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I hired this company to write a customized business plan for $2400.00 based on a sample Mr. Butler sent me with gorgeous graphics and a conversation we had where I explained to him that I was choosing him rather than paying $500 for template because I wanted his professional help determining accurate numbers to plug into the financials.
It would have been professionally accurate for him to tell me at that time that: 1. His company didn't supply any of the graphics; graphics other than financial graphs were my responsibility. But he didn't. It would have also been appropriate, I believe, for him to tell me that he didn't provide any type of consulting with figuring out the numbers--he just plugs in whatever he is given. But he didn't.
He required full payment before I ever saw a rough draft, and it was disappointing, to say the least, to discover I'd been misled through omission.
In addition, he led me to believe that his company had experience with my industry then wrote a marketing strategy that was clearly designed for a different industry. Perhaps, if he had dialogued with me at any point before requiring final payment, he would have written a marketing strategy that reflected the industry accurately.
I decided, at a certain point, that I would just have to do the work that he didn't do. I found appropriate images and did the necessary work in photo shop to make them look professional. I edited and rewrote the copy, and I figured out how to convert the Word document to a PDF because he didn't think it was his professional responsibility to give a completed product.
Do I have a business plan now? Yes. Customized by me. The $500 template would have taken me about as much work as the $2400 customized plan.
Ahnalira Koan,
I have 51 emails from you that were sent to us in 30 day period. We responded to each and every one of your emails and requests. Your business plan had your logo on the front and the entire plan was colored matched to the 2 colors of that logo. Your plan had several graphs, charts and other visual items in the Market Research & Projections. Yes, we did ask you to send us any images of your product and what you wanted in the business plan. You spent hours complaining about it and then only took you a few minutes to send the images you liked.
We provided your business plan in Word as the contract and our website states. It would be silly for us to send it as a PDF that you can NOT edit. We send it as Word and Excel so that you can have full control over it. We did however go to an online PDF converter after you complained in several emails and sent you a PDF. But again, why would we send a PDF that you are unable to edit.
Here is the exact email you sent me after we sent you the 2nd draft of the plan.
---"This looks great, Brian. I made one small edit and saved it into this file. Is this the final version or will you be sending me a PDF format or something like that?"
I then explained it comes in Word so you can edit it and you said this.
---"Really? It seems to me that professionalism requires providing a completed, professional document in a PDF format. But, OK…. "
Yes really. We sent it in Word so you can edit it as needed. That is far more professional than a PDF that requires you to pay us to edit it for you.