BOURNE businesswoman Karen McNulty is launching a brand new online product that could solve the nightmares for many small businesses and start up companies.
Called BusinessPlanWiz, the website allows visitors to construct their own business plan by leading them through a step-by-step guide, online. It follows on the heels of  her marketing plan website MarketingPlanWiz, successfully launched three years ago.
It has been designed so that users create their business plan in real time, by interactively answering a series of questions. This generates a plan that can be changed as it develops in front of their eyes. BusinessPlanWiz is entirely bespoke and one of the only products of its kind in the UK.
“We started talking about this five years ago and it has taken a lot of work to get to this stage but we are delighted with the end result. This product is entirely personal to the user, it’s extremely easy to use which is a relief for anyone who has had to write a business plan, and we think it’s very good value for money too,” said Ms McNulty, a chartered marketer.
BusinessPlanWiz covers everything in 11 steps from premises, plant and machinery, staff, sales and marketing, and most importantly, cash flow with an easy to use cash-flow tool available to users who buy their plan.
Ms McNulty’s background has been in marketing and training for small businesses, working previously as marketing manager for the Tyneside Economic Development Company (TEDCO) in Jarrow, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before moving to Peterborough three years ago. She believes this new product will provide a welcome tool for pre-starts and small businesses that need to have a business plan before seeking investment from a bank.
“I am a huge advocate of Business Link and the amazing support it provides for small businesses, also local enterprise agencies. We see our business plan tool as a valuable complement to these services, particularly at the stage where people are ready to put their business ideas into writing.” explained Ms McNulty.
“Over the years I’ve listened to so many people who have needed a business plan. Many were worried about going to a bank with something which was wrong and would jeopardise their chances of financial support, or wrong and would cost lots of money to go away and put right.”
The BusinessPlanWiz product costs £19.95 and launches this week. And if the product gets off to a good start with positive feedback from users Karen is considering pitching it to the infamous BBC1 Dragon’s Den team with a view to engaging larger organisations who may benefit from an online planning tool for their customers.
“This is exactly the type of entrepreneurial product which could catch the eye of one of the Dragons,” added Ms McNulty. “It has huge potential to be picked up by banks and other business and financial institutions who can brand it as their own and offer it as a service to their own customers.”
For more information about the product, visit: www.businessplanwiz.com