First Day of Door Knocking small business |
- First Day of Door Knocking
- 5 years in business - need investors to grow to next stage
- What do you guys do with extra profit?
- Who is the best investor of all time?
- Remove a business listing that falsely lists my business as their place of business? They are ranking higher too!!
- Anyone Done 10k Small Businesses?
- I am a teenager and want to start a small e- commerce business.
- If you could mix the name of a song, band, album or artist with the name of a cafe drink or cafe snack, what would you come up with?
- When to start paying yourself
- Does anyone own/operate a seasonal consignment store?
- Does anyone sell a product through Faire.com? Do you recommend it?
- Seeking recommendations for bulk shipping services.
- Business Start-up - HELP PLEASE!
- Should I delete discontinued products?
- Trying to figure out, sole proprietor or LLC?
- Question regarding DUNS: Does a tax return count as an acceptable form of documentation?
- I want to start a business at 15 years old
- When does a side hustle become a business? If my wife is pet sitting for friends for cash, does she really have to file taxes for it? How would the government even know or care if it's all under the table?
- Shares in a starting business
- Cold call/email inside the European Union?
- Need some Advice
- Agencies: What do you think of Clutch?
- Best advertising for rural brick and mortar retail?
| Posted: 31 Aug 2019 02:20 AM PDT I want to share my experience from today with you all, specifically my discomfort and how I turned it around. I got up bright and early this morning ready to market my lawn care business for the first time. I put on my uniform, had breakfast, and hit the road ready to knock on doors and hand out business cards to everyone in a the neighbourhood I had scoped out a few days prior. As I pulled up to the first street on my list and was about to get out of the car and knock on that first door, I felt really anxious. I was overthinking EVERYTHING. What should I say? How should I present my value to this person? I was looking around at all the people in their garages telling myself they were all going to see me as a parasite, intruding on their peaceful weekend. I took a deep breath and forced myself up the driveway and banged on the door. The first words that came out of my mouth were "good afternoon"... It was 10am... I fumbled my words and said everything I wanted to say in the completely opposite order I wanted to say it... I'll do better next time I told myself... About 30 houses later and the anxiety had passed, I was getting more comfortable and more natural at how I was approaching people and working things in to the conversation, but the fact I had only handed out 1 business card and had the door shut in my face the rest of the time was a bit disheartening. I went back to my car and moved on to the next block, and as I was driving past each and every house I noticed something. My mind was starting to come up with all sorts of reasons not to knock on doors and to just give up and go home. It was telling me things like "these people all have really nice lawns, they probably already have someone taking care of them... There's no point..." I pulled over and cleared my head for a good 15 minutes, then I worked up the motivation to get back out there. I knew that I would be casting a wide net and facing a huge amount of rejection, but I was determined to get that first job... I did about 50 more houses and I couldn't believe the difference... The 2nd guy I spoke to asked me for a quote which I did on the spot. I got invited in to peoples' homes! One guy gave me a tour of his pride and joy as he is now retired and is getting too old to do his lawns. He introduced me to his wife. I gave him a quote and he took a handful of my cards for him and his neighbors as soon as I told him I would offer a free service for each referral in the area. Another woman invited me to view her back garden which was horribly overgrown and I was a bit unsure how to price it as it looked like a nasty job, but I took aim and fired regardless. I sent her a quote later in the day and may be servicing her property as early as tomorrow! I can't tell you how amazing it felt squashing that negativity in my mind, getting back out there, and making such a great connection with some of the people in my community. These is what it's all about! I'm pumped! [link] [comments]  |
| 5 years in business - need investors to grow to next stage Posted: 31 Aug 2019 12:32 AM PDT My wife and I run a chocolate factory. We came up with the idea to offer tours to the public during non-production hours and it's really been taking off. So much so that we're getting groups of 20-30 people at a time wanting to book tours, but our facility is so small we can only ever fit a dozen people at a time. Normally we can accommodate these groups by splitting them off by the hour into separate tours but several groups are telling us they want to do the entire group at the same time, so we have to turn them away. We're in an 1800sqft space now and know that we need at least 3-4x as much space to do what we want to do, but this would literally take $2m-$3m to do the buildout, purchase more equipment, hire more staff, etc. Should we try to find a slightly larger space and bootstrap into that or should we try to find outside investment and get a much bigger space to meet the demand? We have 5 years left on our current lease and were thinking of keeping it as an additional retail space, or we could just sell it and use that money for another space, but the construction time would easily be a year or two, not including finding a space first, permitting, etc. We maxed out our finances getting into our current space but we're already outgrowing it, even from just a production standpoint. Any advice is welcome! [link] [comments]  |
| What do you guys do with extra profit? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:33 AM PDT I just left my job and started my business in May this year. I had a pretty good head start since I have been building my client base on the side for 5 years. We currently have 4 full time contractors (me & my husband included), and about 4-5 remote freelancers. Since we are service-based, we have very little expenses and a pretty big profit margin. We have been growing pretty steadily since May and we're now making 70k income & 50k profit per month. My husband and I transfer roughly 12k per month to our account which covers our rent, vacations, savings, etc. And we plan to take out another 40k at the end of the year to max our 401ks. But other than that we still have a pretty big profit margin that's just sitting there in the business account. This is my first business and honestly been playing catch up with learning the ins and outs of having my own business so I would love any and every advice. I've spoken to my accountant and she gave me great advice 2 months ago and helped me get the LLC set up and etc. but basically said let's see where you're at in 6 months and let's re-evaluate see if you should start doing payroll, etc. Should I be seeking advice from another professional? [link] [comments]  |
| Who is the best investor of all time? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:12 PM PDT |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 09:34 AM PDT Hi guys I can't figure out how he did this in the first place but I need to know how to remove a personal trainer listing that lists my gym as it's place of business and comes up as the first result on google for "personal trainer" Of course I reached out to the individual and am having my lawyer draft a letter. I was thinking I should be able to remove a business listing from listing my gym as their place of business. Edit! To clear things up, this person has their business listed as "located in" my business. Example ; "Fake personal trainer" 5 stars - personal trainer "Name of my gym" Winnipeg, MB 555-555-5555 Any contact for a specific google department? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone Done 10k Small Businesses? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 07:15 AM PDT I just heard I was accepted into the fall class for the Goldman Sachs 10k Small Businesses program in my area, and I'm curious if anyone on here has done it. There isn't a ton of info about the program aside from general things and results and such, so I'd be interested to hear any insights from anyone who may have participated about what to expect or how to make the most out of it. [link] [comments]  |
| I am a teenager and want to start a small e- commerce business. Posted: 30 Aug 2019 10:58 PM PDT I am a 17 year old living in Bangladesh. I want to start an online business selling home ornaments. I don't have much money to invest and i have no idea how to start a business. Is there amy book to help me do this? Can you also give me a little guidance? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 10:04 PM PDT Hi, Im in the drawing board phase of a music themed cafe, and im having some difficulty coming up with the names of drinks and snacks, and I would greatly appreciate it if i could have some creative and imaginative music and food fans help me in meeting my goal. some examples are : "Freak On A Qiche", "Machiatto De Marco", "Red Hot Chili Pepper Poppers", "Heart shaped cookies in a box", "Wish You Were Beer" (its a Root Beer float) FYI, i will be selling bears but i cant change the name of beers that I'll sell at the cafe, they'll be sold as the name its respective brewers name them, but all the snacks and drinks will be made out of scratch with original music inspired names. I'll try my best to even make vegan, and organic variants of my snacks and drinks :) I also want to make a Jimmy Hendrix inspired drink and/or snack that is THC infused [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 03:45 PM PDT Hi all. I have slowly started to build my business with residential and light small business break fix repair. I'm fortunate enough to also still work part time for an MSP. I started it in October of 2018. I haven't paid myself anything and all the money has went into marketing and general business expenses. My question is when do you think it would start making sense to pay myself? I make enough working part time for the MSP and have no real debt. I also have extremely cheap rent where I live. Just kind of trying to find a threshold. [link] [comments]  |
| Does anyone own/operate a seasonal consignment store? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 07:27 PM PDT So I am greatly considering a seasonal consignment store. If you're unfamiliar it's a popup retail store that sells consigned goods. Usually they are 2x a year spring and fall and the big one is kids stuff. Clothes, toys, books, accessories etc. You rent a space for a week or less. Whether it's a church hall, gymnasium in a school, vacant retail space, etc. Your consignors enter all their products on a web based application and bring them on a drop off day and pick up whatever didnt sell on the last day. They get special early bird shopping hours and volunteers for the event get a higher percentage take home. I.e. up to 75% vs 60%. Volunteers are essential because they keep the show running and presentable. The cost to buy in is relatively inexpensive. Looking at under $10k easily. Very low overhead. Does anyone do this? Or do you personally know anyone who runs these? I am looking to pick the brain of someone in this business and see if it's worth my time and investment. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Does anyone sell a product through Faire.com? Do you recommend it? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:11 PM PDT I am looking to relaunch an old handmade business of mine. I had many accounts I was selling my book cover jewelry back about 8 years ago, but that was part of a business that my ex-spouse and I ran together. We sold lots of things made from old books and my specialty was this jewelry. So I'm relaunching with a new name and new styles and needing to get back into wholesale! Just wondering if anyone has used this service and would you recommend it? [link] [comments]  |
| Seeking recommendations for bulk shipping services. Posted: 30 Aug 2019 06:06 PM PDT We used to use USPS and create our own bulk labels via Excel and Word (mail merge). And then drop the packages off at the Post Office. Then we got tired of lost / damaged packages, all the hauling to the post office, etc. and so we switched to FedEx. FedEx.com has great features for creating labels and scheduling pick ups. However it doesn't offer a solution for importing large mail lists and grouping receptients into multiple categories (and keeping that info for future use). A FedEx employee advised us to try FedEx Ship Manager software. We just started that and it appears to do what we need however, it lacks some features we loved about FedEx.com. There has to be a better comprehensive service? [link] [comments]  |
| Business Start-up - HELP PLEASE! Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:43 PM PDT I'm wanting to start an event planning/management business. I've always enjoyed the challenge of bringing someone's vision/dream into reality and want to try and turn it into a business. So far, these are the things I've planned:
I've managed different group sizes, anywhere from 2 to 100 people. I'm currently a supervisor/trainer at my job so I'm not shy telling people what to do/delegate duties. However, I have a difficult time trying to get to know someone/feel comfortable around them at the get go (unless I'm training them). I am also trying to do videography on the side and I think those together will go greatly hand-in-hand. I'm thinking of possibly offering the event planning services and offer an additional videography services if my clients would like. I do have quite a bit of connections here and there and do have people who are already interested in getting my event planning services.. I'm just not sure how to go about it in a more business like manner. I just finished an intimate music event last month and the turn out was absolutely AMAZING. But that was because I was working side-by-side with the artist and HIS team. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I REALLY want to start this and have this as a side gig (for now) and then work my way up to possibly quitting my full-time 9-5 job. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Should I delete discontinued products? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 05:02 PM PDT I run a niche business with only a few products. If I were to discontinue one item and replace it with another, would it be best to delete the product all together? I assume this may negatively impact google search rankings and SEO. The only other options I can think of is leaving the item in a sold out status but this can look poor when customers are searching through the products.. [link] [comments]  |
| Trying to figure out, sole proprietor or LLC? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 03:36 PM PDT I initially started off helping a local business (friend) with making videos for them to show customers. I'm not a professional videographer just a side hobby that I happened to know how to do. Now the videos have gotten to the point that some are instructional and money is being charged for them. The owner of the company has told me that he wants to give me 20% of each sale, but has no interest in making me an 'employee' nor do I want to be an employee. We have a contract signed for use of videos and payment (just recently). I figured I should probably make myself some sort of a business to receive these payments. Depending on how well these videos do, there is potential for >$1,000 a month. I'd rather have myself set up ahead of time for tax purposes and such than not. I've provided a service, I will be making more videos in the future that will be paid to view. Should I just make myself a sole proprietor and call it good or does this sound like LLC type thing? In the end I'd prefer my taxes to be easy. In my household, I'm the only income with a spouse and 3 dependents. [link] [comments]  |
| Question regarding DUNS: Does a tax return count as an acceptable form of documentation? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 03:03 PM PDT If a SSN can be used in place of a TIN, can a tax return (which has a SSN with the location of the business) be used in place of a TIN confirmation letter? [link] [comments]  |
| I want to start a business at 15 years old Posted: 30 Aug 2019 08:25 AM PDT I want to start a business as a 15 year old but I don't know where to start. Any advice? Edit: I want to start a bakery [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 10:26 AM PDT Title basically.. Hopefully this is the right place for this sort of question. We've got some close friends who got in a tight spot and were going out of the country on vacation right as their elderly dog got a pretty serious leg injury. My wife is a former vet technician and current stay at home mom, so they paid her to stay at their home and take care of their animals rather than boarding them as they were planning to do. It ended up going really well and they've already talked to her about using her services a few more times this year. This kind of inspired my wife to look into pet-sitting as a way to make some extra cash but is afraid of the implications of dealing with it as a business. If she's just pet-sitting for friends and they're paying her for her time, does she really have to file taxes on this if it goes over the $400 or whatever a year? She's not starting a business and advertising or anything.. I guess I just don't understand how this would even ping on the government's radar if it's all private transactions, but at the same time I don't want to get in trouble for not handling things properly. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:34 PM PDT Dear businessmen, I am about to start a clothes brand with a friend as designer. He agreed to work as an associate instead of a contractor. I would like to get your point of view on the following question : what would be, according to you, the best situation for the distribution of shares given that : My partner : - Makes design for all the clothes (printed design on existing clothes) - Comes up with very nice ideas regarding the branding Me : - I manage the accounting - I make the market researches - I come up with the concepts (and the original idea) - I run the online store - I find the products - I pay for the adds (small amounts once in a while, but I pay alone) - Basically I handle all the technical process from ordering to delivery I think that I spent more time than him on this project, and take more financial risks also. For me, a 50/50 share is not quite fair. I was expecting something like 70/30. I know this question is VERY subjective, but given these information, what kind of distribution would you expect ? Thanks for taking some time to read, sorry if it's not clear enough [link] [comments]  |
| Cold call/email inside the European Union? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:25 PM PDT Does someone have information about this topic. From what I have read, the new data privacy law forbids marketing contact with a company without getting their permission beforehand. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 12:29 PM PDT I sold my house a year ago and moved out to San Diego. I have been freelancing for the past year (with not that much income, because I made a nice chunk on the house sale). I am in the talks of investing into a Small avocado toast business here, and need a lot of help and advice on action that can be taken. I have about 10k in the bank liquid and no debt and a 770 credit score. I am asking for suggestions for the best type of loan to take out to put me in the best position possible given the circumstances. Since I have not worked or do not own any part of the company, I don't have 6 months or a year of revenue statements. I just have great personal credit and no debt and some money in the bank. I am looking to help the Avocado toast business get into a brick and mortar (right now they only do farmers markets) but I have worked and observed a few shifts and believe its efficient and profitable if it had its own store. Anyway, I need suggestions for what types of loans to seek to be able to have that initial support to help the business thrive in its first brick and mortar location. I hope this makes sense. HELP! [link] [comments]  |
| Agencies: What do you think of Clutch? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 05:50 AM PDT I'm thinking of investing in a Clutch listing for my small SEO agency. I say "investing" because I know it's pretty much just a pay to play model, and I'm okay with that if I get a good ROI. If you've used Clutch, what has your experience been like? What level "sponsorship" would you recommend? [link] [comments]  |
| Best advertising for rural brick and mortar retail? Posted: 30 Aug 2019 11:33 AM PDT Just wondering, for those of you who have brick and mortar retail businesses in more rural/suburban areas, what type of advertising have you found works the best for actually getting people in the door? Background: I'm in a very small town (population 5,000), though I am within 10-15 minutes of a small city (pop. 26,000) and army base with an additional 30-40k people on top of that. The shop--cheese and specialty food items--is on a fairly busy main road, probably less than 1 mile from the nearest interstate exit. The shop is in the same building as a sandwich shop and across the street from an auto dealership, so it's not totally in the middle of nowhere (so to speak), but it's not a pedestrian-friendly area, and there is no natural foot traffic--you have to come here with intention. I've experimented with radio ads and Facebook a bit. I did get some feedback from customers who mentioned they heard our ad on the radio, but it was a bit on the expensive side for a smaller startup, and hard to get a concrete number to gauge how effective it really was. Facebook ads were great for getting page likes and reactions to posts, but not sure it really converted to foot traffic. I've done some "offers" through Facebook but they led to virtually no actual sales. Network TV advertising is very expensive around here. I'm sure cable is more affordable, but how many people are watching commercials on TV at all these days? Has anyone tried YouTube ads? Billboards? Newspapers, church bulletins, direct mail? Would like to hear some real-world examples that have worked for anyone! [link] [comments]  |
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