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NOVEMBER 23, 1999

IN BOX

Get Yer Red-Hot Small-Biz Advice! A Bargain at Only $15!
A startup bucks the freebie trend on the Web


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Looking for instant advice for your startup? Got 15 bucks? Iowa-based Entrebiz.com, a small-biz portal that plans to launch on Nov. 30, will feature an experts' corner, where for the above-mentioned fee, entrepreneurs can ask such questions as, "What should I do if I suddenly can't meet my payroll?" and get a two- to three-page answer on the spot.

And how does the cyber oracle respond so fast? It's not magic. The answers are canned. Dubbed "CEO's Corner," the area will have roughly 475 frequently asked questions from 58 categories that the site's founder, Edward M. Moldt, the director of the University of Iowa's John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, has compiled over the past four years.

Other subjects include how to value companies you plan to buy and whether pay is an effective motivator. Moldt, who says he has "started dozens of businesses," ordered up the answers from some 30 writers. He also plans to offer 24-hour turnaround for answers to original questions, which he will add to his trove of responses.

Why would entrepreneurs pay $15 an answer when many small-business sites — including Business Week frontier Online — respond to questions or have information on a multitude of small-business topics for free? Moldt says he believes that when people stumble on his site, they'll be willing to pay because of the breadth and depth of his data mine. He's so sure of it that if you're not happy with an answer, he'll give you your money back. He'll also personally clarify any part of a question you feel is unclear or subpar.

Still, Moldt is hedging his bets: "If we're wrong, we'll change the price." Welcome to the brave new world of the Web, entrepreneurs, where you struggle to create a brilliant product that no one will pay for.



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