Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (August 31, 2018) Entrepreneur |
- Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (August 31, 2018)
- How my product FAILED from 1 crucial mistake
- Am I making a mistake by getting an MBA?
- Any new favorite optimization / productivity tips or hacks out there? Mine is Airplane Mode...
- Would you want a subreddit that posts conversion-rate boosting tips everyday?
- An HONEST review of my first year after quitting my 9-5....
- How Do You Stay Productive When You Feel Like Literal Shit?
- Creating a resale business around your passion
- Ways to get your products in buying/gift guide publications?
- Question about google ad Exchange offer...scam?
- Why did you start your company?
- Have you ever taken a career break to pursue a startup with the option to go back to work if it fails? Was your boss on board? How did it work out?
- Creating a business could be the worst decision of your life.
- Used to make money publishing books on Amazon Kindle KDP - Hoping to find a partner/mentor to help me improve my efforts.
- A supply chain acquisition question
- Tariff Help
- Do I hire a developer or outsource?
- Recommendations for website development & design company
- Starting a small export firm
- Business Plan
- Any ideas on how to sell a product to local businesses?
- Questions about contracting internationally
- How do i revitalize my gaming website??
- What service should be a one-click solution, not the hassle as it is currently? (Webdesign, Hosting, etc.?)
- Which online services/products have you paid for in the last 12 months?
| Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (August 31, 2018) Posted: 31 Aug 2018 06:06 AM PDT Please use this thread to share any accomplishment you care to gloat about, and some lessons learned. This is a weekly thread to encourage new members to participate, and post their accomplishments, as well as give the veterans an opportunity to inspire the up-and-comers. Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. [link] [comments]  |
| How my product FAILED from 1 crucial mistake Posted: 31 Aug 2018 05:39 AM PDT I think lots of people on here make it look like it is extremely easy to make $xx,000 per month with dropshipping, fba, social media, whatever they are doing. Therefore I wanted to share a story with your guys how my product not only failed, but I lost a compete container worth of the product! So here is my story: When I first started my business I use to sell these Magnetic Drawing Boards. So these drawing boards have these little markers that you can use to stamp the board. I knew these were small parts and could be a risk. So after a bit of research I found out I had to put a warning label on the product, like this:
Luckily my supplier already had this warning on the packaging the product came in, so I should be good to go, right? So the product was selling fine, and I was in my 4th order. I could finally put in some decent orders ( around 5k units ), and things were looking great. It was at this order that my freight forwarder informed me that the container was being inspected. Now the real horror starts. After a couple weeks of waiting for the inspection to clear I received this letter Letter from the Customs border patrol:
THEY WERE TAKING MY WHOLE SHIPMENT!And here is why: The standard packaging the product came in had a picture of a kid that was clearly under 3 years old. How could I have been so stupid to miss this? I felt terrible and tried to argue with the customs for months that the product was for kids over 3 years. I even had the warning label on it and everything. No luck and I never received the order… I lost the complete shipment, containing 5000 of the drawing boards. Luckily by this time I had already made some profit on the previous orders and diversified into totally different products. This has 100% saved me. Because if this would have happend on my first order, I would have a different profession. [link] [comments]  |
| Am I making a mistake by getting an MBA? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 12:23 PM PDT My main reason to go to school is to build connections with people and be taken more seriously, also of course to get knowledge. I'm planning on taking loans. My entrepreneur friends are making me feel like this is a mistake. They say I'm wasting my time and money and that school is meant to create workers not business owners. Then I google for some advice and I find articles and YouTube videos with entrepreneurs bashing college. My other friends who have degrees say that my entrepreneur friends are suffering from survivorship bias. I'm conflicted here, what do you guys think? [link] [comments]  |
| Any new favorite optimization / productivity tips or hacks out there? Mine is Airplane Mode... Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:15 AM PDT I picked this awesome trick up when I was in an email and communication intensive job, but it works in so many different roles and just now started applying it again to my life as an entrepreneur. Basically, setting your devices to airplane mode (phone) and wifi off (computer) going to bed can do so many great things for you.
Does anyone else try this? Would love to hear other great hacks like this... [link] [comments]  |
| Would you want a subreddit that posts conversion-rate boosting tips everyday? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 03:28 AM PDT Hi Entrepreneurs of Reddit, I am a conversion-optimization specialist who has worked with big companies like a luxury-soap brand to increase their monthly net profits by $14.5K in 6 weeks. I have helped many struggling small-businesses become sustainable (like this subscription-box company I took from it getting 3 sales in whole month to getting $3600 monthly-revenue within 2 months). This is all possible by optimizing your website-experience to make it prospect-persuasive, guided by consumer-psychology insights. It includes aspects from landing-page design to copy-writing to technical issues (loading time etc.) to pricing strategies to offer-structure to CTA. I have helped in total, 70+ businesses thrust up their conversion-rate significantly. I shared some of the strategies in few posts here on this subreddit and they were received well with a lot of people messaging me asking questions about optimizing their landing-page. I replied to some and I couldn't to many others. I want to share these strategies to many entrepreneurs here who understand the value of optimizing their website-experience for getting higher conversion-rate. But I can't possibly put that much time in replying to every requestor that message me one-on-one. I even get people swearing at me for not replying to them after 5 days( lol, why do people feel entitled to get a reply as my time is my time). It's much more efficient for me to share these strategies (that takes less than an hour for me) in a separate subreddit that shares one post everyday with actionable conversion-boosting tips. These strategies will be commonly applicable to the core of many businesses and will be useful for entrepreneurs who take these conversion-boosting strategies and apply them to their website-funnel. So, I am asking if I were to create a subreddit where I post one actionable insight everyday that you can apply yourself on your website to boost your conversion-rate, would you be into it? Let me know if this is a good idea or not. EDIT: Looks like there are many people who want to have such a community. I've created it: r/conversionboosters [link] [comments]  |
| An HONEST review of my first year after quitting my 9-5.... Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:48 AM PDT It has officially been one year since I left my corporate job and transitioned to the world of self-employment. Made a video about the (my) REALITY of becoming an entrepreneur and how the first year has not gone according to plan. Sharing here for anyone struggling with their first few months of entrepreneurship. Sometimes I feel like there can be a false persona of "everything is great!!!" on social media, so thought I would share this to bring a bit more reality to light. Hope this helps anyone in the same boat! :) Here's to us still figuring it out. [link] [comments]  |
| How Do You Stay Productive When You Feel Like Literal Shit? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 09:38 AM PDT |
| Creating a resale business around your passion Posted: 31 Aug 2018 09:25 AM PDT Hey guys, I started off reselling when I was in high school and thought it was a fantastic introduction to building a company. I wanted to write down all of my thoughts and how I took it to the next level. I ended up making a service that is perfect for resellers and other ecommerce sellers alike. This is the guide I wrote on reselling. https://hackernoon.com/starting-a-resale-business-the-complete-guide-to-reselling-548b57c218c9 [link] [comments]  |
| Ways to get your products in buying/gift guide publications? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 02:53 PM PDT Every once in a while I notice that my small brand will get picked up various buying or gifting guides online. Sometimes with referral links to Amazon, sometimes linking back to my own site simply as content for the publication. I'd like to start reaching out to get picked up by more publications - has anyone had success with this in the past? Would love to understand some approaches that have worked for you in the past especially with the holiday season coming up. [link] [comments]  |
| Question about google ad Exchange offer...scam? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 02:40 PM PDT I have a website that gets a little over 15k pageviews a day. I'm currently earning around $10 a day on average with google adsense. Obviously I would love to make more but this is supplemental income so it doesn't have to be amazing and I believe the income is fine for the low paying (gaming) Niche. I have a discord server linked to my website and someone came in today pitching google adX ads and asked my daily traffic volume. I said I wasn't interested initially and didn't share my daily volume but then they were a bit pushy. I know nothing about this and don't want to mess up something I have working for me currently. I told them I would research it and get back with them monday... they were REALLY pushing this, which leads me to believe it's a scam. This was their pitch: "We are offering you Google AdX ads which is a premium version of Google Adsense. Our optimization experts are running top preferred deals in our account for almost all geos with 100% fill rate. CPM for US Traffic ranges below: Banner Ad is above $1 and goes upto $3 Outstream Video Ad is above $4 and goes upto $8 We strictly work on 80:20 rev share and maintain 100% transparency. You will be seeing daily Google raw reports in our Dashboard which no other ad network does. Looking forward to your positive revert for mutual interest." Does this sound legit? I did learn that google Ad Exchange is something that does exist and seems like a good thing. I'm a little out of my depth here and am hoping for some advice. Thanks a lot guys! [link] [comments]  |
| Why did you start your company? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 02:14 PM PDT Why did you buy your domain or wrote the first line of code? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:14 AM PDT |
| Creating a business could be the worst decision of your life. Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:22 PM PDT This is for anyone on the fence deciding whether or not they should take the leap. What have you done to be prepared as a business owner or entrepreneur? Thinking about quitting your job to pursue your dreams? Newsflash. Be prepared for the worst, because it'll happen. No one is immune to failure and only the market will dictate your success or failure. It happened to many entrepreneurs before you and history will repeat itself. This article is to provide you all the reasons on why you should not start a business. Really think about these points before you put your happiness, finances, and family on the line. Been there, done that (still doing that). Running any business takes a huge financial commitment. If you are looking for the cheapest designers to create your logo or you're looking to cut costs on your website development, running a business might not be for you. Quality is king in the business world. Your logo and website would be seen by potential customers, why would you cut costs there? If you walked into a store that is disorganized, what would you think? Investing into your business should be the number one priority, and it's easy to use money, but hard to gain. Have you ever fought about money with your friends, family, or significant other? When you're pouring 4,5,6 figures into a business putting your financial security on the line, someone will disapprove. Be prepared to invest into your dreams, but also be prepared for broken relationships. It happens all the time. Running any business takes a huge time commitment. And relationships will take a toll. I'm not even talking about your significant other. Friends and family will feel it as well. "Hey we got this party to attend tomorrow night, want in?" You want to, but you have that call with the supplier from China, or you need to respond to emails to close that wholesale deal, the list goes on and on. Some friends will view your absence as a sign that you don't want to hang out with them, some family members will think that they're not as special. They don't understand the sacrifice need, nor do you (if you're a first timer). Entrepreneurs escape the 40 hr work week so that they can work the 80 hr+ work week. Think of the business that you work for. How many employees do they have? They have someone for specific roles right? Accounting, HR, CEO, CMO, CFO, list goes on and on. Guess what? You're doing everything for your startup! It's not an easy task to do, but not impossible. You could lose it all. I'm not talking about just your business. You could lose your savings, your friends and family, your house, your whatever you own. Building a business is a gamble and it's not uncommon to hear people 6–7 figures in debt chasing their dream. You can't teach instincts on when to quit, and there may be never a good time to quit. Oh and if you have a business partner, good luck. Money changes people. "But I knew my business partner since we were 10." That's even more of a reason not to go into business. Unless there is some 6th sense type connection going on and you guys can function as a business and friends separately, it's guaranteed that the business will strain any relationship. You never truly know someone until you experience them at their lowest. Theft and shadey deals is a common occurrence in businesses. Just ask Eduardo Saverin what happened with Mark Zuckerberg over at Facebook, or Reggie Brown and Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy at Snapchat. Got it? If you're indecisive, run the other way. There are a lot of personality traits that are okay in business, being timid or shy can be completely fine as long as you're not indecisive. Business ideas and plans need to be flawlessly executed. Business does not wait for you to make up your mind. There will be many times you need to close the sale right then and there. You need to have a CEO mentality and be confident in your choices. I'm not saying you should make quick decisions, but you should stick to your guts and execute how you imagined it to. If you can't come to a conclusion by your self, no one will be there to guide you and make those tough calls for you. Everything falls on you. The customer is always right. Can you truly take constructive criticism and see a different perspective other than your own? You have to listen to your customers. Never be too prideful to listen to the needs of your customers. Make sure you put them on a pedestal because they will make or break your company. Word of mouth does travel, especially with social media. If they complain about something, make it right. That doesn't mean give money back, but make them feel like you care and that you understand. If you're too prideful, you won't make it. If you still see yourself building a business after reading this, I hope you make it. I really do. But, be prepared to fail. Always be the hardest on yourself and aim for perfection. You're now responsible for your own fate. Good luck, have fun. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 12:51 PM PDT Sorry if this is in the wrong place or not formatted properly for this sub - I'm still learning the best ways to maximize my posts and play by the rules. About five years ago I came across the concept of publishing ebooks on Amazon Kindle after working for a few years as a freelance writer. I paid for courses online and tried to soak up as much as I could. As I started, I kept hearing similar feedback that you have to put in your time and get a good foundation of books before you start making any money, which is what I did. I spent about 5 months publishing a catalog of roughly 300 short story books (i.e. Kindle minimum). The content was anything I thought would sell - from romance stories to instructional how-to's. I made one-off stories, 3-book series, 5-book sets, 10-book sets, etc. I saw some results, but nothing like what I was hearing with success stories (people claiming to make $30K/month, etc). At this point, I networked with a few people who gave me some insight into, what I best understood it as, something under the concept of "mirroring" my books. Basically what I was doing was taking my romance (this is what was selling best) short stories, bundling them together, changing a few details, and then re-uploading. I'm not sure if I understood this concept entirely, but I did start to see results in some ways. Not quite the $30K/month I was hearing online, but enough to see how ebook publishing was a feasible online venture that I could work at and earn from. However, the more I did this "mirroring" of books, I felt as though I was getting deeper and deeper into stuff that I didn't really feel was legitimate in many ways. I then got a few warnings from Amazon, so I knew I wasn't doing something right. At this point, I lost focus on publishing new books and was just living off the residuals of what I'd earned. With this post, I'm hoping to find someone who would be interested to partner/network/mentor/(or however you want to describe it) with me. I'm not sure if there is still money to be made in ebook publishing on Kindle. But if there is, I have a general idea of how it works, would like to work with you to keep one another accountable, and have the desire to give this effort at least one more try. We can be our own super-duo and it just takes one, so I hope at least there's someone out there who this post connects with. I'd also consider a legitimate group, but I've joined dozens of those and usually only see a lot of marketers and/or people that don't really match where I'm at in this process. If there is a secret group to join, I'd love to join and be as much of a contributor as I can. If nobody is making money on Kindle anymore, then maybe that is some useful insight I might need to hear, too. But right now I'm feeling quite lost and the S.O. is putting the pressure on me to turn things around, so I'm trying to exhaust all of my options before heading back abroad to teach English again. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| A supply chain acquisition question Posted: 31 Aug 2018 12:14 PM PDT Good afternoon, I'm not sure if this post is allowed. I wanted to know where entrepreneurs go and look or research for a supplier for their business. I'm with a battery solution company and was tasked to search for leads on how to expand our business. But, there doesn't seem to be a center point on getting your company's name and products out there. I do know there's trade shows, and that matters a lot when you're trying to establish a wide web over everything and everyone, and trying to get into the public eye. Any answers would be a great help, thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 12:05 PM PDT I have a relative that owns a printing and engraving business. One of their clients wants to do an engraved LCD brochure...basically a card with an LCD screen inside with video controls. The videos will be loaded by the company in China, but the printing and engraving will take place in the US. The tariff for the cards themselves is zero. My question is would they also need to use the HTS number for LCD screens? [link] [comments]  |
| Do I hire a developer or outsource? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 08:07 AM PDT Looking for a little guidance here - at what point do I hire a developer full time? I have a couple web projects on my list like a new client portal and another related website project. I need adobe automation scripting created. I need help developing a new database system to manage operations. I need web scraping done on a very closed system that cant be accessed remotely. Probably another 5 things and improvements to other systems. I would prefer to hire freelancers but I feel like some of these project will just be too hard to manage unless the person is here working directly with me. Never hired a developer full time before so this is new territory for me. [link] [comments]  |
| Recommendations for website development & design company Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:22 AM PDT It is an affiliate marketing website that needs the following
I'm pretty new to this web design and development space, but would greatly appreciate any recommendations for a firm, company, or individual who has created a website for them. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:03 AM PDT Hello! I'm looking to set up a new firm for exporting fruits, especially exotic chillies. I'm based in Nagaland, India, where the famous Bhut Jolokia and Naga Viper grow natively, and want to export them. Is there anything a person wanting to start an international exporting firm should know? I'm just starting out, so all I know about is that I need to register the firm first, and obtain an import-export license. What else will I be needing? Also, looking to get in touch with people who want supplies of those exotic chillies. Let me know! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:02 AM PDT I have a few business ideas but I don't want to go in blind... well because that's just dumb. There are so many resources online and it's hard to call out what's bs and what's not without much experience. To all the experienced entrepreneurs out there, what is a good resource to utilize so that I can construct a solid and flexible business plan which can have all of my bases covered? Again this is mostly regarding online based business models where I provide a product or a service. I'm looking to learn all aspects of the business. I don't mind getting into the nitty gritty - in fact that's what I'm looking for. General ideas are nice and all but I need to go from idea to successful execution! Types of businesses in mind:
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| Any ideas on how to sell a product to local businesses? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 11:00 AM PDT Greetings Entrepreneur, I have a large amount of a product that I have had some success selling to individual customers. I'm now at the stage where I have confidence there's a good market for my product but I would like to pursue a more Business to Business model as I believe it would yield me higher profit margins. If it matters, my ideal niche market are businesses that primarily deal with back problems (i.e physical rehabilitation, fitness centers, etc.) Does anyone have experience in entering this business model from where I am? (Selling directly to the customer). Any resources or suggestions to successfully market to businesses would be greatly appreciated. I don't have reddit gold but I'd be willing to send a free sample of my product to really stellar responses. Thanks again everyone. [link] [comments]  |
| Questions about contracting internationally Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:49 AM PDT I'm starting a service based business. I am wondering if anyone here can point me towards information on ability to take contracts internationally? I know many people do via upwork, fiver etc type services, but what about bigger contracts (assume 10k plus)? Are there tax implications? Do I have to incorporate in each region I plan to do work? If it matters, I can legally set up corporations in Canada, Turkey, Iran and UK. I am likely to partner with someone who can set up in the EU and UAE. These would be our potential target markets. But does any of this matter or can we for example just set up in UAE, take contracts everywhere? Thanks in advance [link] [comments]  |
| How do i revitalize my gaming website?? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:42 AM PDT I have had my gaming site for almost four years now and i have had my ups and downs with it, only having one good year during that time. I have taken breaks here and there since i no longer have a team to help with the site but i want to get back into it and work on it by myself and see if i can finally make it successful and profitable. I don't know if the same SEO tactics still apply since i have not worked on the site in so long and it seems that content marketing has changed as well. So my brain is stuck in the mud on trying to figure out what to do at the moment, do you guys have any ideas? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:26 AM PDT |
| Which online services/products have you paid for in the last 12 months? Posted: 31 Aug 2018 10:17 AM PDT |
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