Small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for relief grants up to $20,000 from Lowe's small business |
- Small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for relief grants up to $20,000 from Lowe's
- I'm 13 years old and I need help with my new woodworking business that's picking up
- Resin Art
- Where should I start selling products?
- what to do w/ business' excess cash/savings
- I want to raise capital for my business.Any tips on how i could do it?
- Affordable Legal Document Templates for Small Businesses
- Looking for Ethical Family-owned Businesses that Ship in US
- Those of you that are open, how are your sales looking? (July)
- a fellow dying business in need of help
- Dispute over deposits in selling a small business
- Restaurant Industry
- P.O. box vs home address for tax permit?
- Advice Requested: Purchasing a small business from family
- Custom paper manufacturing
- Relative wants to open her own "Administration/Not-A-Restaurant business" that still sells food/drinks, I am not so sure about that idea, what do you guys think?
- Need help with partnership structure
- Looking for community building experts
- I made a tool for remote teams to manage multiple projects and could use some feedback, here is a video of how it works:
- If you're from Los Angeles, fill out this survey to support local small businesses! Thanks for your time! You could win gift cards!
- The Word-of-Mouth Triangle
- Taking the Work Truck Home
- Looking for testers / people looking to start their website online.
- Do you have an automated system to pay yourself? (Sole Proprietor LLC)
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 08:31 PM PDT The nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation, also known as LISC, is giving out the grants thanks to the home improvement chain's $55 million contribution. Applications will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. ET Aug. 3 in the fifth round of relief grants. Finalists will receive an email by Aug. 21, according to frequently asked questions. Learn more about the grants and apply at www.lisc.org/lowes. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm 13 years old and I need help with my new woodworking business that's picking up Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:42 PM PDT Probably not your usual post here. I'm 13 years old, and I consider myself to be entrepreneurial. I started a lawn mowing business when I was 11, I've picked up 6 jobs. At the peak I was making $200/week. We had a 5-6 week drought that pretty much killed all the grass. My business has almost come to a halt because the grass does not grow. Im lucky to get $50/week. I wanted to find a way to supplement it, and I figured making wooden lawn decorations was the way to go. I know they sell well because my mom sees them all over Facebook. There is a demand for them, and the ones in stores are extremely overpriced for what they are. I take apart pallets, cut them into shapes that are fall-themed (candy corn, pumpkins, black cats). I can usually batch out around $100 worth of them per day. While I have not gotten many sales yet, I know there is a massive potential for this. I need to grow my inventory before people start buying their fall decorations. There are about 5 steps in the process of making these fall decorations, so I was thinking about hiring 3-4 kids my age and have them help me make the decorations. I will pay them by decoration they help assemble to prevent me paying more than I make. I could potentially hire out up to 4 people, and I need to know if this is a good idea. The decorations sell for around $30 each. -Hire a person to sand ($3/decoration) -Hire a person to paint ($3/decoration) -Hire a person to assemble the decorations ($4/decoration) -Hire a person to disassemble pallets ($15/hour or $5/pallet) This way I am still making a $15/decoration profit, but I should be able to get the job done much faster. In addition, a bunch of neighborhood kids get paid for helping out. Would this be a good idea? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2020 01:58 AM PDT Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone on here started a small business on Instagram(social media in general) And I wanted to know how you got it to grow and gain a lot of followers and I wanted to know what I should do or can do to grow my business I started a little giveaway in hopes to gain followers but it only gained me like 7 and I know it takes a while for a small business to grow but taking advice doesn't hurt right? [link] [comments]  |
| Where should I start selling products? Posted: 02 Aug 2020 01:47 AM PDT Hello all! I'm a university student however have had a hobby business on the side for a few years which I started at 16. This business began as a T-shirt printing shop where I'd print my own designs on clothing... however I lost passion doing this and wasn't gaining many customers. I have now decided to rebrand into a less T-shirt specific shop and sell things I enjoy making (being within the home decor market) this would include hand made pottery (like plant pots, mugs, vases etc) as well as other items hand crafted by myself like shelf's, small storage containers, and just general interior design items. The reason I've decided to make this decision is because going to university and studying architecture has taught me my love for interior design. For my girlfriends birthday I built her a shelf/plant stand, many people said they'd buy one off me for more money than I'd ever made printing T-shirt's. The dream would be to hopefully make larger products such as custom designed chairs and other furniture, which funnily enough is something many famous architects did like Mies van der Rohe & le Corbusier. When I made T-shirt's I sold them on Depop (a clothing store) however I'm a bit lost on where to sell my products, I know Etsy is a popular site for selling home decor, would this be a good place to start or does anyone have any other opinions on where to sell these types of products? Thanks! :) Havoc [link] [comments]  |
| what to do w/ business' excess cash/savings Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:05 AM PDT We've got a bit of excess cash currently. What should we do with it? It's currently sitting in a business checking account, earning nothing. I expect we will want to expand the business at some point in the relatively near future. But in our industry, we're pretty opportunity-driven - not like we can just create a great opportunity out of thin air, we've got to wait until the right opportunity comes about and then be ready to jump on it (which could be a month from now, 6 months from now, 2 years from now, etc.). The business savings accounts I see are paying like 0.1%-0.5% interest, which is obviously terrible. CDs are only marginally better and because of the uncertainty of when we might need the money, we could end up even worse off than if we stuck with a savings account or just left it in checking. [link] [comments]  |
| I want to raise capital for my business.Any tips on how i could do it? Posted: 02 Aug 2020 03:39 AM PDT Hi,im riz. I'm 23 yrs old and I've been pondering over my starting a business thingy quite lately and i want to take the plunge . I've got so any ideas and inspirations and i want to see it holistically develop into something considerable . My parents are not going to sponsor me and there is nobody in my locality who is ready to help me ,I can't take a loan coz I've already taken a student loan and i have to repay it soon. I don't want my dream to be crushed .I just want someone to help me . [link] [comments]  |
| Affordable Legal Document Templates for Small Businesses Posted: 02 Aug 2020 02:36 AM PDT I have recently started my own coaching business, however I have realised that I need to create some legal contracts that just come with procedures of setting up a business. I have just graduated and have limited funds. I do not want to approach a lawyer as their services are quite expensive. Can someone recommend a Legal Service which can help you create contracts at a cheap cost? [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for Ethical Family-owned Businesses that Ship in US Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:20 PM PDT I've stopped shopping from Amazon as an attempt to support struggling businesses (plus because I don't especially like Amazon for certain reasons). If you are starting out or have had trouble getting business, please comment your business. I ask that your sources are ethical,(ethically sourced wood, textiles, etc) thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Those of you that are open, how are your sales looking? (July) Posted: 01 Aug 2020 10:53 AM PDT Posted something like this last month so thought maybe after being a month we can see some sales trends, especially with there being more COVID cases. Could do one at the start of each month to see how everyone is doing?
[link] [comments]  |
| a fellow dying business in need of help Posted: 02 Aug 2020 02:16 AM PDT hello everyone, i have a web design business, I am 19 and we are relatively a new company. i started this company with 2 other friends. at the beginning, we were building websites for relatives and friends, but now, we don't have any projects to take. I live in Jordan and we serve here (we don't mind serving outside our country). so when we wanted to get new customers we tried facebook ads. we tried more than one approach. we tried selling the website directly, we tried giving a free ebook in exchange for their emails and then we put them on an email marketing list. we tried selling a 60 minute strategy session. and none worked. we got no customers whatsoever. we spent almost 300-350$ total without a single customer. we just got 4-5 emails which sucked. we have a very limited budget. now we have some money from previous projects left we want to use to get customers using Facebook ads (around 600-800$) but if they gave us similar results, we're screwed, and bye bye, as they are the last couple of dollars we have left. so... We would really appreciate the help of any expert out there in our coming campaign as our whole company depends on this right now. we've been without any customers for soo long and my team is starting to lose motivation. we cant upsell existing customers as we barely have 3-4 customers and they aren't doing that great either. as I said we would really appreciate some help. we are ready to share the audiences we used, the pictures we tried, the copy we tried, etc... thanks all for the help:) [link] [comments]  |
| Dispute over deposits in selling a small business Posted: 01 Aug 2020 09:56 PM PDT I'm selling an event business, including the businesses future booked events. The events are secured by a 20ish%% non refundable deposit, which rolls into the overall cost of the event when the date draws closer My dispute with the buyer is over if the buyer is entitled to the deposited amount of events scheduled post-transfer date, seeing as she is taking over the events and therefore will not have them secured by the deposit herself and will be handling the events at a lower price. My rational is that I was running the business when the event was booked, so it counts as my revenue and they are not entitled to it. We'll reach some kind of agreement, but I'm curious what the subs opinion was? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 08:29 PM PDT I assume the number of restaurants closing due to the pandemic will be quite large. How are you restaurant owners faring and do you think restaurants can survive the rest of this year? Good luck to you all. [link] [comments]  |
| P.O. box vs home address for tax permit? Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:51 PM PDT I'm registering for a CA sales tax (seller) permit and part of the application asks for my address. Is it possible to list a PO box as both taxpayer and business location for the permit? Or must a physical home address be used? I'd rather protect my privacy but if there's no way around it....TIA! [link] [comments]  |
| Advice Requested: Purchasing a small business from family Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:33 AM PDT My mother started this business about 8 years ago. It is a graphics business - vehicle, sign, and apparel branding for corporate clients, but we also sell small jobs to the average consumer. I have helped her as a 1099 contractor for about 4 years. She recently went through a mid-life crisis and has decided that she doesn't like the business anymore, purchased a house several hours away, put me in charge for the last two months or so (since Covid stay at home orders were lifted) and wants to sell the business, specifically to me. There is one other 1099 employee still working with me, I will call her K, and she is interested in purchasing the business with me. K has skills that I don't, we have similar business goals, and she and I work very well together, so I would feel more comfortable having her as a business partner than purchasing/running it by myself. The issue: the numbers don't seem to be there. She took a loss for the first 6 years and it shows 0, 23K, and 27K profit for the last 3 years (after wages) respectively. She has paid herself about 23-27K each year in 'personal expenses' by making purchases through the business accounts. The business has about 150k in the building/assets. K and I have spoken to one CPA and they basically told us that it's not worth it. With my mom not there anymore, she's going to go out of business, so we should let her go under and then purchase her assets. Obviously this is a little awkward for me because it's my mom. However, she has pretty much made her bed and now she's going to have to deal with the consequences...it was her choice to up and leave and just trust that K and I will be able to keep the business going without her. Maybe I should cross post in r / relationships... Would we be able to get an SBA loan to buy this business? Is there another route we could go besides purchasing it? Any advice appreciated. TIA [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 06:03 PM PDT I wanted to look into manufacturing a paper product. I'm looking for someone who can cut specific paper into a shape with a sticky side on it. Anyone know of any companies out there that can do this? Doesn't seem too difficult but not sure where to start. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:26 PM PDT Basically, she's been doing a lot of "administration" work that involves helping people apply for disability benefits, doing their taxes, etc, for free. She's gotten pretty good at it, and has also been thinking about being 'partially' involved in the food industry since she also cooks fairly often at home (most of the meals are actually pretty good). The problem from my perspective, is that it is too convoluted. Pick one or the other. But so far, she has delayed any sort of concrete planning for how this type of business will function, what the daily routine will look like, what her hours will look like, how consistent they will/won't be, a 'solid', niche but locally-appealing menu, etc. I asked whether or not she was doing this out of passion or for money, but I seem to have received a mixed answer. Though I'm quite certain that she wants her work load to be less than it currently is, which IMO is the wrong way to approach anything involved in the food-industry. Any specific questions I have are met with anger and "you'll either support me or not"- so, it's not an argument we can have. Do you think I'm being overly critical? Does this multi-tasking business seem like a good idea? [link] [comments]  |
| Need help with partnership structure Posted: 01 Aug 2020 05:03 PM PDT Is it legal/ Okay to have the following structure? ABC LLC is owned -33% by A LLC -33% by B LLC -33% by C LLC Can ABC LLC own X% in A LLC X% in B LLC X% in C LLC? [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for community building experts Posted: 01 Aug 2020 09:42 AM PDT I've started a live video series (and soon to be podcast) where I'm interviewing community building experts, entrepreneurs who've built and grown communities, Facebook group admins that've grown big groups. Please DM me if you're interested in being interviewed. The interview will be focused on the topic and go in for 60 mins or less. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:39 PM PDT It is helping us a lot and hopefully it will help other entrepreneurs. Feedback will be very appreciated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI1ga_ndR3Y&feature=youtu.be Website still work in progress, but you can sign up and test it for free at https://www.simpletasking.com [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:24 PM PDT If you have a few minutes to spare and are interested in potentially winning a VISA gift card, you can fill out this survey with your favorite places in LA (county and city)! Thanks so much, this will help us develop the beta version of an app centered around our beautiful city, and help support your local businesses! It's totally anonymous, and just a few minutes will do. Thanks so much! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 07:50 AM PDT In talking with several hundred business owners and entrepreneurs for over thirty years, I have learned that word-of-mouth is always the most favored method of how small business brands grow. Yet, I have also observed that very few business people initiate proactive word-of-mouth campaigns or tactics. Too many view word-of-mouth as something that just happens, and in no way can be proactively guided as an ongoing strategy. A Nielsen study in 2013 found that earned media (also described in their report as word-of-mouth) is the most trusted source of information in all countries it surveyed worldwide. Moreover, it found that it is the channel that is most likely to stimulate consumers into action. There are three important factors which underlie powerful and successful word-of-mouth initiatives, all of which can be proactively initiated:
An Acceptable Product/ServiceYou can't have an unacceptable product or service and generate any effective word-of-mouth. Acceptable only means that your audience likes what you offer and has a willingness to continue to do business with you. While McDonald's does not make the highest quality hamburger, millions upon millions find their products and services acceptable. And they are quite profitable. Now there are degrees to being acceptable. One could rise to the very top of the "Acceptable Scale" and become a legendary brand such as Tiffany's, Apple, or Disney. But there are legendary brands on a micro level, such as the local diner that people wait in line to get into every day. They may not serve the healthiest food, but they are quite acceptable and popular with the locals. One can always improve the quality of the product and/or service of one's brand. In this way, you are proactively setting the stage for better word-of-mouth. Creating a one-of-a-kind product or delivering 5-Star service only helps you to generate stronger word-of-mouth. Opinion Leaders & InfluencersOnce your brand can consistently deliver an acceptable product or service, one needs to tap into those who can influence others. It is a known fact that many people judge who to do business with based on what others say. Opinion leaders and Influencers are not just Instagram models with millions of followers. We have been desensitized that someone who could influence a few hundred or a couple of thousand people is of no value. These smaller, more focused niche experts connect on a deeper level with their audiences and generate greater engagement. In fact, micro influencers with 1,000 followers generated 85% higher engagement than those having 100,000 followers, and as the number of followers increases the engagement tends to decrease. For some brands, these may represent sports figures or well-known business leaders. While for others it may represent local leaders in one's church or hometown community. When you can partner with and successfully engage with opinion leaders and influencers, your brand will travel on channels that you could have never reached through paid ads. One aspect of tapping into influencers is to get people to write positive reviews on Yelp and Google. These review sites most often outrank your own website. Moreover, when you have dozens - even hundreds - of positive reviews, they will influence even more people to do business with your brand. PublicityPublicity is concerned with providing favorable information to the media and any third-party outlets, such as bloggers, mainstream media, as well as new media forms such as podcasts and YouTube vloggers.
The prime role of publicity is to provide a message to consumers without having to pay for direct time or space. This not only creates awareness, but publicity achieves greater credibility in that others are now talking about your brand. The use of publicity is also known to be an important strategic element and promotional tool due to its effect of intentional exposure on a consumer. This helps publicity gain a beneficial advantage over other marketing aspects such as advertising, alongside its high credibility. Favourable publicity is also created through reputation management, in which organizations try to strive to manage via the web. Creating one's own Vlog on YouTube, or establishing one's own podcast and interviewing interesting people, you are now becoming the actual source of publicity. If you want more publicity, become your own publicist. As Forbes wrote in December of 2019, "Content Marketing is the New PR." [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2020 03:20 PM PDT Currently, there are 2 technicians that commute daily to the office where their work trucks are. The owner, my Dad, is strongly considering allowing techs to take their truck home & they would still meet up daily (mornings only) at the office. The trucks are big company assets so naturally, there's trepidation. Does anyone see issues with doing this? For example, maybe the tech lives in a bad area prone to theft or busy street prone to car crashes. Both seem unlikely but maybe there's another possibility I'm overlooking... Curious to hear thoughts on this situation. Thank you kindly! [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for testers / people looking to start their website online. Posted: 01 Aug 2020 06:28 PM PDT What's up everyone, I have over 10 years of experience building an designing websites professionally. With the whole pandemic going on it's a great time to start and launch your business online.. as for me, it can be a great time to earn more clientele. My company is gorshtenindesigns.com And I'm willing to show you my 23 five star reviews and portfolio. Websites are done within 72 hours, hosting included for first month and domain included for first year. Website packages 📦: $279 for standard website - 5 pages. No e-commerce for this price [link] [comments]  |
| Do you have an automated system to pay yourself? (Sole Proprietor LLC) Posted: 01 Aug 2020 02:10 PM PDT Hey ya'll! It's me again, your friendly indie hair stylist. Question is self explanatory. I want to hear some thoughts or your experiences. I calculated my overhead to include my salary, I'm starting the Profit First system as well. To plug in taxes, and what I want to pay myself, hours worked, etc. just once and have it automated sounds appealing to me. I'm having a friend who went to school for accounting insist I just write everything down in spreadsheets/a notebook and physically keep pulling money out bi-weekly to pay myself. This worries me, bc since I'm having to do so much other stuff on top of physically doing my job and handling clients, it would be highly likely to make errors. So, feel free to tell me your thoughts, and curious to hear what automated systems you like for yourself. And any other helpful tech hacks for solo small indie biz ppl. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
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