Frequently Asked questions
Who are You?
Starting
up a business
was formed by a group of accountants, financiers and consultants
in Europe and the United States to collect the business
plans they had been involved in and then offer these to
other business owners to help them in their businesses.
We actually started writing business plans 27 years ago working
with banks and finance companies in the UK. Over the next
20 years we worked on both sides of the Atlantic writing plans
for businesses ranging from one-man start-ups to large multi-nationals.
We now deal with around 15,000 enquiries a month and our
services are regularly used by accountants, financiers and
consultants to kick-start business planning assignments.
In 1997 we opened a web site and due to its success we now
only operate through Starting
up a business and other similar sites.
I'm Concerned About ordering over the internet - is it safe?
To be honest it's probably safer to order over the internet
than order over the phone or give somebody your credit card
(like in a restaurant). Before you order anything make sure
the order pages address starts with https. Also look
for the closed padlock symbol.
Are your Business plans written so that I just put my details
in and then it is complete?
We would love to say yes, but the truth is that no two businesses
are alike, and for us to construct a plan that would suit
every business in any industry would be impossible.
Our business plans represent the fastest and most competitively
priced kick-start you could have. To most people writing a
plan is an unwelcome chore and some put it off indefinitely,
we give you a fast start and enough information to make your
business plan considerably easier to do.
Why isn't the Business plan automatically delivered?
As some are not ordered very often we hand-check each plan
to ensure that details are reasonably up-to-date.
We also may add to popular business plans as some of our
clients kindly send us updated articles on certain industries.
We also receive information from banks, market research companies
and the general media and we try to add this information to
the plans.
How can we trust you to provide the Business plan?
- You will receive an e-mail from Paypal with your order details.
- You will receive your plan from businessplan(removespam)@(removespam)business-plans-4-you.com within the next 24 hours. Please add that e-mail address to your white list now.
- Please ensure that you do not have any filters / blockers / deleters / automated spam filters on your e-mail that will stop our products getting to you.
- If you do not receive your plan within 24 hours of ordering please check that our e-mail is not in your spam folder.
WE ALWAYS DELIVER WITHIN 24 HOURS WITHOUT FAIL - IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR ORDER WITHIN 24 HOURS THEN YOU NEED TO LET US KNOW AS WE WILL HAVE SENT IT TO YOU.
PAYPAL
We will deliver your plans to the address on your Paypal account!
- Many customers expect the products to be sent to their main e-mail account but we will not know that address.
- Please be aware that your Paypal e-mail address may be different, and many people do not even have access to their Paypal e-mail address anymore.
- If you do not have access to your Paypal e-mail address then please EMAIL US and tell us which e-mail address you would like us to send the plan to.
Hotmail Users and other free services
We have experienced numerous problems in delivering business plans to Hotmail accounts - please e-mail us with an alternative e-mail address (if you have one) in order for us to send you the plan. We will deliver to hotmail users and the likelihood is that there will not be a problem but if you have another address we will send to both.
Notes on Delivery
- Please be aware that our plans will be about 300Kb in size - make sure that you have enough space in your e-mail account to accept the plan.
- Also make sure you do not have any filters / blockers / deleters on your e-mail - this is a particular problem for AOL account holders.
- Make sure you can receive attachments. Many smaller ISPs strip attachments from incoming e-mails.
- If you still haven't received an e-mail from us please check that your e-mail address you have given us is correct and is working - send a test e-mail to yourself.
If you are in any doubt then EMAIL US - we have delivered 35,000 products on-line and we will be able to deliver to you!
Most digital products are now delivered via e-mail or auto-download
- this way ensures that costs are greatly reduced and these savings
are reflected in our low price of just $49.95.
How is the Business plan delivered?
The business plan is delivered via one email to the e-mail
address you specify when you place an order as a Micrsoft
Word attachment. We also supply you a user name and password
to download the free gifts.
What is in each Business plan?
We provide over 20
Free Products representing the most comprehensive aid
to business planning on the web.
In regard to the plan itself, they are all set in a mythical
city in a mythical state, the same for each business plan,
and they are generally owned by John (or Jane!) Smith. Details,
such as personal information, are kept to a minimum as these
are the easiest for people to write.
We concentrate on suggesting marketing, product, sales and
management ideas and setting out strategies that have worked
in your industry.
If you would like details of the sectional summaries of any
business plan, please fill our contact
us form making sure you include the name of the plan.
How do I know which Business plan is for me?
As we say every business plan is different and the personal
and product information is the easiest part for most people
to write. Therefore, whilst you might be concerned that the
business plan is completely different to your business the
truth is, they all are, but you will get value for money by
just choosing the one that sounds nearest to your business,
it will always contain enough information to provide you value.
Which Business plan should I buy if my business is between
two plans, do I have to buy them both?
We recommend that you choose one business plan only. If after
using that you really think you could use more help, you can
always come back and get the other one.
The key to remember is that we are kick-starting your process
and you may find it easier than you think to write a business
plan, once we have got your started.
Why no phone number?
Because we sell $49.95 business plans. We can only keep the
price this low by keeping our overheads to a minimum. As our
customers are from all over the globe our costs would spiral
if we entered into conversation with the thousands of people
who visit our site every day or the thousand a week that buy.
We have also found it is actually more time consuming answering
questions over the phone than via e-mail.
I am concerned about buying this product without being able
to look at it first.
We used to provide short details but unfortunately it generated
huge levels of queries. For example we would say “here
is a business plan for a start-up barber shop with three seats”
and we would get e-mails saying “but I want a shop with
four, will this plan work for me?”
We found by removing details our sales were not affected
but our e-mail count reduced by 80%!
If you would like details of the sectional summaries of any
plan, please fill our contact us
form making sure you include the name of the business plan.
Do the spreadsheets contain financial data?
We supply 5 sets of spreadsheets to cover all of your needs.
These are:
- Profit & Loss
- Cash Flow
- Balance Sheet
- Start up – including Break-Even & Personal Survival
- Business Plan – where your whole plan can be done
on an excel spreadsheet
These excel spreadsheets are all easy-to-use and can be linked
very quickly to give you all the financial information you
need
We, ourselves, do not add financial data as it proved very
unpopular with our customers. There were probably no examples
where a customer could use the actual data, as all businesses
are different, and we used to get a lot of e-mails saying
how annoying it was to have to remove all the data before
they could start putting their data in!
How do i open Word Documents?
If you have Microsoft Word 2000 then this shouldn't
be a problem. If you don't have a copy of Microsoft Word
then you can download a free viewer from the Microsoft
web site:
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/wd97vwr32.aspx
How do i open the spreadsheets?
If you have Microsoft Excel 2000 then this shouldn't
be a problem. If you don't have the correct software version
we can send you a compatible version. If you don't have a
copy of Microsoft Excel then you can download a free
viewer from the Microsoft web site:
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/xlviewer.aspx
Microsoft update there site regularly so if the link is broken
just type in Excel Viewer into your favourite search engine
(Google).
Open Office - FREE RESOURCE
Alternatively there is a fantastic resource at OpenOffice.org.
This is both an open-source application and project. It is
free. The product is a multi-platform office productivity
suite compatible with all major file formats such as Microsoft
Word and Microsoft Excel.
http://www.openoffice.org
What currency are the Business plans in?
They are all in $ as that is the symbol that 96% of our customers
use. They are written in such a way that the symbol can be
replaced immediately and the content of the business plan
will not be a problem with a new symbol.
I have a question that is not answered here
Just Contact Us...
We have hundreds of business plans, together with a stack
of free gifts, on our Plans page.
Click here to find
a plan for your business
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