Writing a business plan can be frustrating. There is a lot of information to include which means there is a lot of information to forget. We have assembled several resources to help you get started with your business plan, but sometimes you just need that extra leg up.
Enter Enloop — an online product to help you build a better business plan while assessing the viability of your idea. Enloop’s product has been featured by Mashable, CNNMoney, and many others.
Some cool features
While there is a free option, some of the more advanced tools are available if you if you purchase a premium account. Enloop asks you a series of questions about your business idea and analyzes the answers to compute your Enloop Performance Score or EPS. The FICO-like score updates as you or collaborators adjust the plan. Higher scores indicate the likelihood of success.
Moreover, Enloop calls attention to weaknesses in your plan and gives you suggestions on how to correct them. Enloop will also generate cash flow and profit and loss forecasts based on the information you supply. And depending on which account type you use, Enloop will calculate up to 15 ratios so you can see how your idea stacks up against others in your industry.
Another convenient feature is Autowrite. It will take all of the information you have entered and insert it into a business plan template. The template is pretty flexible so you can add sections, create charts and graphs, and download it as a pdf. Again some features will be limited depending on price.
Overall, Enloop is nifty tool to create a draft, especially if you are not sure how to phrase the language of your business plan. The free account is very useful, but if you chose to subscribe to the service you can always cancel it later.
One last note
Remember, we have several programs geared at helping small businesses get started. On Tuesday, January 29 we will be holding our very popular Getting Started in Business program.
Also we host SCORE mentors every Friday. To make an appointment please call 617-859-2142 or just ask a librarian at the reference desk.
Cheers!
