic planning tools are the measuring spoons, the framework is the recipe, and your model is the oven. Each component works together to create the desired result.

Whether it’s baking fresh bread or increasing revenue or customer satisfaction, all goals take strategic planning initiatives — and in some cases, all-purpose flour — to accomplish. Discover some of the most popular frameworks and five of our favorite strategic planning tools to achieve organizational success.

What is strategic planning?

The goal of developing a strategic plan is to communicate where your organization wants to go and determine what each team member needs to do to help get it there. Strategic planning helps your organization develop and document action items for carrying out the company vision and achieving business goals. 

While there are several models that can help you determine opportunities, priorities, and overall objectives, most strategic planning processes follow five general steps:

• Identify your organization’s vision
• Assess your current internal and external environments
• Outline goals
• Determine stakeholder responsibilities
• Measure and assess outcomes

Regardless of the process you choose, each of these steps will lead to the next, allowing you to build out a comprehensive strategic plan.

Types of strategic planning frameworks

Strategic planning frameworks help teams with brainstorming in order to create specific goals from an overall vision. Frameworks are essentially roadmaps to take teams from ideas to actions. You don’t necessarily need to use a framework within a model — just like you don’t necessarily need to follow a recipe to bake a loaf of bread — but it helps you produce the best outcome. And don’t feel limited to using only one framework within a particular model.

Although it’s not a complete list, the frameworks listed below are some of the most commonly used.

Balanced scorecard

Created by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton, the balanced scorecard is designed for organizations that want to focus on their business as a whole, rather than solely on financial performance. It helps give leadership teams a look at how their operations are performing, particularly within quick timelines.

When using the balanced scorecard, you’ll reference four factors to set goals and assess performance:

• Customers or clients: How your users perceive your business
• Internal processes: Your organization’s efficiency when developing quality products or services
• Organizational capacity: Your company culture and the ways in which your business can improve and grow
• Financial capacity: Your organization’s potential profitability and the effectiveness of resource allocation

Once you determine where your organization stands with regard to the factors above, you can develop specific goals, measurable objectives, and the steps you’ll need to take to achieve these.

Objectives and key results (OKR)

Objectives and key results (OKR) is a straightforward framework used to translate overarching business goals into specific measurable objectives. It helps you define:

• Objectives: Identify three to five time-bound goals you want to achieve.
• Key results: Determine three to five quantitative outcomes per objective.

The OKR framework helps your team build connections between their individual contributions and your company’s success. Your team should shoot for a 70% key result success rate . If they’re hitting 100% right out of the gate, your organization’s goals weren’t ambitious enough.

Related: OKRs vs. KPIs: What’s the difference?

SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is a strategic framework that helps you identify your organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. You should use the SWOT framework at the beginning of your strategic planning process to align stakeholders and provide a common lens through which to view your company’s current position.

List your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the four quadrants of a 2x2 box. Once outlined, your team can seek connections between quadrants that will inform your strategy. The goal of the SWOT framework is to help you create a strategy that takes advantage of growth opportunities but also prepares for worst-case scenarios.

PEST or PESTLE analysis

A PEST analysis is a strategic framework that helps teams analyze external political, economic, sociocultural, and technological factors that could impact your business goals. It could also be modified to include legal and environmental elements (PESTLE).

Like a SWOT analysis, considering each factor of PEST or PESTLE within your industry environment gives your team advanced warning about any significant or immediate threats to your organizational goals. It also enables teams to pinpoint business opportunities within each of the framework’s factors.

Gap analysis

The gap analysis framework should be used to compare where your organization currently stands with where you want it to be and help you understand how to bridge the gap between the two. 

With the gap analysis framework — also called the strategic planning gap, need assessment, or need-gap analysis — you’ll be able to determine weak points and root causes (or potential causes) of performance issues by comparing what you’re currently doing with what you intend to do. It helps you identify internal organizational deficiencies and create a plan that addresses them.

VRIO framework

The VRIO framework helps you identify your organization’s competitive advantages and is composed of four elements:

• Value: Do your resources help increase revenue or decrease costs, resulting in business value?
• Rarity: Is there a lot of competition in the market for your resources? Are other companies able to create your products and services using these resources?
• Imitability: Could a competing organization copy your products and services easily?
• Organization: Does your organization have the right systems in place to capitalize on your resources?

By analyzing these elements, you’ll be able to refine your organization’s vision and create a plan that helps you meet your customers’ needs.

Porter’s Five Forces

Developed in 1979 by Michael Porter, the Five Forces framework helps you identify and understand the factors that put competitive pressure on your organization.

The five forces are:

• Bargaining power of buyers: If the same products and services are offered elsewhere with minimal differences in quality, consumers will have the power to influence pricing.
• Bargaining power of suppliers: If there are fewer product or service alternatives for consumers, suppliers like large retailers will have the power to drive down costs.  
• Threat of new entrants: What are your industry’s barriers to entry? New companies in your marketplace will increase pressure on the cost of your products and services.
• Threat of substitute products or services: Can consumers easily substitute a competitor’s product or service for yours? Your business offerings need to create value.
• Rivalry among existing competitors: How'll your competitors’ growth impact your business? The more competition in the marketplace, the harder it'll be to create value with your business offerings.

These forces determine how economic value is divided among your competitors, so using this framework will help you identify your company’s position in the industry.

The 7S model was developed by McKinsey consultants, and it emphasizes the value of strategically aligning internal departments with business processes. The key elements organizations should be looking to align include:

• Strategy: Your organization’s business plan for outperforming your competitors supported by your company’s mission and vision.
• Structure: How your internal departments and teams are organized; the chain of command.
• Systems: The procedures, daily duties, and technical infrastructure your organization uses to perform.
• Shared values: The beliefs and norms that guide your business decisions and actions; these reflect your company’s work ethic.
• Style: The way management and other stakeholders approach leadership.
• Staff: How employees are sought out and trained and what motivates them; your workers’ general capabilities.
• Skills: Your team members’ capabilities; the level of employee competence. 

The 7S model encourages leadership teams to explore the interconnectedness of these elements within the company and look for inconsistencies or areas of weakness. Once you’ve noted the areas that need to be strengthened, you can work toward realigning these elements to accomplish strategic goals in your organization.

Related: Tactical vs. strategic planning: Why you need both

Ansoff Matrix

The Ansoff Matrix framework was developed to help companies plan their growth strategies. The base for this framework is a 2x2 matrix with “products” on the x-axis and “markets” on the y-axis.

Each box within the matrix corresponds to a particular growth strategy. These are:

• Market penetration: Sell an existing product in an existing market.
• Market development: Sell an existing product in a new market.
• Product development: Sell a new product in an existing market.
• Diversification: Sell a new product in a new market.

Each business strategy is increasingly risky, with diversification being the biggest swing. The Ansoff Matrix helps organizations with financial decision-making and developing an action plan for business growth.

5 great strategic planning tools

Strategic planning tools are software programs that help teams put frameworks into action. There are many tools out there, each offering a unique specialty or perspective.

There's no one platform that's perfect for every single company. But these five are all exceptional at helping companies build their strategic plans. Find the one that best fits your company to help with planning.

Not to brag, but… Mural’s visual work platform makes strategic collaboration easier. It gives teams the tools — like custom templates and asynchronous collaboration features (like anonymous voting) — to outline business goals, identify key performance metrics, and measure results.

Mural’s templates for strategy and alignment help teams start the planning process by providing structure for frameworks like OKR or SWOT analysis . And each template features facilitation assistance to walk your team through strategic planning activities .

Cross-functional collaboration is easy in Mural — in real time or asynchronously. The anonymous voting feature, for example, lets teams come to a consensus and reach internal alignment quickly. 

ClickUp is a project management tool that helps teams prioritize tasks and organize strategic plans.

ClickUp offers templates like matrices and visual timeliness so you’re able to plug in content quickly, process this information, and start coming up with plans faster.

There’s also a feature called ClickUp Goals that helps teams break objectives down into smaller tasks using Targets or ways to measure each item. These targets include number, true/false, currency, and task.

ClickUp is comprehensive, but the pre-built automations may be limiting to some users if too many are triggered at the same time or if your organization requires more customization.

Hive marries task management with strategic planning by helping teams manage complex timelines, large-scale projects, and workflows.

Hive has goal-setting and milestone-tracking features that help teams set task dependencies, follow progress, and share reports with relevant stakeholders. Its visualization tools allow you to toggle between overarching organizational goals and individual teammate objectives. 

You can use the Hive Pages feature as a dashboard for your workspace’s hub. You can set Pages as public or private, add and customize widgets within your Pages, and even export Pages to non-Hive users.

A chat function is available within the tool, but some users have reported losing messages within the platform. So, some may find other collaboration tools more reliable for communication.

4. Airtable

Airtable is a next-generation platform that gives teams the power of relational databases in the form of user-friendly spreadsheets. It lets users organize, collaborate on, and store strategic plans within these databases.

Airtable offers an OKR tracking template that helps align teams and manage goals while maintaining accuracy. It also includes a Sync feature that updates workflows seamlessly across teams.

Airtable is a flexible tool but may have limitations, like lagging, when dealing with complex projects or datasets. Data processing functions and complicated calculations could lead to slower response times within the platform.

Trello is a Kanban-based project management tool. Its intuitive design features boards and cards, which can be used to structure strategic models and frameworks. 

Trello offers board templates for project and task management that provide organizational structures to help teams outline deliverables and assign tasks. It also features Timeline and Calendar views, so it’s easy to envision goals and schedule deadlines.

Power-Ups are Trello board features that allow you to use your favorite third-party apps directly within the platform. However, some users may find that combining Power-Ups from different vendors may cause friction in Trello’s functionality.

Bring your organization’s vision to life

There’s no one best framework or strategic planning tool — the right options for you'll depend on your organization’s vision, mission, and available resources. 

Regardless of methodology, most strategic planning begins with analyzing your current internal business environment and external factors, developing specific objectives, and creating action items to achieve these goals. 

Not sure where to start your strategic planning? Mural's template library includes preformatted, customizable frameworks (like this radar template !) to get your team on the path to success.

About the authors

Bryan Kitch

Tagged Topics

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10 Best Strategic Planning Software Tools in 2024

Senior Content Marketing Manager

February 14, 2024

Building a strategy takes a huge amount of effort and time. You need to build your vision for the business, set your goals accordingly, and outline how you’ll get there. The number of variables and uncertainties involved, along with the long planning horizon, can quickly turn the creation of that strategic plan into a headache.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. With the right strategic planning software, capturing and tracking key metrics makes it easier for teams to prioritize the right work.

What is Strategic Planning?

What should you look for in strategy software, 2. achieveit, 4. charthop, 5. lucidspark, 9. clearpoint strategy, 10. peoplebox.

A strategic planning process involves outlining the vision for your organization’s future along with the direction everyone needs to take to get there. The ultimate goal is a formal strategic plan that lets everyone know exactly what they’re working toward.

Every industry and organization approaches planning and progress tracking in different ways. But strategic planning always includes a few core components.

To start, you need a future vision. That’s exactly where leadership sees your organization end up in the future, and it helps stakeholders visualize progress over time.

Then you need to identify the more specific goals that the organization needs to accomplish on the way to fulfilling the vision. They’re still high-level, overarching goals that everyone uses to prioritize their work , track performance, and daily tasks.

Finally, you need a plan of action, the approach you’ll take to accomplish your strategic plan. This final step can become complex as it reaches into the day-to-day tactical plans of every organizational unit.

When going through our list of the best strategic planning software below, you’ll quickly notice just how different they are in their attempts to help you plan more effectively and strategically. Every complete solution you research, however, should include at least a few core strategic planning features on one centralized dashboard:

• Organization: Data visualization capabilities and tools to organize complex timelines, using tools such as Gantt charts or flowcharts
• Flexibility: More free-flowing dashboards and interfaces, such as whiteboard templates, that enable brainstorming and creative thought early in the process
• Customization: Customizable features that allow you to make the software work for your strategic planning process and track progress
• Agility: The ability to adjust on the fly is necessary, keeping potential contingency plans in mind
• Team-focused: Collaboration tools that allow more than one user to contribute to the project, especially in virtual environments where the strategy planning team may be distributed remotely
• Integration: Integration options with other tools, including those you use for project execution or secondary plans, such as product roadmaps ; this sets the stage for a complete product management solution
• Reporting: Customized performance reports to help monitor key performance indicators and optimize resource management throughout all of your strategic initiatives

Not every tool you find will be equally strong in these features and benefits. The key, then, is finding strategic planning software that matches your specific business game plan, situation, and environment.

The 10 Best Strategic Planning Software Tools to Use in 2024

It’s tough to make an argument for anything other than strategic planning to be the most important process in your organization. Tactics without the strategy behind them likely won’t succeed. These tools can simplify creating that strategy and streamline the process for everyone involved.

ClickUp is the perfect strategic planning software for any organization. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools to help teams organize plans, prioritize tasks, and manage projects. Plus, its visual strategic planning templates give project managers a jumpstart in the creation process.

And if you’re looking for a complete product management solution, ClickUp integrates with thousands of other work apps to streamline portfolio management into one central hub!

ClickUp best features

• A huge library of templates, including Gantt charts, visual timelines, whiteboards, board views, and ClickUp’s Strategic Roadmap Template !
• ClickUp Goals feature that allows you to turn your organizational vision into measurable and intuitive goals you can track and work on directly in the software
• Interactive Dashboards that allow key users to view organizational analytics and adjust their strategic plans
• A visual and user-friendly interface that works largely on dropdowns and drag-and-drop, enabling anyone involved in the planning to contribute
• Integrated document management that can house the outcome of the strategic planning process—the written plan—in a centralized and easily accessible space
• Communication tools that enable multiple members of the organization to collaborate on the planning process from beginning to end

ClickUp limitations

• The comprehensive nature of the software and its many features can make for a longer learning curve for new users
• This is a desktop-first strategic planning software; while there are some mobile capabilities and a mobile app, its functionality will always be most effective on desktop devices
• The pre-built automation can sometimes be limiting, causing some users to request more customized automation opportunities

ClickUp pricing plans

• Free Forever: A free service for users
• Unlimited: $7/month per user
• Business Plus: $19/month per user
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)

The first dedicated strategic planning tool on our list, AchieveIt focuses on automating and digitizing the planning process. That includes not just creating plans but also monitoring them across the organization and toward long-term success.

The planning process becomes more visible and transparent across the organization. With the intuitive dashboard, everyone remains on the same page regarding the goals, what they’ve achieved, and what they still need to do.

AchieveIt best features

• Planning templates optimized for industries, including healthcare, government, education, banking, manufacturing, and more
• A visual dashboard for users to keep track of both the planning and execution process across the organization
• A scorecard system to measure ongoing progress toward particular strategic goals
• An extensive knowledgebase complete with both video and written content to simplify onboarding and starting your planning process
• Close vendor-client relationships that lead to strong customer support and a higher chance of using the software successfully

AchieveIt limitations

• Limited ability to customize some fields in the templates and dashboards depending on the customization needed
• Fewer integrations than some leading software solution tools on this list, making it more difficult to plan and track outside the platform
• The pre-built reporting functions can be somewhat limiting, requiring time spent on custom reports in many industries

AchieveIt pricing plans

• Core: Contact for pricing
• Plus: Contact for pricing
• Pro: Contact for pricing

AchieveIt ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (45 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (21 reviews)

Built by former strategic organizational leaders, Elate helps others streamline their strategy sessions and planning. Like most of the best strategic planning tools , it focuses on three stages: planning, execution, and success tracking.

Each stage focuses on ongoing cross-unit alignment and optimization to keep your business on track.

Elate best features

• Set objectives and strategic goals in the platform, then communicate them to your larger teams via integrations, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams
• Create a unified dashboard view of your strategic plan that users and everyone else in the organization can easily see and reference
• Monitor the status of the plan’s execution through real-time success and progress reports in the platform
• Use the intuitive interface for easy planning without getting off target

Elate limitations

• The intentional simplicity of the product can sometimes be a limitation for more complex planning processes
• External data can be difficult to import into the software, which doesn’t always read typical file types
• There is currently no integration with project management tools, such as ClickUp, Asana, or Monday, that could lead to more complex execution projects

Elate pricing plans

• Contact for pricing

Elate ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.9/5 (11 reviews)
• Capterra: No reviews recorded

As a people management tool, ChartHop offers a digital solution for effectively tracking, analyzing, and understanding your workforce. It centralizes data such as employee information, roles, skills, and performance metrics, providing a holistic view of your organization.

By having access to this comprehensive dataset, you can gain valuable insights into your workforce and make informed decisions regarding resource allocation, talent development, and organizational strategy.

ChartHop best features

• A comprehensive employee and people management tool that provides all the depth and insights you need for strategic planning
• Integration abilities into other websites, such as your organization’s intranet
• A great mix of user experience and customizability to create an easy tool for all employees and leadership alike

ChartHop limitations

• There are so many features that it can be easy to lose the overview of what matters most in managing your people and plans
• The search function within the platform has some bugs and doesn’t always return comprehensive results
• Reports could use more segmentation abilities to analyze individual employees and data groups in greater detail

ChartHop pricing plans

• ChartHop Basic: Free for up to 150 employees
• ChartHop Standard: $8/month per employee
• ChartHop Premium: Contact for pricing

ChartHop ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.2/5 (98 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (65 reviews)

Strategic planning almost always has to start with creative brainstorming and ideation. That’s where a tool like Lucidspark, which thrives on its virtual whiteboarding features, truly shines. Companies, including Google, General Electric, and NBC Universal, use it in the strategic planning process.

Lucidspark best features

• Strong desktop and mobile capabilities that make whiteboarding and collaboration simple in any situation
• An integrated chat function that allows multiple users working on the same whiteboard to stay in real-time contact
• Templates from decision trees to roadmaps that make getting started in the planning process simple

Lucidspark limitations

• Somewhat limited features and templates for any multi-layered planning process
• Pricing is not listed publicly, and some reviews have called it out as more expensive than other whiteboarding tools

Lucidspark pricing plans

Lucidspark ratings and reviews.

• G2: 4.5/5 (2,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (350+ reviews)

Designed specifically for small businesses, Empiraa employs an established strategic framework that’s easy to integrate your organization and plan into. Simplicity is front and center for all users involved, whether you’re creating a vision or collaborating toward achieving that vision.

Empiraa best features

• Simplicity is intentional throughout, and this makes Empiraa one of the easiest tools available to start your planning process
• Streamlined functionality for switching directions or changing alignments to account for shifting business environments
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrations that use industry trends and data to suggest both business goals and strategies help achieve these goals

Empiraa limitations

• Simplicity is its downfall in scenarios where more complex tools and integrations, such as basic task management or calendar functionality, become necessary
• Lacks a clone function to quickly duplicate content, features, or set-up items when creating more complex or multiple plans and reports

Empiraa pricing plans

• Empiraa Starter: $4.90/month per user
• Empiraa Pro: $13.90/month per user
• Empiraa Max: $23.90/month per user

Empiraa ratings and reviews

• G2: 5/5 (1 review)
• Capterra: 5/5 (1 review)

Similar to ClickUp, Hive integrates strategic planning with more task-oriented project management. It has goal and milestone features, visualization tools, and an easy ability to move directly from the more overarching goals and strategy into managing individual projects connected with them. Meanwhile, Hive Pages is a dashboard specifically designed for strategic tracking.

Hive best features

• Robust templates that come with full customizability, allowing you to build repeatable processes that help the planning process
• Centralized and automated reporting and tracking of your goals to keep everyone who needs to stay in the loop involved
• Automated notifications for every aspect of the strategic planning process, maximizing visibility when building or adjusting the plan

Hive limitations

• The chat function is a great collaboration tool in theory, but some users report lost messages that make it less reliable than other collaboration tools
• The mobile app exists largely for checking tasks and notifications and doesn’t have the same functionality as the website and desktop app

Hive pricing plans

• Free: A free service for users
• Teams: $12/month per user

Hive ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (400+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (150+ reviews)

Envisio is designed to manage complexities. What makes it especially unique is its focus on planning transparency when it comes to external stakeholders, who take on a more significant role in these industries compared to most others.

Envisio best features

• A customizable plan structure that allows every organization to account for its nuances and complications in the process
• The ability to build multiple plans on a single account, enabling especially complex healthcare and nonprofit organizations to better manage their strategic planning infrastructure
• Fully customizable public dashboards that can generate automated reports to email lists and sign-ups who are interested in the execution of the plans

Envisio limitations

• The platform is still evolving, which means new features or layout changes can pop up unexpectedly for users
• A single plan with custom pricing makes it difficult to plan exactly how much you’ll need to spend on this software without in-depth engagement

Envisio pricing plans

Enivisio ratings and reviews.

• G2: 4.6/5 (10 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (26 reviews)

ClearPoint Strategy builds its business model on AI automation, and its strategic planning solution is no different. An AI assistant helps organizations with any type of strategic planning, including balanced scorecards, GTSM planning mechanisms, and beyond. The software also automates the execution of that planning process through automated tasks, notifications, reporting, and more.

ClearPoint Strategy best features

• An AI-enabled budget forecasting that adds a tangible component to the strategic planning process without any calculations needed
• A fully customizable dashboard that helps all levels of management in both the planning and execution of the plan
• Plenty of customization possibilities, including custom fields and reports, that allow for a more personalized planning process

ClearPoint Strategy limitations

• A relatively long learning curve, thanks in part to features, such as AI, that aren’t always intuitive to set up at the beginning compared to other strategic planning solutions
• Relatively rigid time frames with a standard monthly cadence that is difficult to change in the software

ClearPoint Strategy pricing plans

Clearpoint strategy ratings and reviews.

• G2: 4.7/5 (100+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.9/5 (38 reviews)

How does your people strategy connect to your business strategy? Find out with Peoplebox. It’s a performance management platform that combines traditional strategic planning tools with those that improve employee engagement and performance management.

Peoplebox best features

• Performance management tools that allow you to see where and how your teams are performing, which you can connect to your strategic forecasting efforts
• Objectives and Key Results (OKR)-focused software that’s especially beneficial for organizations using the OKR approach to strategic planning
• Automated notifications for any red flags that may impede business progress or employee performance

Peoplebox limitations

• User roles are not always well-defined, with all users being able to create company-wide goals that can confuse the reporting
• Integrations are still in development, currently limiting the software to a relatively self-contained planning platform

Peoplebox pricing plans

• Professional: $7/month per user
• Premium: $15/month per user

Peoplebox ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (250+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (120+ reviews)

Ready to Start Mastering Your Business Strategy?

ClickUp offers features such as collaboration tools, goal tracking, and real-time data analysis. This allows you to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. You can also invite stakeholders and assign tasks to ensure everyone is working towards the same end goal. With ClickUp’s help, your team will reach its objectives faster than before.

Start with a free ClickUp Workspace and leverage strategic planning features for your next project!

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Propel your plans from strategy through execution. Run engaging kickoff sessions, build visual presentations, and manage and track progress collaboratively, all in one online planning tool.

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Build strategy, manage execution

Collaboratively build strategy and manage projects by combining your thought process and data in one workspace. Use Miro’s planning tools to develop strategy, align teams, and communicate plans across the whole organization.

Visualize projects and dependencies

Organize all your project tasks and resources in one place. Draw dependency lines, manage workloads, and make adjustments on the fly to stay aligned and on track. Easily visualize timelines and the strategic planning process from start to finish.

Present strategy and execute with the latest info

Turn strategic plans into engaging presentations with live dashboards, wireframes, and diagrams on beautiful frames. Give more context in real time, or make a board recording async and ensure everyone is in the loop.

Why Miro is the best online planning tool

Run strategic meetings.

Facilitate strategic planning sessions where everyone can participate regardless of location. Generate ideas, discuss, and build plans in real time or continue work async. You'll never run out of space or get erased.

Present your vision

Develop, implement, and evaluate strategic plans and turn them into beautiful presentations with just a few clicks. Present live, or export as an image or PDF. Embed boards as visual documentation in Confluence, Jira, and more.

Bring agility to teams

Establish a culture of trust and transparency through visibility & inclusion. Structure your strategy in a way everyone understands, streamlining communication and workflows.

Maximize resource and time efficiency with cross-functional alignment, no duplicated work. Use Miro’s planning tools to automate processes and jump to execution faster.

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Table of Contents

What is a business plan, the advantages of having a business plan, the types of business plans, the key elements of a business plan, best business plan software, common challenges of writing a business plan, become an expert business planner, business planning: it’s importance, types and key elements.

Every year, thousands of new businesses see the light of the day. One look at the  World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database  shows the mind-boggling rate of new business registrations. However, sadly, only a tiny percentage of them have a chance of survival.   

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, about 50% in their fifth year.

Research from the University of Tennessee found that 44% of businesses fail within the first three years. Among those that operate within specific sectors, like information (which includes most tech firms), 63% shut shop within three years.

Several  other statistics  expose the abysmal rates of business failure. But why are so many businesses bound to fail? Most studies mention "lack of business planning" as one of the reasons.

This isn’t surprising at all. 

Running a business without a plan is like riding a motorcycle up a craggy cliff blindfolded. Yet, way too many firms ( a whopping 67%)  don't have a formal business plan in place. 

It doesn't matter if you're a startup with a great idea or a business with an excellent product. You can only go so far without a roadmap — a business plan. Only, a business plan is so much more than just a roadmap. A solid plan allows a business to weather market challenges and pivot quickly in the face of crisis, like the one global businesses are struggling with right now, in the post-pandemic world.  

But before you can go ahead and develop a great business plan, you need to know the basics. In this article, we'll discuss the fundamentals of business planning to help you plan effectively for 2021.  

Now before we begin with the details of business planning, let us understand what it is.

No two businesses have an identical business plan, even if they operate within the same industry. So one business plan can look entirely different from another one. Still, for the sake of simplicity, a business plan can be defined as a guide for a company to operate and achieve its goals.  

More specifically, it's a document in writing that outlines the goals, objectives, and purpose of a business while laying out the blueprint for its day-to-day operations and key functions such as marketing, finance, and expansion.

A good business plan can be a game-changer for startups that are looking to raise funds to grow and scale. It convinces prospective investors that the venture will be profitable and provides a realistic outlook on how much profit is on the cards and by when it will be attained. 

However, it's not only new businesses that greatly benefit from a business plan. Well-established companies and large conglomerates also need to tweak their business plans to adapt to new business environments and unpredictable market changes. 

Before getting into learning more about business planning, let us learn the advantages of having one.

Since a detailed business plan offers a birds-eye view of the entire framework of an establishment, it has several benefits that make it an important part of any organization. Here are few ways a business plan can offer significant competitive edge.

• Sets objectives and benchmarks: Proper planning helps a business set realistic objectives and assign stipulated time for those goals to be met. This results in long-term profitability. It also lets a company set benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) necessary to reach its goals. 
• Maximizes resource allocation: A good business plan helps to effectively organize and allocate the company’s resources. It provides an understanding of the result of actions, such as, opening new offices, recruiting fresh staff, change in production, and so on. It also helps the business estimate the financial impact of such actions.
• Enhances viability: A plan greatly contributes towards turning concepts into reality. Though business plans vary from company to company, the blueprints of successful companies often serve as an excellent guide for nascent-stage start-ups and new entrepreneurs. It also helps existing firms to market, advertise, and promote new products and services into the market.
• Aids in decision making: Running a business involves a lot of decision making: where to pitch, where to locate, what to sell, what to charge — the list goes on. A well thought-out business plan provides an organization the ability to anticipate the curveballs that the future could throw at them. It allows them to come up with answers and solutions to these issues well in advance.
• Fix past mistakes: When businesses create plans keeping in mind the flaws and failures of the past and what worked for them and what didn’t, it can help them save time, money, and resources. Such plans that reflects the lessons learnt from the past offers businesses an opportunity to avoid future pitfalls.
• Attracts investors: A business plan gives investors an in-depth idea about the objectives, structure, and validity of a firm. It helps to secure their confidence and encourages them to invest. 

Now let's look at the various types involved in business planning.

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Business plans are formulated according to the needs of a business. It can be a simple one-page document or an elaborate 40-page affair, or anything in between. While there’s no rule set in stone as to what exactly a business plan can or can’t contain, there are a few common types of business plan that nearly all businesses in existence use.  

Here’s an overview of a few fundamental types of business plans. 

• Start-up plan: As the name suggests, this is a documentation of the plans, structure, and objections of a new business establishments. It describes the products and services that are to be produced by the firm, the staff management, and market analysis of their production. Often, a detailed finance spreadsheet is also attached to this document for investors to determine the viability of the new business set-up.
• Feasibility plan: A feasibility plan evaluates the prospective customers of the products or services that are to be produced by a company. It also estimates the possibility of a profit or a loss of a venture. It helps to forecast how well a product will sell at the market, the duration it will require to yield results, and the profit margin that it will secure on investments. 
• Expansion Plan: This kind of plan is primarily framed when a company decided to expand in terms of production or structure. It lays down the fundamental steps and guidelines with regards to internal or external growth. It helps the firm to analyze the activities like resource allocation for increased production, financial investments, employment of extra staff, and much more.
• Operations Plan: An operational plan is also called an annual plan. This details the day-to-day activities and strategies that a business needs to follow in order to materialize its targets. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of the managing body, the various departments, and the company’s employees for the holistic success of the firm.
• Strategic Plan: This document caters to the internal strategies of the company and is a part of the foundational grounds of the establishments. It can be accurately drafted with the help of a SWOT analysis through which the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can be categorized and evaluated so that to develop means for optimizing profits.

There is some preliminary work that’s required before you actually sit down to write a plan for your business. Knowing what goes into a business plan is one of them. 

Here are the key elements of a good business plan:

• Executive Summary: An executive summary gives a clear picture of the strategies and goals of your business right at the outset. Though its value is often understated, it can be extremely helpful in creating the readers’ first impression of your business. As such, it could define the opinions of customers and investors from the get-go.  
• Business Description: A thorough business description removes room for any ambiguity from your processes. An excellent business description will explain the size and structure of the firm as well as its position in the market. It also describes the kind of products and services that the company offers. It even states as to whether the company is old and established or new and aspiring. Most importantly, it highlights the USP of the products or services as compared to your competitors in the market.
• Market Analysis: A systematic market analysis helps to determine the current position of a business and analyzes its scope for future expansions. This can help in evaluating investments, promotions, marketing, and distribution of products. In-depth market understanding also helps a business combat competition and make plans for long-term success.
• Operations and Management: Much like a statement of purpose, this allows an enterprise to explain its uniqueness to its readers and customers. It showcases the ways in which the firm can deliver greater and superior products at cheaper rates and in relatively less time. 
• Financial Plan: This is the most important element of a business plan and is primarily addressed to investors and sponsors. It requires a firm to reveal its financial policies and market analysis. At times, a 5-year financial report is also required to be included to show past performances and profits. The financial plan draws out the current business strategies, future projections, and the total estimated worth of the firm.

The importance of business planning is it simplifies the planning of your company's finances to present this information to a bank or investors. Here are the best business plan software providers available right now:

• Business Sorter

The importance of business planning cannot be emphasized enough, but it can be challenging to write a business plan. Here are a few issues to consider before you start your business planning:

• Create a business plan to determine your company's direction, obtain financing, and attract investors.
• Identifying financial, demographic, and achievable goals is a common challenge when writing a business plan.
• Some entrepreneurs struggle to write a business plan that is concise, interesting, and informative enough to demonstrate the viability of their business idea.
• You can streamline your business planning process by conducting research, speaking with experts and peers, and working with a business consultant.

Whether you’re running your own business or in-charge of ensuring strategic performance and growth for your employer or clients, knowing the ins and outs of business planning can set you up for success. 

Be it the launch of a new and exciting product or an expansion of operations, business planning is the necessity of all large and small companies. Which is why the need for professionals with superior business planning skills will never die out. In fact, their demand is on the rise with global firms putting emphasis on business analysis and planning to cope with cut-throat competition and market uncertainties.

While some are natural-born planners, most people have to work to develop this important skill. Plus, business planning requires you to understand the fundamentals of business management and be familiar with business analysis techniques . It also requires you to have a working knowledge of data visualization, project management, and monitoring tools commonly used by businesses today.   

Simpliearn’s Executive Certificate Program in General Management will help you develop and hone the required skills to become an extraordinary business planner. This comprehensive general management program by IIM Indore can serve as a career catalyst, equipping professionals with a competitive edge in the ever-evolving business environment.

What Is Meant by Business Planning?

Business planning is developing a company's mission or goals and defining the strategies you will use to achieve those goals or tasks. The process can be extensive, encompassing all aspects of the operation, or it can be concrete, focusing on specific functions within the overall corporate structure.

What Are the 4 Types of Business Plans?

The following are the four types of business plans:

Operational Planning

This type of planning typically describes the company's day-to-day operations. Single-use plans are developed for events and activities that occur only once (such as a single marketing campaign). Ongoing plans include problem-solving policies, rules for specific regulations, and procedures for a step-by-step process for achieving particular goals.

Strategic Planning

Strategic plans are all about why things must occur. A high-level overview of the entire business is included in strategic planning. It is the organization's foundation and will dictate long-term decisions.

Tactical Planning

Tactical plans are about what will happen. Strategic planning is aided by tactical planning. It outlines the tactics the organization intends to employ to achieve the goals outlined in the strategic plan.

Contingency Planning

When something unexpected occurs or something needs to be changed, contingency plans are created. In situations where a change is required, contingency planning can be beneficial.

What Are the 7 Steps of a Business Plan?

The following are the seven steps required for a business plan:

Conduct Research

If your company is to run a viable business plan and attract investors, your information must be of the highest quality.

Have a Goal

The goal must be unambiguous. You will waste your time if you don't know why you're writing a business plan. Knowing also implies having a target audience for when the plan is expected to get completed.

Create a Company Profile

Some refer to it as a company profile, while others refer to it as a snapshot. It's designed to be mentally quick and digestible because it needs to stick in the reader's mind quickly since more information is provided later in the plan.

Describe the Company in Detail

Explain the company's current situation, both good and bad. Details should also include patents, licenses, copyrights, and unique strengths that no one else has.

Create a marketing plan ahead of time.

A strategic marketing plan is required because it outlines how your product or service will be communicated, delivered, and sold to customers.

Be Willing to Change Your Plan for the Sake of Your Audience

Another standard error is that people only write one business plan. Startups have several versions, just as candidates have numerous resumes for various potential employers.

Incorporate Your Motivation

Your motivation must be a compelling reason for people to believe your company will succeed in all circumstances. A mission should drive a business, not just selling, to make money. That mission is defined by your motivation as specified in your business plan.

What Are the Basic Steps in Business Planning?

These are the basic steps in business planning:

Summary and Objectives

Briefly describe your company, its objectives, and your plan to keep it running.

Services and Products

Add specifics to your detailed description of the product or service you intend to offer. Where, why, and how much you plan to sell your product or service and any special offers.

Conduct research on your industry and the ideal customers to whom you want to sell. Identify the issues you want to solve for your customers.

Operations are the process of running your business, including the people, skills, and experience required to make it successful.

How are you going to reach your target audience? How you intend to sell to them may include positioning, pricing, promotion, and distribution.

Consider funding costs, operating expenses, and projected income. Include your financial objectives and a breakdown of what it takes to make your company profitable. With proper business planning through the help of support, system, and mentorship, it is easy to start a business.

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Business Intelligence Career Guide: Your Complete Guide to Becoming a Business Analyst

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Review: 4 SaaS business-planning tools

These cloud-based tools can drop all the data for your business plan or product launch into one application and share it with your team.

Business-planning software isn’t just for startups and SMBs anymore. Many of these tools have been transformed into multitasking workhorses, with enterprise product marketing and development team leaders using them to suss out road maps and financials for individual products.

I reviewed four SaaS-based products for developing business plans from the point of view of a product marketing executive needing to wrangle all the costs of developing, launching and marketing a new product or service. I wanted a product that could establish revenue goals with trackable metrics, create reports on all financials, and allow access by multiple users within the product marketing group.

In addition, I looked at whether the product provided a means of creating a go-to-market strategy, pitches and marketing plans and whether it integrated with leading productivity tools such as Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel. I put a check in the plus column if the tool integrated with leading enterprise accounting software such as QuickBooks and Xero and recognized multiple forms of currency, since many businesses are multinational.

I wanted a product that was intuitive and granular and that made it simple for me to wrap every aspect of a product launch into one application so that I wouldn’t have to dink around setting up separate documents, such as Excel spreadsheets with ever-changing formulas, PowerPoint presentations and Word docs. And it would have to be accessible from anywhere, in the cloud.

Of the four I reviewed, I liked LivePlan and Enloop — which are comparably priced — the most for my purposes. Both led me through various processes from start to finish, whether it was helping me strategize and clarify my product marketing pitch, tackling financial data or producing a final, professional document to present to the higher-ups. LivePlan does a little more hand-holding than Enloop in the strategizing and marketing pitch area, but if you have those parts of the process down already, either in your head or in another document, then Enloop will work nicely.

And both LivePlan and Enloop publish the security measures they take to ensure that my data is protected. It’s always a good idea to closely review any SaaS application Terms of Service and Privacy policies before you commit for the long term.

The Bizplan and StratPad Cloud user interfaces were harder to negotiate than LivePlan’s and Enloop’s were. StratPad’s UI was too busy, and Bizplan’s was oversimplified, causing me to hunt down subsections.

Bizplan is one of six SaaS products in the Startups.co platform, which helps startups get off the ground by facilitating funding, helping them find mentors and customers and providing other assistance. Yes, it’s billed as being for startups, but a new product is very much like a startup, with the product manager creating a business plan to drive the new product’s development, launch and critical first few years of existence.

For $14.50 a month (billed annually), the Business version of Bizplan lets you set up two different companies or products and share the data with up to four collaborators for each company or product and an unlimited number of viewers. The Premium version ($24.50 per month if billed annually) allows up to five companies or products, unlimited collaborators and unlimited viewers. (There’s also a Starter plan for $9.50/mo. if billed annually, but it doesn’t allow collaboration.)

Bizplan does not provide a trial period, and nope, no refunds if it does not suit your needs. That said, if you start with a month-to-month subscription ($29/mo. for the Business plan), you can cancel before your 30-day period is up to keep your trial expenses to a minimum.

The user interface is clean and simple, with its main navigational bar running vertically down the left side of the screen. The application’s primary focus is on finance, which is the first section you’re guided to set up after the basic product information.

Access financial data such as personnel costs by selecting any one of the Finance subcategories: Personnel, Expenses, Revenue or Capital. (Click any image to enlarge it.)

Financial data is categorized as personnel, expenses, revenue and capital, and clear definitions and descriptions of what data you need to input in each are provided. Sub-menus that lie beneath each of those four categories help you get a clear picture of where you stand. For example, under expenses is a section detailing what you planned and what the actual expenses were. Bizplan integrates with QuickBooks and Xero accounting software.

Next up was the business plan, which was divided into several sections, including the summary or pitch, problem, solution, market and customer target, and competitive analysis. I liked that it took the plan further, with strategy, risk and traction sections. Bizplan includes as traction things such as the addition of notable customers, user or customer growth, the current sales pipeline, strategic partnerships and press mentions. This information is important to include when validating product sales or discussing the product’s road map or ongoing efforts with top-tier corporate executives.

Understanding the competitive landscape will help you make more strategic decisions.

Bottom line

Bizplan worked well for my new-product launch planning purposes. It gave sufficient descriptions and hand-holding to ensure that I ended up with a comprehensive plan. Startups.co has some great management and mentoring resources that any executive or manager could spend hours poking around in and learning from.

Enloop ’s subscription pricing structure starts with a free version, then bumps to Basic ($6 per month when billed annually), Advanced ($11 per month billed annually) and Professional ($24 per month billed annually). The more you pay, the more functionality and number of users you get. What’s appealing about this structure is that there isn’t a trial period you have to keep track of, and you don’t have to use your credit card just to explore the product.

If I were buying this to build product business plans that other team members needed to complete pieces of, I’d go with the Advanced plan. Let’s face it, the head of a product marketing and development group is likely to be herding cats for more than one product’s growth. You’ll get five plans, five users, three financial ratio analyses per plan, rich text formatting, spell check in 16 languages and integration with QuickBooks Online. My mind was also put at ease by the company’s published data security measures .

The user interface makes it super easy to get started. In setup, you choose forecast time frame and currency, invite your appropriate team members to the plan, and drop in your company logo. At each step during the setup phase, Enloop shows you what you can select and also entices with what’s available in plans you didn’t choose. This is cool, because you’ll know right away, not down the road, if you need to upgrade to fill your needs. The Advanced plan gives you three years of monthly forecasting.

Add Info is the first of three major sections in the app; here you set up and input all your company information.

Enloop has three main sections: Add Info, View Reports and View Your Plan. Enloop recommends that you complete the sections in the proper order, although, if you want, you can jump around. Popup windows guide you as you move through the app, in many cases defining the information it’s asking you for, making it easy to complete. An advanced or higher-level user can use the edit controls to format text or insert copied content. I love that the content editor collects information you’ve input from earlier subsections and drops it into the Business Idea Text content-editing window so you don’t have to rekey it.

When I got down into the Product & Sales subsection of the Add Info section, the app started trying to upsell me. It was annoying and cut into my flow, but I was using the free version, so that’s to be expected. The Add Info section also has Marketing, Personnel and Financial Information subsections, all important, to complete.

View Reports gave me financial forecasts, ratios and a detailed report card of the plan I’d built. Finally, the View Your Plan section provided a preview of the plan and prepared it as a PDF.

The Performance Results page, gives you Financial Ratio and Financial Analysis forecasts based on your preset and input revenue and expense data.

Enloop is a great all-around SaaS business plan product. It’s simple to figure out which subscription to buy, the UI is logically designed and organized, and it guides you intuitively through the process.

Palo Alto Software’s LivePlan excelled for my purposes of building a product launch and go-to-market plan. LivePlan’s most reasonable price is $11.66 per month when billed annually. You’ll save 40% this way and get 60 days to try it, after which you will receive a 100% refund if you decide to end the subscription.

The application starts you off creating a “company,” which in my case was a new product. Two team members can collaborate on the plan (even simultaneously), and an unlimited number of viewers can review your plan. You can also create multiple product or business plans, but you can only work on one of those plans at a time unless you pay an additional fee.

I input a forecast start and length, chose how much detail I wanted and designated a currency for calculations. Then came the fun part: diving into the plan.

Create your company; input a forecast start, length and level of detail; and select your currency.

LivePlan gives you several options, including Pitch, Plan, Forecast and Scoreboard, to use as your starting point. Because Pitch was the first option and I love marketing messaging, I chose to go that route. I decided to change the name of the company/product in the Pitch section — the main Pitch page prominently displays a button labeled “Click here to change your company name” — but the application wouldn’t save it even after I selected Done. With IM chat help, I found a second way to accomplish this in the Options dropdown, and that was successful.

Another problem I encountered: When I input information such as “problem,” “solution messaging” and “target market” in the Pitch section, it wasn’t automatically applied to the Plan section. Having to rekey everything seems like a basic functional defect that could be easily addressed. The LivePlan help desk told me that the development team is working on this.

The Forecast section provides guidance and helpful advice as you establish revenue and expense expectations, including direct costs and personnel. You can create more than one forecast, which is helpful, since things rarely go as originally planned.

Add your product, service or other revenue sources here.

I loved that the application challenged me to dive into competitive analysis in the Benchmarks section, because this is key to any new product’s success. Just as important is speed to market, and the Schedule section keeps the team on track by providing email reminders of upcoming deadlines and late notices.

Once you start executing on the plan, the Scoreboard section will keep you apprised of whether you’re doing better or worse than plan. Scoreboard is also the section where you hook your business plan up to accounting software; LivePlan integrates with QuickBooks and Xero in the event you have a separate account for your project.

I like that the service provides strong security and privacy measures, as described on its FAQ page .

LivePlan is a well-thought-out, feature-rich application with several customization options in each section and good tech support. Aside from the couple of hiccups I mentioned, LivePlan was a joy to work with, encouraged my entrepreneurial spirit and removed the tediousness of developing a plan.

StratPad Cloud

The company bills StratPad Cloud as “rocket fuel for business.” Watered-down rocket fuel, I’d say, what with a user interface that’s busier than it needs to be, making navigating between sections somewhat tedious until I caught on. I can forgive this, though, since the basic version is free.

The downside to free is that you can work with only one business plan and one user. But you can upgrade to a paid version at a reasonable cost. For example, if you choose annual billing you can pay $20 per month for five plans, or $40 for an unlimited number of plans. Each of these options includes additional user sharing.

You can share your plan with someone via email using the dropdown menu, provided your subscription plan allows adding users.

Most of the sections you need to complete are in the vertical navigation menu. It immediately takes you to a screen for completing customer/client descriptions and then dives into standard problem, solution and competitor information that helps define product differentiators for use in marketing messaging, and even product development. I did like that it took me directly to these facets of the plan before addressing the financial aspects, because it helped clarify markets and customer targets, which made it easier for me to assess revenue streams attached to those customer types. Having a well-thought-out business plan and strategy to back it up led to more accurate financial data and forecasts.

After all the groundwork has been done, StratPad gives you a great way to map out your plan in different phases (although it uses the word “project” instead of “phase”). For instance, let’s say that from January through March you’re building your product. That’s one project. A second project might be the marketing phase. That might start in March and be ongoing, or it could overlap, so that it begins before the product build project is completed. In essence, StratPad has added a project management toolkit to its business plan tool, a feature none of the other products in this roundup has.

The Meeting Agenda page gives you an immediate picture of what meetings are coming up so you are sure to have your deliverables and can prepare for them.

It disappointed me that there wasn’t a way to import data such as project revenue and expenses from an Excel sheet. You have to enter that data manually, but once it’s all in the app, it will let you export it back to Excel. The reports include standard profit/loss, monthly worksheets and income statements as well as overall strategic diagrams, Gantt charts and meeting agendas from your various projects.

Just in case you were wondering about tech support and tutorials, StratPad College is a great collection of videos, tutorials and other content that will persuade the entrepreneurial spirit in you to write and plan in elaborate style.

StratPad is a great business-planning tool if you already have strong ideas about direction and don’t mind a little extra data entry. The project-planning piece is a nice touch, and you can’t beat the price for the basic version.

Read this next: How to cure ‘corporate amnesia’ with knowledge management software

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Alyson Behr is a tech writer, editor, and strategic content consultant. With deep roots in testing, industry competitive analysis, and product reviews, Behr has written for numerous IT publications. As a strategic content development expert, Alyson founded and drove the development of Spirent Communication’s sponsored LabRat Magazine, the first publication devoted to the network test and measurement community. Currently, Behr is focused on product/service reviews and consulting to the IT industry. Follow her on Twitter @alysonbehr.

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Create Your Business Plan in Minutes

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a business plan and why is it important.

• Initiate with Your Business Concept: Lay the Groundwork: Start by introducing your business idea into Plannit AI's Business Plan Generator. This first step is crucial, as it sets the tone for a tailored, insightful business plan that truly resonates with your vision. Capture the Essence: Our platform is designed to grasp the nuances of your concept, ensuring that the generated plan accurately reflects the core and potential of your business.
• Navigate Through the AI-Guided Questionnaire: Tailored Interactive Experience: Plannit AI’s AI-guided questionnaire is your interactive guide through the planning process. It meticulously gathers information about your business's objectives, strategies, and market positioning, ensuring a comprehensive and reflective plan. Intelligent Feedback and Suggestions: As you progress through the questionnaire, benefit from smart prompts and suggestions, ensuring that your plan is not just detailed but also strategically sound and aligned with industry standards.
• Generate Your Plan with Advanced AI: Intuitive Plan Creation: With the questionnaire complete, Plannit AI's advanced algorithms intelligently analyze your responses. They then craft a detailed, customizable, and strategically aligned business plan, providing you with a structured, coherent, and actionable format. Benefit from AI-Powered Insights: Plannit AI offers AI-driven insights and suggestions, ensuring your plan is not just a document but a strategic tool equipped with tailored AI prompts and an in-app plan editor. Get inspired by browsing through our sample business plans, a collection of successful strategies across various industries.
• Finalize Your Plan with Confidence: Dynamic Adaptation and Refinement: Plannit AI recognizes that a business plan is a living document. Our platform allows for continuous adaptation and refinement, ensuring your strategy remains agile, relevant, and aligned with your evolving business goals. Professional Presentation and Sharing: Once your plan meets your standards, utilize Plannit AI's export features to present your plan professionally. Choose between various formats for exporting your business plan, ready to impress stakeholders, attract investors, or guide your team. Review and Adapt: Ensure your business plan is a living document, ready to evolve with your growing business. Plannit AI's dynamic platform allows you to adapt your strategy as new opportunities or challenges arise.

How to Write a Business Plan?

• Roadmap for Success: At its core, a business plan acts as a strategic guide, providing detailed steps on how your business will achieve its objectives. It helps you navigate the startup phase, manage growth effectively, and tackle unforeseen challenges with a well-thought-out strategy.
• Securing Funding: For startups and businesses looking to expand, a business plan is crucial for securing loans or attracting investors. It demonstrates to potential financial backers that your business has a clear vision, a solid strategy for profitability, and a plan for delivering returns on their investment.
• Informed Decision-Making: A well-prepared business plan offers valuable insights into your market, competition, and potential challenges. This information is vital for making informed decisions, from day-to-day operations to long-term strategic shifts.
• Market Analysis and Strategy: It allows you to conduct an in-depth analysis of your target market, understand customer needs, and position your product or service effectively. The marketing strategy outlined in your business plan helps in identifying the best channels and tactics to reach your audience and achieve market penetration.
• Financial Planning: One of the most critical components of a business plan is the financial forecast. It outlines your funding requirements, expected revenue, profit margins, and cash flow projections. This section is essential for budgeting, financial management, and ensuring the financial viability of your business.
• Goal Setting and Performance Measurement: A business plan sets clear, measurable goals and objectives. It provides a framework for monitoring performance, measuring success, and making necessary adjustments to stay on track.

Who Can Benefit from Plannit AI?

• Aspiring Entrepreneurs: If you're at the idea stage, looking to transform your vision into a viable business, Plannit AI offers the tools and guidance to bring your concept to life. Our platform helps you articulate your business idea, define your target market, and develop a solid plan to turn your dream into reality.
• Students and Educators: For students delving into the intricacies of business planning and educators teaching the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, Plannit AI serves as an invaluable resource. It provides a practical, hands-on tool for learning and teaching how to create detailed business plans, analyze markets, and understand financials in a real-world context.
• Startup Founders: In the dynamic startup environment, Plannit AI is the ideal partner for founders looking to pivot quickly, secure funding, or understand their competitive landscape. With our AI-driven insights and market analysis tools, startups can make informed decisions and adapt their strategies to thrive in competitive markets.
• Small Business Owners: For small business owners seeking to optimize their operations, expand their customer base, or explore new markets, Plannit AI offers targeted solutions. Our platform simplifies the planning process, enabling owners to focus on growth while managing the day-to-day challenges of running their business.
• Consultants and Freelancers: Consultants and freelancers specializing in business development, strategic planning, or financial advising will find Plannit AI a powerful addition to their toolkit. It allows them to provide clients with comprehensive, data-driven business plans and strategies, enhancing the value of their services.
• Non-Profit Organizations: Leaders of non-profit organizations can leverage Plannit AI to plan initiatives, secure funding, and manage resources more efficiently. Our platform helps non-profits articulate their mission, set achievable goals, and measure their impact, ensuring they can make a difference in their communities.
• Innovators and Inventors: Individuals looking to commercialize innovative products or technologies can use Plannit AI to navigate the complexities of bringing new ideas to market. From patent strategies to go-to-market plans, our platform covers all bases, ensuring innovators can focus on what they do best.
• Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Government Agencies: Government and SBA backed entities can greatly benefit from integrating Plannit AI into their services, enhancing their ability to support a larger number of clients more efficiently. By facilitating quicker, more in-depth business plan development, these organizations can spend more time assisting with plan execution and less time on creation, ultimately serving their communities more effectively.
• Anyone with a Business Idea: Ultimately, Plannit AI is for anyone with a business idea, regardless of industry, experience, or stage of business development. Our mission is to democratize business planning, making it accessible, understandable, and actionable for everyone.

Why is Plannit AI the best choice for an AI business planning software?

• Interactive Questionnaire and ChatGPT Integration: Plannit AI transforms the business planning process into an engaging conversation. Through our advanced ChatGPT integration, we offer a questionnaire that dynamically adapts to your responses, ensuring your plan is personalized, comprehensive, and aligned with your business goals.
• Dynamic Planning Environment: Unlike static templates provided by many, Plannit AI introduces a living platform that grows with your business. It features real-time updates, strategic insights, and a feedback mechanism that keeps your business plan current and actionable.
• Extensive Educational Resources: Our Education Center is packed with articles, guides, and sample plans to bolster your planning process. It's designed to arm you with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of your industry confidently.
• Enhanced Collaboration and Customization: Recognizing the collaborative essence of business planning, Plannit AI supports team efforts with multi-user editing, annotations, and feedback features, ensuring a comprehensive approach to your strategy.
• Customer Success Stories: Our users' achievements are a testament to Plannit AI's effectiveness. These success stories illustrate how diverse businesses have utilized our platform for strategic planning and growth.
• Tailored Business Plan Creation: Our platform stands out with its tailored approach, featuring customizable templates that directly cater to your business type and industry, making plan creation straightforward and relevant.

How can ChatGPT help me to create business plans?

• Content Generation:: ChatGPT helps draft various sections of a business plan, from executive summaries to marketing strategies, by providing structured and coherent text based on the prompts given.
• Strategic Insights: It can offer suggestions on business strategies by analyzing trends and providing examples from a wide range of industries.
• Financial Planning: While it can't replace professional financial advice, ChatGPT can guide the structure of financial projections and statements, helping you consider important financial aspects of your plan.

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Grow » marketing, 9 ai tools to improve your business’s marketing.

AI-powered tools and software can help streamline your business’s marketing efforts. Here are nine AI tools you can leverage to improve your marketing.

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), many businesses are using AI-powered tools and software to streamline their operations and gain valuable market insights. AI technologies can help companies brainstorm and create content, automate workflows, analyze customer insights, and more.

Here are nine AI tools you can leverage to take your small business’s marketing to the next level.

Social media monitoring tool Brand24 helps businesses track customer feedback and sentiment in real time. It scours the web to aggregate brand mentions across various online sources, using AI to flag both positive and negative posts within contexts. Monthly pricing begins at $99 for individual accounts and $179 for team accounts.

DeepBrain AI

DeepBrain AI converts written text into engaging videos via its AI Studios tool. Simply input your desired text to create a voiceover and subtitles. Then, use existing text or work on the platform using the ChatGPT integration. Next, select your AI avatar to convey the voiceover, complete with naturalistic speech and movements for a more realistic feel.

The Starter plan costs $30 per month, while the Pro plan runs $225 per month. Custom pricing is available for Enterprise plans.

[Read more: What's the Difference Between Traditional and Generative AI? ]

HubSpot AI Marketing Hub

HubSpot AI offers a range of AI-powered capabilities throughout its platform to help businesses automate processes and make informed business decisions. Among these is the Marketing Hub , which includes AI-based features such as automated campaign development and tracking.

You can access several features, including email marketing, in the free version. Additional tools are available with paid plans, starting at $18 per month.

If you’re looking to get a stronger return on investment for your social media marketing efforts, Sprout Social can help.

Influencity

For businesses looking to leverage influencer marketing, Influencity offers a comprehensive platform to connect with influencers, work together on campaigns, and track campaign performance. The AI-powered tool helps companies find best-fit influencers across various social networks, optimize campaign workflows, and analyze key statistics to improve return on investment.

Pricing begins at $168 for a basic account with up to four users, going up to $698 monthly for a business account with unlimited users.

Formerly known as Conversion.ai, Jasper “the AI copilot” can generate marketing assets, including social media posts, sales emails, blog content, and website copy. The generative AI tool allows you to upload information about your business, ensuring the content it creates is both factually accurate and in the correct tone. Jasper also comes with search engine optimization (SEO) features and integrates with several third-party SEO and customer relationship management tools.

Plans for Jasper start at $49 per month per seat, with custom features and pricing available to businesses upon request.

[Read more: AI Tools That Can Help You Start, Run, and Grow Your Small Business ]

Seventh Sense

Hubspot and Marketo users can enhance their email marketing campaigns with Seventh Sense . The tool’s AI algorithms analyze each customer’s unique engagement patterns to increase email open rates and interactions. Seventh Sense also offers audience segmentation based on engagement levels, allowing you to tailor your approach and content accordingly.

For Marketo users, pricing begins at $450 per month with a minimum of 50,000 leads; HubSpot user pricing begins at $80 per month with a minimum of 5,000 marketing contacts.

Sprout Social

If you’re looking to get a stronger return on investment (ROI) for your social media marketing efforts, Sprout Social can help. The all-in-one social media management platform uses AI to understand audience behavior and make suggestions accordingly — for example, determining the best time to post, suggesting content themes, and finding potential brand advocates and influencers.

Sprout Social has four paid plans with varying degrees of features and support that start at $249 per month (plus an extra $199 per month for each additional seat).

E-commerce stores can turn to Trellis to optimize their ad campaigns and overall ROI. Trellis’s AI can suggest and regularly update keyword bids, provide advanced analytics and insights, and adjust campaigns based on identified patterns and trends. Amazon sellers can also benefit from the AI-powered pricing tool, which tests various product prices to help businesses develop optimal strategies.

Pricing for monthly plans (based on annual revenue) ranges from $299 to $1,499.

Zapier empowers teams to create customized, cross-system workflows to automate repetitive tasks, working with over 3,000 integrations to streamline various processes. One of the platform’s most promising tools for marketing is the ability to create a custom AI-powered chatbot. Zapier offers templates for both internal use (such as creating press releases or clarifying complex information) and for customer-facing chat-based interactions.

Zapier users can begin building a chatbot with limited features for free; premium plans cost $20 per month and allow the chatbot to be trained on one knowledge source.

[Read more: Getting Started With AI: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Small Businesses ]

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Unveiling Marketing Calendars and Tools for End-to-End Campaign Planning - S304

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Andy Watanabe

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Vazgen Babyan

Sr. Group Manager, Product Management, Adobe

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ABOUT THE SESSION

Join us as we unveil new product capabilities designed to enable organizations to manage and visualize their end-to-end operational lifecycle. Discover how to create highly interactive marketing calendars with shareable views that provide insight into timelines, deliverables, and bottlenecks. Automate campaign brief creation for faster alignment and reduced time to market. See how all of this is powered by new abilities to create custom objects, seamlessly link them across the marketing journey, and connect plans to execution to manage your entire marketing strategy and delivery in one place.

In this session: • Learn how Workfront unifies marketing with comprehensive visibility and curated insights • Standardize your marketing operating framework to gain efficiencies and scale for growth • Accelerate marketing ROI by launching and optimizing campaigns faster

Track: Planning and Workflow

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Audience Type: Campaign manager, Digital marketer, Marketing executive, Operations professional, Marketing practitioner, Marketing analyst, Marketing operations , Content manager, Email manager, Omnichannel architect, Social strategist

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ADOBE GENSTUDIO

Meet Adobe GenStudio, coming soon, a generative AI-first product to unite and accelerate your content supply chain.

Group Product Manager

Andy Watanabe is a Group Product Manager at Adobe with more than a decade of experience building high-value products for enterprise customers. As a hobbyist woodworker, Andy knows that having the right tool for the job makes all the difference and that tools can be both beautiful and empowering. That passion translates into his desire to deliver uncompromisingly great tools that enable Adobe's customers to do their best work. Prior to working for Adobe, Andy co-founded a venture-backed startup and received his MBA from Brigham Young University with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship. He currently lives in Utah with his partner Blaire and their four young children who enjoy giving him regular lessons on subjects such as patience, stepping on legos without swearing, and how to read books at night without falling asleep before they do.

Vazgen Babayan

Sr. Group Manager, Product Management

I’m a Group Product Manager over System Administration, Planning, and Resource & Financial Management areas of the Adobe Workfront application, which means that I'm spending my days trying to help people best manage their and others' workload while achieving the company's strategic objectives. When I'm not doing that, I love to swim, play football (called soccer in this part of the world), and read articles on ways to change the world for the better.

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A Roadmap for Responsible Business Conduct

Three years ago, a Dalit woman was murdered by her supervisor at a garment factory in India. Her co-workers did not wait for the company to respond. They organized collectively and engaged major global fashion companies, developing an enforceable agreement between the buying companies, the factories and their trade union to identify, remedy and prevent gender-based violence and harassment in their workplaces.

Known as the Dindigul agreement , the initiative established independent monitoring entities and trained female shop floor monitors with special retaliation protections to take immediate action on cases of gender-based violence and harassment. The agreement ensured that there were trusted and reliable grievance mechanisms in place. It also held companies accountable to resolving issues and providing workers access to remedy.

By 2026, companies are projected to spend over $27 billion a year on voluntary social audits to report on labor abuses in their supply chains. Yet, no audit would have stopped the tragedy in India. And in 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Bangladesh , killing over 1,100 workers – days after an audit found no problems in the building. Voluntary third-party audits have all too often shown their limitations.

We believe businesses can and must do better. That’s why we’ve released the Responsible Business Conduct and Labor Rights InfoHub , a one-stop shop for information, guidance and tools from the U.S. government and international organizations to support the private sector in integrating labor rights and responsible business practices in their operations and across their global supply chains.

This comes as part of the U.S. government’s second National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, founded on the Biden-Harris administration’s bedrock belief that businesses can have success while doing good, and that governments should create the conditions for responsible business conduct to take place.

The InfoHub provides companies with the knowledge and tools they need to comply with federal statutes, agency rules and trade provisions around responsible business and labor rights. It also makes government reports and advisories easily accessible, so businesses can stay up to date on emerging risks in priority sectors.

The site complements existing due diligence tools the Bureau of International Labor Affairs has created, such as Comply Chain and our List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor . The InfoHub also builds upon ILAB’s commitment to amplifying worker voice as a critical component of worker-centered due diligence.

We urge all stakeholders — from civil society to the C-suite — to use these resources, tools and legal standards to engage in meaningful action, strengthen their due diligence and ensure workers in their supply chains can exercise their internationally recognized rights without fear of retaliation.

We are entering a new era of corporate compliance, one where binding commitments to support worker voice, as we see in the Dindigul agreement, emerge as powerful and viable tools. The businesses at the top of global supply chains have the power to make these agreements widespread and effective and to ensure that workers are at the center of these new processes and institutions. This requires not just standing up new processes to map and track impacts within supply chains, but on concrete, positive outcomes for workers. It requires not just setting up hotlines, apps or suggestion boxes for workers but respecting their rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Through the Responsible Business Conduct and Labor Rights InfoHub and other resources, the U.S. Department of Labor is providing companies with the tools to chart a path forward on meaningful due diligence and bolster the rights and protections of all workers.

Thea Lee is the deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Follow ILAB on X/Twitter at @ILAB_DOL and on LinkedIn .

• Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)
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Wedding planning company launches AI tool to help couples ‘split the decisions’ for their special day

Ai tool enables couples to take a questionnaire about priorities, concerns and more — then move forward from there.

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Planning a large event such as a wedding can be stressful for many people, as decisions about ceremonies, location, guests, flower arrangements, cake designs and much more have to be made.

Zola, a wedding planning company that helps engaged couples plan details of their nuptials, announced the launch of a new tool to help couples struggling with making a myriad of decisions for the celebratory day. 

The "Split The Decisions" artificial intelligence tool will allow couples to provide expectations for the wedding planning process from the start, such as priorities, concerns, desired style and more, per Zola. 

TRAVEL AND TOURISM TO BREAK RECORDS, BRING OVER $11 TRILLION IN 2024: REPORT

Then, engaged couples fill out a questionnaire in a "who’s more likely to" style to find out which person of the pair is more detail-oriented, creative and more. 

Zola said the number of decisions that need to be made ahead of a wedding is a shock factor for many couples.  (iStock / iStock)

Some of the sample questions include, "Which of you is most likely to make a spreadsheet for anything and everything?"

A WEDDING PLANNING TIMELINE: FROM ENGAGEMENT TO ‘I DO'

Another question: "Who’s more inclined to spend hours researching to find the perfect wedding detail, like the ideal centerpiece design or wedding cake flavor?"

"Many couples have proactively shared their own experiences about these challenges during wedding planning, wishing that they would have had this tool for themselves."

From there, the new AI-generated tool then divides the key wedding-planning tasks between the couple. 

Zola said its AI tool allows couples to take a questionnaire to find out which person in the relationship would be best for making certain decisions.  (Zola / Fox News)

Although there will be joint tasks to accomplish, the individuals will be given a list of decisions that each of them is solely in charge of making. 

AI TOOL HELPS COUPLES WRITE WEDDING VOWS AS MARRIAGE EXPERT WARNS, ‘BE CAUTIOUS’ WITH TECHNOLOGY

Zola noted that the split to-do list is downloadable for the individuals to start chipping away at and making those decisions for their special day. 

"This tool is directly solving a pain point for so many couples."

Zola’s chief marketing officer Victoria Vaynberg told FOX Business the tool was created due to the high number of decisions that need to be made during the wedding process. 

WHEN SHOULD I START SAVING FOR MY WEDDING?

"Our 2024 First Look Report found that the No. 1 surprise about wedding planning is the sheer number of decisions they must make," she said. 

The AI tool from Zola will be in the form of a questionnaire for couples.  (iStock / iStock)

She continued, "The No. 1 societal expectation that they want to see change is the stereotypical assumption that one person will take on the majority of wedding-planning responsibilities."

Vaynberg said the response from engaged couples has been positive — but they've also shared their vulnerabilities.

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"Many couples have proactively shared their own experiences about these challenges during wedding planning, wishing that they would have had this tool for themselves," she noted. 

Zola has launched an AI tool to help couples make decisions for their wedding day.  (iStock / iStock)

She added, "It’s a rewarding experience to know that this tool is something that is directly solving a pain point for so many couples."

Couples looking to use the tool must have a ChatGPT Plus membership , which costs $20 a month.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Zola, which is based in New York City, began as an online wedding registry.

Today it includes wedding planning, website building, advice and more.

For more information on how to use the "Split The Decision" tool, anyone can visit Zola.com. 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle .

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New York Takes Crucial Step Toward Making Congestion Pricing a Reality

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted to approve a new $15 toll to drive into Manhattan. The plan still faces challenges from six lawsuits before it can begin in June.

By Winnie Hu and Ana Ley

New York City completed a crucial final step on Wednesday in a decades-long effort to become the first American city to roll out a comprehensive congestion pricing program, one that aims to push motorists out of their cars and onto mass transit by charging new tolls to drive into Midtown and Lower Manhattan.

The program could start as early as mid-June after the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that will install and manage the program, voted 11-to-1 to approve the final tolling rates, which will charge most passenger cars $15 a day to enter at 60th Street and below in Manhattan. The program is expected to reduce traffic and raise $1 billion annually for public transit improvements.

It was a historic moment for New York’s leaders and transportation advocates after decades of failed attempts to advance congestion pricing even as other gridlocked cities around the world, including London, Stockholm and Singapore, proved that similar programs could reduce traffic and pollution.

While other American cities have introduced related concepts by establishing toll roads or closing streets to traffic, the plan in New York is unmatched in ambition and scale.

Congestion pricing is expected to reduce the number of vehicles that enter Lower Manhattan by about 17 percent, according to a November study by an advisory committee reporting to the M.T.A. The report also said that the total number of miles driven in 28 counties across the region would be reduced.

“This was the right thing to do,” Janno Lieber, the authority’s chairman and chief executive, said after the vote. “New York has more traffic than any place in the United States, and now we’re doing something about it.”

Congestion pricing has long been a hard sell in New York, where many people commute by car from the boroughs outside of Manhattan and the suburbs, in part because some of them do not have access to public transit.

New York State legislators finally approved congestion pricing in 2019 after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo helped push it through. A series of recent breakdowns in the city’s subway system had underscored the need for billions of dollars to update its aging infrastructure.

It has taken another five years to reach the starting line. Before the tolling program can begin, it must be reviewed by the Federal Highway Administration, which is expected to approve it.

Congestion pricing also faces legal challenges from six lawsuits that have been brought by elected officials and residents from across the New York region. Opponents have increasingly mobilized against the program in recent months, citing the cost of the tolls and the potential environmental effects from shifting traffic and pollution to other areas as drivers avoid the tolls.

A court hearing is scheduled for April 3 and 4 on a lawsuit brought by the State of New Jersey, which is seen as the most serious legal challenge. The mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., Mark J. Sokolich, has filed a related lawsuit.

Four more lawsuits have been brought in New York: by Ed Day, the Rockland County executive; by Vito Fossella, the Staten Island borough president, and the United Federation of Teachers; and by two separate groups of city residents.

Amid the litigation, M.T.A. officials have suspended some capital construction projects that were to be paid for by the program, and they said at a committee meeting on Monday that crucial work to modernize subway signals on the A and C lines had been delayed.

Nearly all the toll readers have been installed, and will automatically charge drivers for entering the designated congestion zone at 60th Street or below. There is no toll for leaving the zone or driving around in it. Through traffic on Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive and the West Side Highway will not be tolled.

Under the final tolling structure, which was based on recommendations by the advisory panel, most passenger vehicles will be charged $15 a day from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. The toll will be $24 for small trucks and charter buses, and will rise to $36 for large trucks and tour buses. It will be $7.50 for motorcycles.

Those tolls will be discounted by 75 percent at night, dropping the cost for a passenger vehicle to $3.75.

Fares will go up by $1.25 for taxis and black car services, and by $2.50 for Uber and Lyft. Passengers will be responsible for paying the new fees, and they will be added to every ride that begins, ends or occurs within the congestion zone. There will be no nighttime discounts. (The new fees come on top of an existing congestion surcharge that was imposed on for-hire vehicles in 2019.)

The tolls will mostly be collected using the E-ZPass system. Electronic detection points have been placed at entrances and exits to the tolling zone. Drivers who do not use an E-ZPass will pay significantly higher fees — for instance, $22.50 instead of $15 during peak hours for passenger vehicles.

Emergency vehicles like fire trucks, ambulances and police cars, as well as vehicles carrying people with disabilities, were exempted from the new tolls under the state’s congestion pricing legislation .

As for discounts, low-income drivers who make less than $50,000 annually can apply to receive half off the daytime toll after their first 10 trips in a calendar month. In addition, low-income residents of the congestion zone who make less than $60,000 a year can apply for a state tax credit.

All drivers entering the zone directly from four tolled tunnels — the Lincoln, Holland, Hugh L. Carey and Queens-Midtown — will receive a “crossing credit” that will be applied against the daytime toll. The credit will be $5 round-trip for passenger vehicles, $12 for small trucks and intercity and charter buses, $20 for large trucks and tour buses, and $2.50 for motorcycles. No credits will be offered at night.

Grace Ashford contributed reporting.

Winnie Hu is a Times reporter covering the people and neighborhoods of New York City. More about Winnie Hu

Ana Ley is a Times reporter covering New York City’s mass transit system and the millions of passengers who use it. More about Ana Ley

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AEM 3020 Farm Business Management

Course description.

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024 . Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

Intensive study of planning, directing, organizing, and controlling a farm business, with emphasis on the tools of managerial analysis and decision making. Topics include financial statements, business analysis, budgeting, and acquisition, organization, and management of capital, labor, land, buildings, and machinery.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Not open to: first-year students.

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  Regular Academic Session.   Choose one lecture and one laboratory.

Credits and Grading Basis

4 Credits Graded (Letter grades only)

Class Number & Section Details

 8368 AEM 3020   LEC 001

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• MWF 9:05am - 9:55am To Be Assigned
• Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024

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Knoblauch, W

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For the most current information about textbooks, including the timing and options for purchase, see the Cornell Store .

Additional Information

Instruction Mode: In Person Enrollment limited to: Sophomore standing or higher. On days farms are visited, the lab section period is 2:00-6:30 pm.

 8369 AEM 3020   LAB 401

• W 2:00pm - 4:30pm To Be Assigned

Instruction Mode: In Person

 8370 AEM 3020   LAB 402

• R 2:00pm - 4:30pm To Be Assigned

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IR-2024-88, April 2, 2024

WASHINGTON — With the April 15 tax deadline approaching, the IRS reminds taxpayers there is still time file their federal income tax return electronically and request direct deposit.

Filing electronically reduces tax return errors as tax software does the calculations, flags common errors and prompts taxpayers for missing information. Most people qualify for electronic filing at no cost and, when they choose direct deposit, receive their refund within 21 days.

Free electronic filing options

Taxpayers with income of $79,000 or less in 2023 can use IRS Free File guided tax software now through Oct 15. IRS Free Fillable forms , a part of this program, is available at no cost to taxpayers of any income level and provides electronic forms for people to fill out and e-file themselves.

IRS Direct File is now open to all eligible taxpayers in 12 pilot states to decide if it is the right option for them to file their 2023 federal tax returns online, for free, directly with the IRS. Go to the Direct File website for more information about Direct File pilot eligibility and the 12 participating states.

Through a network of community partnerships, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs offer free tax return preparation to eligible people in the community by IRS certified volunteers.

MilTax , a Department of Defense program, generally offers free return preparation and electronic filing software for federal income tax returns and up to three state income tax returns for all military members, and some veterans, with no income limit.

Use Where's My Refund? to check refund status

The Where's My Refund? tool will normally show a refund status within 24 hours after e-filing a 2023 tax return, three to four days after e-filing a 2021 or 2022 return and four weeks after filing a tax return by mail. To use the tool, taxpayers need their Social Security number, filing status and exact refund amount. Taxpayers can also check Where's My Refund? by downloading our free mobile app, IRS2Go , from an iPhone or Android device. The tool updates once a day, so people don't need to check more often.

Taxpayers that owe on their tax return

IRS reminds people they can avoid paying interest and some penalties by filing their tax return and, if they have a balance due, paying the total amount due by the tax deadline of Monday, April 15. For residents of Maine or Massachusetts, the tax deadline is Wednesday, April 17, due to Patriot’s Day and Emancipation Day holidays.

Payment options for individuals to pay in full

The IRS offers various options for taxpayers who are making tax payments :

• Direct Pay – Make a payment directly from a checking or savings account without any fees or registration.
• Pay with debit card, credit card or digital wallet – Make a payment directly from a debit card, credit card or digital wallet. Processing fees are paid to the payment processors. The IRS doesn’t receive any fees for these payments. Authorized card processors and phone numbers are available at IRS.gov/payments . 
• Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) – This free service gives taxpayers a safe, convenient way to pay individual and business taxes by phone or online. To enroll and for more information, taxpayers can call 800-555-4477 or visit eftps.gov .
• Electronic funds withdrawal – Taxpayers can file and pay electronically from their bank account when using tax preparation software or a tax professional. This option is free and only available when electronically filing a tax return.
• Check or money order  – Payments made by check or money order should be made payable to the “United States Treasury.”
• Cash  – Make a cash payment through a retail partner and other methods. The IRS urges taxpayers choosing this option to start early because it involves a four-step process. Details, including answers to frequently asked questions, are at IRS.gov/paywithcash .

Payment options for individuals unable to pay their taxes in full

Taxpayers that are unable to pay in full by the tax deadline, should pay what they can now and apply for an online payment plan . They can receive an immediate response of payment plan acceptance or denial without calling or writing to the IRS. Online payment plan options include:

• Short-term payment plan – The total balance owed is less than $100,000 in combined tax, penalties and interest. Additional time of up to 180 days to pay the balance in full.
• Long-term payment plan – The total balance owed is less than $50,000 in combined tax, penalties and interest. Pay in monthly payments for up to 72 months. Payments may be set up using direct debit (automatic bank withdraw) which eliminates the need to send in a payment each month, saving postage costs and reducing the chance of default. For balances between $25,000 and $50,000, direct debit is required.

Though interest and late-payment penalties continue to accrue on any unpaid taxes after April 15, the failure to pay penalty is cut in half while an installment agreement is in effect. Find more information about the costs of payment plans on the IRS’ Additional information on payment plans webpage.

Unable to file by the April 15 deadline?

Individuals unable to file their tax return by the tax deadline can apply for a tax-filing extension in the following ways:

• Individual tax filers, regardless of income, can electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension through IRS Free File by filing a Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return PDF .
• Make an electronic payment using Direct Pay, debit card, credit card or digital wallet and indicate the payment is for an extension.
• Mail Form 4868 by the tax deadline.

Things people should know when requesting a tax-filing extension:

• Tax-filing extension requests are due by the tax deadline date, and it does not give an extension of time to pay the taxes.
• Avoid some penalties by estimating and paying the tax due by the tax deadline.
• Special rules for tax deadlines and automatic tax-filing extensions may apply for taxpayers serving in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty areas , living outside the United States , and people living in certain disaster areas . They may not need to submit a tax-filing extension; however, people should check to see if they qualify before the tax deadline.

Use IRS.gov for the quickest and easiest information

Taxpayers can visit IRS.gov 24 hours a day for answers to tax questions , more tips and resources by visiting the Let us help you page.

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