FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

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Common questions

Cansulta is an online consultancy platform that is meant to connect businesses to consultants. It’s an issue of access: qualified, experienced consultants are too hard to find and usually too expensive for small businesses or small-scale projects, so businesses settle for “good enough” decisions made internally. We believe everyone deserves access to the support needed to make optimal decisions—no matter how small or niche the challenge. So, we built Cansulta: the bridge between businesses and independent consultants. See our Who We Are page for more information.

Cansulta’s is a story of seeing a problem from both sides. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we’ve felt the panic of seeking help for challenges we couldn’t handle on our own. And as consultants, we were always frustrated by the number of people we couldn’t help. It was a clear and simple problem: some challenges demand expertise, but businesses rarely have easy access to experts when needed most. For more details, visit the About Us page.

We make it possible to find a vetted expert in minutes and book affordable consultations as short as one hour, so clients needn’t ever face a problem alone. Instead, they’ll be empowered to build their own team of expert advisors at a fraction of the cost of a big consultancy! For more details, visit the How It Works page.

Cansulta is not a freelance “gig” or job website intended for you to find freelancers to take on tasks or jobs, it is a virtual consultancy that aims to provide entrepreneurial business leaders with quality advice and professional services from seasoned consultants. A freelancer is brought on for a particular job or project. This means they create a product or perform a service for you, whether that’s building a website, writing a press release, or creating a video for your product. A consultant, on the other hand, focuses on helping you transform your business in order to reach your objectives and grow. They offer innovative advice and guidance based on their experience. Consultants tend to be more expensive because they teach you how to do things, rather than doing those things for you.

The Cansulta website supports all modern and popular desktop, tablet and mobile devices, however not all features are available on all devices. You do not need to install any additional software or plugins to use Cansulta. On Windows, we recommend using the latest version of Chrome or Edge. On Apple devices, we recommend Safari or Chrome. We strongly recommend a desktop/laptop computer instead of a tablet or mobile device for all live Consultation Sessions. Note that screen sharing functionality depends on your device: For Apple devices, screen share is viewing only. For other devices, screen share is possible using Chrome or FireFox.

No, Cansulta no longer supports Internet Explorer (IE). This decision was based on web browser capability: we have found increasing restrictions with Internet Explorer as it has become a legacy browser with limited support from Microsoft. Microsoft recently announced plans to end support for IE starting August 2021. Find out more here.

While Cansulta will remain accessible on Internet Explorer, many features will not work as intended. We will not provide technical support for this browser.

On Windows, we recommend using the latest version of Chrome or Edge. On Apple devices, we recommend Safari or Chrome.

Yes, Cansulta is available worldwide. There are consultants on the platform in many different geographical areas. You can see where each consultant is located when visiting their storefront, or browse for consultants in a specific region. As we expand, we are looking for even more geographically diverse team members to serve your needs better.

If you can’t find the answer to your question in our FAQs, please visit our Contact Us page and fill out a form so that we can get back to you ASAP. Questions and answers will be added to this page regularly.

 

Pricing and Payments

Cansulta is free for clients to register and browse the platform. You only pay for the services you use: live meetings, products and services.

These prices are listed on consultant storefront pages. Cansulta charges a booking fee of $19 USD on all live consultations, and a service fee of 5% on all purchases which helps support our product development and operational costs.

The default hourly rate for live sessions with consultants is $250 USD, although some consultants may charge a higher or lower rate. This does not include the booking fee.

If it’s your first time meeting with a consultant, we offer a free 30 minute Intro session for you to assess the mutual match with no commitment. Subsequent meetings are paid.

No, Cansulta is set up to make it easy to pay for products and services.

You pay Cansulta directly through the platform. We take care of distributing payment to consultants.

Our consultants set the prices for their own prices based on their criteria. That could be market value, their experience level, the amount of time and effort it took to create the product, or the total value or “worth”. Not sure how the price was determined? Ask! Consultants should be happy to explain their pricing methodology.

At Cansulta, we believe in giving everyone access to opportunity and the ability to charge what they are worth.

Cansulta currently accepts payments via major credit cards through the Stripe platform, or through direct bank transfer (ACH or international wire).

Other payment options may be added in future.

My Account (for Clients)

To access all and any digital products that you have purchased, you can go to ‘Dashboard’ at the top right of your screen. Then you can click on ‘Purchases’ on the left hand side to view all of the purchases you have made.

To access your digital products, you can go to your ‘Dashboard’ by clicking on it on the top right side of your screen. Then, click on ‘Downloads’ on the left hand side. From here you can view each downloadable digital product you have purchased.

To update your billing information, simply update your address. To do so, go to your dashboard on the top right of your screen, and then click on Address on the left hand side. Note: Cansulta does not save your credit card information, that is done securely through Stripe.

To change your name, email address, or password, log in and click on ‘Dashboard’ at the top right of your screen. From here, you can click on ‘Profile Details’ on the left hand side, and modify what you need. Remember to click the save changes button!

To view or modify your address, you can go to your ‘Dashboard’ at the top right of your screen, then click on ‘Address’ on the left hand side. Here you can view which address you have entered for your account, and modify it if needed.

 

Working with Consultants

To view the consultants you have followed, go to your ‘Dashboard’ at the top right of your screen, then click ‘My Consultants’ on the left hand side. Now you can view which consultants you are following, and modify if needed.

To view your upcoming meetings, click on ‘Dashboard’ at the top right of the screen. Then click on ‘Meetings’ on the left hand side of your screen. From here, you will be able to view, join, and cancel your upcoming meetings.

To send a message to a consultant, you can either go to their profile and click ‘Message’ or go straight to your private messages if you have sent a message to them previously. To find your messages, click on your name on the top right hand side of the screen, and select ‘Messages’ from the drop down menu. From here, you can view any consultants you have previously messaged.

To view a custom offer, simply go to your chosen consultant’s profile by going to ‘consultants’ on the top navigation bar, or if you follow your chosen consultant, find them through your Dashboard and then click on ‘My Consultants’. Once you are in their store, click on the appropriate offer. Note: Custom offers are only viewable to the client they are intended for. No one else can see your custom offer, and you cannot see others’ custom offers.

 

Consultant Vetting

Consultants are vetted through a rigorous process: submitting their resume, completing a machine-led video interview, preparing and presenting a live Case Study to a panel of Cansulta team and other consultant peers, and by providing references from previous clients.

It’s not easy! We made the process challenging and intense to ensure that our consultants are serious, committed, and invested in our success and yours! Upon successful acceptance to our platform, we have peace of mind that they have demonstrated substantial knowledge and expertise that makes their work valuable and impactful for clients.

The end-to-end vetting and onboarding process can take 2-3 months, month but is usually complete within 2-3 weeks.

 

Privacy and Security

Your personal information is not shared with any outside parties. See our Privacy Policy for more information.

If you forgot your password, please click ‘forgot password’ on the login screen. You will receive an email with instructions to reset. If you simply want to change your password, you can do that in your account settings.

Well, we hope you don’t! But if you do, no hard feelings. For all client accounts, you will find a button to ‘Delete my Account’ within your profile.

 

Live Consultations

Book time with a consultant by visiting their storefront and selecting ‘Book’.

Following our Refund Policy, Cansulta does not offer or guarantee any refunds. However, for exceptional circumstances, you can Message the Consultant and they may agree to issue a partial refund. Note that Booking and Service fees will never be refunded.

We’re sorry to hear that and we hope that it won’t happen again. Your consultant should have already sent you a Message with information about the next steps for a refund or to reschedule, however if not, please use the Contact Us form or email us at help@cansulta.com so that we can resolve the situation with you.

Whiteboarding is fully supported on all browsers! Furthermore, you can use your tablet’s pencil to easily annotate and draw on documents and images shared in the meeting room.

Screen share functionality depends on your device: For Apple devices, screen share is viewing only For other devices, screen share is possible using Chrome or FireFox

The internet speed required for live meetings on Vectera is 2Mbps upload/download, plus one more Mbp per person or if there is a shared screen. For more information on testing internet speed and the appropriate speed for your needs, see this article by Freeconference; it explains more about how to test and gauge your internet speed.

 
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