Posted by Ed Garcia on March 31, 2002 at 23:08:55:
Erin,
I’m sorry, but at this time I don’t have any software that I recommend or endorse. It’s just preference and convince as far as that goes. I’m sorry to say that computers are not my bag, I barley know how to post.
I’m also sorry to say, that the ingredients of the business plan, not the software, is the key.
Ed Garcia
Ed Garcia - business plan software?? - Posted by Detroit Erin
Posted by Detroit Erin on March 31, 2002 at 22:32:26:
I am looking into writing a business plan to start going to banks with and have noticed at certain multi-media stores that also have software have such pertaining to writing business plans for apx. $100. I was curious to know if you have used (or would advise) using this type of software to create something where I will be asking for $150,000+. Thanks for any input (Ed or anyone else, all responses eagerly welcome).
Erin in Detroit
Re: Ed Garcia - business plan software?? - Posted by lyal
Posted by lyal on April 02, 2002 at 08:24:14:
Erin,
Just FYI… if you’re just looking for a template, an integral part of the latest version of Quicken is a “Mini-Business Plan” that will guide you through the most important parts of a plan.
All the best, Lyal
Re: Ed Garcia - business plan software?? - Posted by Phil (CO)
Posted by Phil (CO) on April 01, 2002 at 17:52:59:
Erin,
I have personally used a couple of business plan software packages (can’t recall the names at the moment) and don’t think that they would be very useful for REI.
The reason I say this is that the power of the two programs I used was in the ability of the software to do market analysis, primarily targeted at selling widgets. The program would ask a bunch of questions about your product, competitors, etc. and then spit out a bunch of graphs to tell you if your business idea is good or not. Not very helpful for REI.
The programs do put together an outline for the plan, and generally force you to fill-in all of the blanks, so they might be useful to ensure that you come-up with a comprehensive plan. But IMHO you don’t need software to help you with that.
Hope this helps,
Phil