Too busy during the day with non-billable work: What now? small business |
- Too busy during the day with non-billable work: What now?
- When you buy things for your business, 100% use?
- Can you have a different company name as your face but for legal & tax purposes file under a different name without using a DBA?
- After 10 years, I'm over my web design business and want to sell. How much is it worth?
- Heavy anxiety about opening a retail store
- thoughts & experiences with Groupon as a small business?
- How to enrich and improve a company`s culture
- Anyone interested in joining a book club for business owners?
- What do banks look for in a business plan to convince them to invest?
- Do small businesses need a brand?
- What didn't you discuss with your partners that you wish you should have?
- New Shoe Company! Help Wanted
- Bulk clipboards?
- How do you first reach out to applicants?
- In Need of Feedback
- Trademark questions
- If you saw a business named 'Journey's End' what kind of business would you assume it was? (serious)
- Facebook Ads
- Time off as consultant
- How do you deal with employee mistakes?
- Starting an Etsy Store: DBA?
- Sole Proprietorship, Should I get a separate EIN and a DBA? Also Business Credit Card Questions
- Need some marketing help!!
- Can any small business owners provide some feedback on a software product that I'm building?
- Mailer Marketing?
| Too busy during the day with non-billable work: What now? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 04:01 PM PST Hey, everyone, happy new year I run a small production house and have reached a plateau where my old math breaks down. Not sure what to do. Previously, I sold jobs and I did them, billed them, and from this revenue the bills, and I, got paid. That's still happening, nowadays with hired help, but as my day has exploded with managing the extra activities of a busier shop I'm not sure how to proceed -- or where my value to the business fits in, or what that's worth, or how to pay for it. I do the usual front-of-house office operations, set up jobs for production and answer an endless chain of customer inquiries. It's a constant battle to empty the trash cans and collapse old boxes. I am busier than ever but since none of it is actually invoiced to anyone I'm not sure how to assign it a value and offload some of it to someone else. Because it's not charged, I would want to limit my labour spend on this, but that seems worse. What is this place that I'm in and what's the way forward? I realize that retreating to my old setup is an option but I suspect that this is the kind of wall that's worth surmounting in the long run. To summarize:
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| When you buy things for your business, 100% use? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 11:35 PM PST I work part time as a freelance web developer, I needed to upgrade to a system with more RAM so I bought a used optiplex desktop. I'm wondering if I want to claim this as a business purchase can I? Do I need to be a DBA or LLC or something? It's alright if I can't not a major purchase. Just trying to figure out. I'll have to figure out regarding taxes if stuff like internet/electricity/possibly home can be accounted into though last time I tried I don't think so (regarding home) through HR Block. I'm thinking trying tax act I think this year. Sorry to get tangented into taxes. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 11:18 PM PST Got a client who does business under the company he redirected with SOS but due to the type of practice he is in, he would prefer to use a different business name. When is this and when is this not ok? [link] [comments]  |
| After 10 years, I'm over my web design business and want to sell. How much is it worth? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 10:33 PM PST I have around 100 recurring income Wordpress websites. Usually charge between $290-$360/year for each one. What would it be worth to offload these to a competitor? I just don't want to go in to any negotiations without having some sort of a heads up about what it is really worth to them. [link] [comments]  |
| Heavy anxiety about opening a retail store Posted: 09 Jan 2018 03:40 AM PST Ok guys. I'm in crisis and need help before I make a huge mistake. I've been thinking of opening a consignment store in my town, which is on a large island that has four other consignment shops, within a 15 mile radius. Three of them are in a town that gets a lot of foot traffic year round. None of them are killing it and I know I could do what they're doing BETTER - but there are three. The town at the other end of the island has a shop that's been in business for about 30 years and the owner has over 3,500 consignors. She would be my main competition. Her store is nothing awesome, but her prices are great (I am a longtime customer) and her items are always in excellent condition. She's been at her location for decades. MY town is in the middle of the island and doesn't have a consignment shop of this type (90% women's clothing and accessories with some children's and menswear, as space allows). But, retail space for lease is EXTREMELY limited. When spots do become available, they may not even work for a variety of reasons. So right now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the perfect spot will become available, soon. In the meantime, I am also at a loss for how to go about sourcing my inventory while not having a storefront. Of course, I can always find and purchase items on my own for resale, but I'm not sure how to market myself before I open, or if I even should (again, this is an island). And I don't want to buy too much, as one of the aspects of having a consignment store is to avoid purchasing inventory. I have a lot of questions and so much is up in the air because I don't have a space yet. Obviously I am uncertain about how much it may cost to do any build-out. I struggle with this so much because without a space, it's very hard for me to envision things like my signage, colors, design style, etc. I'm so scared I could be making a mistake. My budget is roughly $35K of my own money. Last, I should add that I am not a million percent married to the idea of it being a consignment store. That's been my focus the longest, but I'm open to starting another business in my area...I just don't know what it would be with my small budget. Redditors, please advise. [link] [comments]  |
| thoughts & experiences with Groupon as a small business? Posted: 09 Jan 2018 03:29 AM PST Would anyone be interested in sharing their experiences/thoughts on Groupon from a small business perspective. I am about to open a small experienced-based business and I can see a LOT of pros for Groupon, and significantly less cons. I could be nieve, but I'd love your input. Here's what I've got, myself: * Groupon has a large customer-base, so this is a great way to advertise an experienced-based business. (Apparently 950,000 combined subscribers in my local market). * No out-of-pocket expenses for advertising. * While I will generate less revenue, my margins still mean I am profiting from each groupon that is sold. * I believe my target market rely heavily on Groupon for experiences. Cons * I'm making 70-75% less revenue on anything they sell for me. And that's where I'm stuck. I would love any insight, wisdom, or stories from those with any experience. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| How to enrich and improve a company`s culture Posted: 09 Jan 2018 03:06 AM PST Company culture starts with your mission, vision, and values. Make sure these are aligned, institutionalized and practiced. Engage your employees in that process through surveys, special task force teams or other feedback opportunities. Build reinforcements into the culture itself. Look for ways to ritualize your brand and your culture through corporate events or employee recognition systems. Use "RRR" to test whether company culture holds a significant role in your workplace: Can you recognize it? Can you repeat it? Do you reward it? To protect your company culture, establish educational procedures and training programs for new hires that help them understand how to adapt and embrace your culture. Cultural interviews can also help filter people for a cultural fit before they are hired. Company culture must be supported and endorsed from the top down in order to gain traction. To be authentic, everyone needs to buy-in, including management. [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone interested in joining a book club for business owners? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 01:51 PM PST A small group of Redditors (260 people total) started the Entrepreneur Book Club over on Goodreads, every month we read one book that offers inspiration, education, or entertainment to entrepreneurs. We'd love to see members of the r/smallbusiness community join us! Here's the group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/221300-entrepreneur-book-club [link] [comments]  |
| What do banks look for in a business plan to convince them to invest? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 06:45 PM PST After reading a bit it's sounding like our chances of getting a business loan are about as high as just winning the lottery, but dreaming big what do they look for? We're working on starting a coffee stand, they're everywhere, but we have high hopes for ours, it's different. We have a business plan and in that we have a lot of graphs and charts with estimates of growth and profits. local community growth, our demographic growth rate, 10year plan. we are also attaching our resumes and letters of recommendation ect. How far do we need to go it seems like a waste of time to start developing a full-fledged menu and accurate building plans if banks don't care about that stuff. Do they? If we were able to get a cosigner with rock solid credit who has quite a bit of asset are we more likely to get approved? [link] [comments]  |
| Do small businesses need a brand? Posted: 09 Jan 2018 01:41 AM PST Branding a product or service differentiates you from your competitors. It's the key to turning prospective consumers into loyal customers. A brand is more than what your product does or what you communicate. Your brand identity is the total perception of your brand in the marketplace, including an implied promise to your customers that your product or service will consistently meet their expectations every time they interact with your brand. Brands evoke emotions, delight us, and feel familiar and reliable. [link] [comments]  |
| What didn't you discuss with your partners that you wish you should have? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 08:19 PM PST Having had a whopping failure in my most recent venture that was due almost entirely to not having fully discussed and agreed upon roles/responsibilities/remedy with my partners, I know how important it can be. (We didn't even have an operating agreement...) What details (beyond basic operating agreement details) do you wish you had come to a more complete understanding with your partners about before you started your venture? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 10:25 PM PST Hello guys! I am a shoe fanatic and have been my entire life. However, lately I feel that shoe prices have been getting out of hand! I am still in college, but wanted to start my own shoe company. My whole goal is to make nice looking, good quality athletic and everyday shoes for a price that everyone would be able to afford. I have sampled shoes with the feel and quality of Nikes and Adidas, but wanted to sell them at an affordable $39.99. The sample shoes are of my brand that I was thinking of. I feel that was a price that everyone could afford. A little background, the company name is Revenant which means someone who has come back from the dead. That is why a heartbeat is my logo. I wanted to offer a shoe that all people can afford because I want everyone to be able to play sports as I did growing up. If you guys could give some feedback on what you think about the idea, whether you might be a customer, the pros and cons etc. Any and all feedback would be amazing as I am just starting out. Thanks Everybody! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 06:29 PM PST Odd question, but I'm looking to buy a lot of clipboards WITHOUT a clip for my business. Basically a hard piece of wood to write on, but totally flat with no clip. Anyone seen an item like this anywhere? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you first reach out to applicants? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 01:23 PM PST This may or may not be a long winded post. We post jobs on a couple of websites and get bombarded with relevant and not relevant resumes. Of those I want to potentially interview I usually call first. I like to hear how they are over the phone as that's a core job function. Calling them out of the blue doesn't seem to be working though so I wonder how others initiate first contact after receiving a resume. Would you email to "schedule" a time to call? Sounds like an extra potentially wasted step but I feel like I'm wasting time anyway. Some problems I am facing: Rarely do people answer - some calls go to voicemail and an oddly high number of people have full inboxes. If I do leave a message it's to call me back which almost never happens. I tried calling a person last week who simply hung up on me after I introduced myself. She called me back after realizing that she applied for a job at the place I was calling from. As a call was ringing today, I get a text from the person saying "WHO IS THIS". I get a ton of people who I think apply for every job out there as I get asked "where are you from" or "what" right after I say the business name. I won't mention the attitudes in which people answer their phones...ok I just did. So what would you recommend or what do you do? I have to do a handful of these types of calls per week. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 04:57 AM PST I've just recently started a new business (not sure if this is the right forum to be asking this) and I'm in need of some feedback on the style and look of my website If anyone out there could take a look I would be grateful. My site is www.lansburys.co.uk. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 09:12 PM PST I am currently in the process of starting a new business and I already have a name in mind. I would like to start securing a domain name and business email, the only issue is that there is another company with the same name as mine. However, this other company is in a completely different industry than mine. I understand that it is a bit early to worry about trademarking anything, but I don´t want to start committing my business to a name I may not be allowed to use in the future. Should I go ahead and try to trademark the name yet, or trust it will go through in the future? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| If you saw a business named 'Journey's End' what kind of business would you assume it was? (serious) Posted: 08 Jan 2018 04:50 PM PST |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 07:14 PM PST How do you find what products are being heavily advertised on facebook? I am looking for a niche and do not want facebook to be saturated with similar ads. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 06:32 PM PST How do you manage vacation time as a one-man consultant? I have a couple on monthly retainers, do you not charge them for that week? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you deal with employee mistakes? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 06:22 PM PST I have an employee who is a great employee but consistently makes small mistakes? She is incredibly dependable, a great personality and is wonderful at customer service so I don't want to get rid of her. But she makes small mistakes that impact other employee and customers. We have had discussions but nothing seems to change. Has anyone had this experience and found a good way to work on the problem? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 05:14 PM PST Hi y'all, I will (hopefully!) be starting an Etsy store soon in California. I would love if anyone with expertise could help me with my question. Will I need a DBA/to register my fictitious business name? I am getting mixed answers in my research online. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Sole Proprietorship, Should I get a separate EIN and a DBA? Also Business Credit Card Questions Posted: 08 Jan 2018 10:46 AM PST I've been filing under my own name and SS for taxes since starting my own business (design and fabrication) a couple years ago. In the beginning it was just a small/side income thing, but last year I've dedicated most of my time to it. I was wondering if I should be setting up a new EIN and a DBA? I don't think I need something like an LLC as I don't plan on having employees, or run into any bigger legal troubles (or maybe I'm wrong about this). Besides separating for organizational purposes, what are other pros? If I do get a separate EIN, I will be filing 2017 under it correct? Or would that be for the 2018 tax yr (next year)? I've been also using my personal Credit Cards and checking for my business. It's getting larger so I think I want to separate. I currently use 2 cc's; one for Amazon (because cashback) with a low limit; and another I use for most supplies because it has a higher limit. How much will opening 2 more CC's affect my credit? Maybe I should open one, then wait a couple of months. Also should I be getting a Business CC, or it doesn't matter since it will still be under my name? Any information on any of this would be helpful. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 02:26 PM PST Hi everyone! I am looking for some help/tips regarding paid marketing. I am struggling with promoting my new small custom furniture manufacturing business. We opened our doors almost 6 months ago and have already seen a decent amount of traffic but as all of you know there are alot of costs involved with opening a small business (especially in the furniture manufacturing field) We have been rolling all of our cash into new orders right now and I cant seem to get much money to allocate to marketing. I would like to set up an AdWords account to drive traffic to us but I dont think I have the budget to be able to get my ads boosted more than the other larger furniture manufacturing businesses. Has anyone dealt with this sort of issue before? What did you do? Are there other avenues I can take that are cheaper but produce similar results? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers [link] [comments]  |
| Can any small business owners provide some feedback on a software product that I'm building? Posted: 08 Jan 2018 02:24 PM PST I'm working on a personal project and want to understand if people might actually be willing to pay for or if there's something I could change to make it more appealing or useful. The web-based software connects to an existing E-Commerce or member/customer management platform (e.g. Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, MindBody, QuickBooks, ScheduleHouse) and classifies customers as Best, Churn, First-Timer, Valuable First-Timer, Shopper, Uncertain using existing order, appointment or checkin data (i.e. applies automatic behavioural segmentation). After identifying customer segments, the app will present very basic summary stats of each segment such as the total revenue, the average purchase of customers belonging to the segment (over days, weeks, months, etc.), the average time it's been since customers that belong to the segment have made a purchase/visit, and the average frequency of purchase/drop-in/appointments of each segment (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). You can then simply click on "Export" to export the segment lists to an Excel file or connect directly to an email marketing platform so you can start creating more relevant email campaigns that target individual lists depending on what your most critical business objectives are. For example, First-Timers might have a low average order value so maybe there's an opportunity for cross-sells or up-sells, generating more revenue. I also plan to add more advanced functionality to explore additional metrics such as the number of customers in each segment and how the metrics are changing over time. I'm wondering if any small business owners or marketers can value in this kind of software. If not, why? Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated as this is the first time I'm embarking on this kind of market experimentation. I'm aware that existing solutions exist but they seem to be complex and expensive, making them inaccessible to SMBs. Any constructive feedback would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Jan 2018 01:47 PM PST Hey does anyone use mailers for marketing? Does it work? I am now thinking that customers will actually look at a piece of mail quickly before they throw it away. Opposed to another email or ad online. [link] [comments]  |
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