How an immigrant in Chicago went from running a few Russian delis to running a public company small business |
- How an immigrant in Chicago went from running a few Russian delis to running a public company
- Possibly buying a flower shop.
- What are some problems/challenges that your business is facing?
- Self Storage
- What service should I use to build my website? As cost effectively as possible.
- How Did You Build Your Target Audience Before Building Your Product?
- What are some great legal loopholes small business owners should be taking advantage of?
- The Essential Kotlin Programming Course
- Want to start a "Rage Room", where is the best place / best way to get items for customers to smash?
- Importing from China to United States
- Should I put my home address on my product’s food label?
- Marketing Help for new startup?
- How do I find out if my products are covered by ITAR/EAR?
- Business opportunity? what could I do?
- What to do about my dad's business email?
- Dilemma on where to open coffee/smoothie place
- Resignation and quarterly taxes
- Business Hierarchy
- Establishing credibility for an investment company?
- I dramatically increased pricing for a small service business.
- Disclaimers in sales website?
- Confused on how book-keeping, payroll, and retirement accounts work together.
- What the eff is up with facebook
- How to start real estate photography business in Canada
- What is the legality behind informing customers of a change in our terms and conditions?
| How an immigrant in Chicago went from running a few Russian delis to running a public company Posted: 07 Jun 2018 06:07 PM PDT Last week I had a chance to sit down with the CEO of Lifeway Foods, Julie Smolyansky, and learn about how her parents built a food empire from the ground up, and how she came to take it over as CEO at just 27 years of age. You can listen to the full interview here or read through the abridged version below. Her parents fled the Ukraine in the 1970s with barely anything to their name, and her mom opened the first Russian deli in the Chicago area because she noticed that the Russian community was growing, but they couldn't get the traditional food they were used to. Throughout the 70s and early 80s many Russians emigrated to the US, and Julie's mom and dad ended up opening 8 more delis and a Russian restaurant in town. One year, her dad went to Germany for a food show and saw that there was a company selling Kefir there, a drink that's very popular in Russia but had never made it to the US. He figured there must be a market for it here since yogurt was so popular, and his wife challenged him to use his engineering skills to build the equipment necessary to produce the probiotic drink. In turn, she would distribute it at her delis and through the network of other delis she made relationships with distributing products to them over the years. It turned out that there were enough Russians in the US that every Russian deli in the country wanted to stock their product, and one day they got a call from the White House because Regan wanted to bring Gorbachev some Kefir for a meeting they were having. This presidential meeting resulted in tons of press for the small kefir company, and led them to the decision to go public just 2 years after starting. The business was doing well generating about $8-9 Million a year, when Julie's dad passed away in 2002, and she negotiated her way into the CEO position at the age of 27. The rest of the interview covered how she grew the company to $175 Million in revenue, and how she now pays it forward by supporting the younger generation of women who want to be leaders. Hope you enjoy if you end up listening! [link] [comments]  |
| Possibly buying a flower shop. Posted: 07 Jun 2018 11:24 AM PDT The owner and manager of the flower shop my fiancée works at passed away a few weeks ago. We've been given the opportunity to buy the shop from her kids who have no interest in the business. My fiancée has worked there for three years as a designer, so she has some insight on how the business works, and knows how many businesses they have contracts with. Their asking price is 90k, which doesn't seem too bad with how many customers they have. So while thinking it over, what information should we ask for from the business? [link] [comments]  |
| What are some problems/challenges that your business is facing? Posted: 08 Jun 2018 12:40 AM PDT Hi guys! I'm currently a computer science undergrad, and I was wanting to build some software to help businesses tackle many of the challenges they regularly face. So, I thought I'd ask you guys: What are some common problems/challenges that you're currently facing in your business? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jun 2018 07:00 AM PDT Anyone here in the self storage game? A friend and I are about to purchase a 12k sqft building and convert it into units. 5k sqft downstairs for vehicles and boats and then 4.5k upstairs built out into 5x10 and 10x10 units with more space outside for rv's and sailboats.We will have a 115k mortgage at 3.65% for 15 years with no early repayment penalty. Looking for critique, success stories, failures, ect. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What service should I use to build my website? As cost effectively as possible. Posted: 08 Jun 2018 03:22 AM PDT Hi, I've recently begun a business plan for my company. I am looking at starting a website but I do not know where to start. I have a rough outline on the service Wix, but I'm wondering if, for a personal website with hosting and an e-commerce tab, this is the best idea. What services do you guys use to get your site going? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| How Did You Build Your Target Audience Before Building Your Product? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 11:50 PM PDT Building an audience before you build your product helps in ensuring you build something people want. What resources, tools, and strategies did you use to build your audience from target market segment prior to building solution? [link] [comments]  |
| What are some great legal loopholes small business owners should be taking advantage of? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 03:53 PM PDT |
| The Essential Kotlin Programming Course Posted: 07 Jun 2018 10:40 PM PDT |
| Want to start a "Rage Room", where is the best place / best way to get items for customers to smash? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 06:44 PM PDT Title says it all, I want to start the first rage room in my city but it seems the hard part is getting the items for people to break. Cheap plates, cups, wine glasses, broken computers, printers, etc. are all the things this kind of business needs to run on a daily basis. It needs them in a large supply as well. Does anyone know where I would be able to find a consistent supply of these objects for cheap as opposed to having to hunt every day on Craigslist? Sorry if this is the wrong sub. I don't really know where else to put this kind of thread, but if it's out of place just let me know! Thank you for your help. [link] [comments]  |
| Importing from China to United States Posted: 07 Jun 2018 06:24 PM PDT I purchased some custom printed bags from China. Approx $10,000 usd. The bags will be ready to ship next week and I thought I would have a clear understanding of the process by now. I spoke with a customs broker about hiring them to handle the import. I don't have a good feeling about this process and I don't want to get stuck with legal issues getting this shipment in to the country. Any advise on how I should handle such a transaction? Should I stick with the customs broker? Is it worth the cost of their service? Also, it is arriving in Los Angeles port and I was hoping to send one of my delivery trucks to pick it up. Thought this would make the process easier and I could save a few bucks getting it from LA to my door a few hours away. Any advise for this rookie importer would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I put my home address on my product’s food label? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 07:12 AM PDT I sell seasonings and am based out of New Orleans, LA. I'm trying to figure out what the best course of action is regarding putting an address on my product labels. When I first started, I put my PO box address, but I found out I wasn't supposed to do that. The address needs to be a physical building associated with the business. My official business address is my home address, so I was trying to avoid giving my home address to anyone who buys my products. To replace the PO box address, I put my manufacturer's address. Problem with this is that the current manufacturer is in Indiana, and I'm producing Cajun and Creole seasonings + trying to sell locally, so I think customers and store owners will look at the product less favorably with an out of state address. I'm switching to a new manufacturer, that is near New Orleans and in LA, so putting their address would be better than the one in Indiana; but i still have to put "Packed by Bla Bla manufacturer." I have a storage unit that I could technically put as the address, but I don't want anyone to return product or send mail to the storage facility. I'm not sure they offer the service to receive mail. Should I just put my home address? Cons are: giving my home address to the world and random people may try coming to my "store." Pros are: I won't need to put another company's name on my label and I'll get to put "New Orleans" on the label, which I think will cause more people (especially tourists) to buy it. Any advice? Edit: I originally put PO box by mistake. I have a mailbox at a local private shipping business, but I cannot put this because the address does not produce, store, or distribute the product. Food labels need an address that is a physical location related to the business. This is for FDA purposes I believe. [link] [comments]  |
| Marketing Help for new startup? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 09:28 PM PDT Looking for someone local with marketing experience or someone who wants to get started with marketing to help us with find and bring clients to our private teachers. We have no funding, but depending on the experience we're willing to offer at least 20% of TOTAL profit with a possibility of equity share. We currently have 30+ teachers signed up and we will give you all of the landing pages that you will be promoting. Your commission will depend solely on how well you can market our teachers mostly through free or low-cost channels because currently we do not have funding but some revenue. Please PM me is you are interested. [link] [comments]  |
| How do I find out if my products are covered by ITAR/EAR? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 01:29 PM PDT I make/sell AR500 steel targets. I've got a potential customer in Israel that wants to buy some target hangers but I'm worried that they fall under these export controls regarding "training equipment". [link] [comments]  |
| Business opportunity? what could I do? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 08:12 PM PDT Hello r/smallbusiness, I am an economics and Chinese language student from Europe, currently studying abroad in China. Since I was a teenager I dreamt about "doing business" and to own my own company. Right now besides attending Chinese language classes, I also earn some money on the side by helping companies from my home country order goods from China and/or finding factories/customers. I am basically working as a sourcing agent. At the beginning I started working just to ear a little bit of pocket money, but now I wonder more and more if this could develop into a full business. I already found a website called upwork where sourcing agents provide their services and bill up to 35 dollars per hour. Now to my questions and concerns. On upwork for example most agents are Chinese, they definitely have the advantage of speaking Chinese as their mother tongue and have better connections to factories, do I have any chance to compete? Next question would be same in nature, on Alibaba most factories have agents or hired university students who can speak English, is there still any use of my service? I have many questions about this practice in general, what's the general term for this kind of business/work, where can I read more and learn more about? Are there sourcing agencies? All I can find are some companies which are doing actually consulting work? Is this business viable as a person to run alone and generating enough profits without having a 9 to 5 job? Does anyone work in this Sphere or has some materials or success stories I could read? Thank you very much in advance, I will be happy to answer all your questions and to read all your suggestions! [link] [comments]  |
| What to do about my dad's business email? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 07:46 PM PDT Hi r/smallbusiness! I am currently working to inherit my dads small commercial building Test & Balance business after he retires, but it has come to my attention that there are some things that could be fixed. For example, his business email is filled with YEARS worth of signing up for online catalogs and things of this nature. I have asked him if he wants to just start fresh and make a new email account, or even get one hosted by a domain to make it look more professional, but he doesn't like that idea because every single one of his clients has this current email address. He is very old school and would not like switching between two or more email addresses to check emails. He is afraid of losing touch with his clients that he has worked for almost 15 years to build up. If any of you have any suggestions of how to deal with this situation, it would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Dilemma on where to open coffee/smoothie place Posted: 07 Jun 2018 06:50 PM PDT Hey all, Looking for some input on the current dilemma me and my partner are facing in regards of location for our new business. Its a coffee/smoothie shop. Option 1. Nicer part of town, lots of residential and schools. Location is a drive through on the main drag but not on a corner with a light or stop sign. It is new construction and the owner is requiring we build out everything except electrical. (estimated cost about 10-15k). 3 year lease. 1st year 3k/month, 2nd 3.5k/m, 3rd 4k/m. Then 2.5% increase if lease is renewed per year. They are offering 2 months free rent. Closet starbucks is 3 miles away. Has small area for customers to sit inside. Option 2. More central to town. Not in as great of an area as first location. Drive through as well. Not as much residential but a lot of business/industry. Building is newer and had previous tenants. Does not need any major construction at all. Not on a main street but decently busy one. Also not on a corner with a light or stop sign. 1 year lease. Rent is $1500 per month and they are offering at least 1 month free rent. Can maybe squeeze out a second. Closest starbucks is about 2 miles away. Has no area for customers to sit inside. These two spots are 6 miles apart. Please, let us know your thoughts on what spot you think is best! [link] [comments]  |
| Resignation and quarterly taxes Posted: 07 Jun 2018 06:01 PM PDT I recently resigned from my company and my business partners weren't pleased that I left. Theyre having an accountant check the books and check tax statuses to make sure everything is all good. I decided to check tax statuses to make sure we're all good because they had some questions before I left. Turns out I made an honest mistake and didn't pay our first quarter taces. Payroll sent a 7 page document and on the first page it said that there was a balance due of 0. So I thought cool! Thanks Trump! Further down the page, I didn't read until earlier today. Turns out I had a balance due of $180 and I didn't submit a payment . Could I get into any trouble for that since I've already resigned? Thanks! Bob Fills. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jun 2018 09:36 AM PDT I need help. It's a long and odd story, (and I am still shocked to say how long I have been working here) but I have started at the literal bottom of this company; washing equipment, advancing to Plant Manager over an 11-year span. I will leave some details below, but here's the jist of it: I am now in the running to become President of the entire company with no prior experience. I am currently compiling an outlined plan for how I would run the business to submit to the Board Members. My question for you all is this: We are a 120 year old company, and over the decades, it has become increasingly unorganized. By biggest plan is a re-organization of the hierarchy here, which there is almost none currently. Does any one here have any suggestions for a proper business hierarchy? We have about 150 total employees from Purchasing, to Manufacturing, to Shipping, to Sales. And since we have not had a "restructure" since maybe the 1970s, I have almost nothing to go off of. I can answer any questions anyone may have. My current position of Plant Manager is an automatic "VP" position, with only the CFO and VP of Sales as my peers, and the President of the Company above me. The President that was here when I was hired was in that position for 27 years! About six years after I came on board, he retired, and we got a new President. I almost still felt new as I climbed the ranks, but to me and most employees around me, this President was a refreshing change. He modernized a good bit of the business, (which wasn't hard considering the last President hadn't changed anything since he was new) and revitalized sales that started to grow from a decades worth of stagnation. After 3 years, he was diagnosed with cancer and began his retirement. The board members hired a big shot from the oil industry as his replacement. He had some decent ideas, like making all the department heads watch one episode of "The Profit" every week and turning in a written report about it. He was strict with deadlines & demands, and was not afraid of confrontation or firing people. The problems came in when department heads started getting sheepish during meetings, where he would be screaming and cursing. I was Customer Service Manager at the time, and when no one could answer a Manufacturing or Accounting question coming from him, I couldn't help but answer when I knew the answer. I regretted it every time, because when I did that, he put me in charge of fixing those issues without much help. Frustrating, because it was usually way outside my department, but the President wanted very specific, although sometimes too simple of answers, so wasn't impossible for me to accomplish. After a little more than a year went by, the Board Members fired that President. It turned out we had several share holders working among us who had a lot sway with the Board, and they had voiced their concerns about his "abusive" behavior. He also did not grow sales at all, which seemed to be the measuring stick for the President. The Board hired the complete opposite about 18 months ago. Our new President is extremely hands off and quiet. He is also on "vacation" so often, the Board got involved again recently, and he was let-go last week. Oddly enough, the employees here have cast their vote for me to run this business, which is crazy, but oh well. We are a manufacturing company, selling about 35 million USD per year. [link] [comments]  |
| Establishing credibility for an investment company? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 01:19 PM PDT I'm looking into starting up a small investment firm using some strategies that I've recently refined. As of right now its just in the idea phase, but the main issue I see is how much of a role credibility plays in the finance industry. People will be skeptical of giving their money over to someone without a strong reputation. I have a good amount of experience investing, but none of the conventional qualifications (degree in finance, work history in the industry). Obviously I plan on getting the required licensing and registering with the SEC. In addition to that though, what can I do to build up a name for myself as a trustworthy money manager? [link] [comments]  |
| I dramatically increased pricing for a small service business. Posted: 07 Jun 2018 09:03 AM PDT With the pricing increase, I'm at the bottom of national pricing. Some clients still tell me I'm really cheap. Others act like I'm gouging them. I know this because I had a client tell me I was gouging him. What's a professional way to tell clients that our pricing is at the bottom of national prices without sounding like a douchebag? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jun 2018 12:13 PM PDT Do i need a page in my sales website to disclose the use of Facebook pixel, google analytics or other google services like Adsense? And also does it need to be disclosed that I run ads to my website using Facebook? [link] [comments]  |
| Confused on how book-keeping, payroll, and retirement accounts work together. Posted: 07 Jun 2018 11:42 AM PDT Hi, i'm not sure if i am even posting this in the right place, but i assume there are other solo business owners out there who have some experience with this. I have a single member LLC (me) and i am being taxed as an S-corp. I am making consistent profits and my accountant reccomended i start taking payroll salary instead of just distributions. So i will be paying 50% of net income to myself threw a payroll company (anyone have any reccomendations?) and 50% as a distribution. Now i have that part somewhat figured out, i am wondering how setting up a solo 401k comes into play here? I know i can just go on vanguard and set one up but does it tie into my payroll at all? Also, is there any way payroll and 401k can be integrated into a book keeping software such as quickbooks or freshbooks to make this a little more organized? (I currently use excel for book keeping) Sorry if this is a loaded question, but i am struggling to figure this out. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What the eff is up with facebook Posted: 07 Jun 2018 03:24 PM PDT I cannot post as my business, nor are my instagram posts being shared to facebook. The help options no longer exist when I google, the facebook help is a joke, and there is no way to reach anyone. This is insane. What options do I have? [link] [comments]  |
| How to start real estate photography business in Canada Posted: 07 Jun 2018 11:30 AM PDT Just wanted to start as a side gig and was wondering if anyone can provide guidance on what kind of courses I need to take (online or class) and type of equipment to purchase (approximate costs?) Thanks in advance [link] [comments]  |
| What is the legality behind informing customers of a change in our terms and conditions? Posted: 07 Jun 2018 02:52 PM PDT |
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