The best way to show bankers, venture capitalists, and angel investors that you are worthy of financial support is to show them a great business plan. Make sure that your plan is clear, focused and realistic. Then show them that you have the tools, talent and team to make it happen. Your business plan is like your calling card, it will get you in the door where you'll have to convince investors and loan officers that you can put your plan into action.

Once you have raised the money to start or expand your business, your plan will serve as a road map for your business. It is not a static document that you write once and put away. You will reference it often, making sure you stay focused and on track, and meet milestones. It will change and develop as your business evolves.

Do I need a business plan?
Not everyone who starts and runs a business begins with a business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are seeking funding from a venture capitalist, you will certainly need a comprehensive business plan that is well thought out and contains sound business reasoning.

If you are approaching a banker for a loan for a start-up business, your loan officer may suggest a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, which will require a business plan. If you have an existing business and are approaching a bank for capital to expand the business, they often will not require a business plan, but they may look more favorably on your application if you have one.

Reasons for writing a business plan include:

• Support a loan application
• Raise equity funding
• Define and fix objectives and programs to achieve those objectives
• Create regular business review and course correction
• Define a new business
• Define agreements between partners
• Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes
• Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion

What's in a business plan?
A business plan should prove that your business will generate enough revenue to cover your expenses and make a satisfactory return for bankers or investors.

1. Executive Summary--features the highlights of your plan and sells your idea in two pages or less.
2. Company Summary--a factual description of your company, ownership, and history.
3. Products (or Services or both)--describes your products and/or services and how they stand out from competitive products and services.
4. Market Analysis-provides a summary of your typical customers, competitive landscape, market size, and expected market growth.
5. Strategy and Implementation-describes how you will sell your product, how you will put your plan into action, and establishes milestones.
6. Management Summary-provides background on the management team, their experiences, and key accomplishments.
7. Financial Plan-contains key financials including sales, cash flow, and profits.

What makes a successful business plan?

• A well thought out idea
• Clear and concise writing
• A clear and logical structure
• Illustrates management's ability to make the business a success
• Shows profitability

How do you write a business plan?
Sitting down looking at a blank computer screen as you prepare to start your business plan can be daunting. You may want to look at some alternatives that will make the process a bit easier.

Hire a Professional
A professional consultant will create the business plan for you, but you still have to be prepared to think through your business and understand the underlying concepts in your business idea. You will have to work closely with the consultant to ensure that he or she develops a good plan that accurately represents your business or business idea. You can find a list of business planning consultants at www.planconsultants.com.

Buy a Book
There are many good books on the market that will help you to understand what needs to go into a good business plan. You can read Timothy Berry's "Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning".

Use Business Planning Software
A good business planning software package will provide you with an outline for a well-developed, objective-based and professional business plan. Software packages will remove the problem of starting from scratch by structuring your plan for you. The software should ask you the right questions that will pull out the most important underlying concepts within your business idea. Find out more about the leading software package on the market, Business Plan Pro.

The business plan software that we recommend are guaranteed to increase your ability to prepare a business plan efficiently and 'painlessly'

Are you serious about preparing a quality business plan that will grow your existing business or start-up and help you raise the finance that you need?

Then you will need expert advice and that does not come free! - so how much will it cost you? 

Well for $100 to $150 you can purchase high-quality business plan software (with a money back guarantee) that provides detailed advice on how to prepare a professional business plan. So what's the real advantage to you? Well, you spend $100 now and through guaranteed success business profits will increase by $5,000, $10,000 or $100,000 so are you really losing that $100? I think you get my point - think investment not expense : )

But hey there are so many free sites which include business plan templates that can be used! so why should you waste your money on business plan software, right?

Well there are some good answers to your question (following features are available in Business Plan Pro   - the only software that I recommend):

• Use samples and templates provided to quickly build a detailed plan. Plan Wizard will help you kick-start your plan documentation and streamline data entry through an easy to understand process
• Full marketing module - develop strategy - marketing campaign - implement and bring in the sales through an integrated process.
• Industry studies (more than 2000) with real world data makes your plan more realistic and convincing. Find funding quickly through a huge database of VC's SBA resources and more.
• Sample plan browser - check critical aspects of your plan against some of the best sample plans.
• All-in-one-package. Use what-if analysis, scenarios, sensitivity analysis, compare industry ratios, set schedules, create marketing plans and even start an e-business.
• Detailed help. Plan Wizard helps you every step of the way. It also walks you through charts and tables row by row. This takes all the difficulty out of the planning process.
• Business Plan Software is preferred by - bankers, lenders, SBA and VC's. This means that you can sell you plan more easily.

So let's get down to the business plan software that I want to recommend:

It's a short list

1. Palo Alto Software's Business Plan Pro 

The only business plan software and comprehensive guide you will ever need. It is by far the most important business plan software bar none. 

The world's best-selling business plan builder! Tim Berry's Business Plan Pro is a complete stand-alone business plan builder including prompted text, complete linked financial analysis, dazzling business charts and professional-looking formatted printouts. 

PC Magazine says, no other business plan software can match Business Plan Pro for its navigational ease, customizability, and superb integration, and Entrepreneur (Magazine) says it sets the standard for ease of use.

Business Plan Pro   is not a cookie-cutter boilerplate plan or a set of templates, but a complete guided, prompted application with built-in spreadsheet, text processor, tables and charts. 

For a business plan you'll be proud to show to any banker, investor or your boss - Business Plan Pro 

There are so many bonuses offered that I do not want to list any of them here:

So I strongly recommend that you -

Visit the site: Business Plan Pro