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 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). We use Paypal - they have over 100 million people signed up - although you don't need a Paypal account to order from us..

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 an e-mail address within the next 12 hours.
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 12 hours of ordering please check that our e-mail is not in your spam folder.

WE ALWAYS DELIVER WITHIN 12 HOURS WITHOUT FAIL - IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR ORDER WITHIN 12 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 $29.95.

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?

In regard to the business plan itself, our plans are written for global use (unless specified otherwise), 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. We do not procide geographically specific plans as you will be aware of the specific issues in your region. Our plans are designed to be useful anywhere in the World. 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 business 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 over 35 spreadsheets to cover all of your needs.

These are:

Monthly calendar - calendar on a spreadsheet
Balance sheet - simple layout for you to fill in your numbers
Balance sheet (Alternative)
Basic invoice - basic invoice on spreadsheet
Break Even Analysis
Business plan by spreadsheet - a uniquely simple way of creating a business plan using a simple spreadsheet system
Cash flow analysis - a simple spreadsheet enabling you to put in your numbers and analyze your cash flow
Checkbook register
Credit card payoff calculator - calculates how to pay off those credit card debts
Employee time sheet - a time sheet with breaks included
Family budget planner - every family should budget
Forecast
General supplies request
Loan amortization schedule
Monthly household budget
Multi purpose invoice
Office supplies request
Opening day balance sheet
Personal financial statement
Personal monthly budget
Pre business budget evaluation
Profit and loss - 12 months
Profit and loss - 3 years
Project management schedule
Project timeline
Projected cost sheet
Purchase order
Sales forecast - 12 months
Sales invoice - sales Invoice spreadsheet - one more for good measure
Service invoice - you have a service industry or want to keep service invoice
Service Invoice (hourly rate) - you charge by the hour
Startup business cash flow - 12 months
Startup business cash flow - 3 years
Startup business profit and loss - 12 months
Startup business profit and loss - 3 years
Startup expenses
Start up spreadsheet - set out your startup costs
Team contact list
Travel expenses - keep tabs on your travel expenses
Weekly timecard - timecard by project

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