Success as a bagel shop owner, year #4 complete small business |
- Success as a bagel shop owner, year #4 complete
- How to Rank High on Google Maps - Some Useful Tips
- Just had to tell the person I fired why I let them go
- How do you approach sourcing photography for a company website?
- Shopify theme specifically for clothing/t-shirts?
- Facing several obstacles in starting an online business because of absurd policies of my country. Can someone suggest an updated book that teaches you how to setup an online business despite the obstacles?
- Something that could redirect call from home phones to different cellphones. Multiple small buisness
- Launching a (small) cleaning supply business - How do I find good partners for formula and manufacturing?
- What is a polite way to ask for reviews on Facebook? & How long should I wait to follow up on a request for review?
- I need help approaching a big ask from landlord
- Tokoin
- Rate my business
- Suggestions for Answering Service
- Elderly Mother-In-Law's Rental Business
- Operating agreement and equity division guide?
- Help choosing a forklift
- What to do about clients arguing a deposit. (Besides the obvious.)
- How to interpret job candidate’s actions?
- How can I start a business selling homemade tea mixes such as fruit/herbal tea bags and loose teas in the UK?
- How can I advertise/market a new -outdoor- business?
- 18 Free Online Tools For Business
- ADVICE NEEDED! Client was happy with my work but a month after wants money back after bills were all paid because of divorce?
- Business Partner Update - it's finally come!
- POS solutions for me.
| Success as a bagel shop owner, year #4 complete Posted: 02 Aug 2019 12:03 PM PDT I almost didn't make a post this year, mostly because Ive been to busy, and well, uninspired i guess. But i decided hey, i already did 4, why not keep it up. so, hopefully you guys enjoy, ill keep it short and sweet, you can ask any questions you like. quick back story, my wife and i bought a bagel/coffee shop in June of 2015. Its been quite the experience learning how to be a business owner. We were 22/28 respectively when we bought it. Here are links to my prior Reddit posts on the shop, if anyone wants to read them. 2016https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/43aeny/the_good_the_bad_the_bagel/ The 4th year of ownership has probably been the easiest, though that's relative! still a lot of challenges this year for sure. first, quickly the numbers. This year we saw 18% year over year growth, with an average daily sales of $1264 and a yearly gross of $450k. when we took over, the business had done $160k and $515/day over its previous year. This is all in 600sqft, ( 150 kitchen, 100 front house, 150 dining area, 200 basement). We have also developed quite the local base of customers. When we took ownership, less than 25% of our total sales were people who lived or worked in the area. Its now easily 60-70% of our base. It helps that are particular are is undergoing gentrification. we now have the best crew we have ever had! we have 3 full time employees, and 4 part time, tho when college starts in a few weeks that will drop by 1. We have several multi year employees now, and have created a reliable staff who loves their jobs. We now pay a base pay of $12-$16, plus tips run $4-7/hr. This has also helped us develop a stellar reputation for our AMAZING service. Our staff loves our customers, and vice versa. This helps, along with our constant striving for high quality food, us maintain an impeccable rating on social review platforms.Unemployment here in Reno has remained under 4% which has made hiring difficult and driven up wages We participated in a university marketing course this year, as sort of a class project, and this has helped us in a lot of ways. We are definitely doing more now to market ourselves better. The wife and I are still working quite a bit, but it has improved since the first years. We now work 38-48 hrs per week, with occasional 3 days weekends. This has been great for our health, as the first few years we often worked 60-80hrs with no days off for weeks on end. we managed to solve the huge problem of our AC issues before this summer started. Long story short, our unit was no designed to handle the amount of equipment, people and operations we have. Its was old and inefficient. Temps were regularly 80-85* in front and 82-92* in the kitchen, depending on how hot it was outside. it would cost $10k to put a new unit in (rooftop) and we weren't about to pay that. Our landlord is useless. So this year, we installed a 1600sqft Evap cooler in one of our kitchen windows ( humidity here is between 8-15% during the summer) and it has been a work horse! kitchen temps between 68-75*. we did have to buy a supplemental window AC unit for the front , but with a few well placed fans, the front has been between 72-77*. This has been a huge WIN for us, and saved us $300 a month on electric ( we had 3 portables last summer that ate so much power) We also performed a renovation on New years of our front of house. We polished our concrete floors ( they had this black glue on them from when they had lam. in the past), reorganized our layout to create better flow and more space, and installed digital menu boards. We also simplified our menu, removing some under performers and creating a few new options. We try to do this every so often, and now with digital menu boards we can. We even made our own artwork for it on Adobe illustrator. We also made a move to serve our food to-go. in such a small space (we have 12 total seats inside, then about 28 seats outside), it makes the most sense, especially since 70% of our orders were already to go anyway. People are welcome to stay and hang out, but this helps our efficiency (reduces steps and confusion in the kitchen), and encourages the movement of people. Looking back, we have come so far. We have created so much efficiency in our space compared to when we first took over. We operate like a well oiled machine, and our ticket times never get above 5-10* minutes. In fact, when its not crazy busy, most orders go out in under 4min. We have learned a lot, and have some new challenges this year, including the sale of the building we are in. Ive attached a few pics, if you have any questions i will do my best to answer. [link] [comments]  |
| How to Rank High on Google Maps - Some Useful Tips Posted: 02 Aug 2019 04:23 PM PDT This post is dedicated to the local business owners looking to rank higher on Google Maps, but I'll also show you ways how this can work for affiliate marketers. I am the owner of CallRage, a pay-per-call agency, and I use these methods every day to get listings on top for various niches in cities around the world. 1. Optimize Listing Many people don't even have claimed their Google Business listings which is really sad because it's one of the best ways you can get local leads for your business. What you'll want to do is find out what people are searching for in your area, and incorporate that into the title. Let's say 140 people are looking up "Lantzville Electrician", and your business name is Magna Electric, you'd make the title "Magna Electric | Experienced Lantzville Electrician". To find out how many people are searching for certain search terms, I recommend installing the Keywords Everywhere plugin for Google Chrome. It's free. Next, make sure to apply the correct categories and cities that you're targeting. Now the next important thing is applying pictures to your GMB profile. I recommend uploading your pictures to this site https://tool.geoimgr.com/ and applying the longitude and latitude of your city to the picture. Why? Because Google sees all that information and it influences the rankings. My sure to also put your target keywords in the description and change the file name. Example: lantzville electrician Under the company description, you'll want to write some solid content and include the search terms. Don't just stuff them. Place them in naturally. 2. Reviews This part is very important as not only will reviews help you rank higher on the maps, but they'll also increase your conversions due to trust. Contact everyone who can vouch for your services and get them to leave you a review. 3. Citations You'll want to find websites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, BBB, Manta, and so forth, in which you can place your business details. Just Google "[niche] local citations" and you should find these sites. 4. Posts Google's business listings now offer the ability to post. Make sure to write an article once a week with your keywords strategically placed. Nobody else is doing this and you'll outshine your competitors in most cities. 5. Backlinks Now, if your listing hasn't ranked within 2 months using these strategies, you are likely in a more competitive area and/or niche. You'll want to build quality, relevant backlinks to your website and listing, as well as social signals, to rank your listing higher. This part may involve some costs so it's important to calculate whether it makes sense to spend money to get higher on Google. For instance, let's say you're a roofer and your profit on each job is $1,500. If you're spending $1,000 per month on SEO, your first client already puts you in the profit zone. However, if you're a cafe, and your margins are small, spending anything close to that amount can run you out of business. Try using the free tips above first in order to see what rankings you can achieve. A good, free way, to determine the competition of an area and niche is to type the following in Google: intitle:"search term city" Example: "electrician lantzville" Google will then give you weird looking search results, but in light grey, just below the search bar, it should show you how many results there are. If it's under 100, it's usually less competitive. If it's under 20, you've got a low competition niche, usually! I use paid tools as there are more ranking factors, but that's a free, less accurate method of doing it. Conclusion There are more ways to rank higher on local map listings on Google, but I'd be out of business if I shared them all. Hope this helps some of you who are discouraged and want more customers when you're starting out. Keep in mind that this will work better for smaller, less competitive cities. [link] [comments]  |
| Just had to tell the person I fired why I let them go Posted: 02 Aug 2019 12:34 PM PDT I am relatively new to being a business owner. I have begun to hire part-time help at my store. Recently, I decided to let someone go for not being a good fit and poor performance. He had not been with us long, but it was still a very difficult thing for me to do. Today, he came by to purchase something and asked me to my face why I let him go. So, I was honest; maybe too honest. I wanted him to have the information so that he would know why and so that he would know what he needed to improve on going forward. What is the best way to communicate why you are firing/have fired someone? Does it get easier with time? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you approach sourcing photography for a company website? Posted: 03 Aug 2019 04:13 AM PDT Trying to get an understanding of what avenue people take to get a good result. DIY? Hire a photographer? Stock? What has worked? What hasn't worked? What about cropping and retouching? [link] [comments]  |
| Shopify theme specifically for clothing/t-shirts? Posted: 03 Aug 2019 03:28 AM PDT Looking for a theme that is basically plug and play for selling T-Shirts?? Anyone have a recommendation or know of a theme? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2019 02:07 AM PDT There is so much information out there and so little time given I work 14 hour days, that I am getting overwhelmed with information. I need to find nuggets of useful information that will provide me with the basics of starting an IT business like Facebook, Etsy etc. Therefore I am looking for a free, brief book on the topic. I am looking for a book that will take into account the obstacles that I am facing.For instance, PayPal is not available here in Bangladesh, the only way to receive remittance is from services like MoneyGram or through SWIFT and you need to provide supporting documents and receive the money in a company account. You cannot spend more than $7000 USD abroad every year in non-SAARC countries. Can someone suggest an updated free book or booklet that teaches you how to setup an online business? Also, which subreddit would be the best for troubleshooting these obstacles and problems? [link] [comments]  |
| Something that could redirect call from home phones to different cellphones. Multiple small buisness Posted: 02 Aug 2019 08:01 AM PDT Is there something like that? I have a environmental buisness and a scrap metal buisness. So I have a home phone that redirects to my cellphone for all my buisness. I would like something like the big corporation, press 1 for enviromental services , 2 for metal prices, 3 to reach comptability etc. But for every number to reach certain cellphones . I tried every telecommunication services they can't help me because I'm trying to redirect to cell phones not office phone. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2019 01:22 AM PDT I'm looking to launch a *spiritual* cleaning company in Europe. The most similar brand would be US-based Lighthaus Magic: https://www.lighthausmagic.com/ I'd like to find a manufacturer in Europe and someone who can help me with the formula. However, reaching out to manufacturers hasn't yielded many results. Anybody in this space that has experience creating a new product like this? Where can I find someone who's really good with formulas? I'm only looking to launch a few products in the beginning. How should I go about finding the right manufacturer without having to travel all over Europe? Or should I just try to create it all at home (LIGHTHAUS seems to have started off that way). Anu tips are much appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 05:00 PM PDT I'm looking for a polite way to ask for reviews on Facebook for my relatively new photography business. Can I ask for reviews from former customers? Is there a good way to do so? I've asked one person for a review & they haven't done it yet but I only delivered their photos on Wednesday so I'm not sure when I should follow up. I'm grateful for any advice anyone can give me. [link] [comments]  |
| I need help approaching a big ask from landlord Posted: 02 Aug 2019 06:25 PM PDT I run a yoga studio. We have hot yoga, barre, and normal yoga. We are the only studio like this in our city of about 400k We started halfway through 2016 in a small crappy space but moved into a real, beautiful retail spot in January 2018 and that is when our business really took off. The problem was that I still charged the cheaper membership rate from the old place and have creeped it up $10/month and need to creep it up another 10. We went from 60 members to about 250 members in 1.5 years and we are still showing growth in our numbers but paying off big loans and are not yet cash flow positive, but not losing money either. We are truly becoming a popular fixture in the core. I believe we will see positives happen in January, and our rate increases put us in a very competitive place with the other studios in our area and January is our best month. (Our old price was cheap cheap. Lesson learned!) In order to do this rate increase we need to install some expensive showers to match our competitors. Now, our landlord at our place used to have a yoga studio in his building who went out of business and I think cost him some money. When we signed our lease, our landlord gave us $0 for leasehold improvements, a very short rent-free term and made us pay 5 extra months of rent that we could get back as 1 free month every year of our 5 year term. It amounts to about $25k at this point as we've already received one of the "free" months. It was a bad deal for us but we signed it because we knew our intersection is fast becoming a hotspot. Now that we have been in our space almost two years, we have never missed a month of rent or caused any problems. We want to install those showers and I am asking him to return our deposit to pay for them as I can show him our numbers and he can see that we are doing well as a business. We have build a good reputation and name in our downtown area and we 100% raise the value and visibility of his building. (The neighborhood and building used to be sketchy but the whole area is gentrifying thanks to a growing downtown core and some good companies - like mine - moving there, plus about 5000 condos going up). He is a cheeeeap rich bougie bastard and I know he's gonna say no. Why would he say yes? That said, he is not allowed by law to collect any interest on this money or invest it in any way. It is to sit there untouched until we get our months back. I have a meeting with them next week and I want to prepare some ideas to get him to see that it is in his best interest to say yes to me. Here is what I have so far: 1) A yoga studio is attended by hundreds of wealthy customers every week and will raise the profile and interest of his building, which can then let him raise prices as more people come to the downtown core. 2) He is helping his tenants stay competitive which makes us more money, which makes him more money. And we won't go out of business and cost him an empty unit and new broker fees. 3) He is not allowed to collect interest or invest our deposit so why hold it? (I am thinking of asking for proof that the money is not collecting interest or being invested... I don't know how to approach this or threaten anything, or if I should) 4) He has two empty units and having a popular amenity like a yoga studio will attract offices and young tech companies (our downtowns bread and butter) This is all I got. I need to learn how to convince him that it is worth his while. Can you help me with advice to convince him to give us our money back??? If you read this far, thank you. I am so in need of advice from other hustling small business owners like me :) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2019 01:59 AM PDT Tokoin aims to: - Build a digital business identity for MSME that represents a valid business reputation - Build a digital ledger for MSME that records real-time transaction data and provides opportunities to distribute the data to the relevant parties in the ecosystem, hence monetizing their data. - Build a digital ledger for MSME that records real-time transaction data and provides opportunities to distribute the data to the relevant parties in the ecosystem, hence monetizing their data. - Grow opportunities by lowering transaction costs, increasing buying power, and providing the previously inaccessibles access for business partnership - Suppress the financial inclusion barriers For more information: [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 06:06 PM PDT Hi guys, some of my friends and I came up with this one idea and have spent a few months thinking about it. Also my friends have a couple of years of experience in the mobile repair field and we have identified some key suppliers. We are thinking of opening up a mobile repair business (yes, both definitions of the word mobile lol) Basically, we travel to customers to fix their phones and as a result we can charge them a jussst little bit more money than the competition. Also, we are looking for a van that can be converted into a mobile repair station. Start up cost is really low, around $10k including inventory.. as there is no physical stationary store that needs renovating or setting up. We can also set up a P.O Box and use that as the business address. The van can be a walking driving mobile advert and we can also start dishing money out toward online advertising. Again right now everything is in its infancy, but I'd like a few raw, unfiltered opinions. Also, redditors, be as brutal as you want to be if this sh e t show needs to be shut down immediately. [link] [comments]  |
| Suggestions for Answering Service Posted: 02 Aug 2019 10:55 AM PDT I have a friend that needs a service that will answer calls with the name of the business, give basic info and take messages, schedule appointments, etc. I'm sure that there are services that do this specifically for small businesses, where the operator takes calls for several businesses. What companies do you use? Any other recommendations regarding this? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Elderly Mother-In-Law's Rental Business Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:55 PM PDT Hello everyone, newbie here. Please let me know if I need to clarify anything here. My elderly mother-in-law has approached me for assistance in running her rental business. She is pretty disorganized and has been doing a mishmash job of handling her finances for years. I have always told her no, to go to an accountant, pay someone else to take care of the books. However, I would genuinely like to help her, I just have no idea where to start or how to keep track of all this. I googled around a bit and found some accounting software options that seem a little over-the-top for us. She only has 2 rentals right now, one of which is vacant. She has put quite a bit of money into renovating one of the units. If I were to take care of her bookkeeping, how would I start? Hypothetically, if one were to go to their elderly family member and take over some small rental business, what would you ask for first? Also, suggestions for the best accounting software for people in our position is greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Operating agreement and equity division guide? Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:46 PM PDT Hi SB, happy Friday to all business owners, entrepreneurs, wantrepreneurs and lurkers! Are there any books/ guides or resources for drafting operating agreements / fair compensation, equity setups? Specifically, have an opportunity to form a company that will have a silent investor, and possibly 3 working partners (sales/finance/operations) with varying ability to contribute $ and need to pull $ out as salary. I realize there are probably a million permutations of how to structure a deal, but I'm looking for (relative) simplicity that covers the most common scenarios (a working partner wants to leave, etc). Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 05:58 PM PDT We are moving to a new building that will finally have tall warehouse space to put our inventory in and use taller storage for our pallets. Previously, we never had a forklift and would only use a pallet jack. We use typical wooden pallets, We are new to all of the technical details of forklifts and I am now learning all of the types and different features. If anyone is more knowledgeable and can help us out to figure out which would be the best type while remaining as inexpensive as possible (likely going to try to find used) as it will be used very infrequently, it would be much appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| What to do about clients arguing a deposit. (Besides the obvious.) Posted: 02 Aug 2019 11:15 AM PDT I have a home renovation business that just moved with me to Florida. First job went great. Homeowner wants more work done. Second client does not feel she should give us any deposit on a quote to install flooring they have already purchased. She was "warned by two other contractors and the flooring store" that because she doesn't know us, she can't guarantee that we won't "rip her off". I politely turned the tables and stated that we also need the security that we will get paid for our time and are only requesting 50% down. She feels she should give $0 down. Now, they are an older retired couple who are also new to the area. The husband is on the HOA board and has already gotten us 2 more estimates. I'd hate to lose a profitable client but I also don't want to leave myself too vulnerable. Does she even have a point or is she full of crap? Do I counter for a 30% deposit? Tell them, sorry, we can't accept jobs at this time without 50% deposits because we are essentially a start up company again because of relocating? I hate telling people no. [link] [comments]  |
| How to interpret job candidate’s actions? Posted: 02 Aug 2019 03:40 PM PDT Today I interviewed a job candidate who lives about half an hour away from my office. She was very enthused about the job and interview beforehand and lauded my background and experience (I'm a lawyer btw). I'm not used to that but ok. I told her my main office where she would work is half an hour away. "Not a problem" was her consistent response. She was planning to move there anyway. Her resume showed consistent employment. No obvious red flags except she'd only done long term contract jobs for agencies - never a direct hire. During the interview, she remained enthused. We agreed on the initial salary she proposed and everything was just peachy. Then, she says "oh, if this is an offer, I should tell you I'm considering another offer, but the only reason I'd take it is it's closer to my home, but I'm 99% in favor of your job"...blah blah blah. I told her to let me know Monday and after that I'll be looking elsewhere. Should I just forget her and look elsewhere? Edit: She later agreed to be hired. Fyi- there's a Yelp review by a former client that described me as "kind"'which I think helped here. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 03:27 PM PDT |
| How can I advertise/market a new -outdoor- business? Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:34 PM PDT I just launched my outdoor business' website yesterday :D. I tried my best to make the website look presentable since I don't have a lot of items to showcase yet. I wanna advertise my business through Facebook group pages and outdoor forums, but I don't know if that's too "spammy". I'm also unsure about how to advertise my business to strangers in person. I'd appreciate any kind of advice :). I'm currently looking for outdoor social groups in my area and designing digital/physical flyers. https://outdoororion.com/ [link] [comments]  |
| 18 Free Online Tools For Business Posted: 02 Aug 2019 02:15 PM PDT Holle! I wrote content about " 18 Free Online Tools For Business " those tools will help you to grow fast with your business the link of it is I hope this content will help you https://www.dollarssite.com/2019/08/18-free-online-tools-for-business.html if you have any question just ask me I am going to help you as I can as you want [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 07:43 AM PDT A did a large garden install for a client and they liked the work even passed my name along to others. Now I get an email saying she couldn't afford it and needs some money back? She has already paid it in full about a month ago. Should I just ghost her or what? She paid me about 5 grand. [link] [comments]  |
| Business Partner Update - it's finally come! Posted: 02 Aug 2019 09:51 AM PDT Hey guys, some of you may remember me as the guy who had that awful dispute with his business partner that led me to come on here and ask about any protection i may have on the startup idea. Anyways, the partner is long gone after a bunch of empty lawyer threats and I've managed to get protection on my idea. I am launching very soon after months of hard work and I'd really like your feedback on my website design / idea. There are still some things that will be changed on the website (e.g. hero image on front page + product page), just waiting on images from my photographer. The website is www.myexome.com and, no, this isn't a promotion. I genuinely want some feedback so I can optimize it for launch day. Thanks for all of your help over the past few months, you calmed my nerves and helped me push it into overdrive to launch my DNA test. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2019 09:34 AM PDT Hello, I am looking for a simple POS solution that can use product/inventory lists from woocommerce or quickbooks. I currently have a website running woocommerce and am opening a retail location. The square terminal is *perfect* for us but we process many $2000 transactions per month so the fees are a bit scary. Also, I am afraid of the horror stories about them freezing accounts for no reason. -- I need to be able to print receipts with product details -- it cant be just the charged amount. I feel like from what I can see, paypals POS solution doesn't allow me to do this. Quickbooks POS software and hardware is prohibitively expensive. Id prefer not to have to run a standalone tablet if possible. I have so much going on, trying to learn how to set up a traditional POS system just isnt in the cards for me right now. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from smallbusiness: Starting, owning and growing a small business. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment