LivePlan makes collaboration easier in workshops and one-on-one coaching
Lux and the WWBIC team believe that quality business training, small business coaching, and access to capital are key in setting business owners on a path to success. The WWBIC first began using LivePlan in 2015, as part of an educational workshop teaching entrepreneurship. From its step-by-step planning workflows to its collaboration features, LivePlan has become an integral part of WWBIC's coaching and consulting.
“LivePlan allows clients, facilitators, coaches, and small business consultants to access the business plan 24/7,” explains Heather. “This creates time efficiencies that are incredibly valuable for all. Plus it makes sharing edits, feedback, and updates easy.”
“LivePlan truly assisted WWBIC in transforming our business plan training during the pandemic. This was vital for entrepreneurs starting, pivoting, and practicing during the past few years.”
While the WWBIC has primarily offered in-person sessions, during the pandemic they realized they could also use LivePlan to facilitate online events and coaching sessions.
“LivePlan truly assisted WWBIC in transforming our business plan training during the pandemic,” says Heather. “This was vital for entrepreneurs starting, pivoting, and/or practicing during the past few years. LivePlan helped us to provide business planning during such a challenging time.”
Whether a client is online or at one of WWBIC's Wisconsin locations, they are able to leverage LivePlan's planning, forecasting, and pitching tools. From Heather's experience, clients find the business planning process easier and more approachable when they can have their data, information, presentation content, market research, and business plan examples all in one place.
When they need assistance, they can also access LivePlan's help desk. Those benefits don't stop at startup either, says Heather.
“For those practicing entrepreneurs in our fold, LivePlan allows for continued and real-time feedback on the health of the business.”
Entrepreneurs apply for and secure funding via LivePlan's Pitch and Forecast
Supporting small businesses and startups is crucial to Wisconsin's economic health and innovation. For every dollar invested into a small business, the WWBIC has measured $22 in economic activity. This can be especially crucial to underserved areas, where startups and small businesses are often essential not only in economic growth but in broader community wellbeing.
Those funding needs are as varied as business ideas, too. Some startups may need small, crowdfunding-style loans of only a few thousand dollars. If more is necessary, the WWBIC can facilitate capital investments up to $250,000, and they estimate that WWBIC loans are currently generating over $174 million in economic activity annually.
“We will now be using LivePlan as a training tool and as a coaching tool for our small business consultants to use for one-on-one coaching.”
The WWBIC currently oversees 890 current loans and 610 active borrowers. Something each has in common?
A business plan.
In order to apply for funding for their startup or existing business, WWBIC loan applicants must provide a completed business plan. While some applicants can complete the business plan on their own, most need assistance with what seems like a daunting process. That's also why WWBIC's assistance doesn't stop when funding is approved.
“We provide a small business consultant to every loan client throughout the life of their loan,” says Heather. “They provide ongoing coaching, connections to topic expert volunteers, and additional resources as needed.”
By providing ongoing, one-on-one assistance, consultants can help business owners stay on track not only with business growth but with managing and paying back their loans. That's also why, in 2022, the WWBIC expanded its use of LivePlan.
“We will now be using LivePlan as a training tool and as a coaching tool for our small business consultants to use for one-on-one coaching.”
Strategy issues take less time to solve when working inside LivePlan
Business owners and entrepreneurs can gain incredible insight and expertise in their industry and operations. However, additional perspective can sometimes help an owner make key strategic decisions or find a way to deal with a tricky challenge.
For example, one Wisconsin entrepreneur came to the WWBIC struggling to develop a plan for a new phase of her business. She wanted to increase employee pay to at least $15 per hour, but she didn't see a way to afford it.
“We put the projections together in the LivePlan Forecast. We're then quickly and easily able to test various scenarios with employee wages at various levels.”
“We put the projections together in the LivePlan Forecast. We're then quickly and easily able to test various scenarios with employee wages at various levels,” says Heather. “The entrepreneur was pleased to see that they could pay their employees a minimum wage of $15 per hour — and still be profitable with their current business model.”
Without LivePlan, figuring out these projections would have taken hours, even days. But because they were working inside LivePlan, says Heather, “the entrepreneur came to the meeting with a question and left with a full set of financial projections.” They not only found an answer, but a way to test future hypotheses on their own.
And it all took just 90 minutes.
Pivoting quickly during unexpected challenges
In addition to assisting owners of existing businesses, the WWBIC offers a 9-week, in-person training session called “Start, Run & Grow Your Business.” LivePlan has been part of the series since 2017.
Through the series, WWBIC consultants use LivePlan to demonstrate how useful a plan can be for owners as they track, assess, pivot, and measure short- and long-term business goals. Heather has seen, over and over, that having a business plan — and regularly reviewing and updating it — influences the success and profitability of both startups and existing businesses. The key to creating that business plan is when stakeholders and advisors can all come together to comment and discuss.
“LivePlan helped us pivot to a one-hundred-percent virtual model of Start, Run & Grow Your Business. This allowed us to continue to bring business planning to interested entrepreneurs throughout Wisconsin.”
“LivePlan provides a way for business owners and business coaches to use the plan throughout all stages of the business lifecycle,” says Heather. “It also allows the owner to link accounting platforms such as QuickBooks and Xero to their plan to see real-time numbers. The WWBIC and our clients have found incredible success using this tool.”
LivePlan doesn't just help business owners, though. LivePlan became especially crucial to WWBIC's own operations during 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to stop in-person training at their Milwaukee, Southeast, South Central, and Northeast Women's Business Centers.
“LivePlan helped us pivot to a one-hundred-percent virtual model of Start, Run & Grow Your Business. This allowed us to continue to bring business planning to interested entrepreneurs throughout Wisconsin,” says Heather.
Finding new directions for entrepreneurs by examining data in LivePlan
Another entrepreneur was nearing retirement. They wanted to map out succession and work with their sons so each could continue the business.
Despite past experience writing business plans, and the aid of financial projections created by their accountant, the entrepreneur was struggling to map out the best strategy to move the company into a new phase of operation. Using LivePlan's Forecast tab, the WWBIC helped the owner work through several ideas for additional revenue streams. As they tweaked numbers and examined different scenarios, “the entrepreneur gained clarity about what their true dreams and goals are for the business,” says Heather.
“The entrepreneur gained clarity about what their true dreams and goals are for the business.”
Ultimately, through LivePlan the entrepreneur was able to see how they could develop new revenue streams, to create separate divisions for each of their sons to manage.
“LivePlan has made them feel empowered to project their dreams, which are now becoming feasible goals with timelines.”
Business plan guidance at every step, for any entrepreneur
Statewide, seventy percent of WWBIC's clients are women, and nearly two-thirds are people of color. The WWBIC provides networking and presentation opportunities through events such as Strong Women Strong Coffee and Cup of Joe. LivePlan has also proven itself as an especially useful tool for growing confidence in women entrepreneurs, says Heather.
“Women are great collaborators and typically love feedback. The platform provides a way for participants in a training and/or one-on-one with their coach to do both.”
“LivePlan creates a more successful startup and viable business long-term.”
Plus, LivePlan's 24/7 access makes it easier for busy entrepreneurs to work on the plan, or make and review comments, whenever they can.
“LivePlan allows our business plan facilitators, small business consultants, WWBIC staff, and volunteers to review the business plan as it is developed,” says Heather. “They can provide real-time feedback, and identify and assess additional learning needs of our clients.”
When working with clients, Heather and the WWBIC team find that LivePlan can provide step-by-step guidance to entrepreneurs at any stage of their business ownership experience. New owners can fully vet their idea, says Heather. “It takes the idea out of the entrepreneur's head and forces them to put research behind the idea, prior to starting.”
Sometimes that means realizing that a concept might not work out or be viable the way the entrepreneur had originally thought. Still, inside of LivePlan, the coach and client can look at the problems and see where the business owner needs to make adjustments.
“This creates a more successful startup and viable business long-term,” says Heather.
Working in LivePlan gives entrepreneurs the confidence and the plan to build their business and attract funding
The WWBIC coaches and consultants can use LivePlan to take coaching sessions from reviewing and discussing, to creating action steps and honing strategy. The collaborative process builds an entrepreneur's confidence and expands their skill set around planning and implementation.
That work comes to fruition with client after client, such as a team of software entrepreneurs who turned to WWBIC for business planning help. While they understood their product, they were unsure of how to understand and talk about their financials.
“The benchmarking tools inside the LivePlan Forecast allowed them to communicate effectively with potential investors. They attracted angels to grow through the first two stages of development.”
“The benchmarking tools inside the LivePlan Forecast allowed them to communicate effectively with potential investors,” says Heather. “They attracted angels to grow through the first two stages of development.”
Along with other business and financial resources, WWBIC's one-on-one coaching with LivePlan has been key in their clients' successes. Nationally, 50% of startups remain in business after five years, but for WWBIC-supported borrowers and clients, that success rate is 69%.
”By using LivePlan, we can provide clients a way to not only complete their plan, but to learn about all aspects of the business plan, and to look at the viability of their business idea or current existing business,” says Heather. “And they learn about a great tool that can assist them in successfully moving forward as a business owner — LivePlan!”
