Jian (jee'-on): a zen word that means the master of every art...

(vs. jack of all trades and master of none!) JIAN is a contemporary American software company applying modern techniques to the art of building businesses. For more than 20 years, we've focused exclusively on developing business software to help entrepreneurs and business owners to complete important business projects in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take to do them from scratch.

Integrated business software tools optimized for management process improvement
Founded by Burke Franklin, JIAN introduced the revolutionary BizPlanBuilder® in 1988. Rated their “Best Buy” by PC World and winner of Success Magazine’s “Editor’s Choice Gold Medal Award,” BizPlanBuilder has been one of the most popular business planning software tools in the World. With more than 1,500,000 copies sold worldwide, more than a BILLION dollars have been raised through angel investors, venture capitalists, the SBA and bank financing.

What's a nice guy like me doing in a business like this?

As you may already be aware, we started this software category a long long time ago and have put a lot into it over the years, presuming the user — usually an entrepreneur with a business idea that needs a good explanation with the business mapped out financially — is “betting the farm!” Now it's 2008 and more than 1.5 million people have used JIAN software.

In college I majored in engineering and business, but I was crazy to do something real... I learned about a 'do-it-yourself' used car lot concept and I built and ran it from my fraternity bedroom. I convinced my grandmother to loan me $5,000. (A business plan would have been helpful.) During my 20's, I sold an early software system for analyzing real estate investments, I sold electronic components for Texas Instruments, I sold financial software for mid-sized businesses, I started at the Sharper Image Catalog as the electronics buyer...

Some 22 years ago I learned about business plans. Before that I had heard little of them. I was surprised at how many businesses owners did not write a business plan at all... The owner / entrepreneur had some ideas in his/her head and just went forward. If you've ever worked for these people, you've probably also experienced a lot of screaming and frustration. That's not the way I wanted to build a business. I discovered that writing a business plan actually enabled others in the business, not only to understand the big picture, but to be pro-active, make better decisions and work together to forward the action in favor of the big idea.

But I hated planning, I was more of hip-shooting kind of guy... but a friend of mine had a deal going with Apple Computer and they wanted to see his business plan. It had to cover all the bases — the engineers wanted to review the product section, the management people wanted to know about the managers, the finance people needed to be sure that his company was sustainable, and so on. Being a former catalog copy-writer for the Sharper Image Catalog, I figured I could help him out. From my perspective at the time, a business plan was a bit like a giant brochure. It must sell at all levels.

Long story short, he got the deal. But it wasn't over for me... I kept meeting people who wanted me to help them with their business plans. I helped write some good business plans! Then it struck me (standing in the shower, of course), what if I took all of my materials I used to write a business plan and put them together into Word and Excel templates and offered them on a disk? I ran some classified ads... the phone rang, people loved them... I was in business.

So, what is my philosophy behind Jian?

I thought I wanted to either get rich on something silly like a "Pet Rock" or change the world with something serious like Penicillin, but I've always wondered what happened to the inventions featured in Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. Perhaps the inventors and others could benefit from my business plan template. Perhaps supporting others to introduce their solutions for our world was better leveraging of my skills and a more important contribution for me to make to the world right now. Years later, I wrote the book, "Business Black Belt" to share my business-building observations — stuff none of the consultants, MBAs and other gurus I've worked with along the way never mentioned.
With the line of business tools we are constantly developing and refining, you could say that our philosophy is this:

Start a Business, Stay in Business, Make a Difference!

Working hard to make your life easier

Over the years, we have come up with a variety of tools you can use right now to make your life a little easier and your business more productive.

Writing an excellent business or marketing plan, or a comprehensive safety manual; drafting an important agreement—these used to be boring, labor-intensive projects to be avoided at all costs. They were big, time-consuming projects that were hard to get started, difficult to do well, and sometimes impossible to finish. Frankly, I'd rather spend my time talking with customers, developing and improving our products, and have some time left to enjoy my life. But these things must be done.

I talked with friends and other entrepreneurs and discovered that I wasn't alone. I wasn't the only one who needed a better solution. I hated the business plans I read. I was burned out working for companies that treated employees like cattle. I was tired of reading documents I couldn't understand without professional help.

So, I took matters into my own hands. I wrote the original BizPlanBuilder back in 1988. Each of our subsequent products evolved out of our own needs as a growing business.

You don't even have to learn how before you start

By the time you read a few books, take a seminar and talk to some experts, you probably won't have much energy left to do the job. With JIAN software, it works the other way around. By the time you're done using our software, your project will be complete and look great. You'll know all you need to know about the subject as it relates to your business, without a lot of extraneous interrogation, theory and expense. All things considered, I think you'll find our software tools will save your sanity as well as your time and money.

We didn't just fall off the turnip truck

Our products draw on the experience of successful business professionals crossing nearly every industry and business model imaginable, as well as feedback from thousands of customers. We've sold more than 1,500,000 copies of our software worldwide since 1988, and every day we receive success stories and input from our customers who tell us we've done it right. They also offer suggestions for ways we can do it even better next time.

"The comments in blue... are they for real?"
Actually, yes they are. Generally, we don't solicit comments; however, we often ask people to send us their success stories. Almost all of the quotes in red are unsolicited — comments from real people who have used our software. (All of the comments for BizPlanBuilder run more than 30 pages!) We may edit them for typos to make sure nobody looks stupid, but these are the real deal. As you can see, some are from people who are admittedly clueless about certain business things and others are highly educated and experienced experts. I very much appreciate the time and energy they invested in communicating with us. And we are happy to include your website URL when you send us your success story. Flame? Sure we get some of those, but we do our best to take care of people right away. FYI, we have only ONE tech-support / customer-service person... What does that tell you? Click here to send a success story or comment.

Try any of our products and you'll discover feature-rich, productivity-enhancing tools to revolutionize the way you work.

It's an unbeatable combination of ideas, direction and examples you can use right now. And, if for any reason our software doesn't work for your business, you've got 60 days to send it back.

With JIAN software, you'll successfully complete these essential business projects in a fraction of the time it would take starting from scratch.

When you use JIAN products, you'll free up more time for other activities that will make you money. (Or go play.)

Thank you for doing business with us.

Burke Franklin, Founder & CEO

P.S. Where the Name Jian Comes From...

In case you were wondering where the name jian comes from...
Actually, it came from a book entitled JIAN by Eric Van Lustbader. On the front it said, "While the ninja is a master of the martial arts, the 'Jian' is a master of every art..." Seemed cool. (If you would like to order a copy of the book, visit Amazon.com It's paperback and sells for less than $6. "Eloquent, exciting... intricate... exotic and erotic." - United Press International.)

Anyway, JIAN is a contemporary American software company focused on applying modern techniques to the art of building businesses. We chose this unusual name because it struck a chord... reflecting our goals as well as those of many people we know—our customers as well your customers.

Play the video below and you can listen to me tell you more about it:

 Watch all of Burke Franklin's videos on YouTube.