Free Software for Business Planning

Looking for free business planning software? Consider this: mind mapping helps a great deal with organizing information for big projects like writing a business plan. You can use Freemind, fully-featured and free mind mapping software to create a business plan, then export the plan to word processing software like Open Office (also free) to put your business plan into a format your lender can use.

Freemind provides a gallery of sample mind maps so you can see how others use Freemind to create mind maps. Business Plan Generator is a free business planning template in Freemind's mind map gallery under the Business Procedures mind maps.

Business Plan Generator includes the free business planning mind map with notes to explain each step of the business planning process and four free spreadsheets for business planning.

To create a business plan presentable to banks or other lenders, complete the business plan mind map in Freemind then export it to the Open Office Writer free word processing software and link to the Open Office Calc spreadsheets that are included with the free business plan mind map.

Links to Free Business Planning Tools Mentioned in this Article

• Learn more about and download FreeMind
• Download Business Plan Generator
• Learn more about and download free Open Office Software Suite (Microsoft Office compatible)
• How to use Open Office

Free Business Planning Resources

• Free Business Plan Writing Resources - About.com Small Business Information
• Business Plans Overview - About.com Women in Business
• Free Business Planning Resources - About.com Small Business Canada
• Your Business Plan: More Than Just a Blueprint - About.com Entrepreneurs
• Business Plan Basics - About.com Home Business