Table of Contents

1. Who We Are

2. What These Terms Cover

3. The Service

4. Fees and Payment

5. Cancellation and Refunds

6. Delivery Timeframe

7. Your Responsibilities

8. Acceptable Use

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence

10. Intellectual Property

11. Confidentiality

12. Consumer Rights

13. Governing Law

14. Limitation of Liability

15. Indemnification

16. Account Security

17. Changes to These Terms

18. Legal Notices

Terms of Use

These terms govern your use of the Future Shift Advisory website and any service you purchase directly through this website via self-serve checkout. If you engage Future Shift Advisory for a service under a signed engagement proposal, that engagement is governed by our separate engagement agreement instead - these terms apply only to this website and to direct, self-serve purchases.

1. Who We Are

Future Shift Advisory ("we," "us," "our") is a business advisory practice based in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Contact: hello@futureshiftadvisory.nz

2. What These Terms Cover

These terms cover your use of this website, and any service you purchase directly through this website via self-serve checkout, without a signed engagement proposal.

Our self-serve services currently include Idea Validation and Business Plan + Budget Development, described in Clause 3 below. If we introduce further self-serve services in future, they are covered by these terms on the same basis.

If you engage Future Shift Advisory for a service under a signed engagement proposal - including ongoing advisory services such as business advisory, valuations, due diligence, succession planning, or governance reviews - that engagement is governed by our separate engagement agreement, not by these terms.

3. The Service

The self-serve services currently offered under these terms are described below. This clause is updated as our self-serve offering changes; the general rule in Clause 2 applies regardless of which specific services are listed here at any given time.

3.1 Idea Validation

Idea Validation includes: a structured readiness assessment; guided idea validation covering your problem, target customer, proposed solution, and evidence of demand; an AI-supported viability review; and feedback from a human advisor, delivered as advisor gate feedback.

3.2 Business Plan + Budget Development

Business Plan + Budget Development includes: guided development of a full business plan covering market, strategy, operations, legal, and culture; a structured Budget & Runway Builder covering launch costs, operating costs, revenue forecasting, and funding requirements; an advisor assessment of your completed plan; and a revision round. This service is provided within up to 14 advisor hours per purchase.

3.3 Moving From Idea Validation to Business Plan + Budget

Once your Idea Validation is complete, if it reaches the standard we look for to proceed to business planning, you may request access to Business Plan + Budget Development.

This is a separate purchase, completed through the same self-serve checkout process as Idea Validation. It is not provided under a signed proposal, and no additional agreement is required beyond these terms.

3.4 Nature of These Services

Our self-serve services are advisory and supportive only. None is legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice, and none should be relied on as such. Nothing in the output of any self-serve service constitutes a guarantee, forecast, or assurance of the future success of your business idea.

The decisions you make about your business - including whether to proceed, how to proceed, and any commitments you enter into - remain entirely yours.

4. Fees and Payment

The fee for each self-serve service is the fee displayed at checkout at the time of purchase, in New Zealand dollars, plus GST.

Each self-serve service is a separate, fixed-fee purchase. None is provided under a signed proposal - the price and scope shown at checkout are the full agreed terms for that purchase.

Payment for each purchase is by credit or debit card, processed by our payment processing provider. We do not see or store your full card number.

A GST receipt is issued for each purchase, to the email address you provide at checkout.

5. Cancellation and Refunds

This clause applies separately to each self-serve service you purchase.

You may cancel and receive a full refund on a purchase at any time before you submit the relevant questionnaire or workspace for that service.

Once you submit, the fee for that purchase is non-refundable, as your submission is passed to an advisor for review.

6. Delivery Timeframe

6.1 Idea Validation

You can expect to receive your advisor’s feedback within 5 New Zealand business days of you fully answering and submitting the Idea Validation questionnaire.

6.2 Business Plan + Budget Development

You can expect to receive your advisor’s assessment within 10 New Zealand business days of you fully completing and submitting your Business Plan + Budget Development workspace.

6.3 What "Fully Completing" Means

For any self-serve service, "fully answering" or "fully completing" means you have responded to all required questions or fields - it does not mean your idea or plan itself needs to be complete or fully developed. Identifying what is missing, underdeveloped, or needs further work is part of what these services provide, not a precondition for using them.

If we expect a delay beyond the stated timeframe for any service, we will let you know.

7. Your Responsibilities

You agree to provide truthful, complete, and accurate information when using any self-serve service covered by these terms.

The quality and usefulness of the output you receive depends directly on the quality and completeness of the information you provide. We are not responsible for the accuracy of any assessment based on incomplete or inaccurate information you supply.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• use the platform for any unlawful purpose;
• attempt to hack, gain unauthorised access to, or compromise the security of the platform;
• scrape, harvest, or systematically extract data from the platform other than your own information;
• upload or transmit malware, viruses, or any malicious code;
• impersonate any person, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the underlying technology or methodology of the platform;
• use the platform to harm, harass, or defraud any other person;
• transmit any material that is defamatory, offensive, or unlawful; or
• collect or track the personal information of other users.

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Parts of the analysis in our self-serve services are AI-assisted. Every factual claim or finding produced by our AI analysis carries a stated source - the specific information or data it is based on - rather than being presented without explanation.

A human advisor reviews AI-assisted analysis before it is provided to you and is accountable for the feedback you receive. AI-assisted output is never provided to you without human advisor review.

10. Intellectual Property

Future Shift Advisory owns all intellectual property in its assessment methodology, frameworks, scoring criteria, and platform - including each self-serve service’s process.

You own the information you supply to us, and you own the output you receive from each self-serve service you purchase. You may use, share, and rely on that output as you see fit.

11. Confidentiality

We keep the information you provide to us confidential. We do not share the substance of your business idea or the information you submit with any third party, except as set out in our Privacy Policy or as required by law.

12. Consumer Rights

Nothing in these terms is intended to limit any right you have under New Zealand law that cannot lawfully be excluded, including rights that may be available to you under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. Clause 14 (Limitation of Liability) sets out how these terms interact with the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 in more detail.

13. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. Any dispute arising from these terms is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you arising from or in connection with any self-serve service is limited to the fees you paid for that specific purchase. We are not liable for any indirect, consequential, or special loss, including loss of business profits or business opportunity. Nothing in these terms limits any right or remedy you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 to the extent that Act applies to your purchase.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify Future Shift Advisory against any third-party claim, loss, or liability arising from: your breach of these terms; your misuse of a self-serve service’s output, including business decisions made in reliance on that output without appropriate independent verification; or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party. This clause does not apply to the extent a claim arises from Future Shift Advisory’s own negligence or breach of these terms.

16. Account Security

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required to access your account.

You must keep your login credentials secure and must not share them with anyone else.

You must tell us immediately if you believe your account has been compromised or accessed without your authorisation.

17. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time, including to reflect changes to our self-serve services, legal or regulatory requirements, or how we operate. Where we make a material change, we will publish the updated terms on this page and give you at least 30 days’ notice before the change takes effect.

Continuing to use our self-serve services after a change takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms. If you do not agree to a change, you should stop using our self-serve services before it takes effect.

18. Legal Notices

Formal legal notices relating to these terms, including notices of dispute, must be sent in writing to Future Shift Advisory, by email to hello@futureshiftadvisory.nz.

A notice sent by email is treated as received on the day it is sent, if sent before 5pm on a New Zealand business day, or otherwise on the next business day.