FAQ

The Advanced Business Planning package is not software. It is a series of templates, worksheets and sample plans that were created using iWork. You must have iWork application installed on your computer in order to use our system. Nothing else is required to use it except for your fingers and a little concentration.

Use iWork Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Don't have iWork? Download a free trial version here. There are also PDF documents that will require Adobe Reader or an internet browser.

We do not have software, but we do have a solution that uses an application suite that you probably already have installed on your Mac. ION FreshStart Advanced Business Planning uses iWork Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Don't have iWork? Download a free trial version here.

Version 2.0 (effective 10 April 2010) and Version 3.0 uses iWork only and you cannot use Office for Mac.

Version 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 allows use of Office for Mac and MS Office for PC. We no longer offer Version 1, but we do support customers who purchased this version.

* Please note: iWork Pages exports to Office Word. iWork Numbers exports to Office Excel. If you need the final version of your reports in Word or Excel format, you can do that in one simple step.

The Financial Workshop prompts you for currency type. The Start-Writing Guide currently uses U.S. currency format, but can easily be formatted for other nations. We have had customers successfully use Advanced Business Planning from Canada, UK, Spain, Poland, Russia, and China, to name a few. However, we cannot claim to support business planning policies and procedures from those countries. Understand that if you purchase this kit that it is intended for U.S. businesses and modifications will be required if you plan to use it elsewhere.

For direct questions and answers specifically about the formatting of the Pages, Numbers or Keynote worksheets for Advanced Business Planning, go here »

You can find a full tutorial for iWork here.

Please feel free to email us if you continue to have questions or problems.

If you purchased our Advanced Business Planning system, you are always eligible to receive our latest upgrade for Free. If you wish to upgrade, please email us.

We offer a full 30 day Money Back Guarantee. If you are not satisfied with our Advanced Business Planning solution, email us within 30 calendar days of your purchase and we will refund your money.

Absolutely. A business plan is a written document that describes a business, its operations and target customer, with details on how it will become profitable. While it can be instrumental for obtaining funding through an investor, it is more importantly a tool for you, the business owner. It forces you to focus on every aspect of your business, and put it down on paper. A business plan can literally convince you that you are on the right track or alert you if your idea needs work.

Business plan templates are useful for reviewing the format and language of an average plan. They also (usually) provide the needed topics that should be covered in a standard business plan. While using a template for ideas and guidelines may be helpful, we do not recommend using solely a template to build your business plan. This is why we provide several different tools in our package, like our step-by-step Instructional Guide among others.

If you are apprehensive about preparing a business plan yourself, or if you simply do not have the time (but do have the money) to outsource the planning, then yes, we highly recommend hiring a professional. There is nothing wrong with that.

Advanced Business Planning was designed to assist the business owner who:

• does not currently have the budget for a business planner;
• wants to have confidence in all areas of their business;
• wants to learn more about smart marketing, reaching customers and handling finances;
• wants to influence investors with their personal knowledge of their company and the market; and
• wants to make certain that their business plan accurately represents the company.

Advanced Business Planning gives detailed definitions and examples of SBA, Bank Loans, Angel Investors, Private Investors, and Venture Capital Investors. It also provides you with step-by-step procedures on building a formal request and substantiating it.

Yes! We designed Advanced Business Planning for people just like you. We have programmed worksheets that prompt you for simple data and calculate entire balance sheets, income statements, cash flow projections and all forecasts.