Starting an online store... Should I get LLC right off the bat? Entrepreneur |
- Starting an online store... Should I get LLC right off the bat?
- Recruiting apprentices from High School instead of graduates
- how to get insta followers - does this work?
- I really suck at marketing...help?
- Advice for Private Labelling Alibaba products?
- What are your concerns/questions about the GDPR?
- I have some «success». Triple down, or continue?
- How would I go about finding locally produced snacks and beverages in my city?
- Question on outsourcing an IT department
- How to find a good app developer for low cost? Any insights?
- Recently just started my own shopify store! Looking for feedback and advice
- Any advice for picking up quality used commercial trucks?
- Starting a construction material business....
- Promote Multiple Websites with One Link - Free VIP Access!
- Why haven’t I got any sales yet?
- Please check my shopify store and feedback how it looks and tips for how do i get more traffic. Thanks!
- I am finally ready to put my services online...but is Weebly a really bad choice?
- how to raise 100k for start up hub/retreat real estate in central europe?
- How do you meet find co founders and other entrepreneurs?
- Not sure what to pursue, doubting my current vision.
- The Numbers Game: Slick Rick's Tricks
- ExploreVR: Losing $6,000 Building the TripAdvisor for VR
| Starting an online store... Should I get LLC right off the bat? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 08:24 AM PDT Hi everyone, I'm going to launch a webstore & sell digital & physical goods (CD's & picture books for kids). Money is tight right now, should I spend the $200 right away, or would it be OK to wait 3-4 months after I launch? Given my audience, I will most likely sell a lot of CD's within the first month of launch the launch. I guess i"m wondering about some of the other things I'm going to get & how that would work in taxes. If I buy $400 in expenses (CD duplication, etc) Would it be beneficial to me to buy it after an LLC in terms of tax write-offs? FOLLOW UP QUESTION: how long is the process to get an LLC? FOLLOW UP QUESTION 2: Do you have any resources you can recommend me for answers to more noob questions like this? Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Recruiting apprentices from High School instead of graduates Posted: 28 Apr 2018 06:59 AM PDT My business currently employs contractors, but it is reaching close to the point I will employ people. The strategy I am going to pursue in employing people is to recruit directly from High School in the 18-19 age group as apprentices. Around about the age of 16 to 17 I am interested in investing in potential recruits in vocational types of qualifications. From these I will recruit apprentices who will learn on the job. I will be able to access funding from UK government apprenticeship schemes. There is no benefit to recruiting graduates who will cost as much to train as apprentices, but will feel their degree means they should be paid more money than a new recruit straight out of High School. I also face liability of a degree student whose creative mind has been wrecked by a backward academic system, and is less open to the type of learning that I give to non-graduate apprentices. If I know an individual is a graduate, I won't employ them. [link] [comments]  |
| how to get insta followers - does this work? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 11:29 AM PDT saw this new youtube video...posted it in the insta reddit as well. anyone try out these tips? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2j00Wa0qg4 [link] [comments]  |
| I really suck at marketing...help? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 08:49 AM PDT First things first: I'm on a shoestring budget. I'm bootstrapping https://Witsi.co, which is a product that helps you maximize your credit card rewards by analyzing your spending habits. Anyway, I think it's a decent MVP, and I have a whole list of features that I want to add to make it a even better. However, running this thing costs a decent amount of my out of pocket money, and so I'd like to focus on generating traffic to the site for a bit and see if I can get some feedback from actual users before spending time on new features. You know, MVP stuff. The problem is coming from getting these first few users. I feel like I'm screaming into the abyss talking on Social Media about it. I have a few blogs that I write for, but they aren't necessarily the target market, and so while I can get a little traffic from those, there's not a ton of conversions. The Witsi blog gets some readers, but I haven't figured out how to market that effectively. It suffers from the same problem the main App does. I'm currently running a facebook ad campaign for brand awareness, but I just started that yesterday. I've considered AdWords, but from the Keyword Planner, that seems WAY out of my price range. If I'm going to buy those, I'll need to get really clever, and as I said in the title, I suck at marketing. I'm not clever. So, questions:
Anyway, thanks for your help. I feel like I've read a ton of books on this subject, but I'm missing like...the core? I guess? [link] [comments]  |
| Advice for Private Labelling Alibaba products? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 10:13 AM PDT Hello entrepreneurs! First time poster here! I had an idea for a product and I was thinking of maybe trying my hand at selling it. The product is in a niche market of men's fashion, and it involves taking two Alibaba products and merging them together. It shouldn't cost me no more than about $8 per unit including shipping. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on accomplishing this, or anyone with any experience. I would also be aiming to sell this product on eBay and Amazon, as I believe they offer the best opportunity for growth. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| What are your concerns/questions about the GDPR? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 11:06 AM PDT The GDPR enforcement deadline is closing in. I've been working with the GDPR for the past few weeks and notice that a lot of personal websites, small businesses, and startups still have no idea what the GDPR is exactly, why they're also affected, and how to comply. That's why I want to know: what are your concerns or questions about the GDPR? Together with a group of lawyers and hobbyists (all doing active work about informing people for free online, they're a mix from the UK, US, EU), I'll do the research needed to answer your question and I'll post the answers. Some common topics:
The upside: our data/privacy is becoming ours again. So let's work on making our indie projects compliant, or even go beyond and implement Privacy by Design. 👍 [link] [comments]  |
| I have some «success». Triple down, or continue? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 08:15 AM PDT Fellow entrepreneurs, I am seeking some input. Over the last 3 years, I have built my solo-agency business. Mainly, I have focused on providing video content, and combining that with advertising for businesses on Facebook. The last 6 months, I have marketed my business as a one-stop shop for all things digital. Here comes my pondering. My network knows me as a filmmaker. Should I focus all on what I am really good at; video production? Or, should I go broader. Everyone thinks they can do Facebook ads - but people wont have that same mindset about video production. I feel like the digital service market is getting saturated. With more focus on just the production part, I could also collaborate more with other agencies. More legs to stand on, or best in class? [link] [comments]  |
| How would I go about finding locally produced snacks and beverages in my city? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 12:40 PM PDT I'm thinking about starting a snack and beverage catering/replenshing service for offices in my city. I would only source locally produced snacks and beverages. [link] [comments]  |
| Question on outsourcing an IT department Posted: 28 Apr 2018 12:14 PM PDT Hey I have a real estate agency and we're starting to build a community around our products. I was thinking about making some phone and web apps to increase our transparency with our investors and customers, and would like to know more about hiring an IT staff versus outsource the projects. When would be ideal to have one over the other, and what is your experience with either of them? I have some contacts say that outsourcing can be a risk despite the lower initial cost as well as having a whole IT department as being a money sink on the long run and project downtime. I'm also a developer myself so I'd know how to estimate costs and requirements for the apps, just don't have enough time to develop them myself. Any help would be really appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| How to find a good app developer for low cost? Any insights? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 12:12 PM PDT I am developing a app similar to HQ trivia app in a different category. I couldn't find a good developer yet. Any suggestions to find a good developer for a low cost. [link] [comments]  |
| Recently just started my own shopify store! Looking for feedback and advice Posted: 28 Apr 2018 09:50 AM PDT I want to know what you guys think of the design! Also do the products that I listed on there look appealing to you. My site: https://coolassmugs.myshopify.com [link] [comments]  |
| Any advice for picking up quality used commercial trucks? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 11:15 AM PDT Looking to buy a Dodge Ram with a commercial "service" bed, like what the utilities use in the US. The area I'm in maybe has one dealership that isn't just for commercial and I'm skeptical that the place is the only way to get these kinds of trucks. I'm in Austin if it helps. Similar truck : http://www.800toolbox.com/service_body/SilverServiceBody-1.jpg [link] [comments]  |
| Starting a construction material business.... Posted: 28 Apr 2018 01:50 PM PDT Should I rent an industrial warehouse or a retail location? My plan is to sell low(as low as I can) to consumers and contractors. It is something along the lines of home depot. I don't know what to rent. Part of the experience is having a warehouse worker load your purchase to the vehicle or pay a low fee to have it brought to you. And if I rent a warehouse, what if I can't find one with a showroom? How should I get around that? [link] [comments]  |
| Promote Multiple Websites with One Link - Free VIP Access! Posted: 28 Apr 2018 10:52 AM PDT After months of developing I have finally developed a website where you can promote multiple websites with just one link. The benefits of this is adding all your social media / websites / blogs in one and then when you share / promote your custom generated link the user has the ability to view all the links you've added. This means, increasing followers and even revenue if you link them to affiliate ads or even your business website. I am selecting a few people to give them free access to the Pro Plan for life. Originally $5 a month subscription. Please comment below why I should choose you and what benefit you could potentially bring. (example. You have a big instagram following/ blog / youtube) Interested to seeing the replies. Note: This could turn into something bigger and even long term connection. The website: LitURLs [link] [comments]  |
| Why haven’t I got any sales yet? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 10:14 AM PDT My website is noworryjewels.com, just launched. I spent many hours on general research (products, niche) and many more researching FB ads to optimize them the best. I went through several courses and probably 50 videos explain all the best ways to use FB ads. The biggest thing that I had to do for success was experiment. So that's what I'm currently doing. I've had 2 picture ads running for two days, both with different target audiences and both with different pictures. I also posted a video ad yesterday. I have reached over 2,000 people and have spent almost $15, yet I've gotten NO sales and no add to carts. Actually, on 39 people have visited my site according to Shopify, but there's apparently been 72 people to visit my link. Not sure what that's about, but I'm getting discouraged here. I have a few different options for my next approach;
I think my website is well optimized and my ads look good, but what do YOU guys think? Let me know any suggestions, and please don't upvote. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Apr 2018 07:35 AM PDT Question 1. What is my product? The product is Electric Skateboard. Feature about this board is the design, looks just like a regular board, we hide the battery in the deck. Question 2. What motivated you to start a business? Love the culture of the skateboard, and it helps me to learn more things, like create the online store, make youtube videos, mess around with Instagram, etc. Question 3. How long have you been working on the site? Starts at April 8 i guess, now i have orders already, nice. Now i need you look into the website and give feedbacks, also if we can get any help will be much appreciated. helps we need as follow:
website is www.teamgee.com Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| I am finally ready to put my services online...but is Weebly a really bad choice? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 03:12 AM PDT I'm a copywriter and I get plenty of work via People Per Hour...a lot of returning clients contact me there. I moved to a new city three years ago and have found that I am being approached more here than in my last city, by small businesses looking for blog articles etc. This is probably due to my part-time job in a shared working space where small businesses rent out meeting rooms etc. I want to capitalise and have somewhere to send people. All I need my site to do is show some examples, maybe links to current work online...and to show prices to prospects. I should probably have a blog too. Would Weebly be bad? I'm not very savvy so nervous of making a mess but I also don't have much spare cash to pay someone else....I'd like to avoid that at all! Any advice is much appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| how to raise 100k for start up hub/retreat real estate in central europe? Posted: 28 Apr 2018 06:57 AM PDT So basically, there is an offer close to 100k usd for 2 huge buildings, where one of them was a former school in the middle of beautiful scenery (green nature and hills), Closest city is like 3 kilometers far along with big supermarkets. My idea is to create a an organic healthy lifestyle focusing start up hub/hotel/retreat that would be like a co-living type of community. it would also be for people who are looking to live and work in the middle of nature and lead healthy lifestyle. The spoken language would be English and its aim would be also personal development, not only in terms of education but also awareness and emotional exercise. It has a considerable land as well that would serve for some outdoor activities and also for cultivating organic food, fruits and herbs. This is just very rough description but i think u might have an idea. this is about 2 hours from Vienna, Austria. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you meet find co founders and other entrepreneurs? Posted: 27 Apr 2018 03:03 PM PDT I am in the the very early stages of starting a company. I work like a madman. At least I like to think I do. I have built the product and website and I am ready to start marketing across the country and launch online sales. But I am going to need help. I definitely needed help a long time ago. I am struggling to figure out how to meet people that I can work with. Where do you meet people that want to join companies at this stage? I think it takes a certain unique personality to be motivated by the potential and not what they are getting right now. I feel that if I was able to meet people that were even the slightest bit interested in being a part of a company at this stage than I can possibly convince them to get behind my product. But the problem is I have never met a person that would even think about putting time into something that has no profit right now. I want to find people that are similar to me and have that burning desire to start something from scratch. I am from LA and I have tried Meetup but I always end up at weird marketing meetups where its mostly business to business marketing and not about employing. Say I wanted to join an extremely early startup where would I go? Where would I be looking? Where can I find my first employee? [link] [comments]  |
| Not sure what to pursue, doubting my current vision. Posted: 28 Apr 2018 02:06 AM PDT Hey guys, I have been doing web development for a year and a half now and while I've made some money it's not that great, maybe 15k, and I REALLY struggle to sell it because I'm an introvert and don't like cold calling/networking. I'm actually a really good developer but I want the opportunity for big growth otherwise what's the point. I have been poking around for some feedback on a totally unrelated idea. I play a game called League of Legends a lot and since it's a very competitive game there are people that hire coaches to get better. This is a pretty niche market but the current methods of finding coaches is very bad and annoying. I have an idea to streamline the process as much as possible, maybe charge $5 - $15 per coaching session (I have no idea what to do about pricing, it's an even more niche section of people that will pay anything above this price point for coaching.) Should I pursue this instead? I've gotten a lot of good feedback from random redditors I've messaged, almost all think it's a solid idea. I feel like something like this could be way bigger but I also need to pay my bills. I don't need a whole lot, maybe $1k a month. What do I do? [link] [comments]  |
| The Numbers Game: Slick Rick's Tricks Posted: 27 Apr 2018 07:37 PM PDT There's only one way to sell. No other way to slice it or dice it. There's no method better than the basics. It's a Numbers Game. You can spend every dollar you have on leads and end up with less than what the slick Rick at the end of the hall has invested into the watch on his arm. You are a great salesman. I know that because you're here. You are the one person that's actually looking for a real edge on the competition. it's clear to see that you want to educate your self because you understand that every vocation can be improved upon. To Skip the Explanation scroll down to the Key Points. Why Does Slick Rick Succeed? The guy's a terrible speaker, he resembles Danny Devito, and on top of that he brags all day about his great pitch. Whenever a slick rick is nearby, trust me, everyone knows it. Even the regional manager is scratching his head wondering why he hired the guy. How does he do it? Let me define the cause of his success clearly to you. Slick Rick Plays the Numbers Success in sales inevitably and truly breaks down into one simple fact. The Number of Sales You Close Directly relates to the number of prospects you interact with. Our scripts, posture, experience, voice, intonation, cleverness, wit, preparation, organization, presentation, dress, attitude, persistence, confidence, training, knowledge, understanding, and all those great things that make us unique enough to have a particular connection with certain type of personality will all amount to a hill of beans if we don't have a person in front of us to buy what we're selling them. Slick Rick Doesn't Want You To Sell Selling is all he has. It defines him and his self worth. Without sales One prospect is equal to one opportunity. If sold, it may or may not end up with a referral to another prospect. Some of you may be absolutely and endearingly convinced that referrals are the way to achieve massive wealth. It is true that referrals will build your business even to the point of eventually having no need to work new prospects. That's all well and good. If anyone accuses me of turning you away from referrals You should quote me here; I'm not against referrals. They are the greatest gift you can get from a client. Let me tell you a few ideas I hope you can understand, Friend. Slick Rick : A Clueless Brick? \This is not intended to represent your market or experience but is a general example of a good work ethic applied to a bad sales strategy. Please Refrain from Arguing numbers. Let me stress this entirely. These trees make up a forest. for those who want to pick out a bush to beat, Monday night is Lumberjack night and there will be free pancakes in the Foyer.* The truth is, Rick just spent more time prospecting. First Week He made 300 calls, he presented to 10 people, and received 1 Sale. He did that 10 times this week. Second Week He Knocked 80 Doors, 40 people were home/Presented, he received 1 sale. He did it 6 times. Third Week He paid 435 bucks for 6 live transfers, he presented to all 6 of them, and he received 1 Sell. He did that 4 times this week. Fourth Week He gets 10 referrals from existing clients, presented to 8 , and 3 were sales. He made 23 sales this month. \This is not intended to represent your market or experience but is a general example of a good work ethic applied to a bad sales strategy. Please Refrain from Arguing numbers. Let me stress this entirely. These trees make up a forest. For those who want to pick out a bush to mercilessly beat, Monday night is Lumberjack night and there will be free pancakes in the Foyer.* kindly Control the urge to splurge. Pro Tips From Slick Rick Include But Are Not Limited To; "I get all my business through referrals, Because I'm a Great Customer Service Guy!" " I Close all the sales because I'm convinced That I'm the best man in this office!" "I am a lovable character and everyone wants to be my friend!" "I've perfected my pitch, I'd tell you to do it my way, but I don't think you could pull it off" "I get all of my success because I joined a BNI." "They Like my voice." " I get all the young people." "I make them Laugh and the trust me more." "I Don't Sound Boring" Slick Rick Isn't Lying To You, He's Lying To Himself. Not one single time does Old Slicky Ricky tell you the honest answers because He doesn't realize The Truth. He made the sales because he put in the time. The odds were against him and he statistically lost more often than any other person in the office. You are a better sales person than he could ever dream of being. Slick Rick is absolutely convinced that he is not a failure and will not admit that to himself. Slick Rick has one invaluable skill that no one else has. That skill My Dear Friend is Persistence. The House Is Always Winning = Slick Rick Collects His Rent Take careful note of the mock numbers slick rick has going for him. Look at his closing rate and compare your own. Week 1- 10 sales Take-In Rate = 10% ((10 sales/100 presentations)) Presentation Rate = 3.3% ((100 presentations/3000 attempts)) Week 2- 6 sales Take-In Rate = 2.5% ((6 Sales/240 Presentations)) Presentation Rate = 50% ((240 presentations/480 attempts) Week 3 4 sales Take-In Rate = 16.66% ((4/24) Presentation Rate = 100% ((24/24)) Week 4 3 Sales Take-In Rate = 30% ((3/10)) Presentation Rate = 80% ((8/10)) You Can Only Lose If You Quit You're percentages are mostly likely better than whats listed above, but your number of sales may not be quit as good as old slick Rick. If you find yourself coming close to this rate of return in your own career you should consider improving your abilities which will increase your rate of closing or improving the quality of prospects you present to. Keep in mind the main Ideas I'm trying to show you today and don't worry so much about exact numbers. This is simply a representation for you to understand a few key principles. Key Point #1 Cold calling has a lower chance of presentation because you can't dictate weather a person will even answer or if the number is in service. However, you will get sales more often due to volume compared to face to face meetings. \Pro Tip:* Improving the quality of your leads will greatly increase your take in rate most of all. If you have quality leads and are still below your goals, then consider tightening your objection responses and working on your Direct Value Statement. Key Point #2 Door to door cold knocking allows you to meet with a far higher percentage of prospects than through calling but those prospects are not necessarily within your target market. You will meet more people and grow in skill with your presentations and handling rejection but will initially close a far smaller portion of your prospects \Pro Tip:* Understand your demographics and target market to exponentially increase your odds of finding the right customer. With door to door sales, efficiency is the road map to success. You will scarcely sell Jet fuel in a Trailer Park but you most certainly could sell it at an air strip. You should have a basic idea of who the person is behind every door before you knock it. Key Point #3 You without doubt have a 100% presentation rate with a live transfer lead. Any salesman with a decent pitch should get a very high return in this endeavor. That is precisely why Transfers are often over ten times more expensive than other purchased leads. The customer is on the line waiting to be sold, he wants to buy what you have and he is looking for your product. Slick rick paid $1740 to attain 4 sales. He did a terrible job and should have closed over 3/4 of those sales on the first call. Lets hope he didn't lose money. There my friend is the risk for the unprepared seller. *Pro Tip:* * Mr. J here speaking from personal experience. I've seen sellers invest 1200 in live leads and make $4000 in profit but I've also seen sellers invest 1000 and make 0$ in return. Do not invest in live leads if you aren't prepared to do your absolute best to close them. You must immediately qualify them for your product or service and waste no time pushing the sell, they want what you have and that's why they spoke to the company that is transferring to you. This is one of the most effective ways to become the best in individual sales and one of the easiest wastes of money you could ever come across**. Final Key Point The Greatest gift you can get from a client is a referral. It will eventually become a very large portion of your individual sales no matter what particular niche you are invested in. Do not let that gift become a dependency. You should always be closing and never wait or rely on your customer to do anything for you. A great salesman understands that the more people he has buying, The more Time and money he has to generate new leads. If you find yourself successful enough to sit at your desk and answer phone calls all day, you need to hire an assistant. It is more profitable for someone else to handle the easy sells while you're out generating new leads. \Pro Tip:* Success in life has a snowball effect. Don't let yourself be a road block through the traps of complacency. You didn't get here on referrals, you got here by generating sources of referrals. Don't change. In Conclusion Test The Waters, See what works for you. We encourage individual opinions and in no way expect Round pegs to fit square holes. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from being the best you can be. What does your local Slick Rick say? As Always, My Friend, For Those Who Refuse To Be Anything Less Than The Man They Choose To Be, There Is No Compromise, There Is No Backing Down, There Are NoMiddleGrounds, Kindest Regards, Mr. J [link] [comments]  |
| ExploreVR: Losing $6,000 Building the TripAdvisor for VR Posted: 27 Apr 2018 02:09 PM PDT Hey /r/Entrepreneur! Its Rich Clominson here again, the maker of Failory, a website where I weekly interview startup owners. Today I published an interview with Andrey Norin, founder of a failed startup called ExploreVR.
Andrey Norin is a budding entrepreneur, responsible for all the successes and the failures of ExploreVR. This was a directory site focused 100% on virtual reality. He started it in 2017 and shut down a few months later. His lack of experience in creating a business from scratch was the main cause of failure.
Here are the main points:
Let's get into the interview! Hi Andrey! What's your background, and what are you currently working on? Hey Failory! Thanks for sitting down with me to do this interview. It's great to have an opportunity to do a post-mortem on a failed business attempt and to share my experiences with other entrepreneurs. You are doing a great service to the startup community because it seems that talking about this subject in business is largely taboo. It seems like there's a lot of lip service being paid to accepting failure, but in reality, we only tend to tolerate it from people who have already become successful at what they do, and now tell us their war stories. Where does that leave the rest of us who are still trying to find traction? There's a martial arts maxim that goes "we either win, or we learn". I feel that the business world could greatly benefit from adopting that some of that mindset. A few words about me: My name is Andrey Norin, I am a 35-year-old technologist and budding entrepreneur living in Queens, NY. I work as a senior enterprise technology consultant primarily in the financial services space. Currently, I am regrouping and getting ready to jump into another venture. About a year ago, I felt the urge to start working on creating my first legit startup. I have read somewhere that it takes an average of 6 business attempts or pivots to hit pay dirt, so I felt like it was my time to get in the game and start paying my dues. This is where ExploreVR.net comes into the picture. Last summer, I became quite interested in emerging technologies. At the time it seemed like Virtual Reality (VR) was finally getting ready for primetime. That made me want to explore various low-cost business models that I could potentially get into. Initially, I thought about starting a VR equipment rentals business. VR hardware is prohibitively expensive for the casual user (between $1,500 and $2,000), so I thought about purchasing some headsets and accessories that I could lease out in the short term. However, after having done the math, I realized that the business model I initially chose was very unattractive. Research showed that margins would be low, the risk of losing the initial investment was high, and the amount of manual labor around inventory management and customer service was unacceptable to me. So that led me to (what I thought was) a "genius idea". I understood that not everyone would be as diligent as me in terms of doing the hard numbers in advance and appreciating the risks involved. There would be an emerging ecosystem of small Virtual Reality based businesses such as rentals, arcades, event providers and content creators. My goal would be to create a specialty directory site, not dissimilar to something like TripAdvisor, but focused 100% on Virtual Reality. Businesses would be able to list themselves for free, and users would go on the site, find the type of VR business they were interested in, leave reviews and book appointments directly from my site. As the site would get more users on it, I would create a paid membership tier that would allow businesses to highlight themselves in search, publish a larger number of events, etc.… Thus ExploreVR.net was born. I was the founder, the guy responsible for all the successes and the failures of the project.
What motivated you to start ExploreVR? My primary motivation to start ExploreVR.net was to create a highly profitable online business. Inspired by the successes of sites like Airbnb, Yelp, and TripAdvisor, I became very keen on the idea of User Generated Content (such as product reviews) as a source of providing value to customers. I thought that if I married some basic information about VR businesses with some user generated content, I couldn't help but win. I believe that people appreciate having a central "hub" location where there is a lot of user content on a specific topic along the lines of old-school messaging boards and sites like Reddit. My initial hope was that my topic was niche and timely enough to not have any well-established players already in it. In early 2017 I volunteered on a grassroots political campaign as a member of their technology team. These guys were doing something I thought was pretty neat. They were using WordPress with a few customizations to create a full-featured online app. So that got me thinking – I have a core business idea for a product, and a low-cost means of creating that product, possibly all by myself. I made the connection between those two things in my mind and got to work. I didn't have any previous WordPress experience, but I thought – "this can't be that hard". And it wasn't that hard. Just time-consuming. So, I went for it. I knew right out of the gate that my chances of success as a first-time entrepreneur were against me, so I decided to do it part-time while keeping my day job. That was a good decision. My standard of living (financially) didn't suffer, and I got to follow my dream at the same time. That was great.
How did you build it? ExploreVR.net was built in WordPress. I started out with a super basic list of requirements. I was going to have a spreadsheet where I would keep all the data about the businesses, and then I would figure out a way to present that data through WordPress as a website. Each row in the spreadsheet would a separate entry on the website. Those were my Version 1.0 requirements. Later on, I would add forms to the site where users could go to list their business, as well as adding a bunch of other functionality. Initially, I build the site using a listing engine called Connections Pro. At the time, my knowledge of the WordPress eco-system was very poor, so I kind of went with the first thing that sort of fit the description. Unfortunately, my initial choice of the listing engine couldn't do about half the things that I later discovered were necessary, so after investing 2-3 months of work into Connections Pro, I had to switch to another engine. It was really hard to walk away from a site that I'd been pouring my all into, but I realized that it was necessary, so I ended up re-doing the site in much more modern listing engine called Listify. It was totally worth it because this engine could do things like logins with social network accounts, it was fully responsive and mobile-first, and in general, it was a big step up. The one thing that I did correctly at the outset of the project was to settle on a building methodology. I knew that my set of requirements was fuzzy, so I decided to go with something called the Agile approach. Basically what that means is that I would start with version 1.0 that was super-bare bones, and I would work in small increments to improve it and add features. Doing it this way would allow me to always have a ready (although imperfect) product on hand that I could show to people. Going with this approach helped me avoid the trap of waiting forever to release a product. A little company called Microsoft is famous for utilizing this approach. It's basically the process of incremental product improvement over time. Besides myself, I did have a co-contributor who helped me with working on the site. I partnered up with a designer who helped me with creating graphics such as the logo and helping with some appearance tweaks, like deciding on the right typology, color palette, etc. Later in the project when I had the need to populate the site, I hired a contractor through Upwork.com to do it. This person did some manual content scraping for me, as well as created many listings. That also helped a lot. One of my cardinal mistakes (due to inexperience) was grossly underestimating how long it would take to get to an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) that was ready for public use. I was stumbling upon one hidden requirement after another. And it took a lot of time and effort to figure out certain technical issues. One of my major frustrations with the business is that it forced me into the trap of being a webmaster. That part I legitimately hated because I felt like it was cutting into the time that I should have been spending on marketing and promoting my product. Ascertaining the technical difficulty of getting something done is hugely important. But…it was a lesson that had to be learned the hard way, I guess. All told, I kept the costs of the project very low. Because it was a self-financed operation and because I did most of the development myself using off-the-shelf components, I only spent around $5,000-6,000 on the project. Interestingly enough, the bulk of that budget was spent on food. Yep, because I wanted to spend every waking minute working on my business, my takeout bill went through the roof. Other than that, I did spend a portion of the money on software licenses and business incorporation. But nothing too bad.
Which were the causes of ExploreVR failure? Me. I was the cause of failure. Or more precisely my lack of experience in creating a business from scratch. Life in the corporate world doesn't prepare you for that. I was overwhelmed by the number of new and unfamiliar activities, and I also lacked many critical skills. Learning the required skills while the project was already in-flight proved fatal to its success. While I did end up learning the skills in the process of doing, it messed with the correct sequencing of major phases of business creation. What I mean by that is researching the market should come prior to product creation. In my case, it was the other way around. It's embarrassing, but what can you do ;) Drilling further into the cause of failure of ExploreVR.net, I can attribute it to several major reasons. Reason 1 – I completely lacked any understanding of how to carry out market research. I simply didn't have the skills or the requisite background of facts to figure out the supply-demand equation, and whether a business with a compelling enough USP can be created in this niche. In addition to that, the concept of business positioning was completely alien to me. In essence, I created a business that competed head-on for the same customers as Yelp and Google. That reason alone is enough to sink most startups. Reason 2 – I had no business promotion skills. When I started the project, I literally had no idea about the strategies and techniques that can be employed to help customers find you. My marketing game was a fail. Prior to the start of the project, I had heard of SEO and things like keyword research, but I had no idea how to put together a cohesive strategy to attract customers. I am embarrassed to say this, but I attempted to "retrofit" marketing to an existing product. Oyyyyyy vey… (face palm). Reason 3 – Underestimating the technical difficulty of the project. As I mentioned earlier, I do have a tech background, so I thought I could produce a top-notch WordPress based app within a reasonable amount of time. Well, right now I can, but back then I couldn't. Reason 4 – Having an extreme product-focus. Because I was so in the technical weeds of the project it put my focus basically 100% on the product instead of the customer. Major fail. I had built a site that I wanted to see, without giving much thought or evidence if it's something my potential clients even wanted. It turns out, they didn't. But I didn't have the skills or the insight to find that out in advance of building the product. Reason 5 – Not talking to prospective customers early enough. This ties in very closely with the other reasons I listed. Had I actually tuned into the customer conversations earlier in the process, I probably would not have ever built ExploreVR.net. I didn't spend enough time identifying the problem areas that were pertinent in this niche. Nor did I have a good enough of a gauge to figure out the extent of the pain, and the customer's willingness to solve that set of problems. The realization that the project was doomed came on gradually. As I started to educate myself on marketing and digital service creation, the dots started to connect. It was not an overnight realization, but more of a slow coming to terms. As a business owner, one of the hardest things to do is to maintain an objective outlook. Passion for your product is actually a detriment in some sense because it blinds you and causes a distorted perception of reality. Once objectivity set in I realized that success was not in the cards because my business was built around a faulty premise. The problem with my site was that users simply didn't care to be on it. The few visitors that I had only stayed briefly, and most never came back. I did get some people to sign up for the free tier, but they found the site of limited utility, so the decision to abandon the project was kind of obvious. By the time I was finished with getting the site to work and look in the way intended it to, I realized that there is no need to continue. The thing was dead on arrival. I did everything I could and learned a ton in the process, so moving on was easy.
Which were your biggest mistakes and challenges you had to overcome? One challenge that I had run into that I didn't previously consider is platform loyalty. It's a royal pain in the ass to get people off the platform that they are already using and to get them to start using something else. There are a number of reasons why that is the case, but the most important one is that you are going directly against the platform's investment of keeping their users right where they are. The Facebooks of the world invest hundreds of millions to make people stay in-app for as long as possible and actively work to discourage switching to a direct competitor or the use of alternatives. Another factor that made ExploreVR.net an impossible business was timing. Bill Gross says that timing is the single most important factor in the success or failure of a company. When I started ExploreVR.net I felt that the timing was spot on, but the more I got into the project the more I realized that I was about 2 years too late. Later on, I learned about the Technology Hype Cycle model (which I highly recommend that anyone working with emerging technologies studies) and it just crystalized exactly how late I was to the party. My gut tells me that if I built the same exact site two years prior, it would have been successful even in spite of every mistake I committed. That's right, a better timing would have changed everything. Jumping in the same exact niche earlier would have given me the time to correct my mistakes. Very often it's far more important to be first, to define the category. Two years ago, I would have had a shot at becoming the biggest site of its kind and delivering value to the users. But I entered the market too late, and as such couldn't put together a compelling value proposition. As a wet behind the ears startup founder, I was out of touch with the element of timing. Finally, I'd like to point out one supposedly critical thing that was not a factor – money. I made a decision to be self-financed. To this day I firmly hold the belief that having or not having money doesn't solve the fundamental business problems. Problems like, you know, your customers not wanting your product…. Would Plankton's Chum Bucket be a big hit with Bikini Bottom residents if he had 10 branches and a $50 million dollars operating budget? No, because he didn't sell Krabby Patties. Also, as the Founder and CEO, you need to be ready to handle money. This is especially true if we are talking about outside capital. What assurances do your investors have that you won't just squander the cash on stupid stuff? Go and learn with your own money. The magnitude of the lessons learned when playing with your own cash on the line will make you into a stronger business person. You will learn just how irrational you can behave when there is skin in the game. Raising money when you have a solid product that customers want, and a management team that knows what they are doing is not a problem.
Which were your expenses? Did you achieve some revenue? In the end, how much money did you lose? As I've stated before, my total expenses were somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000. I kept the project costs low because I did most of the work myself. Project duration was about 6 to 8 months, from inception to until I realized that shutting it down was the only way to go. If you had to start over, what would you do differently? To be entirely honest with you Rich, I would not change a thing. You need a foundation of experiences, plain and simple. Starting and failing with ExploreVR.net was just how I paid my entrepreneurial dues. Having said that, if I were to do it over I would:
During the time that I was engrossed in the project, I was quite worried about having to admit failure to my family. It was a totally irrational thing, as I am a fairly successful guy. But there I was, feeling anxiety about telling them that I am entered a new business, and then having to tell them a few months later that it went belly up. Sometimes you just gotta learn what not to do.
Which are your favorite entrepreneurial resources? I read a ton and I always try to seek out information that would make me better in areas that are critical to entrepreneurs, specifically marketing, selling, product creation, consumer psychology, team management, and negotiations. Currently, I am exploring the angle of business literature that treats people as emotional and irrational actors. Right now, I am reading "Never Split The Difference: How To Negotiate As If Your Life Depends On It" by Chris Voss. It's a very cool book written by a former FBI hostage negotiator and it's full of little tactical gambits that you can bring with you into any area of business to raise up your emotional intelligence. I read tons of (good) books, take lots of courses, and follow many blogs and podcasts. Actually, I maintain an updated list of all that stuff on my personal blog site. If you are interested go and check it out at AndreyNorin.com!
Where can we go to learn more? Check out my personal blog! If you are reading this, and something I had said has resonated with you, make sure you leave a comment or drop me a note.
Original interview published in https://www.failory.com/interview/explorevr [link] [comments]  |
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