 By Dale Farris,
Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
January 2003
General Overview
Individual Software, Inc. releases the latest 2nd edition of their
premier business planner program, and with this new edition continues to
dominate this special niche market of computer software. At the time of this
writing, the American economy continues to show signs of stagnating, and the
sluggish economy means many people are beginning to consider starting their
own business. A key step in the formation of any company is the creation of
a business plan, especially if the founders of the company seek
financial backing from the investment or banking communities.
A classic learning step in all colleges of business, creating a business
plan, is one of the many fundamental tasks students learn early in their
business career. While the academic approach to learning how to prepare a
business plan certainly is vital in a business curriculum, in the real world
of business this process is obviously much more important. The key content
areas of the plan are of course essential to any plan, but the eventual
output product the company founders prepare for submission to potential
investors is also highly important.
The quality plan that is eventually provided can many times frustrate those
who might not have ever prepared such a document, and when these folks are
also not necessarily computer experts, using a computer to help produce
their plan can also become a problem. To the rescue
comes this super program from Individual Software's Professional Business
PlanMaker 2 that will
guide you through all the essential steps in creating a business plan, as
well as assist with the all important quality output for presentation. Even
those less experienced with computers will find using this program to be
very easy.
While there certainly are other business plan software programs on the
market, this latest 2nd edition of Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe continues to shine as the
most used and well known of the bunch, and for good reason. In Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2, you will find an assortment of tools not found in any other
comparable product, along with some new features that highlight this 2nd
edition.
In the current economy, investors, bankers, and executive teams are looking
for business plans that make sound financial sense. Professional Business
PlanMaker Deluxe 2 focuses on the financial components of a plan allowing
entrepreneurs and business managers to demonstrate how their business
strategies will lead to financial success. Whether you are starting a
business or expanding your current organization, Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe
2 helps you create professional business plans that assures
financial success.
Keen Features
All the tools you need to write a compelling,
persuasive business plan are built into Professional Business PlanMaker
Deluxe 2. These include the following:
• Powerful financial analysis and forecasting
tools
• 65 effective charts, graphs, and reports
• EasyInterview allows you to just fill in
the blanks
• Get started quickly with step-by-step
wizards
• Ideal for manufacturing, sales, service,
and Internet businesses
• Sample plans for more than 25 industries
• Format preferred by executives and
investors
• Recommended by the Small Business
Administration
Fastest Financial Tools
Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 uniquely ensures that your
business strategies make financial sense before you spend time writing your
plan. The powerful FinancialForecaster illustrates your sound financial
plan using over 65 charts, graphs and reports.
Step-by-step Wizards Collect Information
Quickly
EasyInterview gathers your information with
advice and examples at each step, and then automatically assembles a
powerful presentation that sells your business plan and your vision.
Includes Sample Plans for Most Industries
Sample business plans are a great source of
ideas for your plan, and save you time. Review persuasive,
professionally written plans for more than 25 industries. Start your plan
with example paragraphs recommended by professionals, for all business
types.
Customize and Publish your Plan
Built-in word processor and spreadsheet
programs give you complete control over the content and presentation of your
business plan. What-If scenarios show you the effects of changes in your
assumptions.
7 Steps to a Successful Plan
1. Step-by-Step Wizards
Gather the information you’ll need for your plan, step-by-step.
EasyInterview questions and fill-in-the-blank forms get you the plan that's
just right for your business.
2. View Sample Plans
Get ideas for your plan and save time writing. Review persuasive,
professionally-written plans covering 25 industries. Start with example
paragraphs recommended by the pros for all kinds of businesses.
3. Ensure Financial Success
Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 uniquely ensures that your
business strategies makes financial sense before you spend time writing your
plan. Then, a powerful FinancialForecaster illustrates why your plan makes
financial sense using 65 charts, graphs and reports.
4. Define Your Market
You know your markets, competition, customers, pricing, distribution
channel, and promotional activities better than anyone. Marketing Plan helps
you communicate to potential investors why your plan will beat the
competition.
5. Pull Everything Together
Describe your business, products, services, historical background,
management, key operations, ownership, goals and strategies. Pull all
information together into a compelling presentation that sells your ideas.
6. Customize Your Plan
Built in word processor and spreadsheet programs give you complete control
over your presentation. What If? scenarios show you the effects of changes
in your assumptions.
7. Publish Your Plan!
When your plan looks professional, so does your business. Professional
Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 assembles your plan into a format that’s
preferred by executives, lenders, and financial institutions.
10 Ways Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 Can Advance Your Business
1. Define Your Business - Turn your dreams into reality and
chart a new course for your business.
2. Organize Your Thoughts - Assemble your ideas into an efficient
presentation that sells your proposition.
3. Identify Opportunities - Discover new opportunities, analyze risk
and identify unforeseen challenges early.
4. Ensure Financial Success - Illustrate the financial benefits of
implementing your plans and strategies.
5. Beat The Competition - Define your products and services, identify
your customers, and win the market.
6. Achieve Your Goals - Establish direction for your business, set
objectives and tactics, and monitor progress.
7. Provide Leadership - Convey your key messages and objectives to
employees, partners, and executives.
8. Share Your Vision - Sell your proposition to investors, financial
institutions, even family and friends.
9. Generate Excitement - Build the momentum your business needs to
advance to the next stage.
10. Receive Funding - Create a persuasive, compelling plan that gets
the funding you need.
Included Free Inside!
In the 375-page User's Guide that accompanies Professional Business PlanMaker
Deluxe 2, you also receive a super collection of
sound, solid advice on business plans, excerpted from the book, "What No One
Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business," by Jan Norman.
(Chicago: Upstart Publishing Company. January 1999. Paperback. $17.95.
ISBN: 1574101129.)
Norman's 25 tips on starting a business are alone worth the price of this
software program, and form the basis for the approach taken by the program
to guide you in creating a business plan. Using more than 100 interviews
with seasoned entrepreneurs, Norman guides you through every stage of
business start-up, from planning to marketing, and provides eye-opening
lessons from successful business owners who've learned the hard way.
Operations
What makes Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 shine, besides its fully developed extra
features, is its super easy-to-use-wizard process. The software's
easy-to-use, step-by-step approach breaks down the business planning process
into five, small manageable sections, including General, Sales, Expenses,
Launch, and Plan. The first 4 sections gather information for your financial
forecast. The last section is used to write and assemble your business plan.
Once you have created your financials, you're all set to write your plan.
The program's interactive dialog walks you through each step with plain
English instructions, advice, and how-to hints. The program even comes with
complete sample business plans you can use to suggest proper wording, or
to cut-and-paste directly into your own plan. These sample business plans
are alone worth the investment in this super program. Each sample is
professionally prepared, with a focus on succinct answers to the typical
questions expected to be answered in most all real business plans.
General Section
The general section asks general questions about your business. This section
presents you with a decision tree, and depending on your answers, you may
not need to answer all the questions.
Sales Section
The sales section includes a worksheet for entering your estimated monthly
sales forecast, beginning with the business start date you entered into the
general section. The sales section also enables you to define cost of sales.
Expenses Section
The expenses section includes a worksheet for entering your estimated
monthly expenses. Start by defining each of the expense categories, then
enter the estimated amount in each monthly column. In the Snap Quick
business, there are 9 expense categories, including salaries and wages,
sales commissions, maintenance, equipment rental, insurance, utilities,
office supplies, marketing and advertising, and travel. You are encouraged
to enter expenses for 36 months, the typical time frame expected by lending
institutions.
Launch Section
The launch section asks questions about costs that you will incur and funds
or loans your business will need. This section also presents you with a
decision tree, and depending on your answers you may not need to answer all
the questions.
Reports and Charts Section
In the reports and charts section, once you have entered data in the
general, sales, expenses, and launch sections, you can view and print many
different reports and charts that are helpful for analyzing your financial
forecast, and if needed, securing appropriate financing. The data in the
reports and charts are rounded to the nearest dollar or cent based on space
constraints.
The reports include sales forecast, expense budget, beginning balance sheet,
profit and loss, balance sheet, cash plan, ratio analysis, and user input
summary.
The charts include sales forecast, expense budget, profit and loss,
financial position, cash summary, break even - sales and cash analysis,
sales by category, and expenses by category.
Plan Section
The plan section enables you to write your business plan, a detailed,
written description of what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. The
plan section is uniquely designed to guide you step-by-step through the
development of your written business plan. Use this plan section to convey
your idea of your business to potential investors, attract possible
employees, prospect for new business, deal with suppliers, or to understand
how to better manage your business.
You are presented with a super outline window, that looks at first like a
typical help, index function in Windows. In this program however, when you
click on each of the outline topics, in the right window pane you write your
response to each of these topics. The plan outline sections include an
executive summary, products, the industry, competition, and market,
operating plan, goals and strategies, company background, services,
marketing plan, management, organization, and ownership, and financial
assumptions.
Not all these may apply to all business plans. You just complete the
sections or topics that are appropriate to your purpose. You can also choose
not to include specific sections or topics when you preview and print your
plan. In addition, you do not have to complete your plan in the order that
the topics appear. Also, you can add plan section topics if you wish. Each
topic has a neat topic guide tab that opens to basic information what goes
in this topic, as well as a tab that opens an example of how this topic can
be addressed.
While you are adding text to these topic sections, you can also insert
reports into the plan, insert charts into the plan, as well as insert
pictures into the plan. The program also comes with a built in spell checker
to proof your text.
Once completed, you can save the file as a Professional Business PlanMaker
Deluxe 2 file, or you can also export the file to a rich text format (RTF)
file for use in another stand alone word processor, such as Microsoft Word.
In Word, you will see all inserted charts, reports, or pictures, and you can
then further edit the plan.
Glossary
The User's Guide also includes a super glossary of many typical business
terms used in formulating a business plan.
Sample Business Plans Included
The program includes 25 sample business plans to give you an idea of what a
finished business plan looks like. These companies vary, from service
industries, to manufacturing. The User's Guide also includes 2 excellent
complete business plans that further help understand what good business plans
look like.
Target Audience
Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2 will definitely appeal to anyone needing assistance
with creating their resume, especially those who have not yet completed this
essential step in their job search process. The added material that focuses
on careers and job searching adds greater value to this already valuable
program.
This is an excellent example of the best of the software market all public
libraries should make a point to add to their collection. While many
libraries already do a super job of providing print material for use by job
seekers, adding this vital resume making program is a certainty in their
effort to assist with this important process. I would also strongly suggest
libraries seriously consider buying multiple copies, so their customers
would not have to wait to use the program.
All college and university student advisement offices and job search
assistance units will also find ResumeMaker Deluxe 10 a vital tool in their
work to assist their students with searching for employment.
About Individual Software, Inc.
Individual Software, Inc. was founded in 1981, the year that marked
the introduction of today's most popular personal computer. For the past
twenty years the company has remained a leading provider of best-selling
personal productivity and education consumer branded software. In 2000 the
company launched its first dot.com product,
Resumemaker.com, to provide
consumers the tools necessary to create a resume, post it and then search
the internet for new job opportunities.
In the early days of Individual Software, Inc., founder, chair, and CEO Jo-L
Hendrickson recognized that there were many non-technical consumers eager
to learn and take advantage of the power of the personal computer. He also
recognized that there was a lack of basic information and training
available to help them get started.
Hendrickson led the development of Individual Software, Inc.'s first product, PC
Instructor, a program that has been recognized as the first commercially
successful PC-based training program. Subsequent products such as
Professor Teaches Windows, and Typing Instructor, also fueled growth for
the Company early on. By 1989, the Company expanded its retail presence
with the launch of the productivity product line.
Today the company's productivity line includes ResumeMaker Deluxe 10, a
product which accounts for over 60% market share and is frequently found
on industry best seller lists. In 1993, the company created a business
training division to provide training solutions for the training needs of
business users.
With the proliferation of the internet, the company transitioned its
training solutions to an e-learning site allowing users to download
training products from the Internet. Through the decade of the 1990's,
Individual Software, Inc. developed proprietary development tools
and enhanced its line of software by adding technologies that are now
patent pending. In 2001 the Company continues its success in consumer
branded products showing a growth rate in the consumer retail channel of
over 40% and introducing a second dot.com product called
eLearningToday.com in addition to its ResumeMaker.com product.
Price
$69.95
System Requirements
Pentium PC or Higher
Win 98, 98 SE, ME, NT4, 2000, XP
32MB RAM
20MB free hard disk space
CD-ROM drive
Color VGA or higher display (800 x 600 recommended)
Mouse
Printer (recommended)
Contact
Susan Dykas
Individual Software, Inc.
4255 Hopyard Road, #2
Pleasanton, California 94588-9900
800-822-3522, ext. 166
925-734-6767
FAX 925-734-8337
susand@individualsoftware.com
www.individualsoftware.com
info@individualsoftware.com
|
Professional Business PlanMaker Deluxe 2