The Interactive Business Planner (IBP) is a computer software program that uses the capabilities of the Internet to assist you in preparing a 3-year business plan for a new or existing business.

The IBP will:

• help you write your business plan;
• provide a format for writing your business plan;
• take the information you enter and prepare financial projections for you.

The Interactive Business Planner (IBP) was created to support the development of small business. As a tool accessible through the World Wide Web, the Interactive Business Planner meets the needs of individuals in communities which do not have easy access to the resources needed to produce a business plan. The IBP links these individuals to applicable resources and provides them with a framework to guide them in expressing their business idea.

How Will the IBP Assist You In Preparing a Business Plan?
The IBP will show you what to include in your business plan. The first step in preparing a business plan is to figure out what questions you have to answer. The IBP has 11 sections and each section has several topics. Through this series of sections and topics, the IBP will walk you through what should be included in your business plan.

The IBP will help you identify where you can get the information you need to write your business plan. You will likely already be in a position to address many of the topics in your business plan. For example, you may be able to describe your company, your products and services, and your employees. However, there will be issues that require further research. The next step, therefore, is to find where you can get the information you need to answer these topics. For example, you may ask where can you get market information or where can you get help on how to figure out your costs? For each section and topic, we have developed a list of information sources that may be able to help you.

The IBP can help you collect the information. It is one thing to figure out where you can get information; it is another to collect it. Unlike traditional business planning software programs, the IBP operates on the World Wide Web. This means that it can actually help you collect some of the information by linking you directly with key sources of information on the Internet.