Marketplace Tuesday! (April 09, 2019) Entrepreneur |
- Marketplace Tuesday! (April 09, 2019)
- Just because a strong competitor exists doesn't mean we should be afraid to compete
- How Any Ecommerce Company Can Avoid Duties in America while Saving 53% of their Fulfillment Costs
- Raised over $77K+ with 1,000 backers so far on Kickstarter.
- No idea how to make Amazon work
- If you had to reach $1000 profit in the next 24 hours, with < $100 starting capital, what would you sell and how would you sell it?
- New website seeking advice
- LLC Tax question (California)
- In general, what's the most searched for local service based business?
- Need advice about potential investor/partner
- Not sure whether to give up. What should I do? (STRESSED OUT!)
- Question for Canadian Online Sellers
- What comes to mind when you hear this business name?
- Question: Why don’t people buy small businesses and have other people run them?
- Video sharing website...
- Anyway to remove information from Import Genius?
- $4k/mo sneaker selling side hustle [$2k profit]
- Has anyone completely automated payment?
- Are you looking for the right talent to get your Call center endeavors to the next level?
- How do you decide how much money to leave in the business vs. drawing it out? Specifically, agencies / b2b service business)
- I'm making bank, and I'm saving for a rainy day for my business - where do I put $100k for 6-12 months?
- What do you think the future of photography will look like in 5 or 10 years and what should an Entp. Do to be ready for it?
- 21 year old with clothing company start-up -- need advisor
- Here's 5 unexpected ways of saving money, so that it can help pave your way to your goal.
- Itemized Deductions for Self-Employed?
| Marketplace Tuesday! (April 09, 2019) Posted: 09 Apr 2019 06:11 AM PDT Please use this thread to post any Jobs that you're looking to fill (including interns), or services you're looking to render to other members. We do this to not overflow the subreddit with personal offerings (such logo design, SEO, etc) so please try to limit the offerings to this weekly thread. 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]  |
| Just because a strong competitor exists doesn't mean we should be afraid to compete Posted: 09 Apr 2019 07:17 AM PDT If the market is large and growing every day, like most services, you might not need to steal a single customer from that strong competitor. You might not even need to get all the new customers. You might just need to get a few of the many at first to get some momentum and build a great business. There is no perfect opportunity. If you get overloaded by the analysis you'll just end up on an endless search for the unicorn that doesn't exist. We're not re-inventing the wheel here. A strong healthy competitor is a good sign. That means the market is there. The customers are there. We know it can work. Start small. Start local. Stay lean. Just get out there and mix it up. For more hang out with us over in r/sweatystartup! [link] [comments]  |
| How Any Ecommerce Company Can Avoid Duties in America while Saving 53% of their Fulfillment Costs Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:26 AM PDT Third party logistic (3PL) solutions in Mexico enable any company selling B2C products to bypass tariffs and duties in America while sustaining the same shipping experience as if their products were shipped from California. Located just 20 miles south of San Diego, the city of Tijuana has become a vibrant logistics hub for the ecommerce and retail industry. What makes this place special are the warehousing costs, labor rates, and laws that enable organizations to avoid duties and tariffs. In a third party logistics company, the main costs revolve around warehousing plus pick and pack fees. Compared to America, warehouses in Tijuana are over 53% more affordable and labor rates are 76% less. Running the numbers, it makes sense why an ecommerce brand or retail group that shifts it's third party logistics to Mexico is able to save a significant amount while maintaining the same (or better) ship times. Avoiding duties and tariffs is just one of the added benefits. Before we dive into the actual third party logistic costs in Tijuana, you're probably wondering how using a third party logistics company in Mexico will enable a company to avoid duties and tariffs (in both America and Mexico). How Your Company Can be Duty and Tariff Free There are two very important laws to understand that will enable your business to become duty free. One is the IMMEX program in Mexico and the other is Section 321. Utilizing both laws, your company won't have to pay duties in America or in Mexico, even if your products are imported through America to Mexico. Let's first explore how you can avoid duties in America. There are two key components here, as most people who handle their warehousing and fulfillment in Mexico think they have to import their products through a Mexican port. Using bonded warehouses and containers, you can actually still import your products into any American port (most common is Long Beach) and truck them down to Mexico without paying duties. Using a customs bonded warehouse under Title 19, United States Code (U.S.C.), §1555 companies don't have to pay duties on their products until any of the following actions occur:
To avoid paying duties in America, your products will be exported to Mexico under the IMMEX program. The IMMEX program stems from the creation of Mexico's maquiladora industry. This industry was established in 1964 to enhance employment along the border of Mexico and America. With the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the Maquiladora Program was altered to work with companies investing in Mexico for its labor, proximity to America, and low costs. 3PL companies under the IMMEX program are able to import products into Mexico to be warehoused duty and VAT free. From a bird's eye view, you'll import your products just as you normally would, but keep them in a customs bonded warehouse to be sent into Mexico. Your products then enter Mexico under the IMMEX program, duty free. A fulfillment warehouse with a services Maquiladora receives your products and stores them until they are ready to be fulfilled. Your customers aren't based in Mexico though and you now need to get your products back into America. This is where we'll utilize Section 321 to import your products back to America from Mexico, duty free. Section 321 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act states that goods with a declared value under $800 can be imported into America duty free. This law follows The De Minimis value threshold, which is the maximum monetary value of a shipment that can be imported into America duty and tax free. Though Section 321 has been around for over a decade, it's just recently become more actively used for ecommerce companies. In the ecommerce world, most dropshipping companies ship products through e-packets. The millions of yearly shipments primarily from Asia to America pass through customs under Section 321. For ecommerce companies that aren't dropshipping, most currently work with domestic third party logistics providers and haven't realized the benefits they can receive if they are importing in bulk and warehousing their products in Mexico. Unlike a traditional providers where you pay duties upon unloading your goods, the 3PL companies in Mexico label each package individually to your end customer, ensuring each product that crosses the border is under the $800 threshold of Section 321. When your products are warehoused, picked and packed, and labeled in a fulfillment center in Mexico, each item is distributed into America individually, meaning the declared value of each item is under $800 (even though they may all be put in a large truck together). Your customers then receive your shipment as if your product was fulfilled from San Diego or another city close to a Mexican border like El Paso. These trucks crossing the border daily with these shipments stop at the distribution centers of USPS, Fedex, DHL, and UPS right across the border. For any ecommerce company, avoiding tariffs and duties would be a game changer when it comes to increasing margins and improving operational efficiencies. Even for B2B brands or distribution centers, you're able to better manage your cash flow by offsetting duty costs. Instead of paying duties when your products are imported into America at once, you could pay duties on a rolling basis as your products are imported into America from Mexico on an as needed basis. Let's now look at the actual numbers and why you should use a third party logistics company in Mexico even if you aren't avoiding tariffs. Comparing the Numbers The benefits of working with a third party logistics company in Mexico doesn't just stem from avoiding duties and tariffs. From an operational standpoint, these companies like Baja Fulfillment and XB Logistics are also much more affordable and efficient, while maintaining the same ship times as American based third party logistic centers. The average pick and pack cost depends on the volume of shipments. The more you ship per month, the more affordable your fees will be. When looking at these costs, you should keep in mind the most important:
For the most part, these are pretty fair costs and most third party logistics companies in America are competitive. In Mexico, where on average, labor rates are 73% lower and warehouses cost 50% less, you're guaranteed to have more competitive options. Companies like JC Penny or Taylor Guitars that handle their logistics in Mexico are able to have much better margins than your average brand based on their Mexico centered fulfillment strategy. The savings you see on third party logistics, plus the avoidance of duties could equal a cost savings of over 70% in your logistics costs. The money you save all depends on the HTS codes of your products and the volume of shipments you make every month. Let's run the numbers of example Company A and example Company B. Company A sells waterproof footwear under HTS code 6401.10.00 and ships 10,000 units a month. Company B sells bags under HTS code 4202.12.20 and ships 150,000 units a month. Their supply chain costs are broken down below: Company A: Tariff cost: HTS code 6401.10.00 of 37.5%. Let's say their footwear costs $25 each to produce and they are importing 10,000 units a month, totaling a declared value of $250,000. 37.5% * $250,000 = $93,750. Company A is paying $93,750 in tariffs for every importation they make. Company B: Tariff cost: HTS code 4202.12.20 of 20%. Let's say their bags cost an average of $60 per unit to produce and they are importing 100,000 units a month, totaling a declared value of $6,000,000. 20% * $6,000,000 = $1,200,000. Company B is paying $1.2 million in tariffs for every importation they make. This could be wiped off Company A and B's expenses by handling logistics in Mexico. It should be obvious that transitioning your fulfillment to Mexico will enable you to save a massive amount of money while maintaining the same ship times you offer your customers in America. What most question is the security in Mexico. Security in Mexico Tijuana is one of the most vibrant parts of Mexico and has grown substantially over the past few years. For many that are well traveled, it's very similar to other developing cities. Though it does get some press for being a dangerous area, most of those stories stem from people searching for trouble. In terms of political stability, we should first look at the origins of the Maquiladora Program, which was established in 1964 and transitioned in 1994 to fit the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These agreements were put into place decades ago and aren't changing anytime soon. Even with the current Trump administration, it's near impossible for the president alone to change NAFTA as any transition would need to be passed by Congress. Section 321 is also here to stay and the de minimis value was actually raised from $200 to $800 in February of 2016. This is what enables your company to import products into America duty free. With these high volume, low value shipments, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has worked towards a number of automated enhancements using their Automated Commercial Environment system. For me personally, I love going down to Mexico for good food, great fishing, and relaxing beaches. The added bonus of a major cost savings opportunity is what makes this area even better. Ease of Access (Online and Offline) The beauty of this whole operational setup is the ease of access both online and offline. If you're looking to visit a third party logistics company in Tijuana, simply fly into San Diego and drive 20 minutes south. You'll then be in Mexico where you don't need a visa and can set up meetings with the top providers in the area. Online, just like any modern third party logistics provider, the company you work with should have a system in place that syncs up with your ecommerce platform (like Shopify or BigCommerce) and enables you to see inventory levels, shipment statuses, and tracking numbers. Putting it All Together After over a hundred hours of research and five trips to Mexico just to see a few operations like Baja Fulfillment, I can now confirm the ability to save money in your supply chain in Mexico is real. This primarily stems from the affordable labor and warehousing in these border regions like Tijuana. The icing on top is the fact that you can avoid tariffs and duties when fulfilling your products out of Mexico with the same shipping experience as if your products are shipped from California. I've seen small seven figure ecommerce operations and large fortune 100 companies like Sony and Panasonic use Mexico for its affordable labor and close proximity to America. If you're looking to increase margins in your supply chain, look no further. Your solution is in Mexico! Original article: https://www.sourcify.com/third-party-logistics-mexico-how-you-can-legally-avoid-duties-and-tariffs-when-fulfilling-your-products-in-america/ [link] [comments]  |
| Raised over $77K+ with 1,000 backers so far on Kickstarter. Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:24 PM PDT Hey guys and gals, currently running my 2nd Kickstarter campaign and have learned a lot about the Kickstarter landscape and how to build a decent campaign. My partner and I are both big redditors and frequently hop on r/Entrepreneur to lurk around. We have some free time atm, and would like to open up an AMA for anyone who may have some KS-related questions. Shoot away! [link] [comments]  |
| No idea how to make Amazon work Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:26 PM PDT We are a small aviation company, making cleaning products for airplanes. I'll leave the name out for now, because I don't want this to be misconstrued as an attempt to stealthily advertise, but happy to provide it if it somehow helps to answer the question. We have had a very hard time getting engaged with Amazon. It took us, literally, months to run the gauntlet and get our products listed. We are now on the site and in the warehouse. The next step is figuring out how to generate sales. We've done a modest amount of paid placement, but it hasn't been great. We're just about breaking even on that, but depends on the day. We are really over our heads in figuring out how SEO or other factors might play into driving more sales. We think we might need to hire an Amazon specialist to bootstrap us. We also wonder if there is a canonical book or website that we've simply missed in our research that would be the gospel of Amazon. So, that's our question. Broadly speaking: How do we make the next steps to make Amazon work for us? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:49 AM PDT I'm very curious what products & services you guys think you could sell without very much money down, and what types of products you think could be marketed towards customers within a short time-frame. And furthermore, how you would reach your customers without (much) advertising. Just a little thought exercise. I see lots of people here discuss where to acquire starting capital, and I always figured it'd be neat to sell something to acquire that starting capital rather than seeking friends and family loans/investment. Followup: is your process repeatable? Could you make an additional $1000 doing the same thing in the following 24 hours? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:32 PM PDT First off, I'm new to this group so thank you for taking the time to let me join and listen to my questions. I recently started my first website (www.thepolishedpet.com) 2-3 weeks ago which focuses on anything from unique stylish collars, leashes & harnesses to everyday essentials for your pet. Once I got a decent amount of product listed on my site as well as a theme laid out I targeted Facebook (page and ads), Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. I saw a small uptick in traffic to my site so I started looking into more ways to reach potential customers which lead me in the direction of posting blog posts on the site. This also brought an uptick in traffic but still no sales. Last, I set up and started running google shopping ads and search campaigns (I do this for a living so I know they are properly set up although still in a learning phase). So all together I have a Facebook/instagram ad campaign running, blog posts getting written and posted on the site & Google Ads running. My main questions to this group are the following:
Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 10:37 AM PDT Hello, I registered an LLC in CA in August 2017. I think I never paid the $800 tax. Anyway I'm willing to pay everything I owe now. My questions:
I think I am screwed. Anyway, thank you [link] [comments]  |
| In general, what's the most searched for local service based business? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:00 AM PDT Trying to decide what service business to get into, I am making my decision mainly based on demand, thus would like to choose something that is highly searched for. Any ideas? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Need advice about potential investor/partner Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:45 PM PDT We have a patent on a new product and a prototype, but don't have manufacturing set up. There's a person who seems interested in the product, but wants us to share detailed CAD files for the design, so that he can research with his contacts in manufacturing whether this product is feasible for him to proceed investing in or partnering with us. Our concern is how to proceed with this guy to protect ourselves from him just grabbing our designs and starting to manufacture without us. We do have a patent, but even then, enforcing it is quite a bit of money in attorney fees. Is there a standard agreement we can have him sign before we share more info with him? Should we form a company first with him as a partner? What's the best approach here? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Not sure whether to give up. What should I do? (STRESSED OUT!) Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:41 PM PDT Maybe nobody will read this but here's a little story I want to get off my chest… I've had 3 pretty serious bouts of depression in my life and I wanted to make the world a happier place and help others to find happiness as well, when I found self improvement books it really inspired me to take action and try and help others. So, February 2018 I decided I would try and grow a youtube channel and put my all into it, I made a lot of mistakes and I invested a lot of money into the channel. I had money invested in a house with some others and sold my share back to them to invest in the youtube and to live off while I grew the channel. That was £9,000 and I've spent it all now. My aim was to grow the channel so I could earn enough money to support myself and my girlfriend and allow us to do enjoyable things together and then any money left over I was going to spend on trying to basically improve the world one step at a time. So, youtube was the plan. First of all I decided I'd learn as much as I could so I listened to 30+ audiobooks on self improvement, this is literally all I did for around 2 months solid trying to workout what all the experts were saying I listened in 2x speed and listen for around 3.5 hours everyday Monday-Friday and made notes. I decided the best things to do was begin by making summaries of the books I'd listened to to help others. I new the main thing was provide as much value as possible for others. To begin with I wrote all the scripts for videos myself and wrote over 50,000 words in 3 or 4 months for the channel which I enjoyed to start with but that stressed me out so much in the end, I also recorded and edited the voiceover myself, I did outsource the animation. At this point I was around 10 months in and felt tired and only had 4,000 subscribers and had spent £5,000 on books, learning, animation and general living. After realising I couldn't write that much myself I decided to hire a team of writers to help with the process of writing the summaries and a voiceover artist to be the voice on the videos rather than me. So then I could put out a video every day which is what I've been doing and posting them on reddit (you've probably seen). Yesterday I hit 10,000 subscribers which is great but the channel isn't making money and with all the outsourcing 30 videos a month costs me £1,950. I've now spent all £9,000 that I started with. The channel currently brings in about £80 from ad revenue a month and about £75 from affiliate marketing. I also sometimes create videos for other people and get paid for this but have only done one so far. (i thought it would be much more from having 10,000 subscribers). The channel currently grows by 100 subscribers a day on average as long as I keep spending money on new videos. So the main question I have is should I give up or should I carry on pushing, it's stressing me out a lot. I sing and play guitar and sometimes busk on the street or get gigs which I can earn £100 per gig and sometimes up £30+ per hour busking. I'm thinking of going busking/gigs loads and trying to earn more money to invest into the channel then try and promote it more but don't want to put even more money into the channel only to be disappointed with the results. Any suggestions on what I should do? How can I promote the channel more or improve it? Should I just cut my loses and find a normal job? Should I do the busking and have one final push to try? Any suggestions how I could make the channel more sustainable financially? I'm 24 by the way. Here's a link to the channel if you wanted to get an impression of what I do: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfbLDMh6uGOZePAfqqjVZ-g Thanks, Jordan. [link] [comments]  |
| Question for Canadian Online Sellers Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:25 PM PDT I have a few questions for selling online in Canada. I live in toronto if you're curious. 1) What shipping company do you use? 2) Where do you get your packing supplies? 3) I want to ship but I don't want to use my home address as the return address. What are my options? [link] [comments]  |
| What comes to mind when you hear this business name? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:23 PM PDT What do you think of when you hear of a business called: "Nuhtek" Interested in your answers [link] [comments]  |
| Question: Why don’t people buy small businesses and have other people run them? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:18 PM PDT I know this is an insanely newbie question. I was thinking to myself when I start working I will save a percentage of my income and over time buy small businesses, and hire a manager to run them for me and incentivize by having them pay a payment to me let's say 1000$ a month and the rest of the income is theres. This sounds way too easy to me again im a very newbie college student who wants to invest after graduating. I see businesses is my area for sale around 50-80K and make around 3K a month post inventory. I would even hire college students to run them who are in business and want experience. Anyways this was my shower thought [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:17 PM PDT A year ago some friends and I decided we wanted to create a video sharing platform after one of our favorite content creators was demonetized. We named it www.nextube.net It is technically 100% functional, and most of the bugs are worked out, we are in the "turd polishing" phase. We released an open beta on google play store, and we received traffic and random people started to upload videos, so we shut it down to fix the issues we saw and prevent any legal issues with people uploading videos. We have learned so much in the process, but we don't want it all to go to waste, so we are starting over from scratch using what we learned and are going to re-brand it and start working on the actual business side of things. Since day one everyone has told us we are wasting our time, to just give up, that it's too similar to other sites, but we kept going anyways. At the end of the day, we just want to see a new video sharing community grow and have some fun with it. We have the opportunity to get a real server and it is being donated to us, which is why we want to start over. Also, many features are missing from the site because we do not have our own server, certain things will not work until we switch, mostly back end stuff. We believe in making something out of nothing, which is why we have spent only a few hundred dollars making the site, mostly spent on pizza and a domain host. I'm not exactly sure what advice I am looking for here, so just go easy on me, some of you seem pretty intuitive and I'd like to see some opinions. Or a hypothetical, what would you do in my situation? [link] [comments]  |
| Anyway to remove information from Import Genius? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 01:05 PM PDT Hello, title says it all. Would prefer a personal address is not public if possible. [link] [comments]  |
| $4k/mo sneaker selling side hustle [$2k profit] Posted: 09 Apr 2019 09:15 AM PDT Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview. Today's interview is with Chris Casseday of 513 Kicks, a brand that sells sneakers. Some stats:
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?My name is Chris Casseday, and I am the founder of 513 Kicks, an online sneaker shop that offers collectible athletic shoes at unrivaled prices. I founded 513 Kicks in 2017, but I have been selling sneakers online for over 21 years. The type of sneakers that are featured in the shop are ones that are in high demand, vintage, or bring feelings of nostalgia to my customers. In other words, these are not sneakers that you'll find at your local brick and mortar retail store today. Our typical customers are people that truly love sneakers. They place an emphasis on strategically adding new pairs to their collection, even though they probably have enough sneakers to last them their entire lifetime already. While sneaker collecting is not a new thing, within recent years it has become more mainstream, with athletes, celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies jumping on board. Of course, social media is a huge amplifying factor as well. Prior to launching 513 Kicks, selling sneakers online would bring in some money for me on a sporadic basis - $100 one month, $500 the next. Now, after almost two years, the average profit per month is around $2,000. The biggest shift came through branding my selling efforts as "513 Kicks" as opposed to just another guy that loves sneakers, and sells them occasionally. This added a layer of credibility that has resulted in me making new connections, easily obtaining new inventory with large profit potential, and much more. What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?Growing up I was a huge Michael Jordan fan. The 90s were dominated by the Chicago Bulls (except when Michael decided to play baseball), and I soaked it all in. Being such a fan of MJ, I would always notice what shoes he was wearing on the court. Naturally, I had to have whatever pair he was wearing. At this point, the Air Jordan line was already well-established in the market, but nothing compared to what we see today. I have vivid memories of going to a local sneaker store, typically Just For Feet, with my dad. If anyone remembers this store, they were famous for having a basketball hoop inside. This meant that you could take your new kicks for a spin before walking out of the door. It was simply the best. The idea to resell sneakers was not something that I created, by any means, but it is safe to say that I've been doing this longer than most. My ultimate motivation to start selling sneakers was to fund my own sneaker collecting habit. It all started when I was 10 years old. I would beg my dad to take me to the mall so that I could get a new pair, either for myself or to resell and make a profit. This trend repeated for years, and my business grew along the way. At the time, around the year 2000, most of my business was done through buying and selling on eBay and also sneaker message boards, like NikeTalk. After selling a pair or two, I quickly realized that there was potential to make a good amount of money reselling sneakers, especially for someone that was 10 years old. As you can imagine, a 10-year-old kid does not have a lot of opportunities to generate consistent income, so this was something that I took advantage of. While most of my classmates were playing video games, I was sourcing new inventory and building a profitable business. These efforts, almost 20 years ago, helped to set the foundation of 513 Kicks. Today, 513 Kicks has experienced great growth, but it is still what it always has been, a side hustle that produces income to supplement my more traditional job, a Director of Operations at a marketing agency. Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.Fortunately, with my business, I did not have to go through all of the hoops that are required when designing, prototyping, and manufacturing a new product. My business is simply taking manufactured goods (sneakers) and strategically selling them to the right people at the right prices. The law of supply and demand is a huge factor in the secondary sneaker reselling market. As a result, it is crucial to know what you're selling, and where you're going to sell it. Sourcing inventory that will sell for a profit requires a significant amount of research before you spend a dollar on anything. In the case of sneakers, before buying a pair to resell, I check the comparable sales (if applicable) to determine the current average sale price and overall market demand. Back in the early 2000s, this was not an easy process. I relied on completed eBay sales primarily, and then actual one to one conversations that I had online with other sneaker enthusiasts. Today, the process of checking comparable sales is much easier with the addition of businesses like StockX into the marketplace. Although, true sneaker resellers know that the data that is gathered on StockX is only a piece of what you should consider when sourcing smartly. It is important to check all of the marketplaces that you're active on, because the demand and ultimately, the average sale price can fluctuate greatly. Startup Costs When I first started out on this adventure, my startup costs were virtually non-existent, and that was great because I was a 10-year-old kid with limited capital. I relied on my parents to drive me back and forth to the mall and post office, and I used free shipping supplies from the post office to distribute sneakers across the country. In 2017, when I officially launched 513 Kicks, I did have startup costs, but they were minimal. I was able to leverage my own skills and expertise in the areas of marketing, website design, and development to offset costs significantly. Instead of having to pay someone thousands of dollars to design and launch my eCommerce site, I did it myself. There are also free or low-cost options in the market (Shopify, Wix, etc.) but I wanted a more customizable platform, so I built everything on WordPress. The actual costs tended to fluctuate and grow as business scaled up, but generally speaking these are the main areas where investment was required:
Again, I was able to offset all of the website design and development, social media profile creation and management, and ongoing marketing strategy as a result of doing everything myself. Describe the process of launching the business.As a result of my background, website design and development is something that I enjoy and I knew that I could handle this effort without outsourcing anything. I built the website using WordPress and an eCommerce theme as a starting point. Then I spent several hours over the course of a few weeks building out the site with custom branding, content, and products. I chose WordPress over several other options, such as Shopify, because I wanted to have complete control over every website aspect. I am an experienced digital marketer that has a passion for search engine optimization (SEO) and WordPress allows for complete customization, while Shopify does not. My overall goal was to have 513Kicks.com appear near the top of the Google search results for top terms, in an effort to grow the business organically with no advertising costs. Since I did all of the website development work myself, the costs were very low. In some cases, it might make more sense for entrepreneurs to use something like Shopify and just pay a monthly fee, instead of doing all of the development themselves. I launched the site in June 2017, and I received a handful of sales that month. To gain traction quickly, I leveraged my existing network on social media, which is comprised of thousands of shoe-loving people. I announced the launch of 513 Kicks and it generated thousands of website visitors the first week, and hundreds of comments and shares on Facebook. It was nice to see that people will go out of their way to promote and support a new business, even if it isn't financially. Lesson learned: Launching a new business requires a ton of time, effort, and in some cases, money. It is crucial to do your homework first, and estimate what it is going to take to make the launch happen. In my case, money was not a factor, but significant time and effort were required. It was important for me to carve the necessary time into my schedule each week to ensure that I was working towards my ultimate goal of launching my business. Consistency is key, and I found that if I stuck to my plan and put the time in, that the results followed. Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Since launching 513Kicks.com, I've been able to grow my monthly sales as a result of doing everything efficiently and intentionally. My ultimate goal is to provide the sneakers people want at the best prices. Will I always have the lowest price? No. That's not a problem, because the shopping experience with 513 Kicks is a differentiating factor. 513 Kicks Customers Receive :
Although the above items seem fairly basic, most sneaker boutiques and online shops consistently fail to deliver. My customers also receive a handwritten thank you note with each order. I really do appreciate every customer, whether they spend $50 or $500, and a quick note is just one way that I show my appreciation. How I Increased My Sales There are three major channels that drive my sales - Google organic search (SEO), social media, and email newsletters. SEO In order to have my website to appear near the top of the Google search results, I placed a strong emphasis on SEO. Each page has unique title tags, meta descriptions, and structured data markups. This allows Google to crawl and index my website and rank it appropriately in the search results. As a result of this work, I've grown my organic traffic from zero to over 2,000 visitors a month. Over 80% of this traffic is from new visitors, and ultimately new potential customers. Social Media It comes as no surprise that people buy products on social media. After launching my website, the goal was to identify the best way to reach my target market on social media. This was an easy effort as a result of my personal connection to the sneaker community on social media. Since launch, I've been able to leverage sneaker collecting Facebook groups to grow my monthly sales. These groups are a perfect collection of people that want the exact products that I'm selling, and it is free to reach these people - it doesn't get any better. I am a member of 20+ sneaker-related Facebook groups (see my favorites below). The typical interaction in these groups features people making "want to buy" (WTB) posts and people posting pairs that they have for sale. Since I have such a wide-variety of pairs in my inventory, I often find myself responding quickly to "WTB" posts when the desired pairs match something that I have for sale. Similarly, I frequently make "for sale" posts within the groups. The most important thing to consider is the audience of the groups. For example, if I have several pairs of LeBron James shoes for sale, I would get more engagement and sales by posting them in a LeBron-specific sneaker Facebook group. Here is an example of a typical "WTB" post: Email Newsletter Email marketing, love it or hate it, works. It is a low-cost way to reach past customers, and promote future sales. I use MailChimp because it is easy to use and it is free (up to 2,000 subscribers). All customers get added to MailChimp automatically, but I also have a series of email opt-in giveaways on my website that has helped me grow my email list from zero to nearly 5,000 within a year. The email opt-in boxes (built using Sumo) collect the person's email address in exchange for something of value to them. Here are a few examples that work well for me: Free shipping: Give me your email, and I give you free shipping ($15 value). Free sneaker keychain: If you love sneakers, you'll love one of these. Once the emails are collected, they are automatically added to a new list within my MailChimp account and they will receive future marketing emails. This process has significantly grown my email subscribers and sales tied to email campaigns. One bonus of using a service like MailChimp is that you are able to see total revenue generated per email campaign, which helps determine overall effectiveness. When trying to grow a new business I think it is crucial to try new things and let the data drive future actions. Building out a variety of channels (SEO, email marketing, etc.) that drive traffic and sales is a great way to quickly grow your business, and provide long term stability. How are you doing today and what does the future look like?Profitability After almost two years since launching, I am happy to say that 513 Kicks is a profitable business. My profit goal for 2019 is $2,000 per month, and everything is trending perfectly right now. This year's goal is more than double my average monthly profit in 2018. Distribution 75% of my sales come through 513Kicks.com, the remaining 25% is spread across in-person meetings with local buyers and online marketplaces like StockX, GOAT, and eBay. Diversification has been key to the growth over the last year and it is going to continue to play a key role in 2019 and beyond. Operations I am still running everything myself at this time, but this could change later this year as business continues to increase. This is not my full-time job and I don't want it to be, but I do want to continue to promote the growth year over year. I typically spend about 1 hour per day (during the week) working on fulfilling orders and promoting business growth (adding new products, scheduling social media posts, etc.). On the weekend, I rarely spend time working on the business because I greatly value time with my wife and young children. Business Expansion When I first started out, most of my inventory came from people that I knew locally here in Cincinnati. I would sell their sneaker collections and take a small percentage of the final sale price (consignment business model). Lately, within the last 6 months I have been moving more towards business model that involves buying pairs outright upfront from people. This has led to higher margins for me, but it does require upfront cash. A balance between consignment and buyouts has proven to be successful so far and I will continue this into the future. The goal is to grow the business, while taking calculated risks along the way. Most importantly, I want to make sure that I enjoy what I'm doing every single day - right now, life is great. Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?During the process of launching this business, it has become increasingly clear how important goal setting really is, both personally and professionally. Taking the time to set goals is something that people often do not do, and I was in this group until recently. Since this is a true "side hustle" for me, time management is something that I've had to focus on closely. I have a traditional day job, a family (with three children under the age of 5), and this business among other things. I get up everyday around 5am and each hour of my day is scheduled. Without this schedule in place there is no way that I would be able to manage everything. If I could go back… I only have one true regret so far when it comes to how I've built this business. Initially, I was using a popular payment processor (Stripe), and I got burned once and then again. I should have switched after the first incident, but I didn't. Based on my personal experiences, the Stripe payment gateway is prone to fraud and stolen credit card payments. The chargeback process on Stripe greatly favors the buyer, and this leaves the seller with a negative balance and missing inventory. While my financial losses were small, the lessons learned are great. Take quick action and trust your gut. What platform/tools do you use for your business?I am a firm believer that investing in the right tools makes a big difference in the way that a business can scale and grow, efficiently. Here are the tools that are most important to my business (several are free):
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?One book that I finished within the last year was, Your Best Year Ever, A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals, by Michael Hyatt. This book is a quick read (or listen) and it provides actionable items that anyone implement to help them reach their goals. The concepts can apply to your personal life, work life, entrepreneurs, and more. The popular podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz is always a fun listen. I've been inspired by several of the stories that are told, and I am also able to draw parallels between these successful companies and 513 Kicks, despite the large gap in yearly earnings. Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?There are plenty of tips out there for entrepreneurs that are extremely helpful. A few that have proven to be the most impactful for me are:
On a similar note, it is important to visualize what success looks like for your business before you get started, and after. It can be easy to get caught up in the day to day operations and neglect to do quarterly planning (at a minimum) for your business. "If you don't know where you're going how will you know when you get there?" I tell myself this all of the time, and I'm not sure if I heard it somewhere, or if it is a mashup of things that I've picked up over the years. At the beginning of each year, I review my overall profitability and other business key performance indicators (KPIs) to set strong goals for the year. When setting goals, I push to make them all S-M-A-R-T-E-R. Your Best Year Ever, A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals, by Michael Hyatt Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?As of now, I am able to handle the daily operations of running 513 Kicks. I do strongly believe that if I want to reach the goals that I've set for 2019, I will need some assistance with taking product photos, uploading products to my website, and managing my social media channels to drive purchases. I am also looking to create a "sourcing" team here in Cincinnati that would help to acquire new inventory to sell. All of these positions would be part-time, and paid hourly or per completed task (i.e. products uploaded to the website). Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below! Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data. Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM [link] [comments]  |
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| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 12:46 PM PDT My newish agency recently hit low 6 figure revenue (70% net) and at this pace should hit $500k at this time next year. I'm grappling with how much money to draw out of the business vs reinvesting. I think this can be a decent lifestyle business for 5-10 years, but I can't see this niche thriving as it is for an entire lifetime, for instance. So I can't get a good sense of how valuable building equity in this business is. The general sentiment I see is to reinvest as much back to the business as you can, to fuel growth. But does the same apply for agencies and b2b services businesses? Would it not be more prudent to maximize profits and squeeze as much money out of it for personal savings and other investments, while achieving some steady growth at the same time? I know agencies can be sold, sometimes at decent multiples, but I'm not sure what the right strategy is. I'd love to hear from agency owners who have experience with this. Any advice appreciated. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 12:30 PM PDT So, in my business, it's feast or famine. 2017 nearly broke me. But 2018 and 2019 are insane - I've got about $10k/month to put aside for the next rainy day, with the hope of having $100k before the end of the year. Where can I put that money so it grows to keep pace with inflation? I just want to make sure it's growing so I don't lose out at the end of every year. I'm in Canada, incorporated in Ontario if that counts. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2019 08:28 AM PDT As a photographer I want to hear what you think the future of photography might look like. Even if you are not a photographer I'd still like to hear your opinion. [link] [comments]  |
| 21 year old with clothing company start-up -- need advisor Posted: 09 Apr 2019 12:11 PM PDT I have an idea to solve a problem in the fitness community with clothing. This is a problem that I've identified and validated through customer research, and I want to move forward. I am intentionally being vague because I've put time into this and genuinely want to launch my brand with someone who is dedicated, and won't leak information. I am looking for someone who is very experienced in the clothing industry, preferably someone who has created clothing. What do I need help with? - Knowing about which fabrics I need - How these clothes will be designed (software?) - How they will be created (hand sewn vs. machine) - How to make proper adjustments on clothes to solve problem If you can help, or you know anyone who can, don't hesitate to PM me! Thank you :) [link] [comments]  |
| Here's 5 unexpected ways of saving money, so that it can help pave your way to your goal. Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:56 AM PDT It's all summed up in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goDzmeG5CvY I'll be around to answer any questions you may have :) [link] [comments]  |
| Itemized Deductions for Self-Employed? Posted: 09 Apr 2019 11:55 AM PDT I've already done my taxes for this year and decided to go with the standard deduction. However, after talking to several colleagues and friends, it seems that 1099 has many itemized deductions that self-employed entrepreneurs can take advantage of. In lieu of having the same contemplation next year, I wanted to see what are some unique itemized deductions you all were able to take advantage of this year that I may be able to start tracking. Disclaimer - many of these responses may not be by tax professionals and should be supplemented with additional research and consultation [link] [comments]  |
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