Tim Berry

Entrepreneur, Business Planner and Angel Investor at Palo Alto Software Inc.

Tim Berry is the chairman of Eugene, Ore.-Palo Alto Software, which produces business-planning software. He founded Bplans.com and wrote The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, published by Entrepreneur Press. Berry is also a co-founder of HavePresence.com, a leader in a local angel-investment group and a judge of international business-plan competitions.

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More From Tim Berry

Building a Business

Forecasting Is Hard, But It’s Harder to Run a Business Without Doing It

We're people, we don't know the future, so we are always guessing. But we're not just guessing. We're developing sets of assumptions.

Building a Business

5 Ways to Tell When, and When Not, to Stick to the Plan

When should you pivot? And how can you tell when it's better to stand still?

Building a Business

5 Qualities Angel Investors Want in Founders

Are drive, passion and smarts enough to impress investors?

Building a Business

Choose an Investor Like You Would a Spouse

Incompatible goals can lead to business hell. Here are the issues to think through ahead of time.

Building a Business

Is Seeking Angel Investment a Realistic Goal for Your Startup?

Do an honest self-assessment and answer these four critical questions first.

Building a Business

5 Tips on Planning Amid Rapid Change

As the pace of business shifts quickens, forecasting can become even more vital.

Building a Business

Start With a Simple Business Plan and Grow It as Needed

Begin with a lean document that can guide your company's efforts internally. Add to it later on if investors or bankers need more details.

Building a Business

How to Anticipate Cash-Flow Problems

Do advance planning to avoid a crash course in the lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

Business Accounting

When Angel Investors Reject Your Plan

If those you've approached for money say no, try to figure out why. Maybe it will lead to some good news.

Business Accounting

The Art of Business Pitching Has Changed. Are You on Board?

Presentations are changing, becoming more visual, but the pictures can't do all the talking. Early sales figures speak strongly to investors.

Building a Business

Your Mission Statement May Be Utterly Useless or a Gold Mine

Make yours meaningful by defining goals and specific strategies for customers, the enterprise and owners. Or skip one if there's no business purpose for it.

Building a Business

8 Ingredients Every App and Software Business Plan Needs

These factors are important to consider and forecast before you launch your business.

Business Accounting

The Worst Business Plan Mistake Entrepreneurs Make

If you think you can just hire someone else to do the dirty work of writing your business plan, think again.

Thought Leaders

10 Business Plan Benefits You Might Be Forgetting

If you think creating a business plan is not for you, think again. Here are ten ways your business plan can help you be a better entrepreneur.

Building a Business

How and Why Business Plans Have Changed

The fundamentals of business plan writing remain the same, but there are some crucial changes these days that you should keep in mind when crafting your plan.

Marketing

Marketing ROI: Budgeting Your Money Wisely

Calculating the return on investment for your marketing can sometimes seem impossible. Yet it's necessary to make sure you're budgeting wisely. Here's how to translate your efforts into numbers.

Business Plan

How to Build a Lean and Efficient Business Plan

Your business plan must be ready to accommodate rapid changes so that your company can follow suit. Here are five ways to make your business plan as lean and effective as possible.

Building a Business

When Is the Best Time to Write Your Business Plan?

You don't need to drop everything to put together a business plan. Instead, it should be a constant work-in-progress. Here's how.

Building a Business

Reworking Your Business Plan? Consider These Tips

If you're looking to run your business better, you'll need the discipline to stick to a plan. Here's how to make better choices from the start.

Online Presence

5 Fundamentals of a Social-Media Action Plan

For many businesses, social media is growing too important to leave to happenstance. Consider these essential elements for creating a social media strategy that yields results.

Building a Business

Should You Create Your Business Plan on Pinterest?

The social sharing pinboard isn't just for recipes and animal photos, it can help you build a vision for your business.

Building a Business

Lean Startups Need Business Plans, Too

Lean business planning doesn't mean no business planning. The formal written business plan has long been obsolete. A real business plan should grow organically, with regular review and revision.

Thought Leaders

How I Raised a Family of Entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur and father to a brood of business owners talks about bringing up kids to be entrepreneurs.

Marketing

When the Product Is the Marketing, and Vice Versa

Sometimes the product itself is the marketing. In those rare cases, businesses can thrive without organized marketing.

Online Presence

The Business Model for Disruption

For groundbreaking companies like Twitter and Pinterest, business plans take a backseat to growing traffic. Thanks to the excitement over the expected Facebook IPO, it's starting to feel like the dot-com boom all over again.