Questions, answered

29 lessons are free, with no account or card needed: the first five Foundations lessons, the first lesson of each industry, the first lesson of each department, Follow a burger and the first Start your own lesson.

Every members-only lesson opens with its first ticket free, so you can try any lesson before you decide.

The “How businesses make money” guides and the calculators are free for everyone, too.

Every lesson on the map, all 168 of them, and each new lesson as it opens. Around the site, members-only lessons carry a Members tag.

There's one membership, paid monthly or yearly. The prices are on the pricing page, and again on Stripe's checkout page before you pay, with any sales tax where you live added there.

Yes, on the yearly plan: the first 7 days are free, once per person (not if you've had a membership, a trial or a gift before). The monthly plan has no trial.

You give your card at checkout, and nothing is charged during the trial. When it ends, Stripe charges the yearly price, unless you cancel before then from your account page. A few days before it ends, we email you the date and the amount.

Any time, from your account page: choose “Manage payment or cancel.” You won't be charged again, and you keep your membership until the end of the month or year you've already paid for.

Your account, progress and notebooks stay, and free lessons stay open.

Your membership renews by itself, monthly or yearly, until you cancel. On a yearly plan, Stripe (which takes our payments) emails you a reminder before it renews.

Stripe also emails you a receipt each time you pay, and a note if your card is about to expire or a payment doesn't go through. Each of these emails has a link to manage your plan.

If the price ever changes, we'll email you before your next renewal at the new price, so you can cancel first if you like.

Members-only lessons close until it does, and your progress is kept. Update your card from your account page to open them again.

We don't give partial refunds. When you cancel, you keep your membership until the end of the month or year you paid for, and there's no money back for the part you don't use.

If something went wrong, like a charge you didn't expect, email hello@tryowning.com and we'll sort it out. Nothing here takes away a right to a refund that the law where you live gives you.

If we ever stop offering memberships, we'll tell members by email first, stop charging, and give each member back the unused part of the month or year they paid for.

The full wording is in the terms.

Sometimes. While we run an offer, a banner across the site names the code and its last day. Add the code on Stripe's checkout page when you subscribe yearly (codes don't work on the monthly plan); Stripe shows the lower price before you pay.

A code works only until its last day, and has no cash value. The full wording is in the terms.

Stripe. You pay on Stripe's own checkout page, and we never see or store your card number.

Every number in a lesson is either cited to a real source (government data, industry surveys, official rule pages, companies' own annual reports) or labeled as a simplified example. The site won't build if a number has neither.

Each lesson lists its sources at the end, under “Sources and every number.” Sources can be out of date, and examples are made up to teach a point, not to describe a real business.

How a lesson is researched, built and checked is on the About page.

Tap “Spot something wrong?” under any lesson or at the foot of any page. It goes straight to us (from a lesson, it says which lesson and ticket you were on), and we read every note.

No. Lessons teach how businesses work in general; they aren't legal, tax, accounting or financial advice for your situation. Rules like permits and wages change by place, so lessons link to the official pages. Check them, and talk to a qualified professional before a real decision.

No. Company names are lesson topics, not partnerships. Those companies don't sponsor or check our lessons.

TryOwning (tryowning.com) is run by Zihao Ye, a sole proprietor based in California, United States.

Write to us any time at hello@tryowning.com. The contact page has our postal address too.

Not for free lessons: they need no account, at any age. An account is free, and it lets your progress follow you to any device.

You need to be at least 13 to make one. To pay for a membership, you need to be an adult, or have a parent's or guardian's OK.

With Google, or with a one-time link we email you, so there's no password to remember. The emailed link works once and expires after 15 minutes.

Once you're signed in, your finished lessons, “your business” picks and notebook are saved to your account and follow you to any device.

Your email address and your progress, so they follow you. There are no ads, we don't sell your data, and we don't use tracking cookies.

You can download or delete everything from your account page. The details are on the privacy page.