- Report: #1235621
Complaint Review: Beyond Breakeven TRUSTED BUSINESS | Ripoff Report Verified™ …businesses you can trust. Since 2003 Ed Keels and his staff at Beyond Breakeven Inc. (BBI) have been helping wannabe business owners with deal structures that provide business loans and business credit when banks won’t. Beyond Breakeven has developed more than one hundred ways to fund a business acquisition and do so with little to none of the buyer’s own money. - Internet
3 Updates & Rebuttals Read More About : Beyond Breakeven TRUSTED BUSINESS | Ripoff Report Verified™ …businesses you can trust. Since 2003 Ed Keels and his staff at Beyond Breakeven Inc. (BBI) have been helping wannabe business owners with deal structures that provide business loans and business credit when banks won’t. Beyond Breakeven has developed more than one hundred ways to fund a business acquisition and do so with little to none of the buyer’s own money.
Reported By:
no_malevolence -
California, USA
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Beyond Breakeven TRUSTED BUSINESS | Ripoff Report Verified™ …businesses you can trust. Since 2003 Ed Keels and his staff at Beyond Breakeven Inc. (BBI) have been helping wannabe business owners with deal structures that provide business loans and business credit when banks won’t. Beyond Breakeven has developed more than one hundred ways to fund a business acquisition and do so with little to none of the buyer’s own money.
Internet, USA
Phone:
813-977-7071
Web:
www.beyondbreakeven.net
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Beyond Breakeven AKA Ed Keels and Candace Keels claim to "Empower the Entrepreneur" Internet
Report Attachments
REVIEW UPDATE: November 19, 2018: Beyond Breakeven remains committed to increased customer satisfaction and has improved their business practices over the years to better serve their customers. Beyond Breakeven is truly dedicated to making sure their customers are satisfied and that any complaints which do arise are addressed promptly and fairly.
To date, Beyond Breakeven has made good faith efforts to resolve all complaints reported on Ripoff Report. Based on our experience, the member business has proven to be among the top members of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a Verified Safe Business™.
Over time and since becoming a member, Beyond Breakeven has remained actively engaged and improving the way they address customer service complaints. As an active and current member of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program we are happy to report that now more than ever Beyond Breakeven remains committed to improving customer satisfaction.
Remember, no company or individual can ever satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. There are no products or services that will always be perfect for everyone and even the best companies will receive complaints from time to time. However, by participating in the Corporate Advocacy Program, the member business has made a commitment to working with its customers to resolve complaints quickly and fairly whenever possible.
Please keep in mind that as a consumer you have some responsibilities as well. Success has many definitions that based on your past experiences, current situation and your perceived expectations. Success with any product or service is always based on the proper application and understanding. The fastest car will not run if you never turn the engine on. Look at how you used the product or service that was provided in relation with the instructions that you received. The Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program will help you get your voice heard but please be prepared with documentation and fair representation of your concern, also have an idea of how the company can fix your concern. Can they offer additional services, extend warranties, offer a fair refund or just get you talking with someone that can help. ..let them know and let us know!
*Any consumer not receiving satisfaction from a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program should email us at [email protected].
Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW
EDitor's UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to Beyond Breakeven for its full commitment to quality customer service.
Ripoff Report's discussions with Beyond Breakeven, Inc. have uncovered an ongoing dedication by the company to total client satisfaction. This means that clients can expect that the company will work towards finding a mutually satisfactory resolution to any concerns. Beyond Breakeven, Inc. listens carefully to client concerns and sees them as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and become more efficient as a company in the services offered and the support for those services.
Beyond Breakeven, Inc.'s Pres./CEO, Mr. Ed Keels, has stated that it is the company's goal and commitment to always over delivering that has resulted in a more than 99% customer satisfaction rating. In the very, very rare event when a client expresses disappointment in service or project deliverables, the company policy is to address the client's concerns quickly and completely. Mr. Keels believes this is why much of the company's business comes from referrals of existing and past clients.
One of the things the Ripoff Report learned in the course of its review is that typical client feedback reads, "The only reason we are in business today is because of the help and funding provided by Beyond Breakeven, Inc. and Ed Keels".
Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..
The information provided in this report below is based on comments made by Ed Keels during an onsite inspection held by a third party verification company with no biases towards Beyond Breakeven.
Beyond Breakeven, Inc provides the crucial service of assisting people with buying or starting a business. CEO, Ed Keels expressed that a study was conducted by Office Depot several years ago that stated 40% of people want to start their own business but didn't know where to get the money. Additionally, the survey stated that most people don't know where to begin when it comes to starting a business, "so we take care of both of those issues and then some." Mr. Keels went on to state, "we put people in business without having to put a dime of their own money into the project, and without having to pay forty grand for professional services. We do it all for $5,900. That puts it in the reach for most people."
Leads for Beyond Breakeven are primarily obtained through referrals and organic Internet searches. Beyond Breakeven works very closely with potential clients to ensure that they will be an appropriate match for their services. This includes conducting a brief interview with each potential client. Mr. Keels stated the following in regards to their sales and services process, "we scale our work to our staff availability. We typically only except 10 clients a month. Anything more than that and...customer service may falter or we don't deliver at the level that we intend to. So we won't take a project if we're over committed." Additionally Mr. Keels stated, "we put everything we do in writing. We do not ask them for a commitment over the phone. We are not a pushy sales agency. After we have a conversation and everything feels good we give them a contract, and we say 'okay today is Friday. You have until next Thursday at the close of business to think about it, pray about it, ask your spouse about it, do your research and see if we are the company for you.'"
CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION – BEYOND BREAKEVEN
During the onsite interview Mr. Keels was asked to describe a situation where a client was not satisfied with the level of service or product they received. Mr. Keels stated, "come August will be in business 14 years, and I can count on one hand the number of complaints." He did express that a complaint was made for a partial payment or a partial refund rather, "we had a program that is a step above our normal $5900 it is an extra $2000 for in analysis program. Where you can analyze the loss profitability of a business and it gives you an analysis on how to fix that. It's $2000 you get your money back hundreds of times over if you use it! The guy decided it wasn't what he was looking for and he complained rather than calling us and asking for a refund he complaint directly to the BBB that complaint is two years and 10 months old. That was the last legitimate complaint that we have had and we gave him a refund."
When asked to comment on the complaints posted on Ripoff Report's website Mr. Keel stated expressed that all complaints were false. He went on to state the following about one of the complaints, "she read the notes of the first guy and just re-iterated them as if they were her own thoughts if she check that stuff out...she has now committed libel, we know who she is because she went around and posted on a whole bunch of other sites. She has since taken every one of those down and recanted because we have put her own notice that the stuff that she has put out there are absolute lies fabricated lies." To further assure future clients Beyond Breakeven has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Beyond Breakeven is proud to be a part of Ripoff Reports Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program. Mr. Keels stated the following, "our hope is that this method it will allow us to shine some truth of and the lack of validity of those reports."
BEYOND BREAKEVEN - STATEMENTS FROM THE CEO – ED KEELS
" Most people that try to start or buy a business become discouraged very quickly when faced with the amount of money needed to get their deal done. They have to first come up with 20% or more of the loan amount in personal funds for the down payment. That in and of itself kills most deals. Then they are surprised to learn that they will have to put in tens of thousands of dollars more for agreements, contracts, forensic accounting, valuations, loan packagers, etc. At Beyond Breakeven, Inc. we do all of those expensive professional services in-house and without the high cost, and we utilize funding methods that eliminate the need for down payments having to come from the wannabe business owner.
By eliminating these costs, we put starting or buying a business within the reach of people who could not get there without our help. That is the heart of the company and a mission and work of which we are very proud.
Beyond Breakeven, Inc.'s team is on a mission to help people get into business cost effectively and prepared to run their businesses profitably. Beyond Breakeven, Inc. takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, ""I learned so much through the program and coaching. I didn't realize how much I didn't know and could never have done this without the help of your company and Ed Keels. Thank you."
Ripoff Report was pleased to learn that Beyond Breakeven, Inc.'s past and current approach to business is focused on its pledge to total commitment towards client and employee satisfaction.
STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM BEYOND BREAKEVEN
Beyond Breakeven, Inc. recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report's review, Beyond Breakeven, Inc. has made organizational changes allowing its clients and employees a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great client experience.
In summary, after our review, which included discussions with Ed Keels, Pres./CEO, Ripoff Report is convinced that Beyond Breakeven, Inc. is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client satisfaction.
How does a business get Ripoff Report Verified™
The member business allows Ripoff report to email everyone from the past. Those who respond to Ripoff report with a valid complaint must be take care of.. they have made a commitment that if anyone contacts Ripoff Report in the future, they will make things right within 14 days. The member business must err on the side of their customers. Otherwise the member business is off the program.
Ripoff Report has determined that Beyond Breakeven meets Ripoff Report Verified™ standards which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. Members of the Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction program do pay a fee for our on-site review, 24 hour monitoring and for support with customers to resolve any disagreements.
Ripoff Report sends a 3rd party service to do an onsite inspection of the new member business. The on-site inspection / review does not mean that the products or services offered by the business have been evaluated or endorsed by Ripoff Report, and has not made a determination as to the business' product quality or competency in performing services. We can verify, that Ripoff Report went to the business, verified their business or “work from home business”, there for, if a customer in the future does not get treated correctly, Ripoff Report can get the problem resolved. If not, and the customers is right, the member business will be taken off the Corporate Advocacy Program. Remember, Ripoff Report emailed every customer from the past that filed a complaint to make sure the member business made things right with customers from the past. Again, to err on the side of their customer, those from the past and those in the future.
Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.
Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.
As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.
NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED
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Beyond Breakeven AKA Ed Keels and Candace Keels claim to "Empower the Entrepreneur" Internet
ABOUT THE RIPOFF REPORT BELOW:
Ripoff Report would like to let readers know that Ripoff Report emailed this customer so the member business could make things right with them. When a business joins the Corporate Advocacy Program, Ripoff Report emails everyone from the past so the member business can make things right with them. Of course, everything within reason. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer. The author of the Ripoff Report below never responded to our offer to help them. The Report below should be taken with a grain of salt
STATEMENT FROM BEYOND BREAKEVEN:
This client was from 2011 and filed this report in 2016, three years after we completed his project. He blames us for his decisions during those three years, a time during which we provided no guidance and had no correspondence with him. We are not responsible for his actions during that time. He failed to respond to our attempt to remedy his dissatisfaction. Also, his report is full of lies, untruths and libelous statements regarding alleged kickbacks which do not exist.
NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED
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I engaged with Beyond Breakeven a few years ago to assist me in buying a business. I had found a business that was for sale that was something I was an expert in and was in the location I wanted to live. I was unable to get financing myself so paid Beyond Breakeven their $5,000 fee to help me buy the business. I was apprehensive about paying their fee and should have listened to my gut. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is and Ed's promise that I could start or buy a business without any money out of my pocket proved to be false.
I went through the standard conference calls, gathering the information for Ed and doing all the leg work. At first it seemed like things were going well then a couple weeks into it he got into a heated argument on the phone with the broker that had listed the business. The broker called me up afterward and told me he was unwilling to talk to Ed anymore and he would only work with me. Not a good sign. It surprised me as we went through the process that Ed seemed unfamiliar with some of the most basic steps in buying something. When the Broker asked for a Letter of Intent Ed balked at the idea. When the Broker refused to move forward without one, Ed sent me a generic one that appeared to have been downloaded off the Internet.
As time went on I began to question his motives - and his integrity. During one conference call he was telling another client about a lady he knew who was a "LinkedIn Rock Star." He told this client this lady could get him over 10,000 connections on LinkedIn, Ed knew she could because she had done it for him. I looked up Ed's LinkedIn profile while he was talking and at that time he had less than 100 connections. There was more than one time where he would say something and I would look it up online and it seemed he was not being truthful.
After about 3 months we seemed to be at an impasse. Ed had produced a document that had 3 different offers on it and the Broker flat out refused all three, saying he had never seen a business transaction structured in any of the three ways. It was difficult being the middle man as Ed would tell me what to tell the Broker then I would try and relay it only to have the Broker tell me "I'm sorry you paid Ed money to help you because it appears like he has no idea what he's doing." Finally, Ed told me that it just wasn't going to happen, the Broken was to "stubborn and stupid" to make a deal happen. "Sorry," he told me "but this one just isn't going to work."
So now what? There was no way Beyond Breakeven was going to refund my $5k, so he asked me "What is your passion? What do you dream of doing? Let's start you a business doing that." I tried to explain to him that the business deal he just torpedoed was my passion but he didn't seem to care - whether he actually thought buying that business was a bad idea or he just didn't like the Broker I'm not sure. He reassured me my money spent with him would not go to waste and once I decided what I wanted to do he would help me get it off the ground. I said I would have to think about it, he told me to take my time. I found three or four existing businesses that I thought I would like to run and set up an appointment with Ed to discuss and each time he shot me down, telling me all the reasons that particular one wasn't a good idea. He kept telling me to start one instead of buy one.
I finally found something I thought I would like and Ed didn't seem adverse to it but I needed to adjust some things in my life before I could get started on it. I called a few times over the next few months and checked in, he was always cordial and told me "we'll be here, just let us know when you're ready." Then once I had a timeline for when I could start I called to let him know, he was busy so I told Candace. She told me in no uncertain terms that my contract with them was for 1 year, I had blown it by waiting so long as they had no obligation to work with me after the one year mark - which was only about 60 days away. She was very rude and confrontational, I was taken back and concerned I was about to lose my $5k investment so accelerated my timeline, doing things in a rushed manner and compromising some of the tasks. I even took on a couple partners to help move things forward.
Over the next 60 days as I rushed through all the analysis to get Beyond Breakeven the information they needed I was continually surprised at how unprofessional Candace could be. At some point she misspelled my email address when sending me some documentation and I never got it. When I called to inquire about why she hadn't sent it, she became upset with me and told me she had sent it days ago. It took a while but eventually we figured out what happened and she resent it to the correct email. After that her email auto-filled the misspelled email address every time so I never knew if she was still working on the documentation or if she had sent it to the wrong email. More than once she chewed me out for not responding and I would have to remind her that she frequently sent stuff to the wrong email and ask her to check again. She never got a bouceback, so someone out there with an email similar to mine was getting all of my confidential business documents.
Candace sent some Excel templates to use for many of the calculations she needed. I know Excel pretty well and used formulas to do the calculations. Apparently Candace doesn't know Excel very well and could not figure out how to transfer worksheets without breaking the links. There was no way I was going to manually enter in every figure, the whole point of Excel is for it to do the calculations. She sent me an email once asking if I had used formulas in the spreadsheet, when I confirmed I had she responded with a one line email telling me I had "totally screwed up" the worksheets. I suppose I could have helped her understand how to use Excel but I was pretty much trying to avoid her by this point. I started converting cells to Values Only before sending them so I could use formulas to do the work and she wouldn't throw a fit.
The end result of what Beyond Breakeven gives you is a Business Plan and Strategic Funding Plan.
When I finally received the business plan from Candace I was shocked, it was a standard (ugly) Microsoft Word Business Plan template and was riddled with grammatical and formatting errors. Many of the text was cut and paste from emails I had sent and forms I had filled out. It did not flow well having paragraphs from multiple places cut and paste into the same document. Maybe Candace was just sick of me by this time and didn't care about the quality of her work. I suppose it possible other people have received quality work from her but I ended up rewriting the entire business plan as the one they delivered was unusable.
The Strategic Funding Plan was about as useless. It started out by saying no bank would lend to me and that I would need to find more "creative" ways to get the money. It suggested 13 different methods that could generate capital, all of which were nothing new - a simple Google search would have given me the same suggestions. Ed gets kickbacks from many of the organizations he sends people too so it is hard to tell if he really thinks it is a good idea or if he is just trying to pad his own pockets. i.e. he suggests you work with Seed Capital out of NV that will take out myriad credit cards in your name and do cash advances on all of them, or Guidant Financial who will take control of your 401k and convert it into stock in your own business to generate capital. Those two (and many others that Ed suggests) will get you funds - for a fee - and Ed takes his cut for referring you.
When I received the Business Plan and Strategic Funding Plan I was distraught, I couldn't believe I had paid so much and done so much work (and put up with so much of Candace's attitude) and this was all I had to show for it. I was ready to pull the plug on the whole thing, but my partners were not willing they wanted to continue. They engaged Seed Capital and took out 20 some odd credit cards in their own names and the business name - Seed Capital charged $5,000 in professional fees on the credit cards and got us around $50,000 in cash advances. By this point my name was on too many documents and I was in too deep to be able to pull out but there was no way the business was going to survive without more cash. I ended up taking $40k out of my own savings and a personal loan for another $40k.
After Ed had delivered the goods he was contractually obligated to (the Business and Funding plans) he essentially disappeared. To be fair, he told me to call if I ever needed anything but why would I? I certainly didn't want Candace to answer the phone when I called and what was Ed going to do? If the documents he had given me were samples of what Beyond Breakeven could do I wasn't really that interested in pursuing the relationship.
At the end of the day, I had sunk $80k of my own money and my partners had scrounged up about the same amount (some of it through Ed's associates and some from other places). The business struggled for just over a year then I finally extracted myself out of it and left it to my partners. My partners are still trying to make it work but it has destroyed our relationship - they consider their predicament my fault since I introduced them to Ed and most of what we did was on his suggestion and it turned out so bad. I do not ever expect to see my $80k again.
Ed told me the story many times about a friend whose business failed and he ended up committing suicide. He always finished off the story with a passionate declaration of why he did what he does. No one should go through that; he is here to help the little guy, help the entrepreneur get started on the right foot so they won't experience that. I am not sure if he is a hypocrite or just delusional, but my experience was almost exactly what he claimed he was trying to avoid.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
unbreakable
Florida,USA
Similar Experience
#2General Comment
Mon, August 31, 2015
Our direct experience with Beyond Breakeven has many similarities to yours. (Please see our own direct experience review of this company on this site).
While we know that others may have different/alternative/conflicting experiences with Beyond Breakeven, we do feel that it is important for you, the author of the original report, that you are not alone. In fact, your report gave us the courage to post our experience. So we thank you for that!
Ultimately, it is possible for people to have different experiences with the same company. It is also possible for people to have the same experience with the same company- be it a good or bad experience. We had the same bad experience as you.
Best of luck to you- $80K lost is rough.
James
Alabama,USA
Misdirected blame
#3General Comment
Tue, August 18, 2015
I don't understand why this person is upset with anyone but himself. It sounds like he did not take any of the advice that was given to him. Almost everything he mentioned was caused by his own doing and not following instructions, then wants to blame the results of his own actions on someone else.
Spring213
Valdosta,Georgia,
USA
Awesome Experience
#4Consumer Comment
Mon, August 17, 2015
To start with I have worked with Ed over the past year and everything that was promised upon from the beginning was meet to expectations and beyond.
This post is contradicting in itself and causes me to wonder if the person writing it did this right after a fight of sme sort because of the situation and didn't think clearly what they were writing. First to start he said that he reached out to Ed and asked for help as he didn't know what he was doing or where to get the money, and he didn't have a business plan. I was in the same position and didn't have the money to buy a business and was looking for creative ways to buy the business.
It took three different businesses before I found the right one that had an owner and broker willing to work with me and creative ways to buy the business. A key here is that Ed tells you directly to NOT givve these offers to a broker as they often make him or her take less pay in the buying process and they are going to say they won't work before they even make it to the owner, the only real person that can say yes or no (Error One). He clearly states that the Broker said this won't work and that Ed has no clue what he is doing in buying a business, well the Broker should not have seen the offers that are presented before the owner as these offers now never made it to the owner. My experience I offered to pay the owner 50% of the asking price up front (Followed the business credit system that Ed gave to me in the beginning) and then have the owner carry the remaining 50% of the price on a note. Owner accepted without question. This of course wass after several meetings with the owner and phone conversations to "soften" him up to me buying the business in this manor. I followed everything that Ed had told me and it worked without a problem.
As far as the business plan Ed tells you it is going to seem lack luster as your are in fact writing most of it and they are there to structure the plan and make it the way it should be. Well the plan has gone far and streched its muscle as I have needed it to all without me saying a word. It has got the landlord to agree to things that in the lease were origanally not going to be allowed. Has got the landlord to agree to make certain upgrades at his expense, and has the me in direct contact with him and not the property manager.
As far as the debt he speaks of. If you follow the plans and make sure that you do with business credit there is not an issue and none of the loans should be in your own name. This person didn't follow the plans as he said he used 40K from savings and 40K in a perosnal loan. With debt what else do you expect you are trying to buy something with no money out of pocket, money is not free unless you take it from family that expects nothing back.
Finally there is the Excel sheets. They come with formulas in them and are used in a certain way becasue of what it is they are calculating. I as well know Excel really well and have taking many classes in working with Excel, but if someone that is trying to help you sends you something that they setup in a certain way, why go and alter it for yourself. If entering figures, that in the end are going to show you if the business is going to cash flow is to much work, than how are you going to run a business to begin with.
