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S Sounds Like a Plan
ince 2010, when Christian Wielage either bought the software or they didn’t, After they successfully retooled the (right) became involved in PlanGuru, and that was it.” software, the team worked on perfecting a White Plains-based software com- But Christian, who had been work- the company’s internal operations so they pany that sells financial planning ing at IBM in the budgeting and plan- could handle the expected increase in tools to businesses, the company has ning department, saw much more poten- sales. They put in place information tech-
seen tremendous growth.
Revenues are up an average of 90 per-
cent over three years—a giant increase considering no heroic marketing efforts have been made. And it now boasts more than 1400 clients, some of which have as many as 10 employees using PlanGuru’s software. “We literally have mom-and-pop businesses; we’ve got entrepreneurs who don’t even have businesses yet; and, at the same time, we also have a university budgeting for the entire institution with the product,” says Wielage, who in late 2012 became CEO of the company. “It is night and day to where we were a year ago.”
PlanGuru was started 15 years ago by Wielage’s father, Edward Wielage, and his business partner, Sally Sprankle, who created an exceptional piece of software but weren't able to actually sell it on a wide scale. “It was very much a lifestyle
tial. He realized that there were not that many computer programs out there for small businesses that wanted to cre- ate financial forecasts, and that meant PlanGuru was well positioned to fill a huge niche. In 2010, he said goodbye to Big Blue, and began the effort needed to turn PlanGuru into a lucrative and widespread operation.
After Christian, together with his brother, Taylor (left), and longtime friend, Tripp Graham, came onboard, his father and Sprankle spent six months de-bug- ging and re-writing the now-ancient soft- ware (it was 12 years old—an eternity in the lifecycle of software). They took suggestions from clients who had used it over the past decade, and swiftly turned it into a product that met the exact, emerg- ing needs of a wider range of clients. Concurrently, they developed proper sup-
nology such as CRM, ordering systems, and licensing systems, and moved into a new office (with the help of an accel- erator program run by the Westchester County Association), which enabled the team to better work together and achieve much-needed progress. “Having an office, a place to come to during the day, has been a transformative event for us,” says Wielage. At press time, plans were also in the works to launch new products, such as an online analytics tool.
Now, in 2013, the company is working with investors to take their business even further. It is making a round of new hires, and is prepping the rollout of a new mar- keting plan. Even though PlanGuru has already greatly exceeded its own expecta- tions, these guys know the best is still yet to come. “We’re about to spring on the scene,” promises Wielage.
PLANGURU
WHITE PLAINS
business,” explains Christian. “Clients port systems for clients who needed showed up at their website, and they help using the product.
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