Ready to take your advisory services to the next level? Join Peter, Josh, and Justin as they reveal how entrepreneurs, advisors, and educators can leverage the powerful combination of LivePlan and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network. Discover how to transform business ideas into actionable growth strategies, fostering long-term success and financial stability. Watch this webinar to unlock the full potential of your business planning.
What You'll Learn
This webinar is packed with practical tips and answers to the most common questions from our partner community. Here’s a look at what we cover:
Understanding the SBDC & Its Value
SBDC's Role: Discover what an SBDC is, its mission, and how it serves entrepreneurs across the United States. Accessing Free Resources: Learn how SBDCs, funded by the SBA, provide free expert consultation and resources to businesses at every stage. Local Expertise: Understand the unique value of SBDC consultants who possess deep local knowledge, connecting you to funding, programs, and events. The Power of Partnership: Explore the nearly three-decade strategic alignment between LivePlan and America's SBDC, benefiting countless entrepreneurs. Beyond Startup: Uncover why continued engagement with SBDC consultants, even during stable periods, offers long-term growth and fresh perspectives. Broader Support Network: Identify other similar organizations like VBOC, WBC, and SCORE, and how they contribute to entrepreneurial success.
The LivePlan Advantage
A Legacy of Planning: Learn about LivePlan's extensive history, evolving from Business Plan Pro in 1988, and its commitment to helping businesses succeed. Tailored for All: Understand how LivePlan adapts to various expertise levels and industries, making planning accessible for everyone from aspiring entrepreneurs to established businesses. Beyond Funding: Discover why a business plan is more than just a document for securing financing; it's a living tool for strategic growth. The Growth Planning Philosophy: Grasp the core concept of "growth planning," emphasizing continuous engagement with your business plan for sustained success. Success Statistics: See compelling data on how planning increases the likelihood of business success, faster growth, and investment acquisition.
Leveraging AI in LivePlan
Initial Context Setting: Learn how the "What type of business is this?" field provides crucial initial context for LivePlan's AI, tailoring guidance and examples to your specific business. Industry Data Integration: Understand how AI selects your industry in LivePlan, providing access to trusted, citable industry data from Virgo IQ. Streamlined Content Creation: Discover how AI helps structure and draft written content for your business plan, transforming disorganized ideas into clear, grammatically correct prose. The Editing Imperative: Emphasize the importance of refining AI-generated drafts to inject your unique voice, vision, and expertise into the plan. Pitch Generation: Explore how AI assists in creating compelling, summarized pitches, leveraging your existing plan content for quick and effective communication. Forecast Structure: Learn how AI suggests relevant revenue streams, helping you quickly structure your financial forecast and consider all potential elements.
LivePlan for Ongoing Growth Management
Seamless Collaboration: Understand how LivePlan's cloud-based platform facilitates virtual collaboration between entrepreneurs, advisors, and educators. QuickBooks & Xero Integration: Discover the critical role of connecting QuickBooks Online or Xero to LivePlan for real-time actuals versus forecast comparisons. Live Forecast Feature: Explore how LivePlan provides a dynamic "live forecast" by blending historical actuals with future projections, offering an adjusted financial outlook. Proactive Business Management: Learn to identify key financial shifts (e.g., increased revenue, higher expenses) and leverage these insights for proactive decision-making. Scenario Planning: Master the ability to create and compare up to ten different financial scenarios in LivePlan, allowing for strategic planning around pricing, expansion, or retraction. Dashboard Insights: Utilize LivePlan's dashboard to track key performance indicators (KPIs), conduct past, present, and future business analysis, and gain AI-powered insights from monthly reviews. Architecting the Future: Encourage entrepreneurs to view their SBDC advisors as strategic architects, engaging them proactively for growth and long-term success, not just crisis management.
