Has anyone used Canva? Is it user friendly? small business |
- Has anyone used Canva? Is it user friendly?
- When should I create an LLC for my business?
- I want to be a business coach (for free)
- Small Biz Losing Hope... But Still in the Fight!
- I'm making websites for free!
- Everybody's company will help with everybody's Growth. How many of you believe in this quote?
- Looking for software suggestions for small custom manufacturing
- A customer found metal in their product.
- Looking for new business structure idea
- Starting a new music business - Please provide feedback on my high level marketing strategies - Need advice
- Small Restaurant Owners of Reddit
- Starting small UK ���� candle making business, questions about tax.
- where to hire an outbound sales freelancer ?
- Looking for a website or search engine to search for wholesalers and manufacturers in the United States.
- Questions about LLC - Foreign Europe
- Mobile APP payment split ??
- How do I juggle multiple potential SBA 7a lenders?
- Anybody got a general liability insurance place they recommend??
- Managing the costs of software and cloud services
- Has anyone seen a table comparing franchise economics (in the US)?
- Business Idea: A Search Engine Made For Business. (Tell Me If You Would Use This).
- Couple of questions from a new small business startup.
- Commercial Tenant Rights - California
- Alternative monetization methods for websites
| Has anyone used Canva? Is it user friendly? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:07 PM PST |
| When should I create an LLC for my business? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:23 PM PST Hey Hustlers, Pedro from Blook! here. Just wanted to give a few general answers to some common questions we receive :) A lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners eventually run into the question, at what point should they incorporate their business and form a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or even Corporation (C-Corp). Up until then they are usually classified as Sole Proprietorships, however for some businesses there comes a point where the benefits of a Limited Liability Company (or C-Corp but we'll skip that for now…) start to be advantageous over staying as a Sole Proprietorship. So what is an LLC? The LLC is a business entity that provides the business and its owners with limited liability (similar to a Corporation but the structure is easier to establish and simpler to maintain). LLC Owners are protected from the LLC's debts and claims (i.e., getting sued, payments, or reimbursements for losses) should something happen to the company. It also provides the business with pass-through treatment of income for tax purposes, similar to that of a Sole Proprietorship or a partnership..(Check out "link to what is LLC" for more info on LLCs). When should I start an LLC for my side hustle / side project / small business / freelancing? This is usually specific to the small business / side hustle, but a good checkpoint is when you are generating meaningful revenue and want to protect yourself from liability while also separating your business finances from your personal finances. Additionally, some say the best time to incorporate your company is in the beginning of the year vs the end of the year to avoid paying double the yearly fees. (Since you have to pay for that respective year even if you incorporated on December 30th!) Advantages of an LLC over a Sole Proprietorship There are many benefits of being classified as a Sole Proprietorship when starting out your business (ease of setup and year tax filings) however incorporating and becoming an LLC is usually the next step for growing businesses. Here are some of the main advantages of setting up the LLC: Reduce your Liability and Protect your Personal Assets - Even if you get sued or debt collectors come calling, they will have to sue or collect from the LLC entity, and not your personal assets. Bringing on Additional Owners - While you can hire employees and bring on partners for your Sole Proprietorship (which becomes then can become a Partnership entity) there is always a risk. With the LLC, you can write out clear provisions and terms for approaching situations like adding a new member, removing a member, ownership and responsibilities, etc. How long does it take to setup an LLC? The length varies state to state, but the standard processing time is usually 10-15 business days from when you send the filing. Some states offer the option to expedite the LLC formation for an additional fee. What about the Taxes, how does it work? One of the best benefits of setting up the LLC is that, similar to a Sole Proprietorship, you can do the pass-through option for filing your taxes as a business owner. "Pass-through" essentially means that all of your business income and expenses are reported with your personal taxes. This helps owners avoid being taxed on the business level AND personal level. (An issue that comes up if you choose to incorporate as a C-Corporation) Additionally, The LLC entity allows business owners to choose whether to be taxed as a C-Corp or S-Corp, but a majority end up opting for the simpler pass-through taxation. Do I need a lawyer to form an LLC? No, you do not need a Lawyer to form an LLC! While it's always helpful to consult with a Lawyer regarding business specifics, you can work with service providers to help set up the LLC and it will be less expensive. [link] [comments]  |
| I want to be a business coach (for free) Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:23 AM PST I'm interested in being a business coach. I love forming business strategies, crunching numbers, and tackling complex problems. I think I'd enjoy helping other owners with these kinds of things. Before I invest the time and money into building a coaching business, I'd like to give it a try. That's why I want to coach a few business owners for free, no catch. My Qualifications 1) I started and operate an online marketing "agency." I say "agency" because that's how it's branded, but it's just me and some remote part time contractors. I'm very knowledgeable in all aspects of online marketing, especially web design, SEO, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and conversion rate optimization. I take home $11k per month from this business, working 40 hrs/week on average. In this role, I've become familiar with tons of industries/niches and found myself acting as an adviser beyond the scope of online marketing. 2) I started and operate a tour company in a major U.S. city. Within the first year, it was one of the most popular tour companies in the city, the top-rated city tour on TripAdvisor and Google, ranked #1 on Google for all the target keywords, and had grown essentially as big as the market will allow. This year, I expect to take home $2k/mo working 2 hrs/week on average. This is essentially a side project I do for enjoyment. I plan on selling it in a year so I can move on to the next idea. Services I can offer I can study your business, look at financials and give you a plan to do things like...
I can also create a long term growth plan and give you goals. All of this would be through Skype, phone and email, but I'd be open to meeting in person if it's possible. Again, there is no catch. I'm not trying to sell you anything. I just want to give this a try to see if it's something I actually enjoy doing. I believe every business, no matter how successful, can benefit from a fresh pair of eyes looking at how they do things. So even if you're not struggling, if you're a business owner interested in this, comment or DM me your website or details about your business. Edit: Wow, I'm completely overwhelmed by the response. I've received tons of messages and comments from people asking for help. It would take me at least a few hours to learn enough about your business and industry in order to give informed advice. And unfortunately I don't have the time to do that for most of the people who reached out. I'll try to respond to as many of you as I can with general advice though. As I mentioned in the post, I can only be a full-on business coach for a few companies at this time. I'd prefer to work with existing companies that have or plan on having a physical space. I didn't mention that in the original post because for all I know, I could have gotten just a few responses from online businesses and I didn't want to scare them off. Thank you for the support! [link] [comments]  |
| Small Biz Losing Hope... But Still in the Fight! Posted: 09 Jan 2020 04:17 PM PST So, I'm a business owner and I am in the staffing industry. I started this staffing firm with about 160K and we primarily focus in IT. We have at least 8-9 clients, but they're not bringing in enough business or we haven't heard back from them as far getting more staff in. I'm losing money to where we can possibly last up to 4 months if we don't get any direct hires or temp orders in, then I'm sunk. I'm still at full throttle in marketing in trying to get more clients, but it's January and I supposed this is a slow month (it was slow December as well). My rent is about 1200 a month, and I'm able to clear that with some left over, but I still need to pay my staff. I haven't taken a pay since we first opened the doors, my savings is starting to drain, and I'm afraid! I don't really want to go back to work for someone, as I actually enjoy the ownership of a company. I've made some mistake with internal staff which costed me, but that been dealt with. I don't know what to do other than try to get a SBA loan for maybe 100K for operational expenses, but I'm not even sure how I would even get the 100K approved. I have equity in the house, and so I was thinking of maybe dipping into that. We've been open just short of 1 year and we've had our fair share of bad runs with clients changing up orders and not following through with their promises; looking for an OPS Manager, but later to say it's on hold and find out that they changed it to a Project Manager and not telling us. Or candidates falling through because Client A didn't offer enough money, and so they went to a different company. I know the company can do well over time and I need that money stay afloat and acquire more clients. Are there any Angel Investors where I can take a loan and pay back with interest or know where to look? I know I have a solid product/service because we have a unique process compared to other staffing firms. Not only is our process unique, but I've been in the IT industry as well. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:30 AM PST I'm trying to build up the portfolio on my website of my work before I can go live and start trying to bring in customers. If you currently have no website but would love one, or think your site is in need of an upgrade then I'm happy to help. If anyone would like a free site built for their startup please get in touch with me using the contact form on my website If you could give me some information about what you're doing, your business name, existing site if it exists, if you need logos made and copywriting done by us. Obviously this will be quite a bit of work for my partner and I so if I can get as much information as possible from you then we can start discussing exactly what you'd like created. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Everybody's company will help with everybody's Growth. How many of you believe in this quote? Posted: 10 Jan 2020 12:06 AM PST |
| Looking for software suggestions for small custom manufacturing Posted: 10 Jan 2020 01:29 AM PST I'm running a (very) small business manufacturing custom instrument panels. I have both components (switches, fuses, wire off the roll, panels cut to size) and digital assets (original artwork of my design engraved into the aforementioned, typically SVG files) that I wish to organize and track. I'd like to save the SVG or a shortcut to it with its metadata in the software. I want to track stock levels as I have long lead times on materials orders (Chine FTW). I need to generate accurately-costed BoMs as well as labor and other costs, then obviously send out invoices to the customers based on the above and track payments. I'm in NZ for tax purposes. I said very small, it's just me. And I'm kind of messy in keeping track of things, in the interests of producing quality product. I'll build something on the semi-fly (optimizing the cable lengths as I go for example) so while I know I used 12 switches, I don't know other aspects and can only guess how much raw material I've used. So for a panel I can say that it's of X x Y dimensions but how to cost that compared to the price of raw material panel of dimension A x B and how X x Y fits in (waste is a large factor) I am stuck. So I'm looking for suggestions for software that covers the above that is preferably Freeware to use or very low cost, and if it had an app for IOS so that I can add to a job as I make it, that would be the icing on the cake. Any ideas? [link] [comments]  |
| A customer found metal in their product. Posted: 09 Jan 2020 09:17 PM PST Hi there, I own a small cosmetics company that launched about 5 days ago. So far we have sold about 200 units. The customers are giving the products rave reviews. And so far no one has had any issues until today. Today I got an email from a customer saying she found a sharp metal fiber in her cosmetic pan AND that it cut her! I immediately issued her a refund and let her know we were also doing an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. I immediately messaged my factory, and they said in all their years of manufacturing cosmetics, they had never had this happen. What they believed happened was that they clean the press machine every 10,000 units and it seemed that a small metal fiber from the tool they used to clean it broke off (apparently this is VERY rare?). Since they only clean it once per 10,000, and I didn't need more than one 5,000 run of product, essentially one palette was affected and the rest were safe. They assured me that this would be the ONLY unit affected if in fact, this was the cause. (Customer COULD have placed it there herself but I don't really believe she would do that?) I let the customer know the rarity of the incident and also offered to send her another product for free in addition to the refund. However I am now VERY worried. I find myself questioning what to do. Because to me, it's very serious. I don't know Whether I should shut the shop down temporarily, and ask the factory to replace my product? Or wait to see if there is another incident to totally replace everything. What would you do in my position? [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for new business structure idea Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:41 PM PST Hi, I'm not exactly sure where I'm heading with that message nor if this is really the good place. But since I'll go to bed soon, I feel like I really need to share and ask. I'm looking for a way to make business, a more natural, social, community based way I guess. A business where everybody can talk, but mainly a a where everybody is paid and reward according to the effort they put in. Is it an utopia to think about that? Here's the details, I met with people that want to start a business in the gaming industry, producing games. Basically a start up model, no cash, hard work and maybe some sales at the end! I don't care about the risk of it, but I want it to be fair for everyone. I want people that worked harder and longer to be reward more. It really similar to the sweat equity model, but i don't know why sweat equity seems shady compare to what I would like to do... After long thought I was thinking about a centric project business model. That means each person should have it's own business and when we start a project we find a system to track the effort put by each person during the project and split the reward accordingly. But should the expanses be split in the same matter? Read about collaborative business model, read about cooperation, read about partnership and I'm still looking for something that feel fresh, that feel like we do what we love, everything is fair, it's good for the group, the community. I don't plan to get rich, just getting paid reasonably for a work I like with other people's that do the same. I often heard story about business that are structure in really innovative way. Do you guys have any example about that? Or do you have thought or ideas about this kind of "newer" collaborative, community based business structure? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:21 PM PST Hello, I'm trying to start a small local business and would appreciate your feedback on my high level marketing strategies I've identified from now until I open my doors. I have more specific questions near the bottom of this post. Business concept: Music Community It is a music studio space that charges individual musicians per month for unlimited first come first serve access rather than by the hour for a room. It will be more of a community for musicians than a place for a band to have dedicated spaces. Three short term phases in the near term Phase 1 (Current Phase) - Expect to last until April depending on success of marketing. I don't have a building/location yet, but I want to build awareness. Only known is the general city it will be in. There's no physical studio for the musicians to actually access. Phase 2 (2-6 month period) - I will have signed a lease and can start building the studio. I can promote the location. Still though, there is no studio for the musicians to use as it's under construction Phase 3 (6-12 months from now) - I open the doors for business. Musicians can get what they're paying for. Phase 1 - Marketing Strategies Hit the streets and talk to musicians in person
Direct messaging musicians on Facebook and Instagram to invite them to the website to learn more and participate - Make it personal Facebook/Instagram/Google Ads campaigns
Referral campaigns
Sponsor events
Phase 2 - Marketing Strategies
Phase 3 - Marketing Strategies
Phase 1 and 2 Campaigns focused on driving people to website to:
Goals of Phase 1 and 2 marketing: Collect information via survey and contact us forms to:
Current Questions What messaging would you use when I'm in Phase 1 of not having a location determined yet, but still trying to sell pre-purchasing memberships?
Is pre-selling memberships a valid idea or perhaps something I should wait on?
Some of the Phase 2 marketing strategies could be completed in Phase 1. Are there any you feel should be in Phase 1 as waiting till Phase 2 is too late? Overall, what advice do you have on what I've put here or perhaps other ways I can promote the business? Any feedback that expands on these notes is welcome. Such as, 'perhaps you could target music teachers in the area to have them promote the idea to their students.' I've thought of this, but I didn't want to put every detail in this post. Would be interested if anyone comes up with anything I might not have thought about. I know this is all somewhat obtuse. My primary concerns are around messaging in the first two phases to help motivate people to engage with the business considering the product they want isn't available yet. Getting people to join the mailing list and complete the survey is awesome. Getting people to pre-purchase their memberships is exponentially better. Any advice or feedback is appreciated. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| Small Restaurant Owners of Reddit Posted: 09 Jan 2020 11:03 PM PST Do any of you offer plastic alternatives? Whether this be for straws, stir sticks, take out containers, or coffee cups, do you offer the alternative or do you only carry the alternatives? What has been the cost differences associated with these decisions, what do you wish would/could change? What was a big deciding factor to making the switch? [link] [comments]  |
| Starting small UK ���� candle making business, questions about tax. Posted: 09 Jan 2020 11:51 AM PST I'm looking into starting a candle making business, and saw that you only start to pay vat if you're company makes £85,000, mine won't, nor ever will, it's a small enterprise mostly doing local craft fairs. From some calculations I've made it'll be profit of about £8000 a year, which will allow me to go part-time in my main job. I read that i can still register the company for vat, and i'll get the vat back on items i buy if i submit my returns quarterly. If I'm buying the wax and tin and fragrance with vat added and selling with vat added on, am I paying vat twice for an item? I am a total novice when it comes to this I am afraid. Many thanks for answering this [link] [comments]  |
| where to hire an outbound sales freelancer ? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 08:19 PM PST can't find any candidates on upwork except ones you solely focuses on data mining. I would like someone who can actually pick up a phone and start hustling. does anyone know anybody? thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:55 PM PST Thank you for your help. I've seen some previously posted on this sub but can't seem to find the right one [link] [comments]  |
| Questions about LLC - Foreign Europe Posted: 09 Jan 2020 06:56 PM PST As I understand since I am in amazon the best option and the most viable could be an LLC since it fits (I believe in the business model) The fact is that I have some doubts that I don't know if you can solve it before doing it: -When I bring products to my country, how can I deduct VAT, is it the same as if I were autonomous in my country? (Spain) - Do I need an accountant in the United States and another in Spain? - The hacienda of Spain can ignore my LLC and make me pay the autonomous fee? -How do I keep the accounting? They say it's easy, but it doesn't seem like it -What can I really deduct in the LLC? -The day I move out of the country if my business grows, do I have to notify the country estate? -Can I have more accounts other than transferwise as revolut? I appreciate articles and opinions. Also consult with a lawyer and i will consult with a tax lawyer but I would like more opinions thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jan 2020 03:03 PM PST For example, lets consider a Mobile APP which provides a platform for Seller to advertise his product and buyer to buy the product. When the Buyer pays for the product, the payment goes through Buyer ->Mobile APP -> Payment Gateway -> Seller Mobile APP owner and Payment Gateway takes their cut and pass it on to the Seller. Generally to support the payment split, Mobile APP will use Paypal, Stripe or Briantree APIs. question -
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| How do I juggle multiple potential SBA 7a lenders? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 02:18 PM PST I am about 2-3 weeks away from signing a lease for a retail space. This week the bank I thought was going to lend to me backed out, but the lender said I shouldn't be discouraged because they are "by far the most conservative bank I've ever worked for". The referred me to someone who they said has often been able to lend when they couldn't. I also asked others for recommendations and now have the names of one loan broker and three bankers. I'd REALLY like to get a loan committed or approved before I sign a lease. I'm sure each of them would want to be the only person I work with (especially the broker), but I can't risk choosing one and having them not able to get it done. Ethically, what's the right move here? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Anybody got a general liability insurance place they recommend?? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 11:10 AM PST |
| Managing the costs of software and cloud services Posted: 09 Jan 2020 09:12 AM PST How do you guys manage the cost of software in this new "software as a service" environment? We have recently added a couple new computers for our techs but the monthly software costs are getting out of control. It seems to be the new buisness model to have monthly fees for software that used to be a single purchase. I'm not talking anything fancy, we have had to increase the number of licenses from 2 to 4 for Adobe and the monthly expences went from 18$ to 94$. We currently have like 5 cloud services as they come with the licences, it's getting ridiculous! Not only do the cost increase but with so many cloud options I have had to develope new procedures to ensure everyone is storing the information in the correct location. All in all we are spending about 800$/ month on software service for simple things like: -Google (absolutely required, as all of our emails and primary cloud storage) - Microsoft office includes onedrive (but we dont use it.) - Adobe, now includes cloud storage but we only need it to view PDFs - zoom for meetings Let me know if you have any solutions to a seemingly runaway problem. [link] [comments]  |
| Has anyone seen a table comparing franchise economics (in the US)? Posted: 09 Jan 2020 10:45 AM PST I would love to see a table of franchise opportunities in the US with a few key columns: 1) company, 2) all-in up-front capital investment (real high estimate not the BS you get from the sales reps), 3) typical payback period in months/years, and 4) average [ideally mature] store/unit EBITDA (after all expenses/royalties/rent/payroll/etc). Some other columns would be interesting, like # of stores/units open today, # of franchisees, system size growth rate, and maybe some qualitative comments on size restrictions, transfer restrictions, difficulty of obtaining a franchise (e.g., Chik-Fil-A), etc. Would love thoughts! I'm industry-agnostic...couldn't care less whether retail, hotel, or food, etc. I'm just looking for franchise systems that have a lot of growth where payback periods are very fast and cash-on-cash returns (i.e., avg. store EBITDA / all-in up-front capital investment) are very high. Two that have piqued my interest lately are an Amazon DSP (but there are size restrictions and you are absolutely prohibited from selling them, so you're not building equity value) and Domino's (but it looks like avg. transactions are decelerating for them so I'm worried about whether the future is as bright as the last few years). [link] [comments]  |
| Business Idea: A Search Engine Made For Business. (Tell Me If You Would Use This). Posted: 09 Jan 2020 04:40 PM PST Would you guys be interested in a search engine made for business that instead of when you search a business question on google you get a bunch of random results that match keywords, with my search engine you would search up a business question which then you will breifly talk to an AI chat bot which would ask you what specific categories you would like to be answered based on your question (ex: Marketing, Risk, Competitors, Legal, Market Saturation, etc). After you pick some suggested categories by the chat bot or you list a few of your own the search engine would create a multi page digital deck, bringing you all of the information you want to know directly, and answering your question with detailed and very relevant information, precisely answering your business question. Tell me what you think of this idea and if you would use it. [link] [comments]  |
| Couple of questions from a new small business startup. Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:52 AM PST Hello All I am in the very beginning stages of setting up a small business in WI. So my question is which way should I or have to go? I do not want to be a year into this in 2021 and end up in a ton of trouble. Thank you for your time. [link] [comments]  |
| Commercial Tenant Rights - California Posted: 09 Jan 2020 11:51 AM PST Hoping for a bit of advice as a commercial tenant. We have office space in a 8 unit commercial office building in California and have been tenants for close to 5 years. We came back from Christmas and New Year holidays to find that the 3 unoccupied units on our floor next to us are under full renovation with earth-shattering drilling, sawing and jackhammering happening during full business hours (M-F 8am-6pm) We received no written notice from the landlord and see no valid construction permits displayed. I have reviewed our lease and don't see a specific clause about construction in neighboring units. Do we have any recourse? So far, our landlord has been silent to our written complaints. [link] [comments]  |
| Alternative monetization methods for websites Posted: 09 Jan 2020 11:48 AM PST I have 4 websites, two of which are getting around 5-8k hits daily and the other 2 can do 12-15k depending on the content. What are some ways in which I can capitalize on them, excluding AdSense (which I have already set up)? [link] [comments]  |
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