Promote your business, week of December 31, 2018 small business |
- Promote your business, week of December 31, 2018
- Good luck in 2019 from a regular lurker
- Who Manages Your Business Finances?
- Need some guidance/advice on my small clothing brand
- TAG Management LLC - 25% Discount - New Year Eve
- Recommendations for building a low-cost online store?
- For service based businesses, what has been a marketing/advertising tactic you've used to get more local leads that has worked well for your business? Outside of Google AdWords and Angie's List.
- A little legal advice on eviction
- WordPress website users, what checkout system/plugins do you use?
- We have one customer who wants to make one payment by credit card. Are there credit card processors for a one time transaction?
- Accounting/LLC Advice Needed
- Publication Laws / NY State LLC
- Bench for Bookkeeping?
- Does anybody have any experience using either Wave or Quickbooks (2019)?
- Shipping for perishable items
- Tips to increase revenue for Liquor Store
- Filing for a trademark, someone else "has" the name in different state(USA).
- Very small rental business?
- Any advice on a way I can help expand my fathers and my bulk vending machine company? (Toy capsules, gum ball machines, and cranes)
- Looking for advice on POS Systems
- Take part in this study: The Digital Economy: Opportunities for SME's & Family Businesses
- Death of member of LLC
| Promote your business, week of December 31, 2018 Posted: 30 Dec 2018 06:54 PM PST Post business promotion messages here including special offers especially if you cater to small business. Note: To prevent your messages from being flagged by the autofilter, don't use shortened URLs. [link] [comments]  |
| Good luck in 2019 from a regular lurker Posted: 30 Dec 2018 10:23 AM PST 2018 has been an amazing year for my small business. My wife and I are 100% self employed now and this year we hit 'job replacement' totals for what we made in our previous soul sucking manufacturing management jobs. If you have also had an awesome 2018, keep it up! I have a good feeling about 2019, and not just for me, but for anyone out there putting in the work. Our theme this year is organization and systematization. We have a proven business plan that is profitable in its second year in a medium sized market with some stiff competition. So 2019 is the time to get all the kinks out so the thing can start running itself. With any luck we might even hire our first few full time employees when we hit the holiday rush. If 2018 was a hard grind, don't let it grind you up. 2017 was pretty brutal for us. Sudden permanent lay off for my wife (and about 30 of her middle-upper management peers) at the beginning of the year, right in the middle of month 6 of me bootstrapping our new business without even having my first customer and not evening having the website launched. This is also with me not even being 'fully employed'. I had walked away from my career in 2016 after a long and horrible burnout (7 days a week, 10-14 hours a day, 11 months in a row...) by telling my boss to take his brand new Dodge 4x4 HD and shove it up his ass. Basically my biggest assignment with the most experience managing a fabrication shop came with zero references... We had been feeding ourselves and paying our bills on her salary and my side gigs on the weekends. So there we were, no real jobs in a jobs market with about 40 other people just like us looking for work, a few hundred bucks in savings, about half the equipment we needed, and a really laughable severance package from her former employer that was just barely enough for us to be convinced to sign the NDA and Release of Liability. We were terrified. Now its December 30th, 2018 and here we are. Profit. Glory. Life hacks. One weird trick. Fake it till you make it. Work harder than your competition. Growth hacking... All that stuff you read about on other subs and think "This guy is full of shit, here comes the sales pitch." No sales pitch. Good luck, and thanks for the awesome sub. [link] [comments]  |
| Who Manages Your Business Finances? Posted: 30 Dec 2018 07:38 AM PST Hello, Small Business Community, I am hoping to gain some insights from small business owners (<$5MM/yr in revenue) as I am considering leaving my finance role WITH a small business to consult FOR small businesses. TL;DR Below. Disclaimer: This is NOT a solicitation for my services. I am seeing if this is something where I would be able to have 4-6 steady clients down the road and seeking advice, even if it is "Many people offer these services for cheaper" or "Most small biz owners have this knowledge". I would be doing this solely on my own, not hiring other consultants and starting a firm. I have been the controller of a small business for some time (Roughly $2MM Revenue annually). When I started, there was virtually no bookkeeping process and there were a lot of errors (lack of reconciling, bookkeeping errors and incorrect accounting, etc) that took a substantial amount of time to clean up. In just a short period of time, I was able to:
I could go on. I feel as though I accomplished quite a lot. One of the reasons I was able to succeed is that my boss (the owner) is an expert at "the business" itself and has NO financial sense whatsoever. I was able to work, on my own, to fix past errors and put together processes that will be around long after I leave. Unfortunately, I am at the point where the ship has been "righted" and much of the debt has been paid down, thanks to proper budgeting. I say unfortunately because it has been expressed to me that I could be replaced by a much cheaper bookkeeper. Perhaps this is my fault for not demonstrating my own value. I think the accounting and finance part of the business is doing so well, my boss thinks if I leave, it will stay that way. The way I see it, there may be quite a few small businesses out there where the owner is REALLY good at one thing: (Catering? Event Planning?) But not so good at running a business financially. Is there a market for someone such as myself to work as a part time CFO (possibly overseeing a bookkeeper) but also provides bigger picture month end close, reconciling, budgeting and analysis? Is this already a thing that is quite common? I have head of companies charging a retainer or a % of revenue for this, but I was thinking something more like a flat hourly rate, something like 20-30 hours per month. While I'm not opposed to moving on to a larger firm with more responsibilities, I have thought about the possibility of consulting for other small businesses like this one with the thought that, as far as hourly rates go, I would be making more money. I would market myself as being able to do any of the following: " Short term guidance: "righting the ship" and putting forth a plan and process so that someone else could handle day to day bookkeeping and accounting. " Long term but part time CFO: handling the bigger picture (month close, producing financials with analysis and budgeting forecasting the future. Anywhere from 10-50 hours/ month " Business Startup: helping with the licensing/ regularity/ paperwork/ banking and other startup financial tasks Summary, TL;DR: I am a controller for a small business wanting to know from small business owners: (A) Do you see a value in a part time/ hourly consultant acting as a Controller/ CFO? (B) Is this something that is common or commonly offered? Do you do the financial management yourself? (C) Are there any other financial issues (other than raising Capital) that you need help with? Thanks for your feedback. [link] [comments]  |
| Need some guidance/advice on my small clothing brand Posted: 31 Dec 2018 03:23 AM PST Hi all, I recently decided to start a small t-shirt label called kiwinaut, www.kiwinaut.nz. My idea behind it was to create a quirky New Zealand t-shirt brand with the potential to branch out into other areas (a kids cartoon book series came to mind as something for down the line depending on its success). I decided on dropshipping via a New Zealand company as a way of testing the waters without spending too much money. Due to the wholesale cost of the shirt plus shipping, I would make around $8 per shirt. I thought adding more of a markup may put people off purchasing. I've currently got 4 designs on three different shirt styles for men and women. I also have kids shirts. I'm in the process of starting to try and market this (I haven't had a sale yet at the time of posting this). I knew initially making a country specific "brand" would limit my target audience, but my love for the idea outweighed the risk of failing (as good or bad as that may be). I'm hesitant to spent lots of money on ads initially, especially on Instagram and Facebook, as the amount I get per shirt may not even cover the cost of the advertisements, especially if they don't generate any sales. I was also considering trying to use Instagram influencers in New Zealand, however in order for them to wear the product, I would have to buy a shirt for them, and pay their fee if they have one. Overall I feel like at present I would be spending more money on marketing than what I would actually make in profit. I know any investment in business is a risk. My question is two fold. Is dropshipping a good way to begin something like this and should I stick it out? And is there another type of product/service I could create under Kiwinaut that may grab more attention than a simple shirt? Or is the name itself part of the problem? Any advice would be great! [link] [comments]  |
| TAG Management LLC - 25% Discount - New Year Eve Posted: 31 Dec 2018 02:39 AM PST Hi We are design agency and are celebrating New Year with high spirits with a discount of 25% on any project related to Logo Designing, Graphic Designing or Website Development. You will get excellent work quality, quick turnaround time and original source files. Visit our Site and Chat to discuss your requirements. https://tagmanagement.us Thanks TAG Management LLC [link] [comments]  |
| Recommendations for building a low-cost online store? Posted: 30 Dec 2018 11:13 PM PST I'm helping a website out with their web design. They sell small accessory items, worth maybe $30 at most. So they would need some sort of system that allows adding items to a cart, to get the minimum price over $30. $2 orders are not worth it for them. Right now they're paying for a domain name. and a host with unlimited bandwidth and 1 GB of disk space. Anyway, their current credit card processor would require them to redesign the whole entire website with one of their designers, and that isn't cost effective (a few thousand dollars just to incorporate online shopping). So we are looking for alternatives. I've been thinking I could host a subdomain on their server, but I'm not sure how safe you can be having a store using a CPanel server? I am not sure about the liability risks if something goes wrong or what could possibly go wrong if we host a store. TLDR; We're looking for a very cheap alternative store site builder that allows a shopping cart. Whether self-hosted (if guaranteed to be safe), or through another service if very inexpensive. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 06:05 AM PST |
| A little legal advice on eviction Posted: 30 Dec 2018 09:52 PM PST I'm trying to have a community business . I took on partners that I'm not getting along with. Everything is in my name, I don't have a sublease. I tried to sublease to them but they've refused to sign one. I stupidly let them move in without one. I'd really like them evicted, just don't know how to go about it. It's commercial property. They are being hostile and I'm scared they will turn violent. I'd like to get them out the fastest way possible. Trying not to leave many details to avoid recognition. Pretty much we agreed to work alongside each other but they will no longer work with me, will not cooperate, and are making it as difficult as they can for me all around. I'd really just like them gone quickly. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| WordPress website users, what checkout system/plugins do you use? Posted: 30 Dec 2018 06:51 PM PST Hey guys. So I have a small business I am starting up and my website runs on WordPress. I currently have WooCommerce installed, although I am finding that it is a bit more complicated than I would like. I suppose that could be a bit connected to my theme (Uncode) but I am not quite sure. The thing with my business is that I have custom orders, and I will also have orders where people will pick a prebuilt system and order it. I want both these checkouts/invoices to go through the same system. Whether I manually invoice the customer, or whether I get the order through a checkout system. Should I be using another app and connecting it to WordPress? Do you guys use WooCommerce? What do you recommend? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 05:42 PM PST My business isn't set up with merchant services since all of our customers pay by check or ACH. However, one customer wants to pay by credit card and is willing to pay the processing fee. It will be a one time payment for a large amount (over USD1,000) but otherwise low risk. Are there any options out there that will process just one credit card payment for a reasonable fee (say, <3%) without getting set up in a long term merchant services contract? It would be one and done. Does this exist? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 05:41 PM PST I am one of 3 partners of a NJ LLC, filing as an S Corp. We have 5 retail stores, all under the same Tax ID, but each with its own suffix for state tax purposes. We are now getting into wholesaling and distributing, as well as starting an online store. We are unsure if we should completely separate these new areas of income into a brand new LLC or just keep them under the current one. Could anyone please shed some light on the pros and cons of each choice? Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Publication Laws / NY State LLC Posted: 30 Dec 2018 12:41 PM PST I'm attempting to navigate the complicated waters of becoming an LLC in New York State. NY is one of a few states that has an incredibly outdated publication requirement - meaning we need to advertise our business in two newspapers simultaneously for a certain number of weeks in order to remain in good standing with the Secretary of State. This can cost into the thousands of dollars, and is quite the obstacle to a trio of artists who are just attempting to stay above board and expand their business. Is there ANY way of mitigating this cost? What would be the consequences if we didn't comply? Am I just pulling at straws and need to bite the bullet and pay the money? Any and all input appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 03:23 PM PST Have any of you used Bench for your bookkeeping? Or can you recommend a small business bookkeeper? We have an e-commerce store with cash flows coming from so many payment methods, it is getting squirrelly to keep track of. Help would be fantastic. [link] [comments]  |
| Does anybody have any experience using either Wave or Quickbooks (2019)? Posted: 30 Dec 2018 09:53 AM PST I'm looking to establish a reliable accounting software for my Facebook advertising agency based out of Canada. We do 20K in monthly recurring revenue, with 2 staff on payroll, our bank is RBC. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 01:27 PM PST Hi! A friend and I have owned a small business that is doing great locally within our state. We sell and deliver perishable items in bulk, and have delivered all around our state via trucks we own, but not beyond it. A few months ago we acquired a great domain and set up a site for the business. The developers didn't limit the shipping destination and now we're getting a ton of non-bulk orders all over the US. However given that what we sell is perishable we must ship overnight or 2 day delivery. Otherwise we cannot guarantee freshness. This obviously is very expensive and although we do have a number of orders that are over $75-100 (for which we can eat the cost of overnight delivery), we also have a ton of orders that are only $15-25 for which it doesn't make sense to pay $25 overnight shipping. We had no choice but to limit the order form for now and now we're getting calls from customers telling us the form is broken or asking how to get shipments to other states. I've tried googling around but can't find any solution to this problem. Is it possible to negotiate with fedex/UPS/USPS for price based shipping with a max value? If anyone has any advice or insight, it would be much appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Tips to increase revenue for Liquor Store Posted: 30 Dec 2018 12:20 PM PST Hey guys, I personally run a liquor store and I've been enjoying the wine industry. I personally hate being in the register all the time and am trying to figure out what are some additional ways to increase or add revenue to my business. One thing I've been considering is acquiring a wine engraving machine and charge maybe $20-$30 per bottle, which I feel many customers will purchase. I have yet to open up an ecommerce store due to no preliminary research on rules and regulations on domestic shipping. Another thing I've been thinking about is maybe some customer loyalty program, which I have yet to think about the incentive structure. If you guys have any ideas as to what I can do to increase productivity, sales, and consumers to my store please feel free to suggest it. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Filing for a trademark, someone else "has" the name in different state(USA). Posted: 30 Dec 2018 11:41 AM PST So I have been sitting on my business idea for a couple months and im getting it started now. So i go on instagram to make the page, and the name is already taken, someone has the same name for the same idea (juice company). They made it in june, have 20 posts and website. Looks like they just started commerce maybe last month. I am in CA, they are in NY. What are my options here? Can i still get the name? Should I file for a federal trademark? There is no trademark currently, and i highly doubt they have because they look really mom and poppy (no offense). If i didnt file for the trademark can I still operate in CA and sell juice online/at my location? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 10:05 AM PST Hi all! I have an idea for a very small rental business. Like, it might not even be a business lol. Bear with me. So I have a wooden high chair that I made and used for my sons first birthday cake smash photos. Instead of selling it I'd like to maybe rent it out for other people since it took a lot to construct and I don't want to just get rid of it and it seems to be a trend that people would appreciate. What's a good form of collateral for this sort of thing? I've never done this before. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2018 09:06 AM PST My dads been in the business for over 30 years building our business and I've been helping out since I was young. I've been try to help with sales more because business has been way down and we need more customers (To clarify a customer to us is another small business owner allowing us to place a machine in their store for a percentage of the profits). Here's my issue, the accounts we do have love the extra income every month since the machines are not really taking up much room and require no maintenance from them. My problem is I am getting shut down quickly by every business owner I've approached in the area recently. We have roughly 500 locations already so we aren't an incredibly small company and we are well established. So how do I more effectively show these owners the benefits of the business? How would you guys as business owners want to be approached about this kind of subject? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for advice on POS Systems Posted: 30 Dec 2018 08:53 AM PST I'm helping to modernize two small "dollar store" style retail stores. Currently all merchandise has to be price tagged and manually punched into the registers, and I'm trying to upgrade this system. My criteria are as follows:
Does anyone know of a system that meets all or most of these criteria? Thanks for your help! [link] [comments]  |
| Take part in this study: The Digital Economy: Opportunities for SME's & Family Businesses Posted: 30 Dec 2018 05:12 AM PST |
| Posted: 29 Dec 2018 10:08 PM PST I have a few apps that i have released through an LLC my dad setup. Im only 17 so my dad was 50% and my mom the other 50%. My dad expectedly passed away in october and had his share's beneficiary set to my mom. Is there stuff we have to file in order for it to go in effect? Do i have to re-register the LLC without my dad in it? Thanks! (Sorry if it seems like i dont know what im doing, i really dont know the terminology) Note: LLC is registered in Florida. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from smallbusiness: Starting, owning and growing a small business. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment