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Ethos 360 Business Plan

Ethos 360 Business Plan review: WASTE OF TIME!!! 28

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Author of the review
9:18 pm EDT
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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

I got a plan from them and it was a complete waste of time. Just a copy and paste of what I sent delivered LATE. Michael Cassella is not professional and the owners just make excuses for their bad work. They have other complaints on here... just avoid.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

28 comments
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Business360
San Diego, US
Jan 18, 2012 8:18 pm EST

We just learned about this company abruptly shutting down and we are really appalled. When a company does something like this they give everyone who is really working and trying to help start-up and expanding businesses a bad name. We feel really bad for every one of those 400 people who had plans pending and now find themselves in a tough spot because of this situation. We are located in San Diego, CA, but serve clients around the world, and we are willing to finish any of these 400 people's plans for the remaining balance that they owed this company. We just feel that it is the right thing to do. Anyone can find us at www.Business360LLC.com and if you would like to take us up on this offer just let us know. We hope we can help and we wish everyone the best of luck.

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VG1569
45 Linda Street, US
Nov 07, 2011 4:44 am EST

Well i too was scammed...my credit card was debited for the balance although i never received anything. In fact I still have an email from "Ray Spears" who advised me that Callie, my consultant, and half of the staff was out with the flu! WOW..what B.S

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Rtsand
Orange, US
Nov 01, 2011 5:19 pm EDT
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After reading all of the complaints it makes since that Ethos360 went out of business. I noticed that they were spending thousands of dollars advertising on Google. Their company name was everywhere, now you can't even find a listing for the company. My feeling is that they spent more than they could collect and were forced out of business.

We are a business planning firm that provides a quality product at competitive price. We always return emails and phone conversations. If your unhappy with your business planning firm. please call us today for a difference. Our turn around time is between 10 and 12 days. www.BusinessPlanMyWay.com

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successones
Saint George, US
Oct 31, 2011 11:52 pm EDT
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Ethos360 indeed was a scam, operating an illegal visa operation for foreigners too and making a good excuse for authorities to check Visas on whether you're a legal resident of the united States.

But alas, the company is no more and [redacted] did its job. Oddly Ethos 360 reminds me of the 5, 000 emails I get every day from overseas scammers, mostly in Nigeria and Romania. Definitely never noticed any Americans in that spam.

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ethosscam
, US
Oct 31, 2011 11:22 pm EDT

Here's a new one today in FL where Ellisa has registered Ethos 360 LLC.

http://sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=L11000123550&inq_came_from=OFFFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0001&names_name_ind=P&ret_names_cor_number=&ret_cor_web_names_seq_number=&ret_names_name_ind=&ret_names_comp_name=&ret_names_filing_type=&ret_cor_web_princ_seq=&ret_princ_comp_name=BRENNEMANELLISA&ret_princ_type=

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ethosscam
, US
Oct 30, 2011 1:42 am EDT

They just registered another company in FL.

http://sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq_doc_number=P11000091305&inq_came_from=OFFFWD&cor_web_names_seq_number=0001&names_name_ind=P&ret_names_cor_number=&ret_cor_web_names_seq_number=&ret_names_name_ind=&ret_names_comp_name=&ret_names_filing_type=&ret_cor_web_princ_seq=&ret_princ_comp_name=BRENNEMANELLISA&ret_princ_type=

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LauraGunderson
Portland, US
Oct 29, 2011 11:11 pm EDT

Here's a story I wrote in The Oregonian newspaper of Portland, where Ethos 360 was based http://blog.oregonlive.com/complaintdesk/2011/10/customers_nationwide_upset_aft.html

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GoldenGirl333
San Francisco, US
Oct 29, 2011 7:38 pm EDT

Please message me if you didn't receive your plan. I may be able to help.

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CEOwned
New Orleans, US
Oct 29, 2011 8:28 am EDT

Funny how if you look up "Frank Nasser" in Google (the alleged paralegal who gave Ethos360 a good review above and also posted a carbon-copy on about 100 other Ethos-related review sites), nothing comes up about any such paralegal existing in real life.

Yet this "Frank Nasser" person also mentioned that Ethos 360 helped him develop a business plan "to handle the influx of international clientele seeking immigration into the United States under the EB-5 investor visa program". Well, a very recent Press Release by Ethos 360 mentions that they 'd just employed a new Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Steven Bombola.

http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/11/10/p1968898/business-plan-firm-ethos-360-names-new-cfo-as-sba-lending-tops-19-billi

The above article mentions that Mr. Steven Bombola is the owner of "Pacifica Consultants, Inc.", a company specializing in... wait for it... Immigration services into the US! The site is offline now, and the link in the article now goes to a parked domain page at bluehost (www.pacificaconsultantsinc.com), which is, unsurprisingly, the same host that Ethos 360 use. However, it looks Mr. Bombola has set up shop with a new domain name here: www.pacifica-consultants.com

But if you look at Steven Bombola's old domain on archive.org, you can see how his site used to look back in February 2011:

http://web.archive.org/web/[protected]/http://www.pacificaconsultantsinc.com/

Then check out the bottom-right corner where it says "Site designed by Ethos 360".

Is it a stretch of the imagination to suggest that certain Ethos 360 employees, with interests in both companies, may very well be posting shill reviews under the pseudonym "Frank Nasser" (and other names here)?

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CEO3
, US
Oct 29, 2011 3:38 am EDT

Submit your complaints here:
Internet Crime Complaint center: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Oregon Department of Justice: https://www.doj.state.or.us/finfraud/concompform.shtml
BBB: http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/business-plan-preparation/ethos-360-in-portland-or-22483375
FTC: http://www.ftc.gov/

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CEOwned
New Orleans, US
Oct 28, 2011 7:02 pm EDT

Ethos 360 seem to have closed down suddenly, deleted all traces of their online and offline business presence, and taken all their clients money in the process. Read the following thread for the latest information. The bottom posts are the newer ones:

Ethos 360 Business Plan — WASTE OF TIME!!!

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CEOwned
New Orleans, US
Oct 28, 2011 10:54 am EDT

I recently paid Ethos 360 for a business plan, they deducted 2 large installments of money and sent a crummy PDF draft containing glaring mistakes, errors, and omissions. The write-up also described an entirely different company than the one we operate. The plan didn't take into account our specific niche, nor did it mention any of the previous product sales data or company history that we spent long hours researching (provided for main the purpose of basing the financial model on).

So, I sent Ethos 360 a list of fixes and revisions. According to their Terms & Conditions they offer a 30 day revision period (which contradicts the verbal 21 period they keep referring to). I didn't hear a peep from anyone at Ethos 360 in over three weeks. Now, just yesterday, I saw that their website and social media sites suddenly disappeared without any warning whatsoever! Then I noticed this thread had been updated with new posts.

To date, we've had a very bad and worrying experience with Ethos 360. It's equally troubling that many of the positive posts above appear to be shills for this company, attempting to offset the negative (and valid) complaints scattered around the web. Look beyond the smoke and mirrors, people. Browse the various complaint forums online about Ethos 360 and you'll notice that many of the above posters who praised them have also posted the exact same word-for-word praise in the comments sections of other sites. Look at it this way: three or more "customers" posting identical posts in a company's defense on multiple websites would be considered spam anywhere else. Here, it looks like a suspicious attempt at damage control by proxy. I'll never understand the logic behind trying to look honest and professional by using such questionable antics. The easiest way to stop negative feedback is simply to hire competent employees and start doing good, thorough, timely work instead of trying to cover your tracks after the damage is already done.

In any event, we're now several thousand dollars out-of-pocket. Bare in mind that no price breakdown justifying these costs was ever supplied to us, despite it being requested. We're stuck with a completely unusable business plan draft (no final product was ever commenced or delivered). We, too, had meetings lined up with an investor who was expecting to see our plan this week. Ethos 360 has not only dealt us a monumental setback, but severe embarrassment as well. Every entrepreneur knows how difficult it can be to get an investor's interest... now imagine having an investor's ear and suddenly the business plan writers you're relying on (whom you have also paid good money to), take your money, disappear, and leave you hanging! Try explaining that to your potential backer. This company has severely jeopardized us.

Judging by these recent events, Ethos 360 appears to have become a fly-by-night operation who overcharge for shoddy work and shill their service online to deceive customers into believing they'll be getting a high quality service, when all their clients really get is a headache, valuable time wasted, and wallet damage. I'd say "buyer beware" and "avoid Ethos 360 at all costs", but it's a bit late for that, considering they no longer seem to exist.

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Unlucky_one
Junction City, US
Oct 27, 2011 9:43 pm EDT

I too have paid them and they claim that my plan was finished early, but come to find out it was just thrown together with obvious errors. Then Im not able to reach them for corrections. This seems like a breach of contract to me. Im looking for an attorney in this matter!

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LauraGunderson
Portland, US
Oct 26, 2011 11:57 pm EDT

I'm a reporter with The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, where this company is based, and would like to talk to anyone who has paid Ethos 360 but not received items promised in their contracts. Thank you in advance for your time. [protected] Lgunderson@oregonian.com

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CEO2011
, US
Oct 26, 2011 9:45 pm EDT

I am having a similar experience as John D. I am almost having a panic attack. They took both installments. Their web Site is down. Email is bouncing. Phone seems to be disconnected as well. What's happening? any clue? - Manish

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Screwed CEO
Mountain Lakes, US
Oct 25, 2011 11:00 pm EDT

It appears Ethos went belly up. I had paid them my 2nd/final installment on Oct 14th and received my first draft in PDF format on that date. If you have dealt with them you know once you pay the final installment they are supposed to send you a copy of the first draft in Word format so you can access the plan and begin the revision period. On Oct 18th I sent them an email with my first round of revisions (in the email) and letting them know I never recieved a copy of the first draft as a Word doc. When I didn't get a response I sent a 2nd email copying the VP of Biz Dev who was the person I dealt with when I signed on with Ethos. The email bounced back. I called my account rep's number and it was disconnected. I went onto the web and their site was down. I was astonished- I have set investor meetings based on an anticipated timeline, and Ethos basically took my money and left me with a PDF first draft of my plan that I can't even edit. I got totally screwed. It had really put myself, and my business, in a negative position.
John D

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techgodva
Alexandria, US
Apr 14, 2011 5:04 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I love Ethos 360 and SunTrust Bank. Having a business plan doesn’t guarantee a loan. Everybody knows that. I used Ethos 360 and received an SBA loan from SunTrust. It got my business the cash flow it needed to meet short term debt payments. Vendors were taking too long to pay, and we had recently sign some new big orders and needed to ramp up production staff. I was running out of places to turn to and didn’t know what to do. Ethos 360 and SunTrust are true lifesavers.

My business and my family’s life are better because I made the call to Ethos 360 to get a great business plan with excellent financial projections. That’s what the banker was really looking hard at were the numbers. I was sweating bullets but confident that the projections made sense and were doable. Ryan suggested being conservative and he was right. The banker mentioned this as well.

I hired them to write my business plan because Ethos 360 stands behind and believes in what they do. If you read the website and marketing materials included are two important things that made me secure in my decision. 1. Our plans meet and exceed the underwriting requirements of lenders and are guaranteed to exceed SBA guidelines and 2. We Stand Behind Our Business Plans Forever. If any funding source requests a change in the business plan, as a condition of funding, we'll make the change for you for FREE. And they got a perfect record with the Better Business Bureau.

This recession is turning towards the better and SunTrust’s SBA officer in Alexandria, VA said there’s money to loan.
Ethos 360 is a stand-up company that cares about their clients and their customer service is second to none. My team consisted of Sumner, Karlee, Ryan and Christina. They did an outstanding job including taking the time to explain key growth strategy initiatives and go through the financial projections for my partner who missed the original call. Sumner suggested scheduling another call even before my partner called on the other line to ask and Sumner even stayed late at work to help.

There really is nowhere to go on the internet to right positive comments about companies. It’s a shame.

I’ve never seen a company take customer service as seriously as Ethos 360 and bend over backwards to help someone who has an issue. Every internet company and about a billion other companies have “complaints” on these types of internet boards but few companies ever act responsibly or even care. Address immediately, accept responsibility if appropriate and offer an amiable solution. Then rectify the situation.

All companies get complaints and all companies will have customers who’ll never be happy no matter what. Believe me I know and have been there. I use to own a bridal boutique in my younger years. The former is normally a competitor or someone acting without thinking and the latter can’t be helped.

I think this thread has become more of a fan club for Ethos 360 than anything else. Well I’m a huge fan. Kudos Ethos 360 team!

W. Mathews
Alexandria, VA

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James Markou
, GB
Apr 06, 2011 7:52 am EDT

These stupid posts piss me off, I am a fellow business owner and went to Ethos360 and can say without a doubt that they were a great company to deal with. we have submitted our plan to several bank s and when they asked for changes Sumner and Ryan made them for us each time. Ryan is great with excel and made the changes so fast. we couldn't have done it without ethos360. They made all the changes we needed and we were able to get our loan using our business plan. The reason I went with Ethos360 was because I knew they would stand behind their work and they did. Enough said

james

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jjsean
Atlanta, US
Mar 23, 2011 8:57 pm EDT

They are good, but they make they're mistakes in b-plans like every other company, lol i can't tell you how bad an SBA advisor had slammed the ethos 360 developed b-plan that i had, it was crazy.

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frankparalegaleagle
Washington, DC, US
Mar 01, 2011 1:26 am EST
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My name is Frank Nasser. I’m a paralegal at a law firm in Washington, DC. I was tasked about a year ago with finding professional business plan writers to handle the influx of international clientele seeking immigration into the United States under the EB-5 investor visa program. The applications we prepare for our clients undergoing the EB-5 program all require a very in depth business plan that is custom to the specific needs of each case.

Ethos 360 is the ONLY company we refer clients to for business planning and development. Our clients are sometimes investing millions of dollars into business operations, do not speak English as a first language, and a lot hinges on the quality and completeness of the business plan while going through the visa process. We have found Ethos 360 to be attentive to our unique needs, excellent in client communications and their background in a wide range of industries helpful.

Frank Nasser

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barrybradley37
Miami, US
Feb 24, 2011 7:59 pm EST
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I'd be very wary of negative comments about companies; most comments are just companies slandering their competitors or an unhappy customer making up stuff on an anonymous forum like Complaints Board. If someone has a legitimate complaint that they can actually prove then they call the BBB. The BBB isn't perfect but at least proof needs to be shown. I think most people realize this now since these "Complaint's Board" type sites have been around awhile. Complaint's Board will remove negative comments for a price!

This person's original "complaint" is a perfect example of how the Complaints Board promotes garbage. Imagine YOUR business was attacked on the Complaints Board by a competitor or a blackmailing customer threatening to go online and ruin your reputation if you don't do what they say. Whether it's your e-commerce site, flower shop or restaurant anybody can anonymously post whatever they want with no proof. It happens all the time and I hope it doesn't happen to anyone here who's either starting or growing their business that they've poured their hearts and personal finances into.

What amazes me and gives me even more respect for Ethos 360 is that they are one of the only companies that actually responded and tried to remedy an unhappy client, even if they may not even have been real in the first place. I've also never seen a company's clients go on these boards to respond with positive comments that ARE real. This just gives more reason to utilize the services of Ethos 360.

Ethos 360 has an amazing amount of corporate responsibility and a whole lot more than their competitors who all by the way have been accused of everything from fraud to outright criminal behavior. Ethos 360 is a shining light and a beacon of ethics in this crazy world we live in especially online. I've been around a while and Ethos 360 is certainly the exception to the rule.

Just wrapped up our third business plan with Ethos 360 after working with them for close to two years now. All the business plans have been for real estate investment funds in different states- Florida, Georgia and Michigan. Two of the funds are fully subscribed with investors and the third is just getting underway.

The Ethos 360 staff has been professional, personable and very knowledgeable. We benefitted greatly from their experience and expertise. The first plan was quite difficult, since we had never done one before, but Ethos was there to lend their prior experience and help us navigate through.

I even had the opportunity to visit them in their offices. Very nice people. I highly recommend them. Oh… and if you’re reading this… Hello Brianna, it was great to finally match a face with a voice.

Barry Bradley
Miami, Florida

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jjsean
Atlanta, US
Feb 24, 2011 2:40 pm EST

They're good but incredibly slow

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tcruz
San Jose, US
Feb 24, 2011 2:54 am EST
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I searched online and found that they were a public relations and media firm until august 2009.

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Mel Oliveri
North Arlington, US
Jan 15, 2011 4:25 pm EST

I hired Ethos 360 and I just received my first draft on [protected] and looking forward to our second meeting for revisions. Overall the plan looks great just some minor changes that i feel need to be addressed but great job.

Mel
Property Hub

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portlandbusinessplanner
Portland, US
Aug 02, 2010 7:33 pm EDT
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Ethos 360 has received correspondence from this client stating that Ethos 360 give him his completed business plan and a full refund of $900 or he will continue to post false statements about Ethos 360 on the internet. This amounts to cyber blackmail.

On the internet anyone, including competitors and blackmailers, can anonymously post unsubstantiated, unfounded and/or blatantly untrue comments about any company.

Whoever is reading this, I hope this never happens to you and your business.

The Better Business Bureau is the number one place for consumers to file legitimate substantiated complaints against a company. Ethos 360 has zero complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

We have turned this situation over to our corporate attorneys, The Law Firm of Wesson, Carlson & Swanlund, to settle the matter.

Ellisa Brenneman
President - Ethos 360

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Michael Cassella
, US
Aug 01, 2010 7:11 pm EDT

Chris,

I'm saddened to see that your experience here was so disappointing. I'm not sure when the process went from your approval of the copy I forwarded you the 22nd to a feeling of abandonment, but leading up to that point the communication that we had felt solid and if it hadn't been, then I apologize and would have liked to work with you to edit the draft (as is an aspect of our service) during the revision period as is the option of all clients here. Since you did receive the plan within the quoted delivery period, I too am disappointed that your needing the plan earlier than draft date was not something that was conveyed in our initial conversation. I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

Michael Cassella
Director of Business Plan Consulting

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Mike Peterson
Portland, US
Jul 30, 2010 6:38 pm EDT
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As the Vice President and Director of Research at Ethos360, I want to reply to this personally and express my disappointment that this client was unhappy. The plan in question was most certainly not a regurgitation of information provided, since there was no current research provided. As for my research (yes, the vice president of the company actively works on every plan – I treat every plan as if it were for a special client), I can say I went over and above for this client, who was starting a copy and printing shop in rural Georgia. I left out all the outdated industry research he provided (from 1997!) and added current information on the industry.

The plan included a market forecast through 2014, a list of future trends in the industry, and an analysis of the population going out to a 30-mile radius. There was also an analysis of the local business sector and an analysis of the commercial printing industry in the local area – and this was only a portion of the work I provided, not to mention the work the rest of my writing and financial team put in. After performing all the research, I formatted the document to make it look sleek and attractive, placing the pictures he provided of his business throughout the draft. I personally put several hours of my time into this plan and am disappointed that the client will not respond to our offers of help.

At Ethos360, we have a generous revision period, where we can change pretty much anything about a draft that a client wishes, making it almost impossible for us to have an unhappy client. My sincerest wish is that this client comes back for revisions and lets us finish out our process, giving him whatever support he needs to make his dream a reality.

Christina H.
Vice President and Director of Research

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Mike Peterson
Portland, US
Jul 30, 2010 1:56 pm EDT
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Chris King,

Thank you for the feedback we always strive to improve our process, I am very surprised to see such a comment considering the fact that the initial draft of the business plan was delivered yesterday, out process typically takes 7-10 days for draft delivery and then a 21 day revision period this means you have just begun the business plan development process.

I have spoken with my team and reviewed the plan and it looks very good. It was also delivered ahead of schedule. If you would please respond to the numerous emails we have sent to you to discuss your issues and so that we can improve the quality of your business plan through your professional feedback that would be great.

Please contact me directly so that we can solve your issues for you with the team at Ethos360!

Mike Peterson

503-501.2444 ext 112

mike@ethos360.com