Advice: Everyone is talking about importing/sourcing from China, but what's the situation? small business |
- Advice: Everyone is talking about importing/sourcing from China, but what's the situation?
- Question about Saving for Taxes
- Resales license or not?
- Share office solutions: coworking space | shared office space | private workstations in Banglore India
- Start up costs tax question
- Restaurant owners: what would be the best way to approach you about using your space for a pop-up shop?
- Some easy ways to start a business online, no inventory needed
- Company less than 6 months old. Insurance broker (BCBS) tells me we’ve been randomly selected for a compliance audit.
- Skincare consulting business
- Help out a 23yo!
- Has anyone used Northwest to start an LLC/maintain?
- Anyone have experience getting a loan with the help of the SBA?
- Small Business Financial tips for Small Business Owners
- [IL] Looking for a good credit union/bank, need some help understanding what I need.
- Fancy a game of email tennis?
- Could somebody give me some guidance?
- Contract packaging and Private labels
- Finding a good retail sales rep for new fashion brand?
- Home Advisor Experiences and opinions
- Starting a new business and buying equipment - are there tax benefits that can be taken advantage of somehow?
- Booklet for clients
- Has anyone made money in India? How bad is tax rate to get the money back yo US based accounts?
- Customer Information
| Advice: Everyone is talking about importing/sourcing from China, but what's the situation? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:36 AM PDT Another redditor posted the above question... I gave a very detailed answer and was surprised it received such positive vibes within just a few minutes. Then that Redditor unexpectedly deleted their post in less than 30 minutes. But because it was so well-received, I thought I'd re-post it in the hopes that it's useful to others The very first word of your title, "Everyone", sums up all of the issues I'm about to explain (sorry for the length. The TL/DR is that anything sourced overseas is now made in too high of volumes by too many people, with hollowed out prices which makes it so fewer and fewer end distributors/importers can survive on sourcing Chinese-manufactured products anymore). Just a word to the wise... As a Westerner who
... I can tell you that the market -- using China as a source -- has done a MAJOR shift in the last 2-5 years. Actually it's a massive shift, and it's shaking up world business without many "newcomers" to the game (like yourself) realizing it. When China started to be the manufacturer about 25 years ago, only those who "Chengbao'ed" state-owned-factories (basically took state-owned industries on as their private companies) were able to corner the market. They were able to achieve relatively "nice" margins, and the people they sold to in North America & Europe were very very happy with their magins (They were buying from factories in China still much cheaper than from Western factories). But as more and more people in China became rich, those in China who fell outside of the original Chengbao privatization system found they had more and more financial leveraging to also get skin in the game and start their own Chinese factories and Chinese trading companies. It snowballed, until armies and armies of people in China (tens and tens of millions of Chinese) got into the manufacturing and international goods-trading game. 10 main manufacturers in a given industry ballooned to 100, then to 1000, then sometimes to many more thousands (for the same product or product category). The world had never ever seen so many factories or trading companies for individual industries. It flooded the world markets with an overabundance of accessibility (something which is not talked about often enough, especially in light of the Alibaba-era=). And then it morphed into evil-cutthroat pricing tactics. And here's where we have seen MASSIVE changes in the past 2-5 years (and even more so in the past 6-8 months with Trump-era tariffs, of which the consequences are being felt around the world, even outside of the US) These thousands and thousands of factories + 10's and 10's of thousands of trade companies for factories have decided to go head-to-head on prices. It was the last thing that they could compete with each other on (After 25 years of struggles, quality has generally equaled out, and ideas for innovation in many traditional industries have been exhausted, bringing tens upon tens of thousands of products to the end of their profit life-cycle). And so Chinese factories offered lower and lower to near-no-margin prices to the rest of the world in the last few years, and especially in the last 12 or so months (This cannot be understated). Of course, as we all know, when it comes to ruining the market, it just takes one wholesaler/distributor/retailer to decide that they're going to go take advantage of rock-bottom manufacturer prices to leverage that to compete on price alone. And so in the West, a number of distributors dropped their prices in accordance (with the manufacturers making no money, and those who have started ever-increasing price wars to making no money), to where it's forcing everyone now to follow suit. It has become a race to the bottom of margins across a multitude (and now likely a majority) of products sourced from China. And so many Western companies are now having a difficult time surviving on reselling Chinese-produced goods. You may want to make a margin, but you have to really assess if your potential competition will allow you to do so (Your potential competition has a zillion choices out there in China, from manufacturers who will sell for near-dumping prices. Your competition will often take advantage of that to let their own products go for near cost because too many people on your turf are now importing the same things). The reason Western companies are falling into the "re-sell it for nothing" trap is because so so so many non-Chinese, like yourself, have similar mindsets, and have all jumped en-mass into the importing business, all buying the same products (same quality, features, similar service), which only leaves price to compete on. And to top it all off, there have been millions and millions of Chinese immigrants now moving to countries around the world. It's human instinct that in life you do what you know and what you're comfortable with. In real terms, this means that for many of their, their first choice is to do business with their homeland, and to bring Chinese goods to their new country of adoption. However, a Chinese lifestyle is not as "opulent/spoiled" as a Western lifestyle. These immigrants are willing to do more work, and to live for less on a much smaller income. A family of 5 may all be happy working in the family importing business for peanuts with no vacations, no new clothes, no eating out, and other frugal ways of living. If you think you need to make $10,000/month in profit to survive, they may be happy with making only $2000. And so they drop their prices in accordance to ensure they wrestle business away from you, and you can't survive. This has only gotten worse in the past 3 years or so, and just adds to the complexity. It's a real shit show out there at the moment, and people are having a very very tough time surviving through re-selling of Chinese products. The ones who are pulling ahead are those who
Just food for thought. Good luck.
We're all trying to figure this out at the moment. It's a major challenge, and the system is against us more than ever now. Even if you were to manufacture in your home market, it will get ripped off abroad, now more than ever. HOWEVER, the legal field in China has also rapidly evolved in this area, and there are more legal protections now than ever before. See if you qualify for a Chinese and home-market (a) Utility patent, and (b) design patent (both are important). If you don't, you may want to question if this is really something you want to get into. I unfortunately don't have many words of encouragement beyond that. It's quite a scene out there at the moment. And Chinese factories for the first time are facing fierce competition from other factories outside of China (first it was Vietnam, then Bangladesh, now it's India, and even Africa is opening up, with the likes of Nike having moved most of their Asian operation to... get this... Ethiopia). This makes it so Chinese factories and "world-sourced manufacturing" is daring to go to further lengths to make a quick buck. So it comes back to my above 4 points... Or conversely, getting in with (partnering with) a local company in your market which is already strong with the above 4 points (I say this, because it's more difficult than ever now to start from scratch to become one of those who fit into the above 4 points). [link] [comments]  |
| Question about Saving for Taxes Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:04 PM PDT Background: I own a dog grooming business. We only do services, we don't sell any merchandise. I opened October of 2017. I am an LLC. I have four other employees on my payroll. We just really started turning a profit towards the end of last year, everything I was making I would reinvest in equipment, or products for my salon, but by the end of the summer of last year (2018) I had pretty much all I needed. Towards the end of the year we got really busy, I had to double my staff to meet appointment demands, and we had really healthy sales. My taxes for 2018 are done and filed. We had a net loss of about 3.5k for the year. So i paid no taxes So now, fast forward its March 2019. We have turned a net profit so far this year of around 5k, and were only getting busier. I'm trying to be fiscally responsible and get out ahead of next years tax season. I wanted to go to the bank and open up a separate savings account and to put away my estimated tax money in there every month so I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end of the year. My Question: I was looking up how much I need to be saving in order to pay my taxes for this fiscal year that we are currently in (2019). Everything I'm reading is saying to save 30-40% of my "Business Income". I can't find a clear definition or answer as to what exactly that is and whether or not it is my gross income(before expenses) or net income (after expenses). So I'm trying to wrap my head around this- If I'm losing 30% of my gross sale to "taxes", before deducting expenses, and I'm paying my employees 45-50% commission (Thats the standard in our industry), that would mean I'm losing 75-80% of the gross sale right away, before I can even deduct my expenses, (and my expenses are probably a little more than 20%, I don't have my numbers in front of me so I cant tell you for sure) but that would mean the busier I'm getting the deeper I'm digging my self in the hole? Why would I have to pay 0% on a grossed sale if I'm making no profit, but If I make a penny of profit, I now lose 30% off the gross sale? That doesn't sound right to me. That would mean as soon as a business would start to turn a profit, they'd be hit with an additional 30% tax that that weren't paying before. What would make sense to me is having to pay 30-40% of my LLC's NET income to taxes. Please help me make some sense of this! I was just going tomorrow to look at a larger location with more expensive rent because were growing so fast and my business seemed so healthy (thats the exact words my accountant repeatedly used when we were looking at how we preformed/ grew/ and our profits loss from last year fiscal year 2018). Update: So I've been in business for about a year and a half but that year and a half spanned two fiscal years. (I started at the end of 2017, 2018 was our first full fiscal year). I also do have an accountant, and I did email him before I made this post tonight. What triggered the whole thing was I was speaking with my Salon Manager and she used to own her own place for several years before selling it and retiring(she's unretired now) but I asked her how much she saved when she had her place all her years and she was saying 30-40% of her gross sales and she was pretty much arguing with me about it, but she was clearly mistaken. It sent me into a panic and I couldn't find a clear answer from google so I came here! I really appreciate all the help and knowing that I was correct in my original thoughts in that I'm only taxed on my net income not my gross. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2019 12:19 AM PDT Basically I am a new plumbing contractor that buys a ton of products big and small anywhere from purchase prices of $1-2000 dollars. I'd like if someone could explain the pros/cons or why a small company like myself would want to possibly get a resales license or not. I do all my book keeping through quick books so I am able to keep track of money going out. It would be much appreciated if someone could enlighten me on all this. I just know how to fix plumbing issues... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2019 04:24 AM PDT Share office solutions provides coworking space, shared office space, private workstations, office space for rent, office space for rent, small office space inspiring and ready to use work space is provided byshare office that provides everything that you need to grow your venture and be successful ... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:16 PM PDT I started selling items online in November 2018, I just got my business registered officially March 2019. What I want to know is if I can write off start up expenses from the year of 2018(possibly as start up costs), even though the business didn't officially become registered until 2019? Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 06:25 AM PDT Toronto is the city that I'm hoping to do a weekend (probably Sunday) pop-up shop, and I'm trying to do some research. Even if you're not in Toronto, what would you as a restaurant owner want in order to be comfortable with a pop-up shop operating on your premises? Thanks in advance for any and all responses! [link] [comments]  |
| Some easy ways to start a business online, no inventory needed Posted: 22 Mar 2019 03:18 AM PDT Often when we think of starting a business or small business ideas, first thought which pops up is buying stock and storing it. With so many business options out there, you don't need stock or to store it, you just need trustworthy suppliers and an online presence. In fact, there are many new business ideas you can go for and think least of the logistics involved. Such ideas make it really easy for beginners. The ideas we are about to share ask for little to no upfront investment. Though profit margins may not be very high in the start but these online business ideas work for sure. Opt for dropshipping store It is one of the ways of chasing your dream of starting your own business. Curate products from different suppliers on your online store and put them under a theme. Dropshipping is a business model where third party sellers are responsible for keeping the inventory and shipping it to customers. You just bring orders. This means bring-in the sales and you don't need handling of the inventory etc. There are local and overseas suppliers, it depends on how you build a relationship of trust. Believe it or not, unreliable supplier reflects really bad on your brand at the end of the day.
Sell print-on-demand t-shirts Design and sell t-shirts as they are highly in-demand online product and never goes out of trend. A small business idea which requires minimal upfront investment. You can put stock, store, and shipping in the hands of third party, just keeping the focus on orders / sales. Even if you are not a professional designer, you can hire web designer from freelancing portals like Fiverr and Upwork. In comparison to other print-on-demand online business services, you pay per product whereas such is not the case here. You buy in bulk so the overall cost is low than paying per product. Another tip, we want to share is usage of mockup t-shirt designs. That way, there is no need for photoshoot of the product every time. Good news is there are plenty of print-on-demand platforms which you can use for mockups and integrate them with your Shopify store or any ecommerce store.
Content source, Bazingo inc. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:21 PM PDT Blue Cross wants my 2018 Q4 and 2019 Q1 payroll printouts to determine whether all eligible employees are appropriately insured and that 75% of my employees are either enrolled in our group plan or get their healthcare coverage through other means. They also want some documentation showing ownership of the business and other random things. Has anyone heard of this random compliance audit before? My broker said 20 of his accounts were randomly selected...is this legit? Any advice? The business is compliant, nothing to hide, but the whole thing is a pain in the ass AND an added expense, as the accountant has to gather a bunch of documents. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Mar 2019 12:30 AM PDT Hi All, I started a skincare consulting business on instagram in December and i was just wondering if i could get some advice. I am partnered with a few skincare brands who offer my clients a regime at a discounted price. However, when the clients pop up requesting information on a consultation(which happens to be £15) quite a few people go silent and just leave it on read. I have had so many clients that go through with it and the success rate is around 70% but what tips could i use to turn those cold sales into hot ones as they clearly need the service as they have enquired and have mentioned and showed me how bad their skin is. I would appreciate any response [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:39 PM PDT Hi, I am starting my own home health nursing business. It is such a big business here in Australia and I want to have a go for myself. There aren't many small businesses, mainly large businesses where I love. I am going to be different as: - I won't charge admin fees nor GST (everything is included) - I will be providing shampoo, soap etc etc when I'm doing personal care. - I will be bringing along my own activities for diversional therapy. Anyway, I am so nervous about selling my business to people when they enquire and want to have a meeting. Any tips for remaining super confident? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Has anyone used Northwest to start an LLC/maintain? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 06:08 AM PDT Hi all Looking around for forming an LLC and will be working in multiple states so I thought about using a service to try and keep it all organized. In the beginning stages of figuring everything out but northwest seems like an appealing company and I'm trying to find more info on using them/how people like it. Please excuse if this isn't the right place to ask or if this has been asked before (searched but couldn't find). [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone have experience getting a loan with the help of the SBA? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:45 AM PDT Hi guys! Currently looking to scale up a residential house cleaning company I started about a year ago. In the first year we did just shy of $60k/ revenue and are currently at ~$6k/ month in revenue. So far I have put my own money in ($7k) to get it started and profitable but have only been able to grow organically with around $200/ month to spend on paid advertising. I don't need a huge sum of money but something in the 10k-30k range could really help me get to the next level. Current personal credit is around 650, no business credit line has been opened yet. Any help would be much appreciated! Happy to provide more details! Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Small Business Financial tips for Small Business Owners Posted: 21 Mar 2019 09:40 PM PDT |
| [IL] Looking for a good credit union/bank, need some help understanding what I need. Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:50 PM PDT I'm on the board of a non-profit Condo HOA and I'm looking at changing our bank because they're charging us around $600 in yearly fees, aren't very responsive, their deposit rates suck, and generally have a "screw you we don't care" attitude towards us. We are very small and have ~$13k of monthly assessments being automatically debited using ACH transfers from about 30 different people. We keep balances around $30-90k. We also need to have checkbooks that require two signatures from the Treasurer and President. We also deposit around $300 worth of quarters per month. I'm trying to start thinking about this from a commercial banking perspective. What should we expect to pay for our banking? Is it unreasonable to move banks to reduce (or eliminate) our $600 yearly fees? I'm of the opinion that banks should be free as long as we keep a high enough balance, and otherwise pay a small fee per ACH, and for a book of checks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:21 PM PDT I detest writing emails with a passion. I cannot believe the amount of people who say their first hour or two of the day is spent responding to emails. I passionately believe the first 2 hours of your waking day are sacred and the most productive. It should be reserved for high-level or key tactical issues which propel your business forward. Why waste this time entering into email conversations that last until lunch time and sometimes drag on for days? Most of these issues could be nailed with a 5 minute phone conversation anyway. How do I stop entering into games of email tennis in the morning bearing in mind that a significant cohort of customers seem to have email as their preferred communication channel? [link] [comments]  |
| Could somebody give me some guidance? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:58 PM PDT So I started this clothing company and I wouldn't even call it a company quite yet but I've multiple designs and have sold maybe 30 total items. If someone could look at my store and maybe give me some pointers and or a checklist on what to do that'd be awesome! I'm not asking for you to buy anything but I am a little lost right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated ! I 'm currently at community college and it is just me and my close friend trying to run this thing! My shop: www.wilderclothingco.com My instagram: www.instagram.com/wilderclothingco Thanks again! [link] [comments]  |
| Contract packaging and Private labels Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:34 PM PDT Your thoughts about using a company to co-pack and private label your product. Good or bad idea? [link] [comments]  |
| Finding a good retail sales rep for new fashion brand? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:33 PM PDT Any experience to be shared on how to find a good sales rep or partner to help build retail channels and exposure for an e-commerce brand ? ( ie. Barney's, Neiman Marcus, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges...) [link] [comments]  |
| Home Advisor Experiences and opinions Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:28 PM PDT Other home services business owners, and others who have experience with Home Advisor, I have questions for you. Basically was it worth it in your experience to buy leads from them? I have a services business, but not construction. Have the leads you've gotten been quality? What are your biggest complaints, what are the strengths? Thanks for your input. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:22 PM PDT From my limited understanding of how taxes work for businesses in the United States, you are only taxed on the money that you take out as income, right? So in the beginning I obviously have no revenue because I haven't gotten any customers yet, so any equipment or professional software that I need to start making proposals and saving my creative assets would need to come out of my pocket. So, say that I spent $5,000 on BIM/Adobe licenses, computing equipment, etc. and managed to complete and get paid for $10,000 worth of projects before the one quarter and withdraw it all as income - would I be able to claim (and get taxed on) only $5,000 as income and claim the remaining $5,000 as operating costs for my business that first quarter? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 03:18 PM PDT I'd like to have someone create a booklet for clients when I consult for them prior to a home renovation. The booklet would be about 10 pages. Cover, intro, checklist, steps, and final. Vista print offers such booklet but no template. Who is the personal or what industry would I find someone with these skills in? [link] [comments]  |
| Has anyone made money in India? How bad is tax rate to get the money back yo US based accounts? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 11:16 AM PDT |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 02:45 PM PDT As a shopper, I pretty much hate the big brother-esque current shopping experiences where everywhere you go they want to take your email and sign you up to get more ignored emails in your inbox. As a small business owner, apparently, it's important to keep in touch with your customers because some people will only keep using you if you constantly remind them that you exist? Can people help me get over this glitch? I hate feeling like I am asking my customers to do something I hate and feel bitter about. How can I change the script and make it something I realize is helpful? I literally don't think it's important. I highly dislike being asked or asking people for their info. I am also not sure how to ask without feeling awkward. Like you just want to pick up an item, do you want to have to stand there and write your email too? Do you want people to keep track of what you buy? Ugh...help! Is it important to ask people for their information or is it annoying? [link] [comments]  |
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