IAMA(n) owner of a private tutoring and college counseling business in the Bay Area, here to share my experience building a small, low-cost service business. AMA! Entrepreneur |
- IAMA(n) owner of a private tutoring and college counseling business in the Bay Area, here to share my experience building a small, low-cost service business. AMA!
- We're CardFellow and we help businesses avoid getting burned by credit card processors. AMA!
- 6 rules that saved my start up A LOT of money
- How did you find your co-founder(s)?
- Started reading "The $100 Startup" seems good so far. Does anyone have a critique of this book?
- Software/firmware development company owners, on business expansion and overhead costs, any tips?
- Advice for a lonely wantrepreneur
- How to protect my product ideas from Alibaba suppliers?
- What You Should Consider When Starting A Cleaning Business
- Is it common or ok to have one bank account for two different business? Or should/must I have a bank account for each unrelated business?
- Opportunity to Flip Some Portable AC Units
- What is the best way to pursue an idea while working for a company?
- Quitting my job
- Mexico Ecommerce
- Am I being unfair to my guitar lessons student with this pricing proposal? Feeling anxious, need advice :(
- Brand vs. Personal Brand - need some help/feedback
- Help me flesh out an idea about photography?
- What to spend/invest money into before tax year ends?
- Need advice on getting my brand of food product into stores like whole foods or sprouts farmers market
- Like Poshmark, but specifically for baby items.
- The Dark Side of the Entrepreneur
- Anyone with experience using affiliate links to promote their business?
- Lisbon based developer seeking co-founder with development, business, or marketing experience
- How to Promote Products You’re Proud of without Being Sleazy
- Would You Recommend Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss?
- Where to seek for technical and economical guidance?
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 10:59 AM PDT Edit: Looks like this hasn't been the most bumping AMA. Leave your questions and I'll answer them tonight or whenever I can! <!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Hi everyone. So this is the second AMA I've hosted on this subreddit. I'm back to provide a kind of update post from the first, which I wrote about nine months ago. Since then, a lot has changed. I wanted to come onto the sub to both share my experiences about growth and answer any questions related to service businesses that you might have.</p> <p>I wrote a fairly extensive bio in <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/78lz3g/iama_we_are_two_24_year_olds_in_the_sf_bay_who/">this post</a>, so go ahead and check that out if you're curious.</p> <p>To give some background about my business, I run a tutoring company called North Coast Prep (<a href="https://www.northcoastprep.com">link</a>) . We provide test prep tutoring, college counseling, and general academic tutoring to a niche group of students in fairly affluent families. To stay balanced, we also provide free test prep services for some students in our area and in local high schools.</p> <p>We've built this business from nada to a solid yearly earning over the last two years, and it's been quite a ride. Navigating the local landscape requires a lot of get up and go, which I think can be lost sometimes in this sub's big focus on remote businesses. We've learned this through a frustrating (yet enlightening) process of trial and error. We've tried out so many marketing strategies, and are finally receiving the real traction we've been after.</p> <p>Question topics that I can (try to) answer:</p> <ol> <li>How to start a tutoring business if you're looking to get into the fast-growing field of education</li> <li>What it's like to be a (nearly) full-time tutor (scheduling, typical day, working with clients)</li> <li>How to grow local awareness and "get traction" for your local business</li> <li>The logic of price-setting</li> <li>How to network on a local level, especially re educational businesses</li> <li>The importance of having a social message when working at the level of the community.</li> </ol> <p>As always, however, I'm happy to answer questions about everything! :D</p> <p><strong>Edit</strong>: While I'm here, I'm going to throw a link to a subreddit I started that I'm trying to grow. It's for the sub-set of <a href="/r/Entrepreneur">r/Entrepreneur</a> patrons who are already in the educational field and want to find their tribe: <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Tutorpreneurs/">https://www.reddit.com/r/Tutorpreneurs/</a></p> <p><strong>Double-edit</strong>: Yes, I know my website is slow. I'm too much of a noob to make it any faster.</p> [link] [comments]  |
| We're CardFellow and we help businesses avoid getting burned by credit card processors. AMA! Posted: 06 Sep 2018 07:58 AM PDT Back in the mid-2000s, while working on the salesfloor at a merchant services company in Connecticut, Ben Dwyer started writing a blog about credit card processing. His goal was to help businesses cut through the sales spin and misleading info that was so rampant. Soon after, business owners started contacting him, asking for help choosing a processor. When Ben's boss got wind of the blog, Ben had a choice: end the blog, or cut ties with his employer. He chose the latter, and CardFellow was born. Today, more than a decade later, CardFellow still maintains a blog chock-full of educational information for those who want to learn about processing or need the latest industry news. But the site grew from Ben's original blog to also include a quote marketplace where business owners can quickly and privately compare real pricing from multiple companies. We're essentially a processor watchdog and business advocate. We give businesses the real scoop so they can avoid the pitfalls of choosing the wrong processing solution. Ask us anything! Edit: That's all for us today! Thanks for the great questions. [link] [comments]  |
| 6 rules that saved my start up A LOT of money Posted: 06 Sep 2018 05:13 AM PDT Hi, At my start up Motivate App we have a pretty lean team with a tight budget. Therefore, although we try to fail fast, we found these things to be essential to staying the course. Communicate with everyone. Employees. Customers. Investors. All the time. Every day. On a few occasions we even tracked down people that bashed our product and offered them free stuff to talk to us. Weirdly enough we got some great insights that made our product better. No friction. The harder it is for a consumer to sign up, the less consumers you will have. No confirmation emails, sign up forms, etc. The easier the better. MVP. Have no fear of perfection, for you'll never reach it. Ever. Your product will never truly be ready or perfect. However, those that spend 5 years working on a "perfect" product often find out that it was perfect.... but only for them. You could've saved 4 years if you just tested it. Our app started off with 4 black and white audio tracks. No videos, no playlists, nothing. However, it got a few hundred downloads and 30 reviews with people giving feedback. That's why the team kept going. If it wasn't for that the product would've been scrapped ( or at lasted pivoted) a while ago. Sleep. If you want to "grind" all day you better get at least 8 hours or face inevitable burnout. Elon Musk once said that having a start up is like staring into the abyss and eating glass. That glass gets a lot sharper when you're running on no sleep. Trust me. Don't be greedy, but don't price too low. Always test. If your product is good and you price it cheap, people will buy. Then you can price upgrades, future products, and future services more expensive. Which goes along with the next rule. Hitting the sweet spot is nothing short of having a magic 8 ball, so come out with a price and adjust from there. However, just remember it's always easier to price higher and go down then price lower and go up. Think Fast. Hire Slow. If Jim's aunt died, cat got sick, and he missed the deadline (all in the same week) because his internet was down, Jim has to go. Things definitely come up, but when you hired someone and were super excited and then notice that you clearly got catfished, cut ties early. Some may argue you risk high turnover, but in my experience this helps a lot more than it hurts. When people start new jobs they want to prove themselves and show what they're worth (at least ones that actually came there to work). If them trying is not apparent or they just don't have the skills you thought they did, it doesn't matter who's fault it is that they are there in the first place, it's your fault they are there now. [link] [comments]  |
| How did you find your co-founder(s)? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 01:44 PM PDT Building a start up with someone else feels like a really big commitment. For entrepreneurs that were part of a multi-founder team: * Where did you find your co-founders? * How did you know you could trust them enough to build a business together? * How did you split roles as you were building? * How did you split the company? Any hard feelings in hindsight? And of course: How did it end up working out? [link] [comments]  |
| Started reading "The $100 Startup" seems good so far. Does anyone have a critique of this book? Posted: 05 Sep 2018 08:56 PM PDT |
| Software/firmware development company owners, on business expansion and overhead costs, any tips? Posted: 05 Sep 2018 09:16 PM PDT I own a tiny software(web, desktop, mobile)/firmware development company and we are now nearing full capacity in handling client projects. We've decided to expand and is in the process of adding another employee to our team. With our current workload we should be able to handle the overhead costs for an additional employee but I'm a bit worried during lean times(e.g., when client projects are already done, no new leads, etc.). The obvious solution to this would be to hustle and start getting more clients/projects but would like to know from other owners that were in a similar situation before on how they approach such situation. Thanks! [Edit] Some response points to outsourcing work to another company. I forgot to mention we are based outside US and our project fees are in general lower so I'm not sure if outsourcing work will be profitable anymore. [link] [comments]  |
| Advice for a lonely wantrepreneur Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:14 PM PDT Hi guys. I like entrepreneurship but going it alone makes it hard to even start. I give up before I get to something sellable. How do I find someone else who wants to start a business from ground zero and keep committed to it? Preferably local, I'm in a US city. I don't really care what it is or if it succeeds. I'd be proud just to say I took something all the way and then watched it fail spectacularly, but not for lack of trying. [link] [comments]  |
| How to protect my product ideas from Alibaba suppliers? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 01:18 AM PDT Hey Everyone, I am in the early stages of starting my amazon fba business and I am currently in the process of contacting multiple suppliers on Alibaba. The one thing I am having trouble with is knowing how to present a product idea to suppliers without the risk of them stealing my ideas. I went out of my way to file for a provisional patent for my idea, but I am not sure if that is enough to prevent them from re-selling my product. I was hoping to gain some insight on how I should approach suppliers with my product concept and what type of information I should and shouldn't be sharing. Also, I do have a 3D model of my product idea, but how do I determine which suppliers are trustworthy and would it also be wise to watermark the images? I would really appreciate everyone's help on this matter Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| What You Should Consider When Starting A Cleaning Business Posted: 06 Sep 2018 02:40 PM PDT Imagine being your own boss, setting your own rules, and making all of the major decisions that go into running a company. These are just a handful of the benefits that come along with starting a cleaning business. A great deal of hard work, time, responsibility, and preparation are required to make anew cleaning business endeavor successful, but for many individuals, the risk is well worth the reward. There are several factors that go into the development of a profitable cleaning business. Initially, the needs of a brand new company may seem overwhelming, but with determination and organization, you'll be well on your way to accomplishing your goals. WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN STARTING A CLEANING BUSINESS:What types of cleaning services will you be offering?Cleaning services vary, so start off by offering what you can handle confidently, (you can always add services later on). Compared to a maid service, janitorial business will have higher labor costs and require more employees right off the bat. Cleaning business owners often choose to start off by offering maid services because employees aren't absolutely necessary. You can begin by cleaning homes by yourself, then hiring staff when your client base increases. How will you gather start-up funds for your business?As with any business, funds will be required to starting a cleaning business. Equipment, cleaning products, and labor are a few of the main expenses you'll face as a business owner. If you haven't saved up personal resources to cover these costs, you can turn to small business loans or work on acquiring investors. What will you charge for your services and how will you bill your clients?Setting prices for your services and managing client billing can seem daunting when you are starting a cleaning business. Consider invoice and estimate software to streamline the billing process and keep client information organized right from the start. Prices should vary based on square footage, the number of rooms, windows, etc., but getting the software to do the calculations for you saves time and minimizes mistakes. Bidding and cost estimate software also makes it simple to keep prices consistent across all jobs. How will you market your business and facilitate growth?Marketing is important to spread the word about your business and score those first few clients. Especially when your janitorial business is just starting out, it's crucial to make a great impression and build a reputation for professionalism. Word of mouth spreads quickly, so work on obtaining references and testimonials right from the start. Developing a recognizable brand for your janitorial or home cleaning business will help you acquire customers over time. Start a website so that potential clients can easily find your contact information and learn more about the business. When you're starting a cleaning business, focus and organization are key. With thorough preparation and a clear idea of what services you can provide to consumers, you have a great shot at becoming a successful cleaning business owner. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 07:04 AM PDT I am opening my seccond business and I am wondering if it is necessary or worth open a second bank account for the seccond business, or if it is ok to use a single bank account for two unrelated business. [link] [comments]  |
| Opportunity to Flip Some Portable AC Units Posted: 06 Sep 2018 02:32 PM PDT Hi all, A company I work with sells portable air conditioners on Amazon and they send a lot of their returns to my office. If you've never returned something on Amazon ,they are ridiculously lenient on their return policy, so some of these have never even been opened. They just can't be sold again as new on Amazon. They retail for $300 and are currently wrapped and palletized. I've sold a few on Facebook Marketplace but the process is slow and is not worth my time. If you know of someone who would be interested in purchasing some portable ACs in bulk (more than 10pcs at once) send a PM my way. Might be a good opportunity for someone who is looking to make a few extra bucks flipping products. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What is the best way to pursue an idea while working for a company? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 02:13 PM PDT I have an idea for a product but would like some advice on how to approach pursuing it while working for a company. I work in a different industry but I will use the automotive industry as an example: Let's say that I work for Toyota as a salesperson. I am treated very well, I love my job, well compensated, the culture is great, and I like my colleagues. I have an idea for a new, more environmentally friendly, more efficient biofuel that will work in any car. The biofuel is a waste product that is not used by any other industry. I have already tested the new fuel and know it works. However, I do not know if it will scale, if there are any unforeseen limitations, etc. My employer does not produce any fuel whatsoever, they only manufacture cars. The way I see it I have two option:
As a side note, I am not worried about my employer stealing the idea. Does anyone have any experience with this? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 01:04 PM PDT I plan to quit my job to focus on building my brand... I want to give it 100% of my time and effort.. lets just hope all goes well. I will be driving uber in order to make money to pay my bills every once in a while in the meantime.. Did anyone quit their job to focus on building their business? If so, how did it go? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 09:15 AM PDT Has anyone had success specifically targeting the Mexican ecommerce market? Or have any sources on how to get into that market? They have a growing middle class and increasing internet market but I can't find much information on it. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT So I've never really dealt with a situation like this in my last 3 years of teaching, but a client asked me to do lessons at their house instead of mine. This is a very valuable client that in the past (not so much anymore) booked as many as 4 hours a week. Also, the family is very rich. My rate that I set with them at the time was $45/hr Canadian and for the past few years they've been coming to me where I'd teach their son at my studio. About a year ago they moved, and the ride became 20 mins one way. They had been asking me for the last few months to do lessons at their house, to which I've responded with either no's or vague answers. To brake it down - to get to them I'd spend about 40 mins in travel (both ways) which I value at $30 as well as about 8 dollars worth of gas. So to teach an hour class, I'd have to spend 1hr and 40 mins. I proposed a $40 flat fee to come to their house, which to me is fair because I could be teaching another student during that time, and it doesn't matter to me if I'm teaching or driving - its still my time that I could as "working as a guitar teacher". Also, I never came to anyones house before, and had lessons strictly in my studio, this is a unique case. Is this my logic justified? Should I have settled for a lower rate to preserve the relationship? Also, I'm teaching about 13 hours a week right now, all at a $50+/hr rates, and this client accounts for about 2 hours a week. Let me know your thoughts, thank you!! [link] [comments]  |
| Brand vs. Personal Brand - need some help/feedback Posted: 06 Sep 2018 01:00 PM PDT Hey guys, So I've been developing a music related instructional site/course based on my 20+ years experience in the music industry. Where I am hung up is developing a business model around a brand name or my personal brand. For example, should my website and all social channels be branded, or just be my name? A combo of both, The reason I am hung up here is that my long term goal is to expand my personal brand that applies to more than just music. Sure, I could migrate my future audience, but is this the way to go? Any feedback or guidance is MUCH appreciated!! [link] [comments]  |
| Help me flesh out an idea about photography? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:55 PM PDT There's nothing proprietary about this, so there's no point in being secretive. I'm running a photo studio that does weddings and portraiture. In my fourth year of business, my profits are about $75k (I'm not paying myself, so that's essentially my salary). It's doing well, especially among average photographers. But it's not a business, it's a job. Purchasing photography is difficult for the client. They may not know what they want, other than pretty photos. My photos are good, but your lay person who is my customer won't know the difference between a good photo and great photo. I don't think I have a competitive advantage here. Getting to my point: I'm thinking of changing my business model from a service (hire me for photos) to a hybrid product. It removes me from the equation, so I could hire photographers in my stead and turn it into a business. The hybrid product is being very specific on my photography service. Instead of selling a portrait session and the option to purchase prints, I will sell an album. This album costs $x. It includes all the photography to fill it. Or selling a 20x30 canvas. It comes with the photography. My clients would come in and buy for the final product instead of it being nebulous. I would do the same for weddings. Instead of purchasing a package that includes 8 hours, two photographers, and digital images, I'd sell a premium album for $x. This includes bride/groom getting ready, ceremony, reception, cake cutting, etc. So my clients don't need to worry about how many hours or how many photographers they want. I'd also sell an elopement album which is much cheaper and would only cover ceremony and formal photos. There would be plenty of options for upselling for Wall prints, etc. I'm still trying to flesh out this idea. I see the advantage over competing on price as it takes any service fee out of the equation. Any other advantages/disadvantages about trying this route? Edit: sorry this isn't about drop shipping or saas. My industry isn't as glamorous. [link] [comments]  |
| What to spend/invest money into before tax year ends? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:47 PM PDT Guys hi, We have C Corp, and end of tax year is approaching for us. We have 70K in bank, i wonder is there a legal way to save this money from taxes? We are ecommerce selling services, so we can't really put them into inventory. We will be starting big project in Feb 2019, so will need all this money, but at the moment we don't have way to spend it. Please advise. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:44 PM PDT Hi everyone, long time lurker but first time posting I'm a new entrepreneur with very little knowledge on how to get my brand product on the shelves, are there other food entrepreneurs that can give me advice? The product itself is a sugar alternative thats already being carried in stores but my product is definitely healthier, higher quality and more eco-friendly/sustainable, and most importantly, tastes good, its honestly not an exciting product but I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel, it's a solid, trustworthy food product Also, are farmers markets and online farmers markets a good place to sell or market my product? [link] [comments]  |
| Like Poshmark, but specifically for baby items. Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:42 PM PDT So I was noticing that there's not really a place to consign just baby items online. I know Poshmark does allow baby clothes, but as I mom, I feel like it would be great to have somewhere to buy and sell used baby stuff consignment style online. Does this sound like it could work, and if so, how could I go about starting it myself? Edit: So there are a few, but I had never heard of them til now because there's no advertising. How could I do it and make it popular? [link] [comments]  |
| The Dark Side of the Entrepreneur Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:38 PM PDT Greeting, fellow entrepreneur here, however, I'm working on a project. A project on the darker side of the entrepreneur Movement'. Basically the trash. -The "make money from home" Facebook posts from people only in the business for >3months. -The "entrepreneur accounts that post flashy cars and call themselves entrepreneurs and claim they give help. (Hit them up, they acknowledge your predicament and then go on to sell you bit coins) There are many you can come up with as well. These are the type of people that when I ask if I can help them with anything or ask about they're creations. They block me. This is trash. And also, for those of you creators and inventors and people who really carve their own path like myself. There is a darker side to us as well. Let's discuss both of these. It's time we work on our flaws fellas [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone with experience using affiliate links to promote their business? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:34 PM PDT I reached out to a popular industry blog and they said that they'd like to do an affiliate link. I asked them what % they were looking to get and they said they were doing 10% with two of my competitors.
[link] [comments]  |
| Lisbon based developer seeking co-founder with development, business, or marketing experience Posted: 06 Sep 2018 12:19 PM PDT Hey there! As the title says, I'm a developer looking for someone to partner up with and work on cool things. I'm looking for either other developers or people with business or marketing experience, as that's mostly what I'm lacking. I also don't have a lot of great startup ideas, so I'm going to need some help finding problems to solve! You can learn more about me by checking out my toptal resume. You can also check my github profile. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| How to Promote Products You’re Proud of without Being Sleazy Posted: 06 Sep 2018 08:32 AM PDT Promoting products and services online is a great way to earn money. There are many different products and services out there to promote, and along the way you'll likely create your own. Chose top notch products, use them first, and be honest about them. When you create something of your own, make it the best you are capable of making it. As long as you are completely honest about the products and services you promote, you should not have any issues with product promotion. Create Top Notch Products Anything you do starts with the products that you create. If your product is not top notch you will feel bad about trying to get people to buy it because you will not feel honest or good about it. Instead of doing that, create a real honest to goodness product or service that solves problems for your audience in a way that no one else can. If you do that you're going to feel great about promoting it to others in multiple ways, because you'll be proud of it. Find & Use Other Peoples Products Prior to Promotion If you promote other people's products or services, it's important to try out at least a few of the products and services put out by that business. The reason is that unless you try it out you will have no idea whether the products are as good as they say they are. More than likely if you try a couple and they are of high quality you can be safe to promote the other products and / or services from that business. The truth is you're just going to feel better if you know what the products are like before you promote them. Be Honest About Every Product If you are always honest about every product or service that you promote, focusing on the problems it solves for your audience you'll never go wrong. The blog posts you write, the sales pages that you create, everything is designed to promote the solutions the product provides. If you can remember to focus on solutions, you'll write honest promotional materials about each product or service and feel good about it. Under Promise and Over Deliver TV advertising often focuses on something called "puffery" and that is actually an acceptable thing to do in advertising. "This is The BEST Widget you'll Ever Need" this is puffery. You really don't know if it's the best widget but you say that because right now you believe it to be true. Lying would be something like, "You'll Lose 100 lbs. in 1 Month" using our product. You know that's impossible so to say so would be lying. Instead, create marketing and advertising that tells the truth about your product or service so that when they receive it, they're blown away by how awesome it is. Creating and promoting products and services that you know to be effective will not require you to do anything sleazy. In fact, when you know about products that can help your audience, not promoting them would be much worse. [link] [comments]  |
| Would You Recommend Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 06:06 AM PDT Yo, Seen this book recommended a few times on how to position and sell oneself as a hyper niche and high value consultant. I'm a dude who makes money using words (ghostwriting, copywriting etc.). A month ago an opportunity came my way, for someone who wanted me to do a job which was 10x what I would usually make. Unfortunately I lost the sale at the last minute, but it tells me there are other customers out there who have that budget for the kind of work I do. So looking to see if I can duplicate that customer. Would Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss help me with that? Or would it be a waste of time? [link] [comments]  |
| Where to seek for technical and economical guidance? Posted: 06 Sep 2018 11:08 AM PDT For the past months i built a website / web app which i want to release in the app stores soon. However this is the first time for me. There are several options to promote an app these days but i just don't know which way to go - where to invest smart. Because i think that my app could perform quite well and has a lot of potential i want to do this right. What i need right now would be someone who has successfully released an app with 250k+ downloads or works in the industry and has a lot of experience to look at my project and give me his opinion and some advice which steps i should take right now. Furthermore i am looking for some expertise in:
I'd be very thankful for some suggestions where to look for an professional/experienced person that i willing to look at my project. [link] [comments]  |
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