Business Plan Pro 2002

by Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005NJ6C
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 23, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,458 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #1 in Software > Business & Office > Presentation > Marketing
  • #7 in Software > Business & Office > Business Plans
  • #48 in Software > Business & Office > Business & Office Management Software
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

While computers still can't come up with winning business ideas on their own, they have become essential tools for turning ideas into profits. Business Plan Pro 2002 helps beginners and old hands alike devise professional-looking plans that show banks and investors exactly what they want to see: profitability estimates, cash flow, market analysis, and more.

Installation is simple, and the wizard-driven interface makes the process almost childishly easy, so the results are even more impressive. Of course, some details aren't for kids--financial information can be imported from popular software like Quicken, the plan and its details can be posted online, and the advice offered for particular business operations can be very precise.

Though a few may find it annoying, the software does expect a certain amount of Web and online savvy; one of the four supplementary books it offers is only available on the Net, for example. Still, even complete novices can create impressive plans--or find that their ideas might need some substantial tweaking in order to eke out a profit. Advanced users might find the sample plans interesting, but are more likely to drool over the thousands of possible reports, the error-checking tool, the funding search, and the wealth of additional resources.

The days of just talking banks out of money are over--now they want to see evidence of detailed thinking. Business Plan Pro 2002 makes the hard work easy and helps turn great ideas into reality. --Rob Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description

Wizard-driven from start to finish, Business Plan Pro 2002 is a fast and easy way to generate a solid business plan. You can get started with 200 sample plans, a powerful plan wizard, built-in financials for more than 800 industries, and free Internet resources. It is easy to seek funding with the venture capital database, SBA loan documents, and a plan designed to be attractive to bankers and investors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't know it could get any better!, August 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Business Plan Pro 2002 (CD-ROM)

After already being very satisfied with the previous version of Business Plan Pro, I was blown away by how good the 2002 version is. The 200 sample plans are an unbelievable help, as well as all the slick features of the software, and the built in web resources and industry data.

I can't imagine writing a business plan without it!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Light-weight, February 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Business Plan Pro 2002 (CD-ROM)

If you're a beginner then this is your product although a very slow-running product with some bugs. It gets your thoughts together and coaches you through each section.

There are a number of compatibility issues with their charts and Word export. Formating is locked and you are forced to reformat your complete document with new styles. Don't even think that you can use any templates like the Word standards. Charts allow some row to be added but that crashes occationally. Certain rows are locked and data that feeds cells is not clear about where it comes from.

The other Research Data they provide is bogus. Industry insight information is horrible and not even close. When I called to get an explanation, the companay passed me onto the research company which in turn got me in touch with a newbie that had no idea and made up a description of the data.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Step by step, easy, but professional and effective, December 17, 2001

By 

Paul Hawken (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business Plan Pro 2002 (CD-ROM)

I've done a lot of business plans with a lot of different software and this is by far the best, easy to use, but powerful enough to give you a real plan, with real cash flow, good enough to get financed. The outline is flexible so you can add or subtract what you want, and the financials are very strong, with also a lot of flexibility. I've also done a number of them using just Word and Excel, and this is much better because you don't sacrifice quality of plan at all, just get ease of use and a lot of built-in help.