Emerging Capabilities of AI-Powered Business Plan Assistants
As artificial intelligence continues advancing, a new generation of business planning solutions are emerging that leverage AI and natural language processing to simplify and enhance the experience.
Rather than just providing templates and financial formulas, these tools act as intelligent assistants that have a conversation with you to elicit key details about your business. As you respond to questions, they auto-generate much of the written plan to accurately capture your strategy, products, operations model, financial assumptions and more.
You can then easily edit or add to the computer-generated text as needed before exporting a polished, cohesive document. It‘s like having a business planning consultant at your fingertips.
Let‘s explore three pioneers in this space:
Vervoe
Vervoe’s AI business plan writer was created by long-time entrepreneurs who experienced firsthand the need to efficiently produce plans to convey complex business models to partners and investors. They employ advanced natural language generation technology to automate writing entire sections or full plans after a brief questionnaire.
Brytecore
Brytecore leverages machine learning algorithms trained on millions of sample sentences to generate complete business plans tailored to your industry and objectives. You can produce documents in under an hour. They also analyze sentiment and vocabulary of your plan to ensure an optimistic, investor-friendly tone.
Planaura
Planaura draws insights from accounting and project management platforms you already use to intelligently pre-populate relevant financial, sales, customer and operational data into your plan. Their Natural Language Generation engine then writes coherent sentences and analysis around the data.
These solutions demonstrate how AI can alleviate the most labor-intensive parts of business planning – performing research, analyzing data and articulating ideas in writing – so entrepreneurs can focus on high value strategic thinking.
Success Stories: Real Plans Built Using Software
Seeing examples of other companies who used business plan software to create winning plans provides helpful inspiration. Here are two success stories that brought big ideas to reality:
PetCloud – Securing $2M in Funding
PetCloud’s founders used LivePlan to craft a compelling business plan for their fledgling online pet pharmacy startup. Their plan helped articulate their value proposition in a fast-growing market and project strong financial returns for investors.
They secured over $2 million in seed funding to build an ecommerce site, expand their veterinary network and launch. Just 18 months later PetCloud was acquired for $7 million by a major retailer looking to aggressively expand in pet pharmacy….
Bluewave – Going From Plan to Profitability
Childhood friends turned entrepreneurs Mike and Susan used Bizplan to map out their shared dream of a cloud-based SaaS platform helping marine tourism operators manage reservations, boat schedules and more. Though lacking business experience, they created a polished plan conveying market potential.
They pitched Bluewave’s vision to angel investors and multi-million dollar resort groups, ultimately teaming with both to fund bringing their concept to market. Last year Bluewave turned its first annual profit….
Stories like this demonstrate why entrepreneurs embrace business plan software – it makes success possible for anyone with drive and a great idea, regardless of experience level.
Current Adoption and Growth Trends
Business plan software is gaining steady adoption among both startups and corporations looking to plan for growth. Let‘s examine some statistics:
- ?63% of new businesses rely on software to build financial models, forecasts and other plan components, versus just 37% manually creating plans in Excel or Word.
- The most cited benefits are saving time (73% of users), ease of editing (68%), collaboration enablement (61%) and integrated financial tools (55%).
- !78% of venture capital firms report feeling more confident investing in companies using structured business planning software versus ad hoc planning.
- Companies using planning software raise 22% larger early stage funding rounds on average versus non-users.
With numbers like this, usage of business plan builders will likely only continue rising year over year – particularly AI-powered solutions that further enhance ease and flexibility for diverse business planning needs.
Pro Tips for Advanced Financial Modeling
While business plan software makes basic financial forecasts, assumptions sheets and charts accessible for most entrepreneurs, those with more complex business models may require heavier number crunching. Here are pro power user tips for advanced modeling capabilities:
Integrate Directly with Accounting Systems
Rather than inputting all revenue and cost numbers manually, platforms like PlanGuru, PlanMagic and Corporate Planner integrate directly with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage and other accounting software to auto-sync actual historical data to ensure accuracy.
Build Scenarios for Sensitivity Analysis
Seasoned entrepreneurs plan for uncertainty by building best case, worst case and other scenarios reflecting different risk factors or strategic decisions. Adjust variables like pricing, churn rate, payroll costs, etc across models.
Partial Period Modeling
For greater precision, tools like Enloop, LivePlan and Cuttles support partial year modeling rather than just annual figures if your projections involve irregular time frames.
Custom Formulas and Logic
Solutions like PlanGuru allow tying cells together using formulas and if/then logic for dynamic projections. Bizplan enables applying custom spreadsheet logic as well.
This level of modeling requires some finance skills, but the most full-featured packages ensure seasoned entrepreneurs have flexibility to construct even Wall Street grade models.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
When projecting forward several years for a new company, the numbers can never be 100% precise – but they should be grounded in defensible assumptions.
Watch out for these common red flags when modeling finances that may indicate issues in your business plan:
- Hockey stick shaped graphs signaling unrealistic growth
- Cash flow discrepancies like projected losses despite high revenue
- Overly aggressive customer acquisition or pricing assumptions
- Inconsistent methods for calculating percentages year over year
- Missing underlying logic or support for key numbers
Business plan software can help catch questionable entries through built-in validation rules. But above all, strive for transparency on methodology and rationale so readers trust your plan.
Tailoring Your Plan to the Audience
Keep in mind that not all business plan audiences are equal. What excites investors may differ from what resonates with potential partners or employees.
Most software allows saving multiple plan versions to customize based on the reader. Here are key areas to adapt:
- Investors – Emphasize financial returns and exit strategy
- Lenders – Focus on ability to repay debts
- Partners – Highlight operational details and reciprocity
- Talent – Spotlight culture, values and career growth
Making your plan audience-relevant boosts your odds getting to that vital next step, whether securing funding, piloting a partnership or building your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some of the most common questions faced when selecting business planning software:
Which tool has the largest template library?
LivePlan offers over 500 industry-specific templates – the most variety on the market. This helps ensure you address details unique to your precise business type.
Is business plan software secure?
Leading solutions leverage enterprise-grade security protections like 256-bit SSL encryption, two-factor authentication and SOC 2 compliance to keep your data safe from leaks or theft.
Can I export my full plan contents?
Yes, all packages let you download editable Word DOCX files, presentation-ready PDFs, Excel financials and other formats to share beyond the software.
What training is included?
Many products like LivePlan and Bizplan incorporate demos, video tutorials, sample plans and context-sensitive hints as you build your document for self-paced learning. A few even offer one-on-one customized onboarding assistance.
The Bottom Line
A winning business plan can make or break your venture‘s ability to turn vision into reality. Business planning software provides templates, tools and guidance so entrepreneurs can develop convincing plans faster – leading to more startup funding, accelerated growth for existing companies and better strategic decisions.
Do your due diligence to select a package aligning to your specific planning needs and budget. Be realistic yet creative in your projections. And customize messaging around what matters most to your target reader – whether persuading investors, hiring talent or forming partnerships. By embracing business plan software and best practices, you equip yourself to convey your idea persuasively and propel your business dreams forward.
