Yellow Pages offers start-ups a hand up

Young companies in start-up phase may find more than they expect from letting their fingers do the walking.

Yellow Pages has launched a new online planning tool to help people starting a business.

The free service GoYellowLife helps with planning, researching and keeping track of costs.

The website lists goods and services useful to start-ups, linked by internet Yellow Pages to businesses in the area.

It also includes a budget helper, articles and how-to-guides with practical tips from experienced business people.

Yellow Pages general manager Dudley Enoka said starting a business was one of the most stressful events in a person's life.

"Our research shows people turn to Yellow Pages when they're faced with big unfamiliar projects. And we also know people are hungry for information and support during these big projects," said Enoka.

"We saw an opportunity to pull it all together in one handy location, giving people a range of useful tools to make it easier for them, to find, plan, budget and manage stress levels," he said.