Promote your business, week of November 22, 2021 small business |
- Promote your business, week of November 22, 2021
- How to tell employee they are the problem.
- Are Narcissistic Clients Worth it? Or Just Cut Your Losses
- Restaurant Owners: How has hiring changed since COVID for you?
- Do you guys take your employees back?
- Buying a Business, Business Advisor vs Legal Council
- Buying/leasing a company vehicle
- Any recommendations for affiliate and referral marketing apps?
- Moving pallets without a palletIjack?
- Tips for wanting to start a small business(as a franchisee?)
- What are the best freelance job sites for translators?
- How do you do Health insurance?
- drop/suspended ceiling
- Starting a business out of state; things to consider legally?
- Approving time off in November and December
- Starting my own business selling collectibles!
- Vendor question for startup business!
- Small business credit card with high starting credit limit?
- Reinvest in company or top off my 401k for 2021?
- Working through comparison
- For a one-owner, one-person LLC use business startup expenses as a personal tax deduction?
- Receivables have ballooned.
- Question about an idea I have, about changing people's tires.
- What Can I Do To Elevate My Lawn & Snow Removal Company
| Promote your business, week of November 22, 2021 Posted: 21 Nov 2021 05:58 PM PST Post business promotion messages here including special offers especially if you cater to small business. Be considerate. Make your message concise. Note: To prevent your messages from being flagged by the autofilter, don't use shortened URLs. [link] [comments] |
| How to tell employee they are the problem. Posted: 21 Nov 2021 12:05 PM PST Tech firm. Let's call this employee "Frank" I've had said employee for for about 14 months. They're actually fairly technically competent but starting to have some issues I want to try and address. Incident 1: Frank had issues working with one of my grouchy tech leads. Would not do task asked. Insisted on going about it their way. Not wrong but just less efficient. Got to a point where I had to pull them from the project. This tech lead is a known grouch so I just chalked it up to bad combo of people. Incident 2: Had issues working with a different tech lead. Kept trying to do things their way. This time they felt like project would go faster if they did it their way. Frank wasn't really wrong but wasn't really right either. Project ended just fine but the tech lead was frustrated. Frank complained that people weren't listening to him. At this point I was pretty sure Frank was the issue but I wanted to give Frank the benefit of the doubt. At his half year review I mentioned it only casually and Frank was very very defensive. Again I'm giving Frank the benefit of the doubt. Incident 3: Same as previous. Wants to do their way. Isn't wrong but isn't right. The team is coming to me saying why can't Frank just tow the line on some of the tasks. At this point I see Frank is the issue. I'll admit he's not wrong but he's also not the lead on these projects. So I can't be like you're doing stuff wrong. I also don't want to be like just listen to the leads. Everyone should have a say but this is just getting out of hand. Unsure how I should approach the situation. [link] [comments] |
| Are Narcissistic Clients Worth it? Or Just Cut Your Losses Posted: 21 Nov 2021 08:59 AM PST Have a crazy maker client; her fortune 500 company is great company as is everyone around her, but she's a nightmare and the one we are working with directly. Full on Narcissist; she's in over her head so has thrown my team and another solution provider we are working with under the bus, won't listen to our recommendations, challenges everything we put in front of her (because she's afraid of making a decision and not having a scapegoat to blame if things go wrong), makes constant demands above scope and retaliates subtly when we don't comply (ie sitting on an invoice for a week because of a "question" she had on it), sending out "zingers" in writing about our competence then we we address directly, professionally she "gaslights" and says we shouldn't be so defensive and "that's not what she meant". And makes constant demands on our time with texts and emails about her "disappointment" with how things are being handled. The good news is I don't think she will be there long based on the way some of her execs are responding to her; I think they see what's going on not feeling it either (she's been disrespectful to them too). They are a great company, smart progressive people and she sticks out like sore thumb. We are building relationships above her to mitigate some of this but the time and energy is takes to manage her and complete deliverables on a very complex project with very short timeline is draining. On top of that, we are barely breaking even because the project is more foundational work than we knew about but we are on the hook for achieving specific deliverables. I have dealt with these types of clients before and have the skills to keep good boundaries, manage them, deflect, etc. but the energy it takes to do that consistently adds more work to the project (ie all the documentation and cover your ass tasks). I thought about "asshole tax" and doubling our fees, but even then, the work it would take to manage her and deal with her drama (that isn't going away...we can only ignore it), not sure it's worth it. I worked hard for this client; for almost 2 years; big logo for us so very disappointing. I've read article on how to "manage" these clients and some say with a little finesse you can make it work. I am not sure it's worth it when there are so many other great clients out there we can make room for. Is there a dollar amount that makes this worth it? $50K a month, $100K a month? What would you do? [link] [comments] |
| Restaurant Owners: How has hiring changed since COVID for you? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 01:52 PM PST Do you find you're spending more / less time conducting hiring related activities prior to COVID? What are those activities? [link] [comments] |
| Do you guys take your employees back? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 03:19 PM PST I have employees from time to time quit to take what they think is a better offer. Straight up, my average employee is NOT extremely intelligent. I've had them leave for lower paying jobs thinking they would make more. Maybe that was some creativity on the part of the employer luring them, maybe that was their own creative math. Intelligence is not something the industry attracts. Whatever. Anyway, of all the employees who have left, pretty much 100% of them within 4 weeks beg to come back. All of the sudden there are all these problems they have with the new place and they really want to come back. I have an unwritten policy about NOT taking people back. I did it once, and within a few weeks this one actually started stealing time from us. It also makes me think, anyone who is willing to jump ship so readily and jump back probably isn't a good fit long term. Anyone else have a policy like this? Or the opposite? Curious what everyone's opinions on takebacks are! [link] [comments] |
| Buying a Business, Business Advisor vs Legal Council Posted: 21 Nov 2021 03:08 PM PST Hi, I'm about to sign an NDA for possibly buying a business. It says in the contract I can only disclose info to my legal council accountant or lender. Is that excluding a business advisor that's not a lawyer? I would also appreciate any tips to look out for when signing a NDA or dealing with a business broker. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Buying/leasing a company vehicle Posted: 21 Nov 2021 01:24 PM PST I've never leased a vehicle before but my father in law told me it might be a good idea. Has anyone here had any good experience with leasing a company vehicle opposed to buying one? [link] [comments] |
| Any recommendations for affiliate and referral marketing apps? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 04:18 PM PST I'm running a Shopify store and currently using several referral marketing tools. Here are the questions. 1, Do you have any recommendations for referral and affiliate marketing tools? 2, Is there anything to keep in mind when it comes to referral/affiliate marketing? 3, For those who pay money for someone in exchange for making sales of your products, how do you pay them(ex. every 2 weeks)? What tools do you use to pay(ex. PayPal)? Please let me know. [link] [comments] |
| Moving pallets without a palletIjack? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 04:12 PM PST I have a weird issue, and I was hoping someone might be able to help. I need to have a delivery of about 8 pallets of product delivered to a storage space. I will probably need to move the product around when receiving the product. I wouldn't mind getting a pallet jack, but it's going to be a pain to try to purchase one and transport it to the storage unit. They generally weigh like 250 pounds and they're hard to transport without a truck, which I don't have. Does anyone have experience with moving pallet jacks in a way that doesn't involve a pallet jack (or anything heavier than a pallet jack, like a fork lift, which is obviously even more difficult to obtain)? [link] [comments] |
| Tips for wanting to start a small business(as a franchisee?) Posted: 21 Nov 2021 03:53 PM PST I, 29M, have been given the task of opening up a small ice cream shop in my family's business location but I have absolutely no idea where to begin. My boss wanted me to look into becoming an ice cream franchisee(I think that's what it's called). Where do I start looking? What are some things to consider before opening up a franchise business? TIA [link] [comments] |
| What are the best freelance job sites for translators? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 06:57 PM PST There are too many freelance websites. Which one is the best for someone looking for jobs as a freelance translator? Please share your opinion! [link] [comments] |
| How do you do Health insurance? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 06:10 AM PST My wife is a wedding photographer and has it structured as an LLC. She does about 40 weddings a year around the country. I help her keep track of her book keeping but we do have a accountant for filing taxes for it. Both of us are coming up on 26 and need to figure out health insurance. I have the option to get on with the company I work for but the benefits aren't great. I am curious as small business owners what yall do for health insurance? We are going to meet with our accountant about it but im not sure where to start. Should we shop the network before we meet and have options ready? Or just see what she suggests? Thanks for your help! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Nov 2021 02:42 PM PST Opening a retail store in a strip mall. I don't like drop ceilings, I'm wanting to just pull out what's there, paint the ceiling and ducts black, and run track lights. Are there any concerns I need to know about? I just want to start on removing the drop ceiling possibly starting on the paint. I'll get an electrician to do some of the other work. [link] [comments] |
| Starting a business out of state; things to consider legally? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 02:35 PM PST I live in Massachusetts as a permanent address but spend part of the year in a different state. Is there anything to consider legally? [link] [comments] |
| Approving time off in November and December Posted: 21 Nov 2021 02:33 PM PST Family owns a small grocery store (~50 employees) in rural area managed and run by my mom. Many employees have saved vacation time and are bombarding her with last minute vacation requests (in the form of notes left on her desk) around the holidays. Obviously she can't grant all these requests and she has some systems in place (e.g., prioritize by seniority, prohibit days off between 12/20 - 12/24, etc.), but she's still overwhelmed and feels like no matter what she does she'll be shorthanded. Are there some tried and true and/or creative methods being used on how to handle these types of requests around the holiday season to ensure the majority of people are satisfied while still being adequately staffed? [link] [comments] |
| Starting my own business selling collectibles! Posted: 21 Nov 2021 05:56 PM PST Hello! I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with what my title says. So basically, I've decided I want to make a living by buying collectibles for cheap and selling them for a greater price! So I really have no idea how to go about it. Meaning, I could do the buying and selling I could do that much but I'm really curious how tax season works! I need to know everything to report to the government. I obviously know that I report everything I sell but what do I report when it comes to all of my expenses? Would I report the price I purchase the collectibles for, the cases I would purchase for them, the boxes I would store them in, etc? Also, how far does it go? If I deliver collectibles should I report the gas usage? If I store them in my house should I report my rent? I basically plan on buying from websites and stores, storing everything at home, and selling by shipping and/or delivering so I need to know everything to report to the government. Anything and everything helps, thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Vendor question for startup business! Posted: 21 Nov 2021 05:20 PM PST Hello! I currently make car fresheners and am looking to expand into clothing for BOYS - baby - toddler - child. What are some recommended, reliable US based wholesale vendors? With all the talk of current things shipping here from over seas I'm just a little nervous to branch out that way, but am unsure what us based options there are. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Small business credit card with high starting credit limit? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 11:07 AM PST Not sure if this question fits but giving it a go. Wife and I started a business recently. We have to make large up front purchases in the $20-40k range periodically so we need a card that will allow that without waiting a few years for an increase. Would prefer to not put these expenses on personal cards for various reasons. Any suggestions where to start? The capital one spark cash plus caught my eye as it is a charge card with no credit limit. Any experience with how much they allow you to spend? [link] [comments] |
| Reinvest in company or top off my 401k for 2021? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 04:25 PM PST Hi guys…. Tough year Wasn't able to top off my 401k as in year's past Maybe shifting gears soon with a slowdown next year and exiting the industry (landscape services) following year I may pivot to a small plant nursery in a rural/tourist area. I have a fair amount of gear for that industry but could put say 8-10k cash towards some startup costs Alternatively i could finance any new gear needed at 0% and top off 2021s 401k Im 47 and wife and i have solid retirement savings already and I'm cautious about dumping cash into the market at record highs, after a 12 year bull market with all signs pointing to a recession or at least major inflation, though i know one shouldn't market time Thoughts? Additional questions or info needed? Thanks guys [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Nov 2021 09:34 AM PST I started my small business 6yrs ago as a side biz but just experienced my 1st year running it full-time. I definitely have come a long way since I've started and I'm proud of what I've accomplished thus far, but I keep catching myself in a spiral of comparing myself to other businesses in my industry. It does motivate me to be innovative and improve myself, I just feel like I won't be as good as 'so and so'. I'm sure it's imposter syndrome combined with social media in general. If you can relate, how do y'all personally deal with comparison and what resources have you used to overcome / cope with those feelings? [link] [comments] |
| For a one-owner, one-person LLC use business startup expenses as a personal tax deduction? Posted: 21 Nov 2021 01:09 PM PST I started a small business for the first time this year. I'm the only owner, only employee, it's just me. I declared an LLC, so it's not a sole proprietorship. I have a regular full-time job as well. As I understand it, my business profits pass through to my income. If I make $100k at my day job, plus $20k on my side hustle, my taxable income is $120k. (Minus deductions, of course). If I add business profits to my reported income, can I deduct business losses? My business is selling fermented foods, which takes a looooong time to get running. Due to long fermentation times, and to loads of food safety paperwork, I've spent about $18,000 (a mix of old CDs and zero-interest offers on a credit card) and earned about $2,000. If I make $100k at my day job, and I've made -$16k on my side hustle, can I take a $16k deduction and end up with $84k taxable? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Nov 2021 07:11 AM PST Not really sure whether this should be asked or not, but it seems like I can't be the only business going through this right now. We have a small business, hence the /smallbusiness post. We are in proserv, and we operate fast and light so our engagements are often complete before we even get very far into the payment cycle. We require a large % payment up front to offset our risk, and then we make a payment schedule for the rest. We are finding that our clients are paying their upfront payments, we engage, get the work done and delivered, and then they're just doing whatever they are going to do on payments after that. It has caused our receivables to balloon to nearly 6 months operating expenses and we are constantly running hand to mouth. Most recently, a client called and said hey I don't know what money our previous ceo agreed to pay you with, but we don't have the $160k that we owe you and it's gonna take us 8 months to pay you. This is obviously painful. We are making changes to how we engage to mitigate this…that's not my problem. My problem is that I need like $500k to cover, and I need it yesterday. Im struggling to find a lender, because we are a pro serve company—we don't have assets like inventory or real estate. Partner and I only own one home apiece, so equity loans don't even get us close. Does anyone know any lenders who aren't damn predators who will write a loan this size on a pro serve company? [link] [comments] |
| Question about an idea I have, about changing people's tires. Posted: 21 Nov 2021 12:57 PM PST So what I'm imagining is that I will have a small van, with equipment to change people's tires when the season comes. I see a lot of people standing in line at the tire shops to get them changed and I wanted to solve this problem, by coming to them. I know there are tire hotels, but there are a lot of people who keep the tires in their garage. Does anyone have some experience with this? [link] [comments] |
| What Can I Do To Elevate My Lawn & Snow Removal Company Posted: 21 Nov 2021 08:33 AM PST Hello I am seeking advice on how I can improve my small business. Don't get me wrong I'm not lazy or looking a handout or anything of the sort I just feel like I'm in a rut and maybe I'm not doing something right. I'm not sure if it is accepted to post my company name because of the rules on this subreddit thread but we do have a name that I enjoy. We have a domain name, email, Facebook, our own website. I've hung up flyers around my town (pop. 15k), walked around neighborhoods and hung doortags with my business and contact information on it, and have advertised the business on Facebook groups. My partner that I started with the company has a holdings company and i'm an LLC he handles all the paperwork and business things, because I'm not sure how to manage those things. We both work and collect leads for the jobs we do and put it in a SBA. My questions:
At this point in my life I've gotten fed up with working under somebody instead of working for myself. I love working hard and showing results. I am dependable and not afraid to get dirty and go the extra mile for my clients. Some of them are old, and most people don't have time so I believe selling convenience and being reliable & dependable gets you far. I'm all in at this point. I have about 4k-5k worth of equipment right now my small list is: snow blower, push mower, leaf blower, 1 weed eater, 1 edger, and riding mower not a 0 turn. I'm currently holding onto about $15,000 worth of cryptocurrency what should I do? Should I use that as a down payment for a small business loan? How much should I ask for? Are there any resources to get money for free for my small business? [link] [comments] |
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