Enloop: business plan builder
When you’re planning a new venture, it starts off seeming easy and “totally do-able.” You get so excited that you’re already envisioning where your offices will be located and brainstorming company names. But when it comes time to present to investors, that’s when entrepreneurs tend to fall off of their cloud of dreams because many don’t stop to fully flesh out a plausible go-to-market strategy, take note of competitors within the space or even come up with how much capital they need to raise from investors in order to realistically get the business up and running.
For entrepreneurs who are perplexed at the thought of making a business plan, Enloop is a free service, offered in the cloud that allows business owners to easily create a business plan to present to potential investors and partners. The service also has a gamification angle in that it uses an algorithm (the Enloop Performance ScoreTM) to score a business’s likelihood of success based on the information the business owner inputs.
Additional options built into the business plan builder
If you are starting a business with a partner, the business plan builder also allows for multiple users to make edits at once so that all parties can actively contribute to the plan. For those who are challenged when it comes to creating charts, the service takes the numerical data that is put into the system and generates visually appealing graphs to help explain your company’s estimated revenues and financial outlook in a way investors can easily see and understand.
The benefit of the service is that it takes some of the guess work out of wondering if your business has what it takes to be successful. Rather than taking a “let’s try it and see” approach, entrepreneurs are able to vet their ideas against a strong algorithm created to factor in elements that need to be in place in order for a business to successfully operate.
The business plan builder also forces entrepreneurs to come to reality, and make necessary changes before speaking with investors and or attempting to open for business if a concept isn’t fully baked. In order to raise capital and operate a business, owners can’t make it on a dream alone; it takes a solid plan and well-vetted strategy to make it, and maintain staying power.
Destiny Bennett is a journalist who has earned double communications' degrees in Journalism and Public Relations, as well as a certification in Business from The University of Texas at Austin. She has written stories for AustinWoman Magazine as well as various University of Texas publications and enjoys the art of telling a story. Her interests include finance, technology, social media...and watching HGTV religiously.
