How the Firmfocus Business Planner works

Video: a tour of the main features of the Business Planner.

For most people, a business plan starts with a blank document and a deadline from the bank. The Business Planner takes the blank page away. You work through fixed sections, with an explanation next to every field and examples from your own industry, and you can see at any moment how far along you are.

This page gives you the map. The next steps of this step-by-step guide explain, section by section, what you fill in and what a financier looks for.

From company to finished plan

1. 01

   Set up your company

   Under Companies, you create a plan for each business. You choose your industry with an SBI, ISIC or NAICS code, so the planner knows which guidance and examples fit. The blue puzzle button opens the plan.

2. 02

   Work through the seven sections

   Basic, Entrepreneurs, Strategy, Marketing, Organization, Staff and Financial. Each section has its own card on the overview, showing how many fields are complete and a status label.

3. 03

   Have the quality checked

   With Check quality, the AI reads a section and tells you what is already strong and what a financier would still miss, with a button that takes you straight to the right step.

4. 04

   Export and share

   Preview the document first, then download it as a Word file. That way a well-presented plan goes to your bank, accountant or business partner.

The overview as your dashboard

When you open a plan, you land on the overview. At the top are your company name and the industry you chose. Below that is a progress meter with the next actions, for example a financial section where the text is still short. Further down, the planner compares your gross margin and operating result with the average for your industry.

Want a second pair of eyes? From the overview, you can book coach support. An experienced coach reads your plan, adds comments and helps you sharpen the strategy.

What Check quality found in the demo

The demo plan belongs to Shear & Shine, a hair salon in De Pijp, Amsterdam. For the Basic section, Check quality praised the personal service and the bilingual team, and came back with two points to improve: add more detail to the financial projections, and name specific measures to raise the revenue per chair. Those are exactly the questions a banker asks across the table, only now you get them before the plan goes out.