FAQ
Common questions
Can't I just ask ChatGPT to do this?
You can, and if you've got the time, it's worth trying once, because you'll see exactly what you're dealing with. A general AI will hand you a decent-sounding business plan in under a minute, and reading it feels like progress.
The trouble is what it leaves out. It answers the question you asked and nothing more, so everything you didn't know to ask stays missing, and on your first company that list is long. The numbers in the financial section won't tie to the numbers in the plan, because each answer got written on its own with nothing checking one against the other. Nothing tells you which agency to confirm a requirement with, so every line is either taken on faith or researched from scratch. And when you're done you have a wall of text in a chat window, not a set of documents that agree with each other, formatted, in Word, ready to put in front of a banker or a partner.
We'll be straight with you: CrewPlaybook is built on the same kind of AI. What's different is everything wrapped around it. The intake questions come from people who have spent years running trade businesses, so you get asked about your burdened hourly cost, your callback reserve, and what happens if a partner wants out in year three. Every requirement on your checklist names the agency, the fee we found, and links to the page where you confirm it, so you're checking a short list instead of building one. The financials are calculated rather than written. And every document is generated with the others in view, so the number in your plan is the number in your projections.
Could you rebuild all of that yourself with enough prompting, checking, and formatting? Probably, over a few long evenings you don't have, and only for the parts you already knew to look for. That's the trade. The plan is $49 a month, the questions take about 25 minutes of your time, and you can read an example pack before you decide.
The product
What does the output actually look like?
Browse the example pack at /sample-pack. It is an example we assembled for two made-up founders starting a lawn care business in Kansas City, rendered exactly the way it arrives in your dashboard.
Why not just use plan software for $20 a month?
Plan software rents you the workbench. You still write the plan yourself, evenings at a time, section by section. Here you answer questions for 25 minutes and the writing, the research, and the checking are done the same day. The plan is also one document out of fourteen: plan software does not produce your state's filing checklist, your burdened labor rate, or an org chart with pay ranges. After the first month the $49 goes on working. You tick off the launch checklist as each filing clears, log the week's numbers against the targets in your plan, and have the plan rewritten when your real numbers replace the estimates. Ask answers from your own documents and shows you the page. The employee onboarding checklist and the operations SOP pack are written when you ask for them. If it stops earning its keep, cancel from Settings: every document already written stays yours to read and download. If all you want is forecasting software, the $20 tool is the right buy.
How long does it take?
The intake runs about 25 minutes for most founders, and 25 to 35 if you have co-owners and work through the owner decisions section together. Your pack is written in the background, and most deliver within 30 minutes of submission.
Can I save and come back later?
Yes. Every answer saves itself. Sign back in to your dashboard and pick up from any device.
What does it cost?
One plan, $49 a month or $490 a year, which is ten months' cost. Everything is in it: the fourteen documents written the day you submit your answers, then the launch checklist, the weekly numbers, your business plan rewritten as your real numbers come in, and Ask. It renews until you cancel, and you can cancel anytime from Settings. One subscription covers one business.
What do I keep if I cancel?
Everything already written. Cancel from Settings and you keep full use to the end of the month or year you paid for, then nothing renews. After that you can still sign in, read every document, and download it, and your past answers from Ask, your logged numbers, your checklist, and your worksheet stay readable. Nothing new gets written and nothing can be changed until you come back, and coming back picks up the same account where you left it.
What states are covered?
All 50 states plus DC. Launch checklists pull the state-specific licensing, registration, bonding, and insurance requirements, and name the issuing authority for each.
Which trades and service businesses are supported?
Roofing and exterior, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, remodeling, landscaping, residential and commercial cleaning, painting, flooring, concrete, handyman, pest control, and the service side too. If your work is not listed, pick "Other" and describe it, and we research it and build the pack around what you actually do.
What we do and do not do
Do I get an operating agreement?
No. CrewPlaybook writes business planning and operations documents. It does not write legal documents. Your launch checklist names the point where an attorney belongs, what to bring to that meeting, and roughly what it costs in your state.
Then what do I bring to the attorney?
If you have co-owners, the founders worksheet. It records what you and your partners decided about equity splits, decision rights, profit distribution, what triggers a buyout, how a departing owner's share gets valued and funded, and how you break a deadlock. Those are the questions that make a drafting meeting long and expensive when nobody has answered them yet.
Is CrewPlaybook a law firm?
No. CrewPlaybook is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Communications with CrewPlaybook are not protected by attorney-client privilege. For legal questions about your situation, consult an attorney licensed in your state.
Is any of this reviewed by a professional before I get it?
No. Your pack is written by AI from your intake answers and delivered to you directly, and no person reviews it on the way. Think of it as we do the finding and you do the confirming. Every requirement names the issuing agency and links to its page, and every cost is a figure the research turned up rather than a quote somebody gave you. Requirements change, and they change city by city as well as state by state, so confirm the ones that gate your opening against the agency's own page before you act on them. That is an evening of checking a specific list, not a weekend of building one.
I bought a pack that included an operating agreement. Where is it?
Still in your account, still downloadable, and still answerable in chat. Those documents left the product in July 2026, but nothing was taken from anyone who already owns one.
Your pack and your data
Can I get a refund?
Yes, on your first charge, within seven days of it, as long as your pack has not been generated yet. The subscription is cancelled along with the refund. Once the pack is written the work is done, so that is the cutoff. If you subscribe and then get busy, email us before day seven. After that, cancelling stops the next renewal. Renewals and unused time are not refunded, on monthly or annual. Full terms are on the terms page.
What if there is a defect in my pack?
If something comes out broken, a corrupted file or the wrong state or an error on our end, we regenerate the affected documents at no charge. Email hello@crewplaybook.com.
Will my information be shared?
No. Your intake is private to you and used only to assemble your documents. See the privacy policy for the full data handling detail.
Can I update or regenerate documents later?
Yes. You can re-download anytime from your dashboard. If you spot an error in your intake, fix it and request a regeneration.