Professional business plan consultants can help you navigate the evolving business landscape so that you can maximize your efforts. Business plan consultants can serve as third-party sounding boards when you want to incorporate new plans. You can take advantage of the expertise developed by business plan writing services in a number of ways. Business plan consulting companies can expose you to new business practices that can prove to be more profitable for your company.

A business plan preparation service can provide information about marketing opportunities in areas that you may not have considered as well as help you break into new markets overseas. Many business consulting firms are breaking ground with fresh ideas and new forms of dong business that includes outsourcing, venture capital fund raising and technology. Find a number of ways to begin working with business plan consultants.

1. Find a full service business plan consultancy

2. Go for specialty business plan consulting firms

3. Look for the best business plan services

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a full-service business plan consulting company

Building relationships with your business plan services team can take time and resources, making it beneficial at times to stick with one agency for all your marketing, sales and production needs. Full-service business plan consulting firms will know your company well and should be proficient in all areas of your business.

I recommend: Work with Manifest Management to find out where you need to go with your company. Take a free evaluation that looks at nine vital areas that you should be considering. Management Solutions can provide everything from helping you get started to managing your operations. Work with their team in whatever capacity you need.

Choose specialty business plan consulting advice

While your may have experience in all facets of your operation, the niche agencies put all of their efforts in one pot and can often bring more experience to the table that can help you get more from your marketing or production efforts. Consider hiring a specialist for a focused approach to your business.

I recommend: Work with Marsh Risk Consulting to develop a business plan that will serve you in times of emergencies. Work with BPlans specifically to develop your human resource plan to maximize the efficiency of your hiring and training programs.

Get the most from business plan writing services

You should consider working with business plan services that bring a vast knowledge of technological advancements that you need to remain competitive. There are so many advancements in communication and IT business programs that you need to investigate all the alternatives to remain competitive.

I recommend: Work Z can help you develop a viable website and Internet and IT resources that can help you to become more successful. Work with Voyage Technologies to develop the technology that you need at the level you need it.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When you are working with business plan consultants, make sure that they have a way to offer measurable results on a regular basis.

Preparing a business plan is an important step for any business, but it's a critical step for securing financing. For that reason, many business owners hire consultants to help them research, organize, and present all the relevant business plan information to potential investors.

The most important factors to consider when comparing consultants are:

1. Experience – how many business plans have they written in total?
2. Success – what percent of the plans they've written have been funded?
3. Cost – paying a per-project fee may be more economical than an hourly fee.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get free help from the government

Believe it or not, the U.S. government wants small businesses to thrive, and they have several agencies and partnerships established for that exact purpose.

I recommend: Call your local Small Business Development Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives chapter, Women's Business Center, or Minority Business Development Center for free or low cost business plan preparation help.

Find consultants specializing in your type of business

A good way to whittle down your options is to find those consultants who specialize in your industry and in businesses of your size.

I recommend: You can search for consultants at Guru.com and Bplans.com, or consult the directory on Business.com.

Examine work samples

Besides cost, one of the ways to differentiate firms is through their work. Ask to see samples of completed plans to get a sense of the firm's style and capabilities.

I recommend: Some firms allow you to skim samples of their work online, such as at The Business Plan Store or MasterPlanz, although many prefer to provide them offline.

Check out their staff

Who will be responsible for helping you prepare your plan – an experienced entrepreneur with an MBA, or a junior consultant just getting started?

I recommend: The About section of most Web sites will give you a glimpse of the talent pool you'll be working with at firms like GrowthThink, Cayenne Consulting, and Windhaus Associates.

Consider alternatives to a consultant…

If you've already pulled together background information and have thought through how you intend to run the company, a business plan software package may be all you need to at least create a draft.

I recommend: Software packages are great tools for structuring the different pieces of your plan, but they can't do the thinking for you. However, if all you need is formatting help, take a look at Planmagic, Business Plan Pro, PlanWrite, or free shareware.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Even if you outsource the writing of your plan to someone else, be sure you stay involved in the process, so that you can answer detailed questions from potential investors later. It still needs to be your plan.
• •  The more work you can do up front to gather statistics, organize your background materials, or create a first draft can reduce the amount of time a consultant has to spend on the project, and potentially your final bill.
• •  Although working with someone locally can be convenient, don't limit yourself solely to consultants within a five-mile radius; the best one for you may be 300 miles away.
• •  Ask for recommendations from other business owners, investors, bankers, and accountants to be sure you select a reputable firm.

Business plan consultants can bring a variety of skill sets to your company, from helping you set up your office to procuring the right software to run it, setting up a marketing plan and hiring staff. A business plan preparation service can help you to bring in a broader scope of available technology that you may have overlooked. Business plan consulting companies can help to bring your company greater profitability by conducting market research and training your staff.

Once you’ve been up and running for a while, business plan services professionals can review your company’s policies and review your level of customer service and staff knowledge. A business plan consulting service will recommend a program to ensure that your company is positioned to utilize the best business techniques to keep your teams on top of the market. There are a number of ways in which you can increase your profits by working with business plan consultants.

1. Use a business plan preparation service to set up your business

2. Find professional business plan consultants to grow

3. Work with a business plan consulting company to manage your operations

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Start out on the right foot with business plan writing services

You may have taken some business courses in school, but your primary function is to run your business. By hiring a business consulting firm to write up your plans for the business and help you get the required funding, you can help to alleviate enormous stress and focus on what you do best.

I recommend: Find templates for small business plans at More Business, a one-stop small business resource center. Master Plans has an extensive list of credentials they can put to use for your company with their assistance writing business plans.

Use business plan consulting firms to upgrade your practice

While you are busy growing your business, your staff may be lingering in an office that is out-dated and inefficient. By bringing in a business plan consulting company to review your office policies and procedures, you will make your entire company more profitable.

I recommend: Use Brightwood to make your business rise, utilizing their four-part strategy that revolves around the principles of review, initiate, structure and emerge. Visit a local SCORE volunteer to get expert advice from retired executives about forming a business plan and finding the funding you need to get started.

Contract for continued business consulting

You may reduce some of your costs by outsourcing your operations completely to professional business plan consultants who can set up your new systems and mange the day-to-day operations and reporting platforms. Business plan services also can be used for ongoing support and training.

I recommend: Use Epic Business Planning for its ongoing assistance while you get your business up and running. They don’t stop at the business plan, but are there to train your staff and follow-up as you grow. The Small Business Administration offers entrepreneurs advice and direction for starting a business and making it a successful enterprise.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Interview at least two or three business plan consulting services before settling on one company to make sure that they are a good fit for your personality and requirements.

A business plan is the first step in getting the financial backing to start a business. The business plan should be well researched and presented to potential investors in a clear, concise manner. Business plan consultants can assist a business to organize and present a business plan for this occasion. Business plan consultants can help with market research, organizing financial information and looking at the business plan as a whole to see if it is feasible.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pitch development

Pitch development is a service that many business plan consultants provide. This service assists the business owner on how to best present the sales pitch to the potential investors using key facts from the business plan.

I recommend: Venture Archetypes provides an overview of its pitch development services.

Financial modeling

Financial modeling is a process of creating a financial structure for a company. The financial model in a business plan works to project potential earnings over a specific period of time, giving investors an idea of the company's profitability.

I recommend: Financial Modeling Specialists provides the key objectives for all types of financial modeling, including modeling for business plans and financial forecasting.

Financial feasibility analysis

A financial feasibility analysis looks to the future to see if a business can earn a reasonable profit to sustain and improve the business. While a financial feasibility study is based on real numbers, the projections do not have to include all of this information to predict estimates.

I recommend: The Business Plan Store provides an example of a financial feasibility analysis over a five-year period.

Market analysis

Another service that business plan consultants can provide is the market analysis. This is a look at the specific market a business is targeting to see how well the product or service will respond in the market.

I recommend: Butler Consultants provides information on the key points in market research and analysis that is looked at to determine the viability of the market.

Branding

Branding is an important part of a business plan, and a business plan consultant can assist businesses in creating a brand name for its product or the company as a whole. A brand is used to let consumers recognize certain characteristics of a particular company or product.

I recommend: Branding Strategy Insider provides a list of the situations where a using a consultant for branding is appropriate.

Partnership counseling

Partnership counseling is a system of preparing two or more partners for a business venture. Many business plan consultants serve as business partnership counselors to avoid disagreements that can dissolve the company.

I recommend: Cummings Design provides information on what partnership counseling entails and how it can work to create a partnership agreement that addresses all aspects of the partnership.