While budding entrepreneurs can choose from a wide range of standard business plan software, PlanHQ is the first we've seen that allows for easy online collaboration. In the start-up phase, this means partners can work on a plan together from anywhere they can get online. Later on, investors and other stakeholders can easily keep track of how the business is developing.
The online application takes what is often a static text document or spreadsheet, left for dead once banks have been convinced or investors wooed, and turns it into a tool that can be used well beyond the planning stage. Besides walking a user through the process of creating a business plan, PlanHQ lets entrepreneurs manage key business and financial information online, track finances and monitor timelines, comparing forecasts with actual performance. All in a friendly Web 2.0-style, reminiscent of online applications by 37signals.
New Zealand-based PlanHQ offers a free 30-day trial and premium plans are priced from USD 9 – 49 per month. If you've found inspiration on Springwise and are itching to go from idea to business yourself, PlanHQ is worth checking out.
Website: www.planhq.com
Contact: Tim Norton, tim@planhq.com
Spotted by: Tim de Jardine
As more and more companies become virtual, this tool , or ones like it, will be a great help to people just starting out. The one trouble I see is the monthly fee. People just starting are often reluctant to pay anything. There may be room here for a service who uses this to get first crack at start-ups.
I'm absolutely going to recommend this to my clients! Women entrepreneurs do invest in themselves and a business plan is where you establish the benchmarks.
As Wayne Dyer says " You can't grow what you can't measure."
Kim Duke
www.salesdivas.com