Thank you Thursday! - (March 21, 2019) Entrepreneur |
- Thank you Thursday! - (March 21, 2019)
- Thanks to you guys, things are going great!
- What was your experience with a virtual assistant?
- I made an animation to summarise the best lessons from the book "Zero to One". I hope you can get some value from it.
- Are there any “gurus” worth following/purchasing their programs/books?
- My direct to customer furniture company needs help!
- Help with running business alongside mother and in a difficult country
- 12 principles to grow your business
- Entrepreneurs in 20 years old
- Which do customers prefer when shipping important items..USPS, FEDEX, OR UPS.
- Looking for someone interested in building a business
- What online proposal maker are you using?
- Should I Quit My Job and Try My Own thing?
- Is there any way to set up Whatsapp or WeChat without giving away your number?
- Talk About The Business Too Much
- Amazing Concise Helpful Article (anymore descriptive words I missed...?) ��
- Starting a new creative agency with someone I "know", how should we go about accepting payments to keep track of things in the future?
- Dropshipping Supplier Connection- Will pay for solid intros!
- Total noob question about hiring
- Need Help with The logistics of setting up a Dropshipping Co, NOT with Aliexpress
- Side business
- Looking to start a handmade jewelry business
- Looking to collab with an experienced T-shirt entrepreneur.
- How To Build A Winning Business Team - Video
| Thank you Thursday! - (March 21, 2019) Posted: 21 Mar 2019 06:11 AM PDT Your opportunity to thank the /r/Entrepreneur community by offering free stuff, contests, discounts, electronic courses, ebooks and the best deals you know of. Please consolidate such offers here! 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]  |
| Thanks to you guys, things are going great! Posted: 21 Mar 2019 04:51 AM PDT I just wanted to share and say thanks for all the help. I've constantly spammed this subreddit with dumb questions (and I still might, y'all are awesome) but things are finally looking good after a year and a half of hustle. I went from barely knowing how to code, to coding large scale projects over spans of months, to transitioning into a business owner who now rarely codes. All while never getting less than a 5 star review! My clients now refer work to me. I currently do no sales/marketing (that's the next step) but we're set to hit $100,000 revenue this year, which isn't great I'm aware but it's 5x last year and I've started from nothing after dropping out of college. (Best decision of my life btw). Now I'm going to try to give back more to this community, for all of its flaws it truly helped me. So thank you. We're just beginning this crazy journey but now it's real! [link] [comments]  |
| What was your experience with a virtual assistant? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 11:51 AM PDT To free up time I'm considering hiring a dedicated virtual assistant. I'd like to hire a virtual assistant for about 10 hours per month to handle phone calls, day-to-day minutiae, scheduling, utilities, etc. Have you had any experience with a dedicated virtual assistant? Were there any pitfalls or negatives that you would forewarn about? This would require giving access to my personal information, legitimate concern or no? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 07:39 AM PDT Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfbLDMh6uGOZePAfqqjVZ-g Let me know if there are any other books you'd like to see summaries of. I've done summaries of other books like:
If you're interested and want to subscribe here's a link:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfbLDMh6uGOZePAfqqjVZ-g?sub_confirmation=1 If you'd prefer to read the script instead of watching the video, here it is: Zero To One by Peter Thiel Peter Thiel is one of the greatest business minds in the world. Besides authoring Zero to One, he is also the cofounder of PayPal along with several other companies. The book is primarily about how businesses can be successful. And owing to the fact that this book is written by a serial entrepreneur having cofounded multibillion dollar companies, you can bet that it is packed with real life next level wisdom taking business to the next level. You can get this book for free with a trial of audible using the link in the description of this video, subscribe and turn on the notification bell so you don't miss any future summaries. Chapter 1 and 2: The Challenge of Future and Party Like it is 1999 The first chapter begins with Thiel discussing his most favorite question: "What important truth do very few people agree with you on?" According to Thiel, this is an important question, which can help readers to figure out the real truth behind things as it is something that not most people agree on. This question helps readers to reflect on the knowledge they can create for themselves and enables them to think differently and outside the box. Also, this readers to figure out what they need to build their startups on so that they can use that truth to convince a large group of people. The second chapter talks about the economic landscape of 1999, including the economic crash that occurred in Thailand, investments migration in USA and the commencement of the dot.com mania, and talks about how one should enjoy life like it is still 1999. Chapter 3 and 4: All Happy Companies are Different And Competition Is Noble In chapter 3, Thiel highlights how all successful companies that are completely different can create a monopoly by catering to a different problem experienced by the different segments of the society. It also highlights how all the unsuccessful companies are same because they somehow fail to fight the competition and make a difference in the market. In chapter 4, the author talks about the reasons why people and companies compete with one another. According to the book, companies compete when they follow the Marx Model, which states that they have dissimilar goals and ideas, or when they follow the Shakespeare model, which states that all the combatants are more or less similar. Hence, when companies set out on a war against one another, it is because of either of the two reasons. Chapter 5 and 6: Last Mover Advantage In chapter 5, Thiel talks about the characteristics of a company that holds a monopoly such as starting with a niche market, providing a better solution than other companies in the market, taking advantage of economies of scale and excellent branding. It then moves on to talk about how to build a monopoly using different strategies such as choosing the right target market, expanding to adjacent markets and creating something influential then disrupting the market. Then he goes on to talk about how nobody can control his/ her future as nobody is a lottery ticket so it is futile to work out life based on assumptions. To shape a successful future, one has to see it as something clear and definite, as this provides a basis for targeted action. Chapter 7, 8 and 9: Follow the Money Thiel talks about the 80/20 rule in this chapter and discusses how one should follow the money and understand how it is made to draw abundance and wealth towards their business. Then in chapter 8, the author centers on the importance of believing in secrets all around you and looking for secrets i.e. new ways to perform better in life and in business. This includes all types of secrets including business, technological and success secrets. It also discusses how companies fail and their success drops low when they stop looking for secrets around them using the example of Hewlett Packard and how its net worth dropped from $135 billion in 2000 to $23 billion in 2012. In the chapter that follows, Thiel highlights three important elements related to any organization: its ownership, which comprises of its founders, investors and employees; its possession, which lies with its managers; and its control which is under its board of directors. He also highlights the need of everyone belonging to the three categories to be fully involved in the business to make it work. Chapter 10-14: The Mechanics of Mafia, If You Build it, Will They Come? And Man and Machine The 10th chapter highlights the importance of building a cult by your business like Apple Inc. did to become successful. In the 11th chapter, Thiel discusses how building a cult isn't only integral to the success of a business; startups must also worry about their sales just like they do about their product. The 12th chapter talks about using technology and human resource simultaneously in the business to make it successful. In the 13th chapter of the book, Thiel discusses 7 questions every business must ponder on before starting off to become successful, including questions on the right time to commence a business, how to create a breakthrough with technology and what type of team to select for the business. The last chapter highlights the significance of having great founders for a business as they lead the company towards success. If you are looking to build a successful business, this book is a must-read for you. [link] [comments]  |
| Are there any “gurus” worth following/purchasing their programs/books? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:16 AM PDT |
| My direct to customer furniture company needs help! Posted: 20 Mar 2019 05:07 PM PDT Last year I started a direct to customer furniture company called Turntable Furniture. Turntable Furniture is solid modern furniture that ships flat and assembles without tools in under a minute. I'm trying to make a nicer version of Ikea for people who want nice, modern furniture that will actually last. Cutting out the retailer means I can sell really nice, made in USA Furniture for a reasonable price. The flat pack designs mean my shipping costs are lower than they would otherwise be. It seemed like a great idea so I quit my job and dove in full time. I opened a small showroom at a hip new shopping center and launched a website. The response has been basically crickets. Instagram marketing has helped me achieve some new followers but no sales. I'm a creative/builder type and the marketing side has always confounded me. What am I missing? I'm open to all suggestions! Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Help with running business alongside mother and in a difficult country Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:48 PM PDT Hello, So where do I begin? My mother owns a small cleaning company in Haiti. As you know Haiti is a very difficult country politically and economically. I grew up there, had to leave to the US where I went to college and worked for a big tech company. After two years of living on my own, working and all l, I decided to leave my comfy life in Boston and move back to Haiti, live with my parents and live/work in a very difficult environment I moved back because it has always been my dream to own my own business and I believe that change can be brought into the country by creating employment. The company has been running for a solid 30 years. We have over 140 employees working as janitors in different banks across the capital city of port-au-prince. My mom has been running the business in a very old-fashioned manner. When I got involved in the business, I started to modernize things. For example, she had no bookkeeping. I entered all the data into excel and other databases, I used badges for the employees, I hired more people to do the administrative work. I created a website and Facebook page for example from which I run ads on fb and Instagram because she doesn't understand the importance of paying for marketing for example. She doesn't use email so it's hard to communicate with her unless I sit down with her at the breakfast table. She currently works a different job while she supposedly lets me run the business. All those changes came with a lot of challenges and here's why. My mother has been running the business by herself. Even my father didn't get involved in it. The reason is that my mom is very difficult quite frankly. She believes that things should be done her way because that's how she's done it for so long. She is extremely tough with the employees hence creating fear within the organization which causes everyone to never mention ideas or issues within the company. That also affects me because whenever I do propose something new, it takes a lot of back and forth before she agrees and frankly, it's exhausting. I understand that this is how she's done for so long. I understand that she might be afraid of losing control but something needs to give in order to allow the company to move forward. I love my mother dearly and I also love my country that's why I'm doing this. The country itself doesn't make things easy but I've found ways to deal with that. However, my mother is a different thing. For example, she has called everyone at the office "incompetent" because she was upset about something that wasn't communicated to her. She also refuses to give salary increases to people that have worked there for 5+ years. She says she can't afford to do so when really we can do so financially. She also doesn't understand the idea of reporting the personal expenses she makes using the company funds. The employees go through me instead of her because they are all terrified of her. Some of even threatened to leave the company if I do. Before I approach her about anything, I need to mentally prepare myself as I am not confrontational and I don't believe results can be achieve this way. She tells everyone how she's proud of me and such but really doesn't show it by the way she handles things. I am very new to running a business and I do the best I can. We've made tremendous progress since I came back but it came with a lot of fuss between me and my mother. Here I am, asking for help. I tried seeking advice from friends and even my family but they all seem to say the same "let her be, she's just old" but I want some advice from a community of entrepreneurs. Maybe some of you have had a similar experience running a business with family members. What should I do to fix this relationship? Or is there anything I can do? [link] [comments]  |
| 12 principles to grow your business Posted: 20 Mar 2019 09:27 PM PDT
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| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:20 PM PDT Online business with a good income. But how to increase more? Hello, dear entrepreneurs! My friend and I created service for tracking comments - commentif.com. It can monitor comments in any social network like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Vk, Odnoklassniki, Google Play, Twitter, Flamp, Reddit, TripAdvisor, TrustPilot, Amazon, etc. Now we are in negotiations with a potential investor, but the question is this. In your opinion, what else can be added to the service to increase its income? Thought to add something that would be interesting to the state services of the FBI or large companies? I would be glad if you share your online business experience. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Which do customers prefer when shipping important items..USPS, FEDEX, OR UPS. Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:19 PM PDT My service business requires safety in shipping. Additionally the more my customers trust the shipping vendor the more likely customers will use my service. Out of curiosity, which do you guys feel is the most trustworthy? Especially in terms of handling items being lost or stolen or any other possibility that does not reach the intended destination. Much appreciated mates! Cheers! Jm [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for someone interested in building a business Posted: 21 Mar 2019 01:01 PM PDT I started a small business in the Durham, NC that helps older adults learn how to better use technology. I am looking for someone to help manage this business. Through this work, I have witnessed the vast gap in tech literacy that many older adults face. As more of our world is digitized, the inability to use technology is becoming a new handicap. This work is valuable as it helps to create a more equal world. If you are interested comment on this thread and we can talk more through PMs [link] [comments]  |
| What online proposal maker are you using? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 08:05 AM PDT I see a bunch of alternatives out there, and a bunch of posts that were at least 2-3 years ago. What do you use and why do you like it more than the alternatives? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I Quit My Job and Try My Own thing? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 11:31 AM PDT Hello, I am curious about some insight into this. I don't completely hate my job, but I don't always love it either. It's sort of a 50/50 split at this point. I work as a graphic designer at a consulting/technology firm and I really enjoy a lot of the people that I work with, but the pay just isn't that good, and I feel like much of the grunt work falls onto me yet I feel like I am paid less than almost everyone else at my job. We are a small business, with 8 employees. Our average billing rate my boss likes to achieve is $75 per hour for our department, which has 3 people (a social media manager, a sales lady, and myself) + my boss (although he doesn't do anything in our department, as he is a computer tech who does on sites and installs computers and servers and other things for people, but I like to include him as part of the department because he is the overall boss, so he should at least get a % of the rate charged) I am currently paid at a rate of $12.50 an hour. It's not a terrible rate, but it doesn't "feel good" to have either. I live in the Midwest and own a home, paying off student debt, no car debt, etc so I am able to make ends meet, but it just feels like it's low for a bachelor degree and I always have an itch to just go and try to start my own business involving graphic design, photography, and social media. One of our best department monthly revenue streams is social media management / post creation. We like to do this because it is possible for us to get a reliable source of monthly income from a client, as opposed to one off projects like logos, brochures, etc. However, I feel like my portion is not weighted right in terms of pay scale, because after our sales lady makes the sale, then me and the social media manager are responsible for generating all the posts, content, etc after that. I am making roughly 16% of the $75 per hour rate we charge. Is this a common number to look at and should be expected for our hourly rate or should I be able to get more than that portion of the fee? I know part of the $75 has to come out for SMB taxes, etc. But even then, it just feels like there isn't very much meat on the bone per say. Since we charge anywhere from 300-500 a month for social media packages. That means that I spend 15 minutes per post designing them, 5 minutes of body copy creation, and then we monitor things too. So that comes out to be roughly 4-6 hours of "social media work" that a company gets from us each month. So I bring home around $1400 a month. ---- Whereas if I just worked alone, and I could manage to convert 5 people to use me for $500 a month just myself alone, then I could make $2500 a month in gross income, take 30% out for taxes, and still take home $1750 a month which is $350 more than I make now. Not only that, but with 5 clients at that rate, I could easily work on each clients brand for 8 hours PER WEEK, essentially one client gets my services for an entire day. Which would come out to being 32 hours per month instead of the 4-6 hours that I am currently able to provide them. Obviously, I can't take the current clients at my own job and what not, and I had to sign a thing that basically said I wouldn't compete against them while I worked, nor would I be able to try to take any clients from my current job if I leave for at least 1 year as an NDA. But I feel like I could reach out to some other companies in my town and maybe get them to try me out. But my biggest concern is how can I pitch my services to them so they can understand my value that I am able to bring to them, as many companies around here charge similar rates that my company charges, and if I could just explain to them that I could nearly 4x the amount of time spent on their brand that other companies are offering them maybe they would convert, but how do I get them to even have that conversation? What is the best approach to getting them to understand the numbers without feeling like I am just throwing hours up in their face? Or is that the best approach? Any advice would be great. Also, I don't have to work 8 hours per week on each clients brand, but figured it might be a good starting point to look at. Eventually I would like for it to be closer to 5 hours a week, so I could manage to work with 8 clients per month and double my income, and then hire out more help if it continues to grow from there. But even at 5 hours a week, that would be 20 hours a month on their brand, from photography, to social media, to brand assets for $500 a month. [link] [comments]  |
| Is there any way to set up Whatsapp or WeChat without giving away your number? Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:56 AM PDT I'm sourcing for new products and I do not want to give away my number. Sometimes suppliers or middlemen chat with you every day and could get annoying. They keep sending catalogs, and things like that and I'm afraid it will overwhelm my number. Is there a way to go about contacting these people without giving away my number? [link] [comments]  |
| Talk About The Business Too Much Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:54 AM PDT I'm just curious to know do other people think about their business all day and talk about it often. My friends say I talk about the business too much and I'm wondering do other entrepreneurs here experience the same? [link] [comments]  |
| Amazing Concise Helpful Article (anymore descriptive words I missed...?) �� Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:49 AM PDT Really informative and concise article I just read about starting up your business on Entrepreneur dot com titled; The Complete, 12-Step Guide to Starting a Business (I hope this post is allowed, if not please let me know thanks) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:40 AM PDT Hey all, first time posting here, so I hope I'm doing things right. If not, you know what to do. Basically, I work in social media and am "self employed", however recently I've come up wjth a plan for a new business. I know a guy through social media, and have done small projects with him in the past, but never met him in real life or anything. He's a few states away. Either way, I pitched him the idea, and we're developing it currently. However, as it's kind of a unique idea, and it's not as simple as just accepting a payment, I'd like to run things over with you guys and see what you think our best course of action is. Also, currently I accept all my social media payments through PayPal, and pay taxes. Okay, so, basically there will be a lot of different types of payments going in and out. Firstly our clients paying us, up front, then we will be spending that money on a few different things for them. On top of that, down the line each client will be sending us a dynamic payment based on a single factor. With all of that said, do you think we should just start by accepting payments to either of our paypals and keep track of them? And how would we keep track of them, if this was the route we went? Or, is there a better solution? Thanks to everyone in advance offering any sort of advice! [link] [comments]  |
| Dropshipping Supplier Connection- Will pay for solid intros! Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:39 AM PDT So, not looking to dive into the whole dropshipping pros and cons. Long story short: a good friend of mine has a couple of huge, highly-engaged, highly-niche instagram accounts that he's been growing organically for years. I've got the marketing side of things down, and he's already tested a few POC ideas for products with his audience. I could put a good looking, simple shopify store together by EOD. Now we just need to find a supplier. This is something I have 0 experience in. If it goes great- awesome. We won't need to sink thousands into FB ads at first, since he's essentially an influencer and has the audience. I plan on driving as much traffic from there as possible, using the pixel data and then testing luck on a few LAA on FB. We'll see how it goes. Which brings me to....can anyone point me in the direction of some suppliers? I've done a lot of research on the interwebs but honestly, hard to know what's legit and what isn't. And unless I want to set up about 10 different subscriptions on wholesale connection sites, I figured reaching out to someone experienced will save time. It'll be usual merchandise stuff: t-shirts, signs, any other cool/cheap gimmicky type stuff that people don't mind spending $10-15 on. Will happily pay a referral fee for a solid intro. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Total noob question about hiring Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:35 AM PDT So my macaron business is taking off and I'm working around the clock, like 15-16 hours a day. I do 100% of the work. Not complaining, I love it. But I'm trying to think long term here. I like being the only person who gets paid but I'm not sure how long I can sustain this before burning out. At what point do you hire someone to help you? [link] [comments]  |
| Need Help with The logistics of setting up a Dropshipping Co, NOT with Aliexpress Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:22 AM PDT Hey guys-hoping someone could offer some insight regarding a drop-shipping question I have. Or, if this has been answered someplace before, feel free to direct me there, I just haven't found the answer to this specifically in my searching. I own a domain name that is an "exact match" domain in a currently undeserved industry. My plan for this is to build a website that will drop ship a variety of products catering to those working in this industry. I know it is undeserved because I myself have a company in this industry and know this to be true- when I want to buy tools and supplies for my company-I have to hunt around and purchase from a variety of different stores. I'd like to create an online store where things are curated for this industry specifically. And luckily, I have the perfect domain for it. As an example, I'm thinking a site like this one (not my site): http://www.surveysupplyinc.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2-j3l96T4QIVkI2zCh33eA_mEAAYAiAAEgJE2vD_BwE So...does anyone have any suggestions on the logistics of setting this up? Let's say I get a product manufacturer on board (my plan is to start with more local manufacturers-cottage industry, locally made, etc. then trying to get bigger brands after that)-so I list an item on shopify (?), and lets say I make a sale. Then what? Is there a software that relays this information? Do I manually forward that to the manufacturer? How does a receipt get generated to the customer? I understand the premise of drop shipping and everything, but I don't get the actual nitty-gritty of making it happen. I'm not even sure if Shopify is by best bet for this? Specific plug-ins? Is Woo-commerce and wordpress better? Help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2019 10:10 AM PDT Been bouncing around ideas of side hustles that me and my SO could do with our free time. So just looking for any side hustle with low risk and scalable investment so we dont have to say throw 100k down right away to get started. Examples we have toyed with so far are; Growing cacti, Youtube channel, Creating and mixing music, drop shipping (because everyone seems to be doing it), bee keeping for selling honey, wax, nucs etc. I mean I know a big part of starting any business is having a decent amount of passion for it as the starting up is arguably the hardest part and major time sink. But my other problem is I can justify doing something that profit margin does out earn my 12% avg my investment accounts earn + w.e I value the cost of my free time, ideally wouldnt want a business I couldnt pull 25% margins out of. Anyways thanks for any guidance. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking to start a handmade jewelry business Posted: 21 Mar 2019 09:53 AM PDT It's quite unique design and I noticed there is a patent for a similar design. My question is, how stringent are these patents if I decide to hand make them and produce them in my home? What ways are there to bypass a patent and get my own patent approved? [link] [comments]  |
| Looking to collab with an experienced T-shirt entrepreneur. Posted: 21 Mar 2019 09:49 AM PDT Hello and thanks for reading. My strength is fashion. I have a vision for a line of T-shirts for men and women; the designs are different but the concept is the same. What I don't have is experience procuring unprinted T-shirts at reasonable prices or dealing with the printing process. I have money to invest in the project. So, I'm looking to collaborate with someone who knows about the business side of T-shirts and is looking for fresh and innovative designs. [link] [comments]  |
| How To Build A Winning Business Team - Video Posted: 21 Mar 2019 09:35 AM PDT How to build a winning business team Video for entrepreneurs looking at why you need a team and how you can build that team. Especially in the early phases of startup. [link] [comments]  |
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