REDMOND, Wash. - Dec. 5, 1995 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the Small Business Pack for Microsoft® Office 95, to help small companies and home-office workers start, manage and expand their businesses. It is a complete set of ready-to-use, task-based tools that gives small businesses the easiest way to tap into the power and versatility of Microsoft Office Professional, the most popular business-productivity software suite.
With the Small Business Pack, small businesses get an online Business Guide book, an interactive Business Plan workbook and a comprehensive Business Analyzer. They also get more than 40 document and presentation templates, financial statements, marketing materials, and support tools for sales and operations. The Small Business Pack can save hours of time that businesses would otherwise need to spend setting up their computers to track customers, manage finances, analyze business trends, and provide customer service.
According to a study conducted by AT&T Corp., the most common reason for small-business failure is insufficient funding due to poor business planning. The Small Business Pack helps address this problem by simplifying and automating the process of business planning, so small-business owners can do a better job of managing their companies, gain new funding and revenue sources, and be more successful.
"The Small Business Pack for Microsoft Office 95 is designed for small-business owners who are now investing in PC technology or who want to get more from their current PCs," said Richard Fade, vice president of the desktop applications division at Microsoft. "It makes it fast and easy for small companies to use the same Office Professional tools that larger companies have made the business standard worldwide. If you believe your PC could be doing more to boost your business, but you don't know quite how to make that happen, then the Small Business Pack is for you."
The number of small-business start-ups is increasing rapidly, according to Fade, in part because PC technology can make small businesses and home offices more productive. The PC helps level the playing field, allowing smaller companies to compete against larger organizations that have more resources.
"The Small Business Pack is precisely the type of targeted solution that can help small businesses productively and efficiently leverage the power of the PC as a core business asset," said Nicole Roth Miller, an analyst at industry research firm International Data Corp.
Three new tools - the online Business Guide, the Business Plan interactive workbook and the comprehensive Business Analyzer - provide extensive help for entrepreneurs:
Small businesses can keep on top of finance, marketing and operations effectively and profitably with the Small Business Pack's ready-to-use accounts payable and receivable forms, income and balance sheets, and expense reports. A Leasing Wizard makes it easy to compare the costs of leasing, borrowing or paying cash.
Operational tools include a business-transaction database, a human-resources database and equipment inventory, and a template to assist in invoicing. Sales tools include a sales database, product-catalog database and product fact-sheet template.
Small-business owners also get a virtual marketing department, including professionally designed templates for high-quality marketing materials such as newsletters, press releases, brochures, postcards and product presentations. These materials allow owners to focus on the content of their messages rather than on the graphics and editorial form of their materials.
The Small Business Pack draws upon the best-of-breed business applications in Microsoft Office Professional 95, which includes Word, Microsoft Excel, the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program, Microsoft Access and Schedule+.
Because the Office Professional applications are tightly integrated, the Small Business Pack can call upon components from several Office applications at once to accomplish a more complex task. For example, the Business Planner uses the Microsoft Office Professional applications Word and Microsoft Excel, allowing a person to create or update financial data in the planner's customized spreadsheet and automatically import the new data into the business plan.
Small Business Pack and Office Professional look and act alike, making the new product even faster and easier for most customers to learn and use. For example, the Help files of the two products are integrated, giving small-business owners a single place to go for all their online assistance. Also, the Small Business Pack extends the existing Office Professional 95 Shortcut Bar, adding a new toolbar with one-click access to all of the added resources.
One of the most significant examples of integration between the two products is in the Answer Wizard, which is exclusive to Office Professional 95 and the Small Business Pack. The Answer Wizard provides explanations and instructions to questions users pose in natural language. It is enhanced to give small-business owners assistance in using Microsoft Office Professional and the Small Business Pack to complete all of the most common business tasks, just as if they had a business consultant sitting by their side. For example, when the user asks, "How do I send a mailing?" the Answer Wizard replies with assistance on topics such as completing a business letter, press release and mailing labels.
The Small Business Pack for Microsoft Office 95 will be available in early December 1995 for approximately $99. It requires a PC with a 386DX or higher processor (486 recommended); the Microsoft Windows® 95 operating system; Microsoft Office Professional for Windows 95 (or Office Standard for Windows 95 with Microsoft Access for Windows 95); 12 MB of memory; 12 MB of disk space; a 3.5-inch high-density disk drive; a VGA or higher-resolution video adapter; and a Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
For More Information, Press Only:
Laura Peterson, Waggener Edstrom, (206) 637-9097, laurap@wagged.com
For Online Product Information:
Microsoft Office Internet Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/msoffice.
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