HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM TAKE HOME $25,000 FROM PALO ALTO SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION!

Palo Alto Software's third annual business planning competition supports small businesses across the U.S.

Eugene, OR (PRWEB) July 20, 2003 -- Palo Alto Software, Inc., publisher of Business Plan Pro®, the best selling and top rated business-planning software, today announced The Coffee Warehouse, Inc. as the first-place winner of its 3rd annual business plan competition. Owners of The Coffee Warehouse, husband and wife team Steve and Jennifer Smith, received a huge boost today, with the announcement of the $25,000 grand prize award to help grow their fledgling corporation.

The Coffee Warehouse, Inc. is a new business that will provide high quality, full service distribution of coffee, specialty beverages, beverage-related supplies, and innovative dairy products to coffee houses and espresso stands throughout the Spokane and Northern Idaho market.

Rather than operate as simply another supplier, The Coffee Warehouse, Inc. will work on an individual basis with each customer it serves to recommend product assortment unique for their retail base, appropriate stocking levels, and pricing and display assortment.

"Coffee Warehouse produced a finely cut gem of a business plan -- excellent writing, realistic financials, an innovative idea and a highly targeted market niche," said Rosalind Resnick, President and CEO of Axxess Business Centers. "I have no doubt that the company's seasoned husband-and-wife team will be able to execute it flawlessly."

We were shocked, yet thrilled to hear that we had won," stated Jennifer Smith. We knew we had a strong business plan, but never imagined that it would be chosen as the winning plan. As we started working with Business Plan Pro, we were immediately impressed with its ease and thoroughness, and were able to develop our plan at a much higher level than we had previously written. Winning this competition is truly a dream come true, and the $25,000 allows us to start our business at a much higher level than we had anticipated."

Palo Alto Software also gave seven $1,000 prizes to seven runner-up plans in industries as diverse as horse farming to quality assurance testing. The winning plan and information on the eight runners-up are posted at www.paloalto.com/competition.

"Ultimately our software is about helping businesses start up and grow through better planning. Our contest gives us an opportunity to promote the idea of better planning by rewarding a few outstanding plans." said Tim Berry, president of Palo Alto Software.

About Palo Alto Software, Inc.
Palo Alto Software, Inc., the Planning People, has been at the forefront of business planning since the first release of Business Plan Pro® in 1995. Palo Alto Softwares flagship product, Business Plan Pro, has outsold all other competing software combined since 1999, according to NPD Intelect market research.

Business Plan Pro® can be downloaded from the Palo Alto Software, Inc. website at www.paloalto.com.

Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops, publishes and markets software products for use with personal computers. Its products offer task-oriented and "know-how" solutions to middle managers and entrepreneurs who run departments in large firms and small and medium sized small businesses. Palo Alto Software, Inc. is a privately owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon.

More information about Palo Alto Software's products is available on the company website, www.paloalto.com and excellent business planning resources at their award winning site www.bplans.com.