How FoundSquare makes money
FoundSquare is free to use. We pay the bills through affiliate commissions: when you click certain links on this site and go on to buy something or sign up for a service, we may receive a small commission from the seller. You pay exactly the same price either way. Nothing on this site is ever more expensive because you reached it through us.
We also earn nothing from the business plans, calculators, and guides themselves — those are free, and they’ll stay free.
Who we have affiliate relationships with
Affiliate commission can come from any of the following programmes. We mark every sponsored link with rel="sponsored nofollow" so search engines and assistive tools can identify them clearly.
- Alibaba & AliExpress — equipment and supplier links embedded in business plan articles and product reviews.
- Amazon Associates — alternative purchase links on product reviews when Amazon is the right channel for a smaller buyer.
- EU and regional distributors — where local sourcing is more practical than importing from Asia.
- SaaS and finance partners — banking, payments, POS, and business-software providers recommended in resource articles. Specific partners are named on the article where they appear.
How we choose what to recommend
Every product we feature on an article page is hand-picked, not auto-generated from a feed. Before a supplier gets listed, we check:
- Verified or Gold status on Alibaba
- A minimum rating of 4.5 out of 5
- At least 500 completed orders from real buyers
- Clear specifications, shipping terms, and return policies
We do not accept payment, free samples, or other consideration in exchange for inclusion. Suppliers cannot pay to appear on our site, and they cannot pay for a higher ranking within a category.
How our numbers are put together
Cost ranges, revenue projections, and industry statistics come from public sources — IBISWorld, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Eurostat, national trade associations, and interviews with operators. We cite sources where it matters and update figures at least once a year.
Calculator outputs are estimates, not guarantees. Your actual numbers will depend on your location, your lease, your team, and a dozen things nobody can predict from a web form. Treat the calculator as a sanity check, not a promise.
Independence
Editorial decisions — which businesses we cover, how we cover them, whether a supplier makes the cut — are made independently of any commercial relationship. If a recommendation ever changes because a supplier’s quality slips, we update the article and note the change in the editor’s notes.
Questions or corrections
Found an error in a cost estimate, a broken supplier link, or something that feels off? Email us at info@foundsquare.com and we’ll fix it.
This page is written in plain language to comply with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR Part 255) and with the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.