e2eNOW Frequently Asked Questions

What is e2eNOW?

What if I already know the business I want to start? Is it worth my time to use e2eNOW?

How will I figure out how much I'll earn? How does that work?

Will you tell me what business to start?

What if I want to start a non-profit?

If I purchase a business, how will e2eNOW help me?

I'm purchasing a franchise and everything is laid out for me, why bother with e2eNOW?

How will I know if I have what it takes to be an owner?

I have no idea where to start. Will this help?

Why should I purchase e2eNOW?

Who is e2eNOW?

Why not buy business plan software?

Does e2eNOW have templates and financial models?

What about websites where I can write my plan online?

How comes all the 'Business Consultant' links go to Custom Business Planning and Solutions?

What if I go through the process and my idea doesn't seem to work?

Web Browser Recommendations

Q. What is e2eNOW?

A. Employee to Entrepreneur Now (e2eNOW), is a program designed by people who made the transition from corporate management jobs to their own successful business. With these difficult economic times, with global pressure on corporations to offshore or downsize, many corporate specialists, managers and executives are finding they need to transition to a new career. e2eNOW was developed especially for those exiting corporate life, but the program principles are usable by anyone starting a business, particularly if they are not certain of the business they want to start.

Many people are hard working, productive employees that want to make that hard work work for them. But many of these same creative people find they hit a wall when they try to decide what business to start. e2eNOW begins with a module strictly aimed at helping them to determine how to pick a business that is right for them.

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Q. What if I already know the business I want to start? Is it worth my time to use e2eNOW?

A. Selecting the business is just a part of what's discussed in Modules 1 and 2. There are also many valuable tools in these modules that apply even if you know exactly what you want your business to be. There is information about funding sources, visioning your business on opening day, types of ownership and why you would select them and financial models that can give you an early idea how much money your business can earn.

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Q: How will I figure out how much I'll earn? How does that work?

A: In Module 2, "How Much Will I Earn?", we provide you with Excel models that are intended to give you a rough idea how much you will make. The basic idea is that you take a guess at your sales and how much effort you can put into the business and we come up with an estimate of what your pretax earning will be. Model 1 is for people selling a service, Model 2 is based on an estimate of total sales in a year and Model 3 is for a retail business where the average price of a transaction is multiplied by a total number of transactions.

Since there is a lot of guesstimation going on, you can download these models to your computer so you can try a number of scenarios with them. While not completely accurate, they should be within about 20-30% of what your actual experience will be giving you enough confidence to go forward with developing your idea further.

Since most people think about the activities of a business and not the numbers, it's critical that you take a look at the feasibility of your business idea. If it can't make the money you want, it's better to know now.

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Q: Will you tell me what business to start?

A: No, and neither should anyone else. A business is exactly like a marriage. Once you are committed stopping is expensive. You need to be in love with what you do. What the first module will do is give you a good idea what types of businesses you may be good in, plus the background on the basic ways you can get into business. With this information, you should have a good idea where to start looking when making a choice.

It's also important to realize if the process rules out any businesses for you, that's also valuable.

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Q: What if I want to start a non-profit?

A: You're in the right place. Module 1 has an extensive section on non-profits to get you grounded on how they work. More importantly, whether a business is for profit or not, it still needs a business plan. You still need to figure out what you're doing. Even though you'll be applying for grants and not loans, you still need to have solid financial documents and tell a good story about your enterprise.

You can lift sections directly out of a good business plan and plug them into grant applications. Since applications can be vastly different from one another, it's a good idea to have all the information and concepts about your business in one place, your business plan.

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Q: If I purchase a business, how will e2eNOW help me?

A: If you're purchasing a business, you may think that you'll learn all you need to know from the person selling you the business. But you have no way of knowing how well that person can teach you and, more importantly, without a business plan, you'll have no way of knowing what questions to ask before you buy the business.

In addition, any Small Business Administration (SBA) loan will require a full business plan. While we would not suggest that you complete a business plan until you've found a likely candidate, we do suggest that you go through the first two modules of the program to get grounded in business fundamentals.

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Q: I'm purchasing a franchise and everything is laid out for me, why bother with e2eNOW?

A: Any Small Business Administration (SBA) loan will require a full business plan, even for franchises. The franchisor will not provide you with a business plan model and the information contained in the Franchise Disclosure Document is so general that you won't be able to cut and paste it into a business plan. Since most banks are looking for a degree of professionalism and knowledge in business loan applicants, a well written plan will go a long way toward making them comfortable.

Further, there are some things you should know about franchising that are covered in Module 1.

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Q: How will I know if I have what it takes to be an owner?

A: Module 1 of e2eNOW is specifically designed to help you answer that question. Everyone's different and they come to the decision to start a company in their own way but a good way to say it is this: If you complete Module 1 and understand the material and still want to continue, and, you complete Module 2 and understand it and still want to continue, you probably will be able to make a go of it. We did not go straight to the business plan writing portion of the program because we want to make sure you have enough background information so you can make a reasonable decision.

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Q: I have no idea where to start. Will this help?

A: We believe you're in exactly the right place. We discuss each major element you need to understand before making this major decision. A review of the content of the three modules shows that we've made every effort to deal with the issues that most people face when starting a business. e2eNOW will give you a solid foundation to start a business confidently.

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Q: Why should I purchase e2eNOW?

A: If you've never run your own business, there is no way you can understand, or prepare for, the wide range of activities and events that will occur between deciding to start and opening day. e2eNOW provides a comprehensive reference and tool for understanding the feasibility and earning power of a business idea. It also gives you step by step instructions for creating a business model that is both fundable and provides meaningful operational guidance.

If you're looking for a paint by numbers program that will confront you with stuff you don't understand (and they will), there is software available that you can use to create a business plan. The question is whether you'll understand the business plan or even use it. But if you're looking for an education that will stand you in good stead whether you write a business plan or not, e2eNOW is that program.

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Q: Who is e2eNOW?

A: e2eNOw was founded by two former executives with operating and management experience across a number of industries. They founded a consulting company, Custom Business Planning and Solutions, and began writing hundreds of business plans for companies in dozens of industries.

Their experience with those leaving corporate jobs led them to create e2eNOW. The questions that those transitioning from employment to ownership have can be daunting. e2eNOW was structured as an educational tool to provide enough information to get those starting businesses grounded.

To read more about the creators of e2eNOW, click here

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Q: Why not buy business plan software?

A: We chose to make e2eNOW web based for several reasons. We are able to continuously update and improve the product. There is no software to get out of date, you are always working on the latest version. e2eNOW works on multiple platforms and is accessible anywhere you have an internet connection. Another difference between business plan software and e2eNOW is that business plan software assumes you already know the business you want to start. e2eNOW is the only program that helps you figure out the right business for YOU to start.

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Q: Does e2eNOW have templates and financial models?

A: e2eNOW not only includes templates and financial models, but it also gives you clear step by step instructions on using them effectively. Most business plan software assumes you have basic business knowledge and only gives you the mechanics of building a business plan. Working with e2eNOW will ensure you understand the minimum information a banker or investor will expect to see in your plan. Further you will know when to be brief and when to expand on a particular portion.

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Q: What about websites where I can write my plan online?

A: On-line business plan software can reuse or sell your plan information. There are many sources that would buy information on what businesses people are interested in starting, where they want to start it, and how much money they are committing to the endeavor. All of that information is easily garnered from your business plan. Check out the web site's Terms of Use before committing your information to a site that may be selling it to a third party, if they are silent on the subject, beware.

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Q: Why do all the 'Business Consultant' links referre to Custom Business Planning and Solutions?

A: The owners of Custom Business Planning and Solutions created and own the World Wide rights to e2eNow.com. We can bring our years of successful experience to writing your plan.

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Q: What if I go through the process and my idea doesn't seem to work?

A: That is a good outcome. Maybe not the one you wanted, but it's still good. Remember planning is not unlike an athlete's training or an actor's rehearsal, it's an activity designed to see, in advance, if something will work.

Which is better? To spend a small amount of time and treasure to learn your idea won't work or to jump in and lose a lot of time and effort and money in the actual doing?

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Web Browser Recommendations

The web pages hosted by e2eNOW have been optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher, or any other web browser compatible with these browsers. e2eNOW will work with earlier browsers, but may have formatting and presentation errors.

If you are not sure of the version of your browser, select Help in the menu bar of your browser and choose About to determine the version.

Your browser needs to accept 3rd parties cookies

Below are listed browser-specific instructions on how to enable your cookies:

Microsoft Internet Explorer

To enable cookies in Internet Explorer 7 or 8:

Click Start > Control Panel. (Note: with Windows XP Classic View, click the Windows Start button > Settings > Control Panel).
Double-click the Internet Options icon.
Click the Privacy tab.
Click the Advanced button.
Select the option 'Override automatic cookie handling' under the Cookies section in the Advanced Privacy Settings window.
Select the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option under 'First-party Cookies.'
Select the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option under 'Third-party Cookies.' (Note: if you select the 'Prompt' option, you'll be prompted to click OK every time a website attempts to send you a cookie.)
In the Internet Options window, click OK to exit.

To enable cookies in Internet Explorer 6:

Click Start > Control Panel. (Note: with Windows XP Classic View, click the Windows Start button > Settings > Control Panel).
Click the Advanced button.
Select the option 'Override Automatic Cookie Handling.'
Select the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option under 'First-party Cookies.'
Select the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option under 'Third-party Cookies.' (Note: if you select the 'Prompt' option, you'll be prompted to click OK every time a website attempts to send you a cookie.)
In the Internet Options window, click OK to exit.

Windows Users
If you need to upgrade our web browser software, follow one of the links listed below:

Microsoft Internet Explorer Downloads (you will leave this site)
Use the following link:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

Mozilla Firefox Product Page (Outside Source)
Use the following link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html

Macintosh Users
Compatible web browsers include Firefox (outside source)
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html
and Apple Safari (you will leave the site)
http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

Additional Information
Some web pages and web-based applications hosted by e2eNOW require the web browser to support Javascript (Outside Source) http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp and to accept session-based cookies. By default, the major Web browsers are configured to handle this requirement.

NOTE:
All the underlined areas are intended to be links so the user can download the latest browsers. The links to use are provided. The links should launch a new page.

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