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    NooB Monday! - (June 08, 2020) Entrepreneur

    June 08, 2020

    NooB Monday! - (June 08, 2020) Entrepreneur

    NooB Monday! - (June 08, 2020)

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:11 AM PDT

    If you don't have enough comment karma here's where we can help.

    Everyone starts somewhere and to post in /r/Entrepreneur this is the best place. Subscribers please understand these are new posters and not familiar with our sub. Newcomers welcome! Be sure to vote on things that help you. Search the sub a bit before you post. The answers may already be here.

    Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    1 year ago today since I quit my sales exec. job in central London and started my own business. Here are a few things I have learnt.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:21 AM PDT

    Hey all, massive lurker around these parts thanks for the awesome content you all put out.

    It is exactly one year today since I quit my sales job in London and started my own animation production agency with an old university friend. There have been tears, stress, late nights, guesswork, and confusion.

    I can safely say that I have learnt more in the last year than all of my previous working years combined, and I thought I would share some lessons I have learnt with you all.

    Disclaimer: We run a service-based business so a lot of what I am going to say won't be relevant to product-based businesses.

    Lesson 1: Don't lower your price.

    I can tell you that for every client that has responded to a quote with, 'Our budget is X can you bring your price down to match it?' has never proceeded with the project when we agreed. Not one.

    For the quotes that we said, 'No sorry this is the price for your project', 80% of the time they became a client anyway.

    What I have come to conclude is that businesses don't actually want the cheapest provider. Lowering our quotes to match a client budget is a sign of weakness. It's obvious we need the work. We lose some authority and control of the project. We devalue our work when we agree to lower our price.

    In my experience, standing firm on our pricing has resulted in a higher proposal conversion rate. Consumer psychology is a scary phenomenon.

    Lesson 2: It is okay to cut undesirable clients.

    We had to cut a client who was asking for something completely different when the project began in comparison to what we quoted for. This client was rude to us, didn't respect us and didn't understand what it entails to create an animation.

    We cut ties with this client 50% of the way through and returned the money. It was liberating. Nobody deserves to be treated poorly or spoken to in a rude manner for no reason. Don't let the money blind you from being in control of who you work with. Enjoy your work!!

    Lesson 3: Networking is powerful and still criminally underrated.

    Due to the pandemic and lockdown, all networking events were cancelled and there is no sign at the moment of this type of social interaction returning. This is bad news. Networking has been so powerful for us to form relationships that blossom when you least expect it.

    This isn't just powerful for sales. Networking is great for advice, finding mentors, forming partnerships and friendships, all of which contribute to the success of your business.

    Buying somebody a beer at a networking event on a Monday night is incredibly valuable!

    Lesson 4: Deliver more value than the client was expecting.

    This doesn't have to be extravagant. Even the smallest gesture can result in a happy client. Show people that you care.

    Lesson 5: Cliché Alert!!! - Don't give up.

    I didn't make a single penny for the first 6 months and then in the space of one week, we had two big contracts drop. Assume everything is going to be 10x harder than you thought it was. Expect luck not to go your way when you first begin. But never give up. Do things every day that you know will benefit your business in the long run. One day the bad luck will stop, someone will take a chance on you and then you are away. Momentum is a powerful force.

    Those are just a few of the lessons I have learnt during my first year in business, if they can help just one person then I will be happy. Apologies to anyone who did not find this useful. For now, I will retreat to being a sub-lurker. Stay safe everybody and keep working!!

    Jake

    submitted by /u/Jakechelsea
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    Side Hustle Repository - Ideas are cheap right?

    Posted: 07 Jun 2020 02:43 PM PDT

    TL:DR: Let's create a repository for side hustle ideas. Let's follow a very simple format

    1. What's the idea?
    2. What's the opportunity?
    3. What do you need to get started?
    4. What is the potential up-side?

    Justification:

    As COVID restrictions in the US begin to reduce and life begins to move back toward a previous level of normalcy, I wanted to talk side-hustles. For many of us entrepreneurs, we started our journey turning a profit at various schemes, as we got older some of these ideas became real viable businesses. If you're like me, you're always seeing the opportunity but don't have the energy or time to make them a working business. I didn't want these potential ideas to go to waste & I wanted to show the community the breadth of ways that you could make a small side-hustle business and maybe turn it into a more legitimate thing.

    Format:

    • What's the idea? This should read like a headline, not a paragraph.
    • What's insight drove you to think about this opportunity? ex. I saw people at this conference frantically trying to charge their phones, what if you sold pre charged battery packs with a cable as a vendor?
    • What do you need to get started $$, Skills, Labor etc.?
    • What is the potential up-side? Is this a quick buck or a long game? Is this $100 a month of $35k a season? Help visualize the return.
    • If you wanted to be an over achiever or if something is real clear in your mind feel free to add more.

    What this is not:

    A business plan. Ideas are cheap and we are trying to show that. Once you have the idea to make a reality it requires consistent work and some level of critical thinking. That's why the repo is great. You can match your skills and interests with a potential idea.

    submitted by /u/thespiceraja
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    Incumbents are hurting and consumer behavior is changing. This is a great time to start a business.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:40 AM PDT

    The ongoing pandemic has delivered a huge blow to the global economy. Businesses – large and small – have seen much of their markets wiped out overnight.

    Many will not make it out of this crisis. This includes market leaders, long-tailers and everyone in-between.

    As tough as this realty is for incumbents, it is a big opportunity for new entrants in any market and in particular on markets that have traditionally been over-saturated and highly competitive.

    When a market is highly competitive, that is a sign of a real need that people are willing to pay for to satisfy and it is also a sign that the cost of entry for businesses is relatively low.

    These markets are great because the needs are clear and the formulas are well understood. New entrants can just focus on optimization and differentiation rather than market exploration, market fit or size (incidentally the no.1 reason why startups fail).

    Opportunity knocks

    Any other time, the problem with entering these markets is simply market saturation – there is too much competition, which makes it super tough and expensive to enter.

    Not now. Here is why:

    This is how a typical market looks like: usually 50%-75% of the market is "owned" by the 2-3 market leaders and the remaining market is shared between challengers and niche players. These percentages vary with how fragmented or consolidated the market is.

    Here is an illustrative chart of a saturated/ competitive market before Coronavirus.

    Normally, if you were to enter on this market, you would have to either:

    1. Find a new niche and grow it mostly into the territory of others (essentially converting clients from competitors to you) OR;
    2. Enter an existing niche and challenge the leaders there;

    Both of these strategies are hard and their chances of success require cash to spend.

    A simple example: Imagine all the restaurants on a busy street corner in your favorite city. Chances are that before the pandemic there were 2-3 large established restaurants, a bunch of specialty ones across the usual categories (Mexican, Thai, Sushi), a few niche ones (vegan, novelty) and then a log tail of takeaways, greasy spoons, novelty and the usual succession of new places that close after a few weeks. The chart above, basically.

    Incumbents are hurting

    Now, due to Coronavirus, a lot of the incumbents are hurting. Many of them will not make it out of this crisis. This is just the hard reality.

    However, the needs that people have – the problems that these businesses have been successfully addressing – are not going away.

    The value that people used to seek from these businesses (and their willingness to pay for that value) remains relevant – people are still seeking value.

    Put simply: there's money on the table.

    In our simple restaurant example, after the pandemic, chances are that a few of these places will have been forced to shut down. Yet, the total number of people in the area would have stayed the same, along with their aggregate need to socialize and eat/ drink/ party.

    Let's make the very conservative assumption that businesses will take an average hit of 15% and that 15% of the existing businesses will go bust.

    Here is how the market map chart from above will look like after Corona. A territory of needs the size of the former market leader's market share is up for grabs.

    The Formula is also changing

    But surely, you will say. There are more profound changes happening – people's needs are changing so this market may be simply gone. This, actually, is a feature, not a bug. If this is true, this is great news for insurgents. Opportunity. If you are an insurgent you better hope the consumer change is fundamental.

    Here is why.

    If the pie would remains the same size just with less businesses to service it, the surviving incumbents will continue to have an advantage over insurgents– they have the infrastructure, the brand and basically they are there and ready to expand. A lot easier for them to extend their reach than for you – an insurgent – to enter and establish fast.

    However, incumbents are optimized for the old business model. If the consumer needs and expectations remain the same, this is their advantage. However, if the needs and expectations change, it becomes a tremendous disadvantage.

    First-principles new entrants who enter the market with an offering built for the new realities will have the advantage.

    In our little restaurant example, the insurgents could be restaurants that are geared for delivery and that keep their cost base low by having no shop-front – just a kitchen on a back street where the rent is low and a smart digital strategy to make sure they show in searches and in delivery apps (the Ghost restaurants that we are discussing often of late here at r/Entrepreneur ).

    Or, perhaps, these could be restaurants that cater to an emerging clientele that cares about the environment or the origin of the produce or the governance of this restaurant (Changemakers trend).

    If that happens, and this new business model becomes established, another interesting thing will happen. Even consumers that would normally be satisfied with the old model will shift their behavior and expectations as part of market inertia.

    In our example, people who did not care that much about the origin of their food may start caring as this is becoming a sign of social status and the new standard.

    The new chart: Insurgents become market leaders. Incumbents become the niche.

    A great time to start a business

    So if you are on the fence about starting a business in a market that has been hit hard by Coronavirus, perhaps you should go for it.

    This is as good a time to start a first-principle business as we'll ever get in this generation.

    submitted by /u/iuliancirco
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    A practical guide to cold emails for early stage startups, solopreneurs, and makers.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:45 AM PDT

    Hey Entrepreneurs!

    Over years of launching projects as a solopreneur, without much of a budget, I've used cold email a lot to get traction or customers for my projects and freelancing work.

    I'm sure a lot of you are struggling to get your first B2B customers, so I want to help.

    This post summarizes everything I learned about cold email, what worked and what didn't, and a step by step guide to get your first customers without having an audience or spending a penny.

    There won't be any automation in this guide (except a little bit to find email addresses), you'll have to do everything manually, that's what I did (and still do).

    Step 0 : Creating your email addresses

    We're sending cold emails so we need an email address. I personally create 2 different email addresses :

    The reason I do that is because I like to send cold emails from both addresses and then pick the one that performs better.

    Depending on who you're emailing, they might be more responsive to an email from a personal gmail address.

    This is especially true if you're planning to approach prospects to recruit them as early adopters and not just selling your product. The gmail address helps drive home the point that "I'm just starting out".

    Step 1 : Identifying your perfect customer by elimination

    If you're just starting out, you probably don't have a clear idea of who your perfect customer is. In fact, your first goal should be to identify who that customer is and where can you find more like him.

    To do that, I proceed by elimination. I start by making a list of who MIGHT be my perfect customer, and after sending a few emails to every target listed, I can usually identify which targets are easier to reach out to and get replies, and which ones convert better.

    Your tasks

    • Start by copying this google sheet to your account.
    • Add your targets to the Target Overview table (bloggers,CRM software companies, Influencers...).
    • Create a new table for every target using the Single Target Template table.

    About the Target Overview Table : Since we're doing everything manually, and sending a lot of emails, it eventually gets hard to track the reply rate and conversion rate. You can however just use approximative values based on your own judgement like : Very low, Low, Neutral, High, Very High.

    About the Single Target Table : Don't worry about filling the target table for now, we'll get back to it later.

    Step 2 : Creating your cold email templates

    Let's start by getting a common misconception out of the way : There is no such thing as the best cold email template. You will never have a single template that works for all your projects and acquisition campaigns.

    Different templates work for different targets and different products. It's on you to figure out which templates may work better.

    Your tasks

    • Visit the cold email template database to choose from 100+ email templates.
    • Pick 3 to 5 templates, make sure every template works for all your targets and avoid using different templates for different targets if you can, it'll make it easier to track performance of templates in the future.
    • Pick or write a sequence of 3 simple follow up emails to use with all your email templates. We won't be measuring the performance of follow up emails, it adds another layer of complexity and is not worth it at first.
    • Write 3 to 5 email subjects to fit the templates you've chosen. Again, try to come up with subjects that work with all your email templates.
    • Assign a name or number to reference each of your selected templates and subjects and store them somewhere ( I use Trello, but you can just store each one in a text file on your computer ). The template and subject names will be used to identify the best performing ones later on.

    Step 3 : Collecting prospects

    It's time to fill those single target tables we created.

    I recommend starting with 15 - 20 prospects for each target table at first.

    The idea is not to find out who your perfect customer is after sending 1000 cold emails, instead the idea is to identify and eliminate the bad targets first, while at the same time identifying which email templates, subject lines and sender address performs better, so that when your target list is more "targeted", you know how to approach them and which tools to use.

    Your tasks

    • Start by adding 10 rows of the website column to every single target table. Use Google & Linkedin to find the name of your target. It can be the CEO, CTO, Chief Happy Officer... It depends of your product & objective.
    • Install the Hunter.io sheet extension to automate the email prospecting part. (It's free for 50 requests per month and should get you started. There are other tools out there if you run out of credits.)
    • You may have to replace some rows if you can't find any good emails.

    Step 4 : Eliminate 50% of everything

    It's time to start sending those emails to your prospects.

    At this stage, it's all about learning as much as you can about everything related to your targets & your cold email process. A simple goal to set for yourself is : Eliminate 50% of your targets, 50% of our email templates and subject lines.

    Depending on your preference, you can either start sending 3 - 5 emails per target table per day, or send all emails in a target table in a day. Personally, I like the second option as it allows me to eliminate targets after 4 days ( assuming my follow sequence lasts 4 days or less ), it also keeps tracking simple, I don't have to keep switching between google sheet tables.

    Your tasks

    • Pick a prospect on your target table.
    • Pick a subject line, an email template and a sender address (gmail or domain email)
    • Send the email
    • Increment the email count column by 1.
    • Update your follow up date ( When to send the next follow up email )
      • Start your follow up sequence if the prospect does not reply after 1 day.
      • After sending an email from your follow up sequence, increment the email count column, and update the follow up date for the next email in the sequence.
    • When the prospect replies, you can add a YES to the replied column and stop the follow up sequence.

    At this point, your job is to turn a reply into a conversion. Depending on what a conversion represents for you, you may have to get on a call with your prospect, send him more material, or just get some feedback.

    By the end of the interaction, you can mark the prospect as converted or not, as well as add notes about your interaction.

    I use the notes column exclusively to add actionable tips on how to better approach the current target. Avoid cramming too much in there, limit your notes to the immediately practical insights only.

    After going through all your prospects across all tables, you should have enough data to eliminate at least 50% of your targets, as well as 50% of your email templates and subject lines.

    If you manage to have at least 10 good conversations with different prospects, you'll learn more about your product as well.

    Step 5 : Decide what's next

    Since this is a data driven approach, what's next depends on what you've learned in the previous step, as well as your conversion rate, the feedback you received, and most importantly your perspective on the project and the cold email approach after processing all the data you've accumulated.

    From my experience, there seems to be a limited number of outcomes. I'll start with the worst ones and move on to the best :

    • You only get a few replies across targets : If you sent more than 50 emails and followed up with all of them. This is usually an indicator that something else is wrong, most likely your value proposition. Time to review everything and decide if you want to email a different set of targets, try a different marketing approach, or pivot to a different offer or project.
    • You realize cold email or outbound sales is not the right channel for your product : In that case, it's time to review your acquisition strategy. But at least, you now have the confidence to invest in a different strategy like content marketing where it may take time and resources to implement and see results.
    • You get enough replies but very few or no conversions. : This is a tough one but you should have a reasonable explanation based on your interactions with prospects. If you don't, it might be a good idea to ask your prospects why they haven't converted. Once you have that answer, fix the problem, and email the same prospects to tell them about it and try to change the original outcome to a better one.
    • One or more targets are responsive to your emails and a few of them have a converted : Congratulations! You now know who you should sell to, how to find them, how to pitch your product via cold email and get replies, and how to turn replies into conversions. It may be a good idea to scale up this framework by hiring a VA.

    I've gone through all these outcomes at least once, and although some can be disappointing, they generally allow me to take my next decision with more confidence and less fear of missing out ( i.e : when deciding to move on to a different project ).

    ​

    Let me know if you've any questions and wish you a great day.

    submitted by /u/Olivepourk
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    Virtual CFO?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:02 AM PDT

    Have you heard of Virtual (Remote) CFO's? I have a connection and I'm thinking about hiring one to help grow my business. The savings would be incredible as opposed to hiring an in-house team.

    Do you have any thoughts or concerns about the efficacy of a Virtual CFO?

    submitted by /u/SkylordAFK
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    Where to begin?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:44 AM PDT

    Let's assume you are me. A young dad working ~ 50 hours per week for a boss as a Product Manager. I used to run my own business for several years, but decided (for different reasons) to take it slow and apply for a job. I used to design and code websites and apps (mostly frontend, since my visuals skill set comes hand in hand with frontend). Ok anyway, I can design and built software. Now I manage costs, product life cycles, vision and roadmaps for a company. We do quiet well, but it's not the same as running your own.

    A side hustle for two reasons would be desired: - passive (or active) additional income - scratch that itch for entrepreneurship that comes in every weekend when I have some time off.

    At this stage, I'm not sure where to go for in the future, all I know is that I want to scratch that entrepreneurship-itch and build something that is interesting enough to either learn or generate income (or both, it's fine).

    What did I do so far? - started building app(s); - launched several Landing pages to validate ideas and marketed them via social media; - held surveys to challenge targeted audience to see where their problems lay.

    All very time consuming but didn't lead to anything concrete to focus on (yet).

    What kind of advice would you give me, given the information I just shared? I'm really interested in people that managed to successfully incorporate their entrepreneurship into their lives.

    Thanks in advance, feel free to ask more details if you like to give solid advice!

    submitted by /u/saden88
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    Looking for good reading suggestions.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:32 AM PDT

    Hey guys I want to load my self up on some more info.

    I'm already extremely motivated so I don't need things on that.

    I'm more looking for books that can sharpen my methods for thinking and approaching complex problems.? any ideas?

    submitted by /u/justinspice
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    Update: European Business Chat has been Created!

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:00 AM PDT

    Just an update to everyone. I created a forum for EU business integration, something I thought is highly necessary. The Response has been overwhelming so far with many people interested. I am making this post so that others who didn't see the post or maybe that I forgot to message could get a chance to join. Please respond to the post if you would like to participate . I apologise if I could not get to you, I'm only one man! Thank you all.

    submitted by /u/JohnDickCockerfeller
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    Easier to be profitable with cheaper ($20~) or more expensive ($100~) product with Facebook ads?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:07 AM PDT

    I get that it depends on what product and so forth.

    But I'm talking generally speaking, would it be more difficult to be profitable with a cheaper product or a more expensive product? It seems like it would be harder for cheaper products because you need more sales but I haven't tested both options. I would love to hear someone who has sold on both price ranges and if they experience any difference in difficulty.

    submitted by /u/Thatguyofficial69
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    How much did you guys spend to acquire a domain that is reasonable short and memorable?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:27 PM PDT

    I am in the process of negotiating for a domain, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with something similar? I am not sure how to estimate what a "good price" is.

    submitted by /u/800813555
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    Who should I speak to and what is Required to get an LLC started, and started right?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:10 PM PDT

    So for the past few years I [28] have been dabbling into numerous endeavors in the USA such as real estate rentals, creating websites, and now getting into branding and reselling. At this point I have 3 houses (under mortgage), renting 1, fixing 1 to rent, and living in 1. Additionally, I am talking with some manufacturers in regards to a product line I want to sell.

    Till this point I have just been going by my name. But now, especially as I begin to contact manufacturers, it seems obvious I need an LLC for the liability protection, show legitimacy, and to get an EIN and build up business credit.

    ​

    I however, don't know anything about setting up an LLC or how to properly differentiate my personal money vs. the LLC's. That being so I think I need an expert to speak to... but even there I am confused. Should I find a CPA in my area, find a business oriented Lawyer, use a website service such as Legal Zoom, etc. I don't know where to begin or who could give me the best advice.

    I would greatly appreciate if any of you could point me in the right direction. I want to get this LLC (potentially multiple LLCs) up and running ASAP. Thank you

    submitted by /u/ORFALICIOUS
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    Buy/Sell shotgun offer.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:47 PM PDT

    I am currently drafting a buy/sell offer letter pursuant to the shotgun clause in our shareholder agreement. Any tips on what should be included outside the basics? It's different than a typical offer because there's no negotiation and subsequent drafting of final terms. Everything has to be included in this so I don't want to miss anything.

    submitted by /u/calamityjane45
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    Men flirting with me when I tutor their kids?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:00 AM PDT

    I am a college student and a woman. I tutor python for mostly middle to high school kids and I often receive remarks from fathers such as:

    "Good morning beautiful girl"

    "You are such a beautiful girl"

    "Sexy and smart, you're the perfect combo"

    "This is the kind of woman we need more of"

    "Women like you are hard to come by..."

    "God, you are beautiful!"

    Trust me when I say this, I realize many of these could be compliments coming from the right person or at an appropriate time but Ive had enough experience with men to understand what is sweet vs completely creepy.

    They say these things in front of their kids, when I contact them for payment reminders, or in phone calls when I call them about their child's progress. Men have even attempted to get discounts from me by sweet talking. All of them are married as well and I am in a very committed relationship, they know this because my boyfriend receives a cut for helping with installations and such.

    Have any of you had experiences like these, not only women?

    How do I deal with this?

    Is it worth losing a client by commenting that this is inappropriate?

    *I have to say this to keep people from whining but of course this is not every man or every father that I work with, nor do I have a thing against men, this are just a few strange experiences*

    submitted by /u/wealthchaserstudent
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    How to Overcome the Direct Linking Restriction by ClickBank and Other Affiliate Networks

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:19 PM PDT

    Here is a quick guide on how it avoid getting shut down by ClickBank and other affiliate network sites for directly linking offers.

    As you know, every affiliate marketing site has a policy in place where you can't direct link the offers. For example, when you are given an affiliate link by ClickBank, you can't just go around pasting it in Facebook posts or Reddit posts etc. If you find out you do that, your account will be canceled.

    The way we overcome this is by buying a cheap landing page from ezbiolink. We then create a landing page with the affiliate offer picture and a short description.

    Right below the description, we place a link to the affiliate offer. This makes it totally safe and ensures that your affiliate account doesn't get shut down.

    If you want to see what our affiliate page looks like, check it out here: TRC

    Hope it was helpful

    submitted by /u/vertexgamingus
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    Getting past my ego

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:13 AM PDT

    I started my own business because I hated being told what to do and how to do it. I grew up relatively privileged and resented my peers who were handed jobs instead of earning them. I wanted to earn my living no matter how much I ended up making.

    5 years later and I own a very successful business. The step needed to take things to the next level is the purchase of a machine that costs 5x my business's worth.

    My parents volunteered the money to flat out buy it for me, but I am not happy. I am a good and committed son and they can afford it even with the world in shambles, but I didn't earn it myself and don't feel that I deserve it. I thought if I had a financial stake in it, I'd feel better; I've contributed almost all of my personal savings (less than 1/3 the cost) but am still not happy.

    It is a guaranteed money maker, but I don't feel ownership of it like I do of my business.

    Logic says: accept their generosity you big dummy. Your ego is holding you back. This is a dream come true.

    My emotions say: your ego got your business to where it is. It's why you didn't take handouts.

    Have any of you experienced this and if so, how did you navigate it?

    Edit: grammar

    *Thank you very much everybody for your thoughtful and supportive comments, and in such a prompt manner. I've definitely taken what has been said to heart. It really does mean a lot to me.

    submitted by /u/hankmardukus66
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    Need a little help

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:55 PM PDT

    I have an idea and I'm ready for the wheels to hit the pavement. Are there any companies that I can tell my idea to and they can design/engineer and start producing? I'd like to stick to China but are there any companies that you may know of that can do pretty much all of the work and ship me a finalized product?

    submitted by /u/Jumpforsadness
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    Stress as an entrepreneur

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:43 PM PDT

    As an entrepreneur, what are you struggling the most when it comes to stress?

    submitted by /u/InigoGurrola
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    What is your biggest obstacle as an entrepreneur?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:28 PM PDT

    Best place for a teenager to freelance writing online?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:11 PM PDT

    I am very new to this community, but I've been wanting to earn some money of my own for a while now and I need some guidance. I am 17 years old, and my parents won't allow me to get one of those typical teenager jobs (retail, cashier, etc.) given the current pandemic because they think it's too high risk. After some introspection I realized that one of my most marketable skills is writing. I have won some awards/ recognition at state, national and international speech competitions in categories where you write your own speech (oratory, informative speaking), and I am also very confident in my ability to write some really good articles or blog posts. However, I don't know where to get started. I don't want to do this for the long run and so starting my own freelancing business doesn't make much sense. I'm looking for something more like Fiverr, or other websites like it, which serve as a medium for me to offer my services, but of course some of these sites have really mixed reviews. What sites would you guys recommend given my age and experience? Are there sites that might be able to hire me to do regular, part time work rather than wait for individual offers?

    Edit: I understand the whole "hiring" aspect goes against the entrepreneur theme here. Maybe some entrepreneurs themselves would be interested in hiring me? Haha

    submitted by /u/yourmother523
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    Website or online store ?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:10 PM PDT

    What is the best option for affiliate marketing.

    submitted by /u/__INiTiAToR__
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    Shopify vs square for startup

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:07 AM PDT

    Hi community friends. Just looking for some advice on using Square vs Shopify to sell paintings and custom art? I've decided to leave Pay pal and venture to Square, but I've learned that Square and Shopify are neck & neck in features.

    So far I don't like that Shopify allows check out to All 3rd party platforms BUT square lol....life is full circle :)

    submitted by /u/dntbjellly
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    Should I pursue trademarking at this point?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:59 AM PDT

    I am launching an mobile computer repair business. It would be just a side hustle at this point until I get a sizable client base and raise more capital. After filing for an LLC, I ran my company name by an IP attorney to make sure it isn't too generic to be trademarkable, to which I got a thumbs up but also a strong recommendation that I register immediately, even before accepting customers. Sounded like a sales pitch. That said, is it truly vital that I do so at this point? FWIW, I have searched the USPTO database using my name and also in several variants as well as combing thru several search engines with no hits. TIA!

    submitted by /u/ericexplorestheworld
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    Desperate for Feedback on Failing Online Sock Brand

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:50 AM PDT

    Hey everyone, I run a tiny online fashion business and I'm struggling to sell a brand of colorful socks with motivational quotes which I thought were pretty good and at a price that's in line with the competition (£12 a pair). I've listed them on all the relevant marketplaces I'm aware of: ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, but to no success.

    Here's some links to a few of my listings (I'm based in the UK): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Happy-Funny-Ankle-Socks-with-Motivational-Quotes-Great-Gift-for-Men-Ladies/184209319054, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0899NHRG5?ref=myi_title_dp, https://www.depop.com/products/woondering-fun-ankle-height-socks-with-the/

    Any ideas on what I could be doing wrong??

    submitted by /u/konmari523
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    Best accounting software to follow recurrent payments?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:23 AM PDT

    Hi!

    I am going to launch my little web business and I will offer hosting for a monthly fee to my customers. However, I want to track these amount. Usually, with an accounting software, I would just put the revenues minus the expenses, but now, I have to manage recurring payments.

    I would like this to be managed by itself, unless the person doesn't pay. So if the person pay, the amount is added to the monthly revenues and if the person doesn't pay, I receive an alert and I contact him. With 1-2 customers, it would be easy. However, with several person that I am hosting, I need to have this automatic service.

    So, in summary, I need a software that will take care of accepting my one-time expenses/revenues with me adding the pdf contracts and things like that. If the person doesn't pay at the beginning of the month, I receive an alert/email and I can take the matter into my own hands.

    I guess I will use PayPal/Stripe to manage that, so I guess we could connect the accounting software with these platforms.

    So, any recommandation? (I live in Canada if it changes anything)

    submitted by /u/AsteroidSnowsuit
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    Getting back up from this

    Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:16 AM PDT

    Fairly long post so stick with me....

    I'm in the UK and I've run a travel-related business for the last 12 years. I don't sell flights, holidays etc but a product related to travel and COVID has really hurt us and looks this will continue until end of this year or into next.

    The business is run by myself, wife and brother with my wife furloughed at the moment. My bro is the techie so is working on a new system and we aren't being paid. We have a loan but that won't last forever and is something I am massively opposed too but we have no choice as still have to be here to handle cancellations and refunds etc.

    The whole situation is really getting on top of me now. I've built this up over 12 years and we live on razor thin margins to do volume - that's just the nature of the specific product. I was using this time to develop a new travel business to a specific destination but that has been put on back burner as we simply don't know when we can sell.

    As we have all our eggs in the one basket with this, I've tried to pivot and started looking at developing some Wordpress websites to sell, but as anyone knows, that is so competitive. My real strength is in marketing as I've done all this over the time trading and we sold £5milion worth of business.

    It is essentially an e-commerce business as everything is transacted online so we thought we would look at a new ecom business importing and selling from China. We even built a website just with nothing to sell! We've been put of by the massively competitive nature and finding anything that we feel has massive potential.

    As I said earlier, marketing is my expertise and people have been coming to me asking for advice. I had spare time so even helped my barber set up an online business and got her going with podcast and marketing channels. I could look at selling my marketing knowledge but again, that's competitive. I like the idea of a course but there are so many people touting themselves as marketing gurus the whole arena has a real 'rip off' feel. I do think I could bring value but an audience is needed really and I'm starting from nothing.

    My emotions have been so bad I really feel like getting a job but I think I just know I would hate it. Every single waking moment is taken up by me looking for the next way of trying to generate some cash.

    I was brutally honest with my bro and he thinks we will see a return for travel but this whole experience has really made me think twice and whether it's worth the risk it time and cash investment.

    Us company directors in the UK have had no government help so that has made things alot harder as we have not had a single sale since March.

    This is really just a rant and an airing off I've needed....I'm 40 this year and planned to sell the business but that is well off the agenda now. I need to pick myself back up but just don't know the direction to turn.

    submitted by /u/rtguk
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