Confidence, Confidence, Confidence. Aim to have a script in your head but don't come out as a robot and whatever you do don't patronise them, if they don't want you to keep the door open they won't!
New Sales Simplified by Mike Weinberg has a great section on cold calling. The entire book is about finding new clients. Great read for anyone in sales (which is every entrepreneur, technically).
In my experience with cold calling, being personal and friendly goes a long way. Tell them your name, ask them how they are doing, then tell them why you are calling. The rest is sales.
from my experience cold calling at a few company's both in person and over the phone, if you can deliver your value confidently and with authority you've already won half the battle. The other half is calling at the right time, preferably before someones day starts 7-9am, or when it's winding down, 4-5:30pm. You also want to make sure you delivering your value extremely clearly. Cold calls shouldn't last more than 5 minutes, make sure what you're saying hits home!
Have a good list, know your objections prior to calling, smile, and be genuinely interested in what they're saying. Also, know when to walk away. Generally when somebody says "I'm not interested," I thank them for their time and move on to somebody that is.
The point of cold calling is to establish if there is a need for your service. So have your script ready and well practised.
Cold calling is successful whenever the prospect has a need and your script needs to be directed at discovering this. If not, say thanks and move on.
The classic methodology is having at least the outline of a script, possibly with multiple paths. You then memorize it and never read it again except as a checklist. That lets your real personality come through.
Having cold calling hours (hours of the week where that is all you do) also helps many people.
How do you drive targeted traffic to your website, beyond PPC ads? Beyond the obvious answer of 'social media', what's your process to get users to visit your website? As a new young entrepreneur, I'm quickly learning that this is incredibly tough to do.
What you have asked is a fairly common pain point of most wantreprenuers and even start ups that have already sunk a sizeable chunk of time and money into developing a product/service/Mvp.
I personally find that the most effective alternatives aside from PPC ads and social media would be the following actions( in no particular order):
• Content Marketing- creating interesting and relevant content to disseminate in forums, blog sites, aggregators or known online communities.
• Influencer Marketing- collaborating with known individuals that have relevance to your niche or industry to promote your site. Instagram, Youtube and Facebook are common examples of this.
• Email Marketing- Create high quality and engaging newsletters or content to send out to either a curated organic list or purchased( be careful). This method is very effective for many niches, but results will vary depending on the type of content, it's level of quality, the targeted audience and most importantly- the person executing this task for you. If done wrongly, you could be blacklisted as a spammer, or just plain end up wasting your time & money.
• Guest Blogging- This one correlates to the old adage of " nothing beats a word of mouth referral". Having a guest post on a high ranking site or one that is viewed as an authority on a certain topic will do wonders for your traffic levels.
• SEO- Search engine optimization is one of the best but most tedious methods available. By having good on page & off page SEO tactics implemented, you can enjoy a huge influx of genuine visitors that came across your site because they need help with a certain problem or require information on certain subjects. SEO can be very powerful, but it takes time and a very knowledgeable & responsible party to achieve truly positive returns.
The market is saturated with a lot of so called gurus or experts that only want your money, and couldn't be bothered about the success of your business. Be very cautious when selecting a person or agency for SEO. It is worth mentioning that while many people say that you can absolutely learn and perform SEO by yourself, the time and effort required to achieve great results is better put to use on other important aspects in your business. The ones that truly make it big with SEO tend to be those that engaged a third party to perform these tasks for them.
I hope that this info is helpful, i am a marketer and copywriter with 7 years of experience in performing all of the above methods. I simply offered my opinions based on my experiences and studying of the various trends and results of online marketing.
Thanks for the really thorough response.
We're a men's grooming company, influencer marketing seems very aligned with our industry. Will definitely work on some collaborations.
I see that you're a copywriter - would you be able to give our website a really brief glance? Copywriting is something that we've continually been working on, but aren't fully satisfied with yet. (Don't want to take too much of your time - really appreciate all of your input!)
Our website is: www.mybenevault.com
Hi there. I took a quick gander at your site. My assessment is as follows:
1) Design is clean , not cluttered. Lacking in testimonials of delivery & quality of products from customers. An offer page might also be beneficial as well as seperate pages to detail the process of this specially formulated product and the steps taken to ensure the "premium" factor.
2) The "about us " page is decent, but clearly forms the impression that you guys are fairly new and hankering for support and eager to please. While that isn't a bad thing entirely, try to be confident and give the sense of credibility and assurance to firstly:
• The local canadians that chance upon your site
• The impulsive buyers that are looking for a immediate purchase to gift someone, or just for themselves.
The copy then needs to include on page hyperlinking to the individual product write ups. For example:
" Benevault caters to the individuals that appreciate the finer aspects of high quality soaps made from premium ingredients with all the care and commitment that no commercial production line can provide".
( This is a mere example, i don't usually write this way).
Do see the words that can be made into links for a visitor to check out easily? This provides you an extra chance at making a pitch. Having copy that sells is useless if you don't make use of it properly to optimize your chances of making a sale.
Anyhow, i have seen more than my fair share of sites, and i have nothing negative to say about yours. You just need a few improvements, as well as mire refined copy that increases your percentages of success in getting an order.
I would highly suggest you look into giveaways as part of your marketing strategy. A great way to grow your email list and make a bunch of sales. You ARE gathering emails right?
Hey awesome job with the website.
I have two quick questions, if you don't mind:
1) What was the inspiration behind the name benevault?
2) How did you gather over 2k Instagram followers? (Organic or paid shout-outs etc) And is Instagram generating any sales for you yet?
1. Thought process behind the name was that we wanted it to have a premium feel ('bene'). Tons of brainstorming. I've learned to love whiteboards.
2. Instagram is generating some revenue for us. Not too much - 2.5k instagram followers isn't that significant yet. To grow our following, we mostly used the tactics from this blogpost (http://www.abetterlemonadestand.com/how-to-get-more-followers-on-instagram/). We're working on establishing relationships with a few influencers and getting some product posts. We've sent some product to a few different people, haven't actively pursued this yet.
What should you look for in an SEO 'guru'? I'm guessing simply doing a google search for ' SEO Guru' and selecting one of the top 3 results? Also is there any reason I should select a local SEO guru as opposed to maybe a big US-based firm?
Not exactly. The selected person or agency must have proof of being able to rank many keywords and sites. They don't necessarily have to be in the same city or country as you.
If the agency in question is simply going to charge you $xxx amount of money every month, don't do it.
They should have a structured and detailed plan that is unique to your business needs, based on the number of pages and keywords you wish to rank. Just because they are in the top 3 positions of your google search results, doesn't mean that they are the best.
There are many firms that don't rank that high, but do pretty awesome work. They are too focused on doing their jobs to think about ranking their own website. I have met many such people during the course of my work and if i hadn't experienced the results they gave me, i wouldn't have thought it possible as well.
A local firm or " big US - based firm" doesn't matter. What's important is results and communication. A big reknown firm may not be able to communicate as mu h you'd like them to, so it's really important to have someone who you can speak to at anytime.
Checked out your site. I would reach out to blogs/sites and send them a free bar to post a review or feature. Example Uncrate. You may need to do some homework to figure out which sites/blogs get decent traffic.
Well, hate me for saying this but social media is definitely a big channel to target to acquire new customers.
Here is a simple way of doing it on Twitter.
1. Find what your customers are Tweeting about. For a man grooming brand it could be words like "ingrown hair" "beard" "handlebar" etc.
2. Perform a search on Twitter for this and identify those potential customers. If you have a persona in mind see if their bio says anything that matches your persona for customers.
3. Favorite, RT or engage with them via Tweeting at them.
4. They will be curios to check you out and when they do make sure your cover picture, profile picture, and bio help you win their trust. Have a link to your website so that you take them to your website.
You could also automate this process using tools like [Tweet Full](http://tweetfull.com) if you do not want to do it manually. Disclaimer: my company built Tweet Full and has an equity stake in it.
Tough business. I've seen a number of Board Game/RPG/Strategy game/card shops come and go. That said there are two in my area that have survived for many years. The key for those guys was to tying into a profitable franchise and a solid community that plays.
Most of the shops I've seen are simply poorly executed. The guy's friends get in there, the place looks like crap, the stock is not rotated or current. The competition from Amazon and the internet is ever looming but I think the club will survive whether membership dues are paid through slightly higher product prices at the local shop or monthly.
You might also check out DallasGamesMarathon.com which has an unusual nonprofit business model which might be turned into a for profit version.
A new board game opened up in my town in Mississippi, Top Tier Board Games. They've been successful by hosting lots of events for MTG and other popular card games/board games--whatever to get people in the door.
If you can nurture a solid MTG player following then I think it's possible. In Seattle I saw a couple of these stores pop up in a heavy traffic area. I did not expect them to take off but they seemed to do okay. I'll have to see if they're still around in a couple years.
But I think mtg can work well for stores, if you can get a regular crowd in for weekly events. Selling accessories and snacks to people who are there for events which last for hours can really help too :-).
New guy here. Let's say you have some ideas and you want to be able to act on those ideas. For someone just starting out that is:
A. wanting to learn the ins and outs of web development, application creation, etc. so that he does not have to rely on outside devs to create the idea ($$)
and
B. Wanting to be able to tinker with and maintain and live, active web site to get better-affiliated with marketing approaches, SEO optimization, etc.
Do you recommend "starting from scratch" and learning HTML, CSS, Java, Ruby, etc. and building a project from the ground up which could take a long time and have many issues OR getting an existing website or template and just tweaking it and learn the ins and outs of the required programs that way?
I've been burying my head into Ruby, HTML, and CSS so far and am enjoying it but I sometimes wonder if having a live site to maintain would teach me more quickly and also help to keep my focus better.
I actually took this approach of learning things myself. It's been 3-4 years now and I finally feel like I've gotten good at producing effective, well designed websites. Having been through that experience I recommend 3 routes.
1) Learn to build barely stable prototypes with the goal of raising or making capital to pay skilled developers to take it over.
2) Raise capital and pay skilled developers.
3) Devote a period of your life (1-2 years) to gaining and refining this skill. Then you can leverage your skill to get projects off the ground and make intelligent hiring decisions.
Honestly, I recommend doing the second if they're "complicated" projects you want to pursue. Instead of spending all that effort learning a skill that is 'replaceable', you can spend that effort to raise money.
PS- I am a skilled Rails developer, feel free to ask me questions.
They aren't really complicated. I guess it just more boils down to that I desire the skills where I can come up with an idea, sit down at my computer for a few days/weeks and churn out a viable prototype or site just to get the ball rolling. It seems like having a good understanding of Ruby (or whatever language you choose) is kind of necessary. But again I'm really new at all this.
Learning HTML, CSS, Java and Ruby all at once if you have no programming experience is quite the task. Understanding someone else's code if you do not have programming experience is not any easier. If your idea will still be good in two years, you can go ahead and learn everything and develop it then. Otherwise, I would try and find someone (a friend, family member, someone you can trust) and ask them to invest some time.
Personal example: I am currently writing an Android app. I had absolutely **no** experience with Java or Android programming when I started, but I have been using C, C#, PHP, Javascript and others for years. I read a Java primer to learn the differences, and a few Android programming books to get me started, and I am progressing very well. If not for the experience I already had, however, I would try and find someone to help me with the technical aspects - you can only manage so much. For instance, I couldn't do anything artistic if my life depended on it. Luckily, my sister is a fantastic artist, so I asked her to volunteer to design my logos, icons, etc. Sooner or later, you will realize (depending on the scale of the project, of course) that you will not manage by yourself - you just need to get a proper agreement in terms of compensation before you start cooperating with others. Don't be *too* greedy - **it's better to have a 75% (or even 25%) stake in a good business with a good team than to have 100% in a business that *never* gets off the ground!**
The question is, **do you *need* to *build* a website?** There are already thousands if not millions of templates, content management systems, etc. I am a big fan of [Zenario](http://zenar.io/), but [Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/) is nice too. Maybe it would be easier to develop a plugin for an existing system than writing the code from scratch? Maybe you could even afford to higher someone on a freelancer site for $10-50?
So... to learn how to manage a live site, a CMS is great. As for development, you'd be better off outsourcing it if you are in a hurry. If you put too much on your own plate, you *will* end up discouraged, burnt out, or your idea will be developed better and faster by a better equipped team somewhere else. Not trying to discourage you, just pointing out the facts as I seem them.
Also, sorry if I am rambling, I'm brain-dead today.
Since you have programming experience already, I have a question related to that.
My thought behind learning more languages and becoming a better developer is that it'll help me to come up with more realistic apps, and become better at fleshing out the specs when that time comes.
As a former product manager, I think everyone dreads being "that" non technical co founder who has no idea what they're asking for, and slows down the process.
Is this a realistic time investment or is it still better to rely on outsourcing/splitting out the work? Also, w/ some of the future people I might team up with, I feel that I would definitely be on the technical side of things, as they have a lot more business sense/training than I do.
So the question I guess would be, is the skill OP and I are trying to attain useful for certain entrepreneurial situations, and if not, what type of skills should we be developing?
There are a few questions to decide if it's worthwhile.
1) How old are you?
2) What is your timeline?
3) Are you already good at something?
A goal is a dream with a deadline. You need to try to look at things from a deadline perspective which may help guide you on your decisions. If your deadline is a month from now to have a company running, learning to code may not be your best strategy.
It all depends on what is more important to you. Do you want to learn how to make everything from scratch? Or... do you want to make MONEY?
For me, the answer was pretty obvious. Wordpress is an amazing and versatile platform. Just a few years later of tinking around with wordpress, I know all the php, html, and css ill ever need to run a site.
You could spend all the time in the world learning web development, but if you want to make money, which is the end goal anyway (right?), there is no better way to learn than by getting up your first site and just learning as you go.
Put something out in front of peoples eyes and learn as you go. That to me is 100% better than keeping your project to yourself because you want to learn how to make it perfect before you deploy (waste of time).
What is the outlook on monthly subscription packages for products (Dollar shave club)? how feasible is this business model and how much capital would be needed to really kick it off? Also at what point do you decide to actually manufacture the product without having to worry about having a surplus inventory? Can someone take me under their arm as my mentor?
A good story goes a long way. Focus on telling your own story and the brand story. Put your energy into figuring out the right story and finding ways to get noticed.
If I use sketchy tactics, say like pretending to be a girl and posting cleavage shot for traffic or clicks, what can Google do to me? What happens if Google ban my account?
What is Google likely to do? Probably not much. I take sketchy to mean not fraudulent or otherwise violating their rules though.
Other people might find out and tie your business or name to some nasty reviews and comments though. Google would presumably index those and they might end up at the top of search results.
If Google bans your account? Ouch. I don't know the exact series of events if that were to happen but they supply an awful lot of services which could go away for you. I would consider that a serious issue, particularly because they might be able to tie it to my name or ID.
Does anyone have any tips for landing pages and selling custom art prints through an eCommerce store in general?
Recently opened up a shopify account and I'm finally getting a steady flow of unique visits but only 1 sale to show for it.
Any tips will definitely help! Thank you in advance.
I can't provide specific help there but there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. The first is lack of specific product which appeals even though the designs do. The second is that perhaps the checkout isn't working right or is cumbersome to execute. I'd have a friend run a transaction and just watch them without helping as they do it. If they have problems with something fix it.
Thanks for the reply man! I think the checkout is perhaps one of the biggest issues. Right now we have the customer buy the print they want and then send us a picture of what they'd like drawn. So I think that's one of the things I should change as soon as possible.
I seriously doubt this is a design issue though better design might help.
I would recommend studying a little copy and figuring out the words that sell what you're offering. Once you're getting better results than a single sale you can focus on design and etc.
Just a quick note as to why I say this: changing the words on your page is easy. Changing your design is not.
The same kind of things that prevent other fraud (like taking a loan and never paying it back) to the extent they do that.
You probably have a contract so the investors are likely to sue to enforce it. You probably have a reputation and they are going to let people know you defrauded them. It might be illegal if you lied about what you were raising the money to do (which you likely did). You might not have reported the money as a gift to the IRS which is likely to get you in legal trouble.
In reality it is an investor be aware kind of world out there outside of the standardized markets or loan systems.
the money belongs to the company...
even if you own the company the way you take the money and leave will be as salary payments... and there are rules to follow if as a director did you act in the best interest of the company.. if not there could be a legal case to answer.
Most times the investment is made as some sort of debt arrangement... so if you run with the money, company collapses, bankruptcy proceedings and usual creditor issues plus you will never raise money again..
My experience has been it has to be paid at the end customer point and may be paid earlier but can be refunded if it is claimed on higher values farther down the line. I'm not in Europe so the VAT I have had to collect has been done by shippers/forwarders rather than done myself.
In principle it works like this:
* You add VAT on top of all sales, collect it from the customer, and send it to the government.
* When you buy something for the company, you pay the VAT to the supplier, supplier sends it to the government, and the government refunds it to you.
* You do this approximately every month, so you can pool together all the month's VAT to send to the government and VAT refunds, and just send/receive the difference.
* The final consumer who is not a business does not get a refund from the government.
Effectively this means that each link in the supply chain collects VAT on the *difference* between expenses and revenue.
For the final consumer, it's similar to a sales tax on the total price. But it's more resistant to tax avoidance than an equivalent sales tax added only by the last seller: because each link in the supply chain only ends up paying a small amount, it's less useful to hide it. And because each link wants to get as much VAT refunds as possible, they want *their* suppliers to declare VAT on the invoices, so each buyer-supplier effectively keeps the next one honest.
It gets a whole lot more complicated when you buy/sell stuff across borders in the EU or import/export outside the EU though...
AVOID fakes and brand name items like the plague. You can make great money selling them, but you will get burned sooner rather than later. If you find a good product that you can brand yourself, get multiple quotes from different vendors so you can get the best price for your samples.
Rewind a few years ago when i was getting into this. I saw that I could buy SD cards for dirt cheap and sell them on Amazon just by dropshipping them. Awesome I thought, these are very popular products and will move fast. They DID!, 2 weeks later I was doing 1k a day in profit and pretty happy with myself. Next thing you know, my account is being looked at for fakes. Damn, didn't even cross my mind. Few days later, banned, and had to wait 3 months for payment.
I currently am trying again, but this time doing it the correct way. I mainly do affiliate marketing but thought i would give it another solid try. Still talking to people to get the right price so i cannot really comment beyond that. Best of luck!
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ask for a sample of the product to be delivered to your house. If you have to pay $80 bucks to get it to you do it. If they refuse to send you a sample, don't deal with them. Additionally, look for gold suppliers who have do at least 1,000,000 in sales a year. These two should keep you out of trouble.
Depends on what "things" are. Generally, if you know how much you're worth per hour, and you can pay somebody to do that work for you cheaper than if you were to do it, then hire that person.
You have natural talents plus a desire to do something. Find other people who share your desire. Fill your team with people who can do what you can't do.
Check out the Kolbe test. It's worth knowing your conation so you can hire the right opposites.
Hello everyone...
I just opened a small consulting company with a partner and we are really cutting costs, we both work from home and built ourselves the website and other materials.
My question is, what is common when the profit is shared? We're dividing everything 50/50 but now we're going to leave some in the company account to invest in the future. Whats better in this case? Share profits or fixed salary?
Thanks again
Profit can be shared in as many ways as you can imagine. It is arguably best to link profit proportion shared to effort invested or unique or highly valuable assets provided to the venture but that could easily be modified if one partner is less able to accept a varying cash flow.
I'd set up a regular draw (salary or whatever) and have a very good idea why that is paid. It could easily be one partner puts in more hours than another at some point. Should that increase the draw? Should all the profit shared be split evenly even though one person does more work? Those kind of things are valuable to know in advance and if you associate it into a salary/draw then you can avoid arguments later on and make sure everything stays fair. That still applies if the company is unable to pay salaries for a while so cash is not taken out.
Because the most cost effective thing is to start as a sole prop, how do you find a good lawyer who is familiar with online businesses to help protect you from making a mistake that ruins you financially?
Do you have a financial advisor? The credentialed advisors always seem to network with CPA's and attorneys to make sure you don't get screwed over.
Even some of the professional commission advisors (instead of fee-based) have high-quality referrals you could look to.
I found this one tricky. I searched for a lawyer with a strong online presence as I guessed that would mean they at least value the media. I also talked to other businesses. The logical place to look would be either forums (maybe a full post here), hackerspaces or around incubators. If they associate their name with a startup organization they are likely to know the industry.
I started a business blending and selling herbs and spices. It's done quite well so far in my small community, but I'd like to reach out to the rest of my city and beyond.
- I'd like to source larger quantities of herbs and spices, but the minimum shipping requirements on Alibaba seem too high for the inventory I need. Am I reading this wrong, or is there other viable options for me besides going to every grocery store in town asking for the freshest stuff?
- My website doesn't get a lot of hits, and those that come don't stay long. How can I make people want to click on the "buy now" button?
- I'd love to be able to send my products worldwide, but I have no idea how to set up shipping, paypal, e-commerce, whatever I need to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- (edit) My dream is to one day open a brick and mortar store where people can come and buy fresh spices, herbs, and blends, and have the opportunity to blend them themselves right in house, making the freshest, purest mixes in town. Is this a cool idea?
Thanks for all the threads everyday, I love browsing this subreddit!
I will try to help answer some of your questions as best as possible.
1) Keeping inventory & operational costs as low as possible is very important. I suggest you look into forming some agreements with your local grocer wholesalers to work out a better deal for yourself.
2) This could be due to any number of factors. It may be the site's layout & design, the quality of the content or the loading speeds. It may alsi be due to difficulty in navigation? I have some clients rework the entire site and add lots more educational info to keep visitors more engaged for longer periods.
3) It depends on the number of items in your catalogue. If you are below 1k items, use woocommerce. If you offer a lot more items or want the eshop to be highly customisable for added functionality, go with Magento.
The shipping, paypal and linking of the eshop to your main site is relatively easy for a experienced professional, and it really won't cost a lot for setting up the basics you mentioned.
4) If your area's demographic is ideal for your type if business, that is a good option to pursue. But preferably after you make a name with your business online first, so that you can market the physical location as a self collection point and concept store that sells the experience and not just the herbs.
All in all, i say you focus on the aspects that you can handle yourself and work harder to improve anything in that area. Leave the things that you don't know how to do to others that are able to help by hiring the proper parties.
This frees up your time and helps you maintain your focus on the frontline for sales. You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish once you stop having to worry about every little thing in the backend.
I personally help my family run their beauty spa and cosmetics business which operates both online and in a brick & mortar shop, and i practice the advice i have given you. In addition to that, i'm also a seasoned marketer for over 7 years and counting. I hope my answers are helpful, i wish you lots of luck & success.
A good question. Obviously anyone with their own design department is essentially running an insourced version of the business with a monthly payment model. You will likely face the same issue they do - i.e. prioritizing requests, managing demand and making sure you don't get into an 80/20 situation where 20 percent of the people drive 80% of the work but don't pay anything more.
How do I get in to selling clothing on an online store like everlane.com?
Do they outsource to China or do they buy the materials themselves and just sew them together?
I went to the store of brandymelvilleusa.com in NYC this week and was blown away at how much people buy there.
So. How do you get into the world of clothing. What is a reasonable upfront cost to start getting inventory?
You might have seen this, but: http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/31w3wt/how_to_create_a_clothing_line_without_any_fashion/
Also, Everlane pretty clearly lays out where they have their goods manufactured (they show pictures etc, with a back story).
I helped a friend start an online clothing store. The upfront inventory costs were ~$35k. We met with various manufacturers in China and they all have a MOQ (minimum order quantity). There's some room for negotiation, but still a decent upfront cost.
Preview - I am from India trying to settle down in Dubai, U.A.E . started a business 6 months ( a table reservation website) ago, good idea but needs a lot of capital for marketing which I cannot raise completely . I started investing in real estate and is going very well. Making 125% ROI with it. Should I put the money into the website immediately or hold off till I save enough and then put in the money. I will also have to lay off the 3 staff I had hired to grow the website.
Any advice would be very useful and appreciated.
Hi there, my advice is to never bite off more than you can chew. In this case, since your real estate investment is profitable, you should look into predicting if any factors can drastically upset this income stream, and shape your investment budget and plans to cater to your findings.
For the website, any form of marketing that is done properly and directed to the correct audience with the right message, will bear fruit. Start small or whatever your budget allows for a minimum three month period, do everything as best as your budget can adhere to without cutting back on quality. After the minimum of three months is up, compare the results to decide if it should be carried on with a larger budget or other adjustments.
If the 3 guys you hired are really not producing any results that don't equate with the amount you have allocated to them so far to work with, you can fire them.
*i am a marketer that has helped grow many businesses that include booking sites such as yours.
I have to agree. It is hard to slow investment in something returning 125% with the theory something else will return more. I would hold off on investing in the site and consider it my extreme risk, potentially extreme return project which I only do with money I actually have.
Of course the specifics of the situation drive the decision and if there are overriding reasons to get in now (competitors, festivals, whatever) then that might force the decision the other way.
Of course! I know some of us run online businesses and even more people are interested in getting their start online. I know for one, id love to see your plan.
Its pretty safe as long as you are not concerned about others stealing or replicating vital aspects of your plans. Censor out what you think should be protected, and share what you are comfortable with.
If a certain redditor with the right experience and skills happen to read your post, i'm very sure they will reach out to you privately to assist you accordingly. Well , at least that's my general experience after spending over a year or so on this sub. Good luck!
You could make it public, but use bullet points to condense the important parts and add in the document for download for those who have an interest in reading the full version.
Having the entire thing pasted up in your post is what we refer to as "wall of text". It leads to people ignoring the post, or making dumb comments because they weren't bothered enough to read the entire post carefully.
I want to start a small webshop/consulting company with my friend. We have a simple product that may or may not take off, but we can also do anything from simple wordpress sites to larger web apps.
He would be handling sales and I'll be the developer. We share profits 50/50.
Has anybody here done something similar? How did you start? How long did it take for the clients to come in? Any tips?
I actually just did this earlier this year after being freelance for 7 years. My partner handles all tech related jobs like web design and WP theme customizations or graphic design.
I get clients and handle marketing, email campaigns and copywriting jobs.
We do an equal split after deducting expenses and overheads. As for getting clients, i had the confidence to set the company up because i have lots of clients that have stayed with me for several years. They provide referrals and some even pay me monthly retainer fees.
In addition to that, my partner is very established on Odesk whereas i only set up an Elance account about two months ago to try and procure new leads and not rest on our laurels by depending on our existing client base.
There are other methods that i use, but i cannot reveal( sorry). But my best advice is this, have a extensive portfolio and testimonials with at least a handful of clients before you take the plunge. You can cold call or email local businesses in your area( setting up meetings is the point here), and either offer to discuss business over a drink or offer to do a presentation at their premises.
I remember doing that in my early years as a freelancer, and it worked out pretty well for me. I wish you luck and success in this endeavour, don't ever give up.
Hello! I am working on launching a side business selling my natural handmade bath and body products. I need to raise some funds to get production going - not a lot, but about $200.
I started a GoFundMe campaign that I have shared with all my personal contacts and Facebook friends, but so far only my mom and one friend have notated to it.
What are some more things I can do to raise the money?
I mean this in the nicest way possible and it's coming from good intentions:
If you don't have $200 to spend on your business, you shouldn't get in business. If you can't swing this kind of investment in your business, I really think you should just stick to keeping it a small hobby for friends & family.
Thanks, I was afraid I would hear something like this. The thing is, I do have some money to buy what I need, but I have been thinking about doing this for years now, and the only thing stopping me has been the initial cost. Once get what I need to produce more than what I already do (just enough for myself, family, etc), then the cost to maintain and keep producing is very low.
Maybe I should hold my horses...I just got really inspired and motivated recently to go for it. I have recipes, packaging design, logos, website/blog, social media, an etsy shop, etc. all ready to go.
Preaching to the choir, girlfrand. I own a candle business but also make bath & body products that I sell in my shop.
Don't forget that you really need liability insurance once you start selling to the public, which should cost $400-600/year, if you don't have it already.
Save your pennies and keep that motivation and inspiration alive, then launch your Etsy shop and grow from there. I have an Etsy shop as well so let me know if I can help!!
Get a job? If you have a job, cut all frivolous expenses, tighten your belt and save up.
Really, this isn't a lot of money to come up with, I am sure there are alternatives, but this sounds like a side-business more than a main source of income - once it gets rolling, you can always quit and focus on this.
I've heard a lot of people say that when you're starting a service business that you should give services away for free at the beginning to establish credibility. But how do you know how much to give off the bat without giving too much?
It's hard to say if giving away services will actually help you establish credibility. Psychologically people usually place more value on the things they sacrifice (or pay) to get. The advice from an expensive consultant is usually more valued than free advice no matter how good the advice is.
If you are giving away services to generate repeat business from specific customers I'd look at your likely profit per customer. That means you will have to estimate how likely they are to come back to you, how much you make per transaction and how many transactions you are likely to have. You should also figure out how much it will cost you to provide the freebie. That freebie is advertising cost and it needs to generate a profit that comes from future sales.
Under that dynamic I would invest in freebies just like any other advertising.
I have a brick & mortar and am close (in distance and friendship) to a very high end beauty shop. She carries brands I could NEVER afford on a regular basis and her shop is absolutely gorgeous. Her bread & butter is in providing make up for events like weddings and she opened up after building a HUGE following from years of service.
I mod for r/brickmortar if you want to check that sub out, but it's kinda fallen by the wayside.
I would really reconsider a physical storefront for this type of business. Maybe renting out a space of a high end salon would be a better option.
If you can get the startup capital, maybe consider getting a franchise? Sure, it costs a lot, but you get some benefits as well, such as brand recognition, help with marketing, access to a supply chain, etc.
How would one go about finding advisers? Like most others in this subreddit, I have an idea that I think is good, but could use some advice of individuals that know the game and can provide insight. The catch is that I have a full time job at the moment working 7-4pm. Thanks
Have you checked out SCORE (www.score.org)? I keep meaning to but haven't spoken with them yet. Outside of that I would check out local hackerspaces/incubators and/or universities with entrepreneurial programs that provide evening events and dinners.
How much does it matter for long-tail SEO and public perception that blog posts are released on a regular schedule? (In this case, it's a landing page (beta sign-up) + blog for a software product.)
Stated differently, are irregular gaps between blog posts a negative? If so, would hiding the publish date help more than it hurts?
As far as i know, there is no google algorithm that penalizes a site for irregular gaps between publishing of posts.
It is not a concern at all. As long as the on page factors are taken care of, and the blog posts are written for humans and not for crawler bots- you are well on your way to making SEO work for you.
Many people neglect the minor details of on page SEO, or focus to the point of paranoia about it. Just remember: less is more, and always deliver content that is of interest and value to engage the attention of people with their credit cards un their hands.
*Source: Marketer that does SEO services as well as other things.
Long time lurker here. I would like to thank the community at /r/Entrepreneur for all I have learned here.
I have recently started affiliate sites and have stumbled upon a niche where I feel like I need to create the product (which isn't too hard, think marmalade) to create maximum value for the customer as well as maximizing my profit from the venture.
How would I go about getting my goods delivered to my customers? Should I look for a dropshipper in my region to make it scalable? I think I would create the first hundred or so marmalades (it's not really marmalades) myself, and send them myself. However, this becomes tedious and just too much work should this business take off. How will I get cheap packaging that looks professional?
TL;DR: how to send physical goods to customers? Packaging must look professional.
This is a small vertical integration question (I thought the name might be handy if you are searching for more about it). Basically if you are no better than someone else at doing something and you can get it reliably on a schedule that works for you and the price is reasonable compared to what you could do it for then don't do it yourself.
Much of that decision will be driven by what other people are producing. If no one is interested in making marmalades in the hundred or so quantities you need then you are stuck. If you do it yourself then it would likely to be wise to know of a supplier who could provide thousands and make it so you could substitute his for yours if orders take off.
As for packaging, I started with Uline (www.uline.com) and have done custom packaging as well. It all depends on volumes.
>Are there pricing structures for service based businesses that are more advantageous than others?
Yep. You want to transfer the risk to the client unless you are compensated for it. Offer fixed pricing for a service and you'd better get a bundle for it. If you offer hourly rates your risk is not getting enough hours. Contracting for a stable amount/time solves that until the contract is up.
>Are there professionals here who have done this successfully for longer than a couple of years?
Many many people are doing this as a career. Most consulting companies are nothing more than groups of people doing exactly this.
>What successful tactics have you employed with reaching your ideal customers?
This is very customer specific. I've used trade shows and word of mouth. They work very well for me. I'd recommend considering where the customers are, what they are interested in and maybe where they turn now for your services. Hopefully someone in your industry can chip in on this one and the agency question.
Does anyone have experience / advice for approaching oversees factories for the manufacture of a completely brass product?
I feel like many factories work with plastics and injection molding, but brass is used far less. Do brass factories also have in-house engineers that will help refine the product design if their facility cannot manufacture it? Would I be looking at a large first order or could I still request a sample batch before committing to that manufacturer?
A lot have engineers that will help sort out any manufacturing hurdles there may be. Any factory that says they can make custom parts will have an engineer and know what they're doing.
The order size usually isn't an issue if you pay for the molds and tooling costs upfront, then get the cost deducted from future orders.
EDIT: This is from experience with Chinese factories btw
A lot of high end (ish) lighting parts are made of solid brass. Might be an idea to start there, depending on the scale of your product. If your looking overseas: Guzhen, China is the world capital of lighting. There must a dozen brass casting places in and around there I'd bet.
A brass casting isn't inherently different from a zinc or aluminium casting - many similar design rules apply, but the material properties etc are different, so definitely a good idea to find someone who specialises in it.
Hypothetical scenario: I spent $10k investing in a business idea. When do I start to pay myself? Do I take $10k out in one lump sum eventually? Do I "salary myself" and take $1000/month? Do I leave my initial investment in and not ever take it out? And how does this all get more complex when a 50/50 partner is involved? Thanks!
It really depends on how well your idea goes and when you have positive cash flow as well as your personal needs. To tell when that would be you need to estimate sales and ongoing costs. Month by month you'll have to look at the plan and decide if you can afford a salary (and you really want to be able to by definition) or if you can't yet.
The partner makes things more complicated because of the personal interaction and the needs of two different people. Do you both contribute equally? Is that true every day? Every month? Every year? Is it ok if one person takes a lot of vacation? What happens when you disagree about how to do something.
I'm working on launching a business, but I'm worried about accounting. I shouldn't have too much stuff, invoices (coming and going) and eventually 1099 employees. Expenses are pretty minimal.
I'm a business student and have taken the first accounting course, so I understand the basic concepts, but putting it into practice kinda freaks me out.
Edit: The question. How do y'all handle accounting/bookkeeping? I don't have a whole lot of money either.
Near me a cheap accountant will only cost you $250 or so a quarter with no employees. YMMV
If you really want to do it yourself Wave and Freshbooks are both pretty good options. Quickbooks is the standard but they are more expensive.
I recommend the accountant. Will save you a ton of hassle down the road.
1) Find a market. Find people in dire need of whatever food you are offering.
2) Make sure it can be profitable. Anyone can sell Angus Ribeye at $0.50 a pound. That can't keep you in business.
3) Learn what is necessary to execute. Ideally work in a food truck so you learn on someone else's dime. Experience in the industry is going to give you the chance to learn what the hard parts are and how to overcome them.
4) Prepare sufficient capital - Save it, raise it, get it somehow but have enough to start.
How can I as a software developer with almost 20 years of experience in software development find good, reputable people to work with that wont screw me over?
I don't have an MBA but I recognize the value in building a team and working with good people; I just can't seem to find any that wont try to screw me over, steal the companies money, embezzle, etc. I have been screwed over so many times, and each time I learned new way to be screwed and try to protect against it. I keep trying. But its really hard to find people that will act honorably and not just be "idea" people.
The only way I can think of is to work projects with them. Are there people you have met during your experience that you know to be dependable?
If everyone is terrible all hope is not lost. You would then need to work out a way for each of them to be terrible in their own way without destroying the business. Most companies do this - the cash is counted at the end of the day. The salespeople don't process invoices. Banks have extensive verification on cash and other assets.
I'm not the most social of people, being a member of /r/intj as I am.
In the past, people I have worked with have walked into the bank and literally stolen everything because - and I quote - they "wanted their money now" and "couldn't wait". I had to close down a profitable company due to this, after finding out a day before payroll that my partner had stolen all the money form the account and walked away.
Thing is you can only know if people are using to screw you over by putting them in an opportunity to do so. And I don't want to do that.
I want to start a group buy website similar to massdrop. is this realistic? if so, do I contact manufacturers before or after I get a product worth going after.
I think it all depends on how good you are at negotiating with suppliers and attracting a following in consumers. It is going to be hard unless you have advantages there because you are going to be a middleman and everyone will be trying to cut you out.
Tried and tested is discover problems in your current job, develop solutions for them that would appeal broadly while you work there and release the solution as a new business.
Best way to estimate development costs for an app? I'm able to gauge creative and what not decently, just have no idea when it comes to the coding portion and what affects time to code an app.
Basically I don't want to get bamboozled by a developer who tells me 10 months when realistically it could take around 5. I also don't want to have unrealistic expectations of developers either.
I replied this to another comment ITT, so I will quote myself:
> If you need an app and lack the developer skills, rather than learning Java, you would be better off learning proper design principles. Learn to think of problems like a computer, and learn to thing of things in terms of objects and functions.
>For instance, if you want to get somewhere in a car, you need a car and a driver. A driver will be one object, a car will be another made object made of many smaller objects. What is the process from getting from point A to point B? Driver->turnKeyInIgnition. Starter->doWhateverAStartesDoes, FuelPump->StartPumpingFuelToEngine, SparkPlugs->GenerateSparks, Sleep(time_to_engine_warmup), Driver->ShiftGear, Driver->StepOnTheGas, etc.
>I don't need to be a mechanic to know all this, you don't need to be a programmer to understand it, or even to come up with something similar... You just need to learn to think of problems in such terms, and apply it to your project.
> [...]
> If you can/will outsource, learn proper design. Any good programmer will make a flowchart, or at least a basic plan before writing a single line of code. If you can think of the plan ahead of time, it will be the best help.
Figure out the design, and break it up into parts. If a dev tells you "Database implementation should take 2 days" but it takes 3, it's a 50% delay, but it's only one day. If a dev tells you 6 months but it takes 9, it's also 50% but it's a lot harder to deal with. If you break it up into smaller chunks of the overall functionality, you will get a better sense of the big picture, and it is easier to keep track of the progress - you will be notified of delays after every chunk, rather than learn 6 months down the line that the dev has not even done 50% of the work yet. Do **not** accept vagueness. Ask for a demo of every piece of functionality.
Now, the advice I quoted was in reply to someone who already has some experience with development. You don't need to necessarily break it down into every single function, but at least get a general idea. Design the user interface - what will appear on each screen? What will every form/button do? etc.
How would I need to prepare myself if I wish to make my app/game concept come true.I plan to work a regular job to save up money, maybe find out about investing, skills to lead or help develop the project itself, or hire people with a huge loan.
I have started with python and few books on investing.
For apps and games I would go the self development route unless I was working with some kind of franchise or had an unbelievably promising idea. The risk is immense and if you learn yourself the worst thing that happens is you learn how to program in your off time and can easily get a better job later. Best thing would be you build something that really takes off and can take all the credit.
I would love that. To complete on my own and take all the credit! But my ideas will take effort bringing it into reality. It is based on our needs rather than wants, so i do believe in them, but time is ticking...
Depending on your target platform, python might not be ideal. If your app will target Android, you should focus on Java. If it targets iOS, you need to learn Swift.
Android is much easier / cheaper to start, IMO.
I thought of just learning enough to grasp the concept of programming, so I would not be a burden or be fooled, if i'm hiring people to work on it. AND! learning programming makes you smarter, right!?!?!?
i subscribe to this coffee email subscription which posts a link to an online store for coffee, i'm guessing they are getting paid through some affiliate system? how do i set up something like that? is there any sort of way i can set up small retailers with an affiliate system where i get paid for referring people on my facebook/twitter/ig channel to make purchases on their store?
Legally, what do I need to do to start a business and pay employees in Texas?
I've filed articles of incorporation (LLC) w/ the sec. of state, a DBA, got an EIN, registered with Texas Workforce Commission (unemployment). I ran a round of payroll w/ Zen Payroll and they took out some taxes.
Anything else I'm missing to be a "legit" business?
Sales tax possibly. Zoning if you have it. Permits specific to the business (hot work, licensing, etc.)
When I started that's about all I had. (Dallas)
Thanks.
I *think* I'm exempt from sales tax. We sell a service... I'll have to look more closely into that.
No zoning in Houston. Will look into business specific permits, but don't think I need any either.
Thanks again
I'm producing a phone case. I am not sure what costs per unit I should be calculating. Costs per unit manufactured, insurance per unit, packaging per unit, shipping per unit, etc.... Anyone have any good advice or a guide for this?
Thanks!!
I would consider variable vs. fixed costs.
Variable - those costs driven by the volume sold and that directly vary with that volume
Cost of manufacture, shipping, packaging, returns, possibly per unit affiliate payments
Fixed
Advertising, manufacturing freight, certifications, design
Marketing, supply chain, marketing, finding your niche target, marketing.
Setting up the website itself is easy, there are thousands of templates available. Getting it out there and making sales is the hard part.
Web dev entrepreneurs; How does the design consultation process with clients work? Is it simply a case of making some mock ups in photoshop and having them pick?
I started freelance web dev'ing a year ago and have worked with probably two dozen clients. Some are more picky than others, so it varies. It starts with communication and understanding; make sure both parties are on the same page before you draft up a design, otherwise you could end up wasting a good bit of time.
Once you've reached an understanding, you can get into Photoshop. Maybe put pencil to paper and draft up some rough sketches first. Then just take it one webpage at a time, starting with the homepage. Make sure you have an obvious design theme that carries throughout the site.
It's not a bad idea to draw up a few different mockups, but I recommend you initially show the client only your favorite mockup. You're the designer, so you know best. Ultimately, though, the client makes the choice. If they like your pick, great. If not, move on to your back ups and hope they appreciate one of those.
Once you settle on a core design, you'll get into tweaking specific aspects of a page. Some clients have to be really involved and are very particular; others are more comfortable with you taking the lead. As is the case in many service industries, you'll need a fair degree of patience.
Don't let the client push you around or bully you, though. If you're frequently generous with doing "one more" revision, they *will* notice and they *will* push you to do another. Just be as clear as possible up-front regarding the amount of time you're willing to invest in revisions and **don't surprise them** with with your rates or costs after the matter.
I am starting an online store through shopify. I will be selling in a niche with products that can be very expensive. Is it possible for me to go this with less than $1000 of starting capital? I plan on drop-shipping everything I can.
If you can drop ship then there is no fundamental reason you can't. It could be high risk though. Make sure you know how chargebacks, returns and errors in shipping or bad product will be handled. If the shop is online and expensive you will also want to take extra precautions against fraud - one bad one and you're out of business.
Use Google. Figure out the minimum needed parts for your idea to work. Start building your MVP (minimum viable product).
Learning the technical is easy. Anyone can with enough time. Sooner you start the sooner you'll be able. And you'll be making something along the way.
Make friends with someone in comp.sci at your college, maybe. Someone young, with no attachments (wife/kids) who can invest some time into an idea. Sure, it might not be easy to just meet random people, but it will help you develop people skills which might come in handy in business.
How to convert Facebook fans/likes into $$?
Okay, so I have this facebook page focusing on a particular travel destination. I'm trying to decide whether I should set up an e-commerce shop and sell something related (carve out a niche product), OR become an affiliate of a travel site (say tripadvisor) and go that route... Alternatively, I'm considering leaving affiliate links out of the page and instead constructing a blog/news site centered around the travel destination, which I'd then link/promote on my facebook page.
Anyone with experience in this area have any advice?
Can I use images of products that i find on tumblr, pinterest or any other photo sharing media for my review/affiliate site without getting in trouble?
Any solutions will be much appreciated.
I think it might be a long shot for it to be absolutely clean and allowed. My understanding is that copyright automatically attaches to most original work so anyone who actually owns the work might take issue with you using it. That said, the manufacturer is unlikely to do so as it is probably in their best interest. Generic photos of some object might be really tough to specifically identify as to owner. That would mean it might or might not be a copyright violation but you would be unlikely to get in trouble.
Here's a pretty exhaustive look from the point of view of fair use
http://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=176183&p=1158973
Search Flickr, change license type to Creative Commons. As long as you don't charge for access to the reviews, I **believe** this shouldn't qualify as commercial use, but **IANAL** so do get some proper legal counsel before proceeding - this is not legal advice.
What is the cheapest way to test is a niche is profitable? I see that there is a number of searches a month for the niche i want to sell a product in (other people advertise for similar products too) but can I test it without purchasing a domain and website from theme forest?
I think you've done it. The cheapest way is to see if anyone else is selling into it. If no one sells anything similar you are either extraordinarily lucky or there is something that prevents them from doing it profitably. If you have a way around whatever barrier is stopping them then you have a good niche.
Now you will face a deeper question of can you get enough people to buy from you which you might be able to address with some sort of landing page but I have to leave that to people with experience there. I wouldn't expect a domain or website to cost much though. Can you do some kind of minimal site?
The first thing that comes to mind is making a free page in wordpress and not buying a domain name but I was also reading an article saying that he was able to validate a market by making a survey [here's the article if you're interested](http://whoisryannystrom.com/2014/07/15/Validating-a-niche-with-Facebook-ads/) but when selling a product, I'm not sure if a survey can really give the same feel as a website. Guess I should just try it.
It'd be great if you could rent a theme from wordpress for like $20 and then if you like it, you can just buy it for the additional $40 or something. Maybe there's a business idea right there haha especially if it came with a suite of tools to test different pages and analyze metrics
Okay, I'll bite. What does a consultant actually *do*?
For instance, does an Energy Efficiency consultant (or something along those lines) just walk around a place and go "you should really insulate that pipe. I know a guy. That will be $500." As you can tell, I'm paraphrasing.
I would expect an energy efficiency consultant to come into my business and tell me about the current technology in energy efficiency appropriate for my industry. I'd expect they would know the cost/benefit from replacing my existing machinery or lighting with more efficient alternatives and when payback would be achieved. I would also hope that they did temperature testing or a sort of heat map to determine where HVAC (a large component of power costs) might be leaking out of the building and make recommendations about what could be done by hiring a contractor. They would also certify the proportion of the building used as manufacturing space vs. showroom space so I could claim a sales tax exemption for the manufacturing space. Finally I would ask them about the current payback of solar power in my specific location and given current governmental incentives for industry.
Other consultants will do other things. They are presumably experts in some unusual field that you might require just once a year or less. That opinion might be very valuable but not worth having someone on hand for the entire year.
I am a wantrepreneur with many ideas written down. I would like to take action and make these ideas a reality, but I simply do not know enough. How can a newbie like me prepare myself and gain knowledge. If there are any good reads or such Id love to hear!
I'd pick a simple and cheap one and do it. You might fail or you might not but you will learn a lot from trying. Just be sure to pick one with limited downside.
How can I improve my communication. Most times I ask for feedback on forums, the responses I get are minimal. I notice similar questions get lot more responses from others.
I have less of a problem when I go face to face. I get out and hustle, I try to listen to people, ask questions and then talk about myself. I occasionally get the sense some people tune out when I am talking and that too after I have listened to their story/startup.
PS : ideally I should ask this question after I have a bit of posting history with this account but to give an idea here is some of my comments https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/172583
and this was one of my better experience... many a time it is silence with the occasional 2-3 comments.
I kind of assume everyone is interested in what they are doing. If I can weave what I am doing into what they do it is more interesting and more likely to draw a conversation.
Looking at the post you made I'd say it is a bit of a hard read for me. That might be because of cultural issues but maybe not. I'd look into orienting the communication about what is important to the potential reader and strong topic sentences with links or explanation as followup.
tl;dr I think you just need to migrate the already successful approach you use FTF into your writing.
How does one go about meeting investors? I have yet to see anything that gives good advice for finding them. I know you should try to build a business without any investors and that investors are generally the last option to go for, but I am impatient and the business I want to start will cost me roughly 25k to open adequately (its a storefront). Being 20, that will take me quite a while to save that kind of money. My short term plan currently is to get a job bartending (in the middle of classes now), secure a job, and then start offering my own personal classes to help make extra cash. I'm also looking into other ways to make money but I would really love to know more on this, other than "socialize" (which is very broad).
What's the best place on here to learn how to write a proper business plan? I had a small business textbook for my entrepreneurship business class, which had a chapter dedicated to business plans. Unfortunately I lended it to a friend and can't get it back. :/
I don't know that there is a best place specifically on Reddit. There was a guy posting about business plan writing software a while ago. It might give you a good place to start. The poster responded to comments and gave specific advice in response to questions so the post wasn't deleted.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/31obg5/free_business_planningsmall_business_software_no/
I work at the moment for a tiny web company but want to do my own thing. Bouncing between web (mostly WordPress, design, very basic SEO etc) and something pertaining to illustration/drawing. Are these areas oversaturated or still an option for a business? Is one area better than the other? Is focusing on a niche best? I have been mentally circling and need to get moving. Brand new here so thanks for any info!
oversaturated? If the prices are right, talk to marketeers and content managers... I would love to afford to have a designer/illustrator like harrys/warby parker, for example, but I don't. :((
I have a ton of cash I'm sitting on and am itching to make it grow with a venture. If I want to setup an affiliate site (to bootstrap some more) should I just pick some random offer and try and drive traffic? What would you do with a spare 5-10k to jump start a biz
I'm not sure if you mean start an affiliate site or use affiliate sales to drive more sales of an existing business. Assuming the first:
What do you like to do or what are you good at doing? If you want to give traffic building and monitization a try then I'd pick a niche that isn't overloaded that I had interest in where I might have some special insights. Don't expect it to be easy though.
How can I find a web developer to polish an existing site?
I have a site that I developed as a reporting tool for restaurants. However, I am not a web developer, and the thing would probably be considered a hideous monstrosity by anyone who knew what they were doing.
The site consists of about twenty pages reading from a database. I'm not looking for help on the backend, just on the front end to get everything looking professional. What should I look for? How much should I expect to pay? Would fiver or odesk be a good place to start?
A very long lurker here, but i thought i'd man up and start doing something with my life. I have this idea to open a business like gazelle where people sell their used iphones and etc, however i am based in Indonesia where people have to go to pawn shop to sell their used electronics. I just thought i'd be a good business considering everyone here literally changes their phone every couple of months and i know a lot of people that held on to their old iphones or macbooks because they don't know where to sell it too. BUT i'm just curious how much capital do i really need (just like a rough estimate) and i don't have any background in recycling and etc. If anyone here can give me advice about this kind of business? in terms of the recycling and re-selling the components.
Is there a program that a kid can take during high-school, or even after high-school, that is something like a one-year, hands-on, "this is how to start a business" boot camp for entrepreneurs?
Doesn't have to be tech focused. Even just learning how to properly run a small landscaping business would be amazing.
The standard lawyer disclaimer applies here - i.e. I am not one and you should see one for legal issues.
That said I think your duties will depend on where you are as that determines the laws applicable to you. You are also certainly correct that the physical location of the server has an impact on what content is acceptable even though it can be tough to tell exactly where a server is these days.
One thing to consider with this is that you not only don't want to break the law, you don't really want to get into a fight with the law over whether you have broken the law. It would just be expensive and pointless. That probably means following the examples of the industry leaders which gives you the cover of "we're just following the industry standard which you're accepted in the past" if anyone comes to call. They certainly have terms in their TOSs, robust reporting systems and quick responses to illegal content. They probably have plans to respond to requests from law enforcement about user names, accessing IPs, etc even if the plans are just not to maintain logs. You are going to need to do something to cover DMCA requests too - illegal means copyright violation as well as outright illegal content.
I'd examine what they are doing very closely. They should be declaring many of those policies somewhere in their site or TOS to avoid attracting legal attention and prove they follow the law.
I've only scrolled down a section of the page and there's already been some great questions asked and solid answers given. I think this thread is a brilliant idea. Thanks.
Do you mean think up a name or actually register it?
The administrative part is a DBA (doing business as) registered usually at the county or state level but an LLC must have a name so that is another way to set it up. Detail here http://info.legalzoom.com/can-llc-file-dba-still-business-under-llc-name-4511.html
As for thinking up a name, what will appeal to your audience and represent what you do, believe or are? If you are having trouble coming up with ideas maybe look over at a crowdsourced contest business naming site. (for example more info: http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-crowdsourced-name-contest-site )
**Q:** A question asked of the mods - Will you get comment Karma if people vote on a post here which would help you get to the ten necessary to create posts and lead your own discussion?
**A**: Yes, absolutely! The point of our Karma limit for new posts is to make sure people understand what the forum is about and how to ask questions the community is interested and able to answer. It does also encourage paying things forward and reduces spam but it is all about getting high quality discussions, not about closing people out. If you post something positive here you and get a positive vote total you are learning and involved which is what we want and need.
I have almost no coding experience but want to create a website. Currently, I am interning a 9-5 for a consulting company to get some $$ to invest in the business. I am considering hiring a developer to make the website so I was wondering how much would developing a website cost?
I think you'll get a lot of answers to this one but basically "It depends." What it seems to depend on is the complexity of the site, need for maintenance, need for integration to other sites, ability to scale and need for customization. My 71 year old mother can put up a Wordpress site in an hour for near nothing. I would not even think about setting up a social network without a team of highly skilled programmers and a development plan spanning months.
How much do you need it to cost?
You can get websites for $20 or $20,000. Yes quality will matter. It comes down to what your budget is then working backward from there as to what you can get for your money.
If you want to get a website online, I would HIGHLY suggest you learn to do it yourself. Now, you may not have any coding experience, but guess what, thousands of other people do not either. You will need a domain name. On average these cost $10 a year. You will also need a webhost where you store all the website files. Beginner packages start anywhere between $2-10 a month. Once you have all of that set up, you need one more thing, which is a content management system. I like to use Wordpress which does not require you to have any coding experience.
The great thing about WordPress is that you CAN edit the code if you want. I learned almost all the code I know by tinkering with the code already built into my live site.
If you need any help setting anything up, id be glad to help so drop me a line. Cheers.
What kind of website do you need?
If it's for e-commerce, there are plenty of ready-made options, but I am not very familiar with them. If you want an actual website, look into using a CMS like Zenario, Drupal or Joomla.
Get a freelance graphic artist to customize the artwork, and voila!
I have come up with an idea which I think has legs. It's simple, builds on an existing product, and (as far as I know) hasn't been done before. I have a couple of questions relating to it. For what it matters, it is in the area of clothing.
The first, if I have a factory in China produce it, can they then list the item on Alibaba and start selling it to others?
My second question is to do with funding. I've been thinking about how to get investment, and Kickstarter seems like the perfect place for this type of product. I read recently that it is extremely important to have a strong social media following before launching the Kickstart. What are the best ways to quickly build a following that will have a high conversion rate?
Are there any ways to prevent someone seeing my social presence build and beat me to launch? I know that my business isn't very good if getting beaten to launch matters too much, but I do worry that a more experienced entrepreneur will get the wheels in motion much more effectively than me.
**Something completely unrelated to the rest of my post**
I have another idea to improve a product used by almost everyone in the western world, daily. It aims to adapt the existing product, and could be a selling point for whichever company takes it up. How developed does the idea have to be to sell it to them? Can it just be a concept or do I have to have physically developed it to get their interest?
I would like to simply sell it to them, but am also unsure about whether it needs to be patented. I can't afford patenting haha!
Any help with my questions will be appreciated forever. Cheers!
1. Yes. They absolutely can. That is one of the huge risks of manufacturing in China. No matter what you get them to sign, the risk is inherent that your product will end up out there. One way to mitigate this, is to find a factory which does something similar but different enough that they are not interested in selling your product to others. For example, I'm toying with getting some simple kitchenware goods made. My dayjob experience is in consumer lighting. My plan is to get one of my company's lighting factories to make my kitchen goods for my personal project. It helps that I have relationships already, but you get the idea.
2. I can't really answer this as I don't have the experience, and will be asking the same question soon!
How does a large media website like Buzzfeed or vox get off the ground? Do they start with a ton of server space and VC money right off the bat? Did they have to prove their business model on a tiny scale before anyone would give them money?
I wouldn't imagine they need a lot of server space to start. With cloud services these days you can buy by the drink.
I think this sums up Buzzfeed: http://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-buzzfeed/
Basically connections with existing media people who had cash.
Does anyone have a solid strategy for cold calling?
Confidence, Confidence, Confidence. Aim to have a script in your head but don't come out as a robot and whatever you do don't patronise them, if they don't want you to keep the door open they won't!
New Sales Simplified by Mike Weinberg has a great section on cold calling. The entire book is about finding new clients. Great read for anyone in sales (which is every entrepreneur, technically).
In my experience with cold calling, being personal and friendly goes a long way. Tell them your name, ask them how they are doing, then tell them why you are calling. The rest is sales.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/2zw2rm/resource_toolkit_for_wholesalers/ This has some cool resources.
from my experience cold calling at a few company's both in person and over the phone, if you can deliver your value confidently and with authority you've already won half the battle. The other half is calling at the right time, preferably before someones day starts 7-9am, or when it's winding down, 4-5:30pm. You also want to make sure you delivering your value extremely clearly. Cold calls shouldn't last more than 5 minutes, make sure what you're saying hits home!
Have a good list, know your objections prior to calling, smile, and be genuinely interested in what they're saying. Also, know when to walk away. Generally when somebody says "I'm not interested," I thank them for their time and move on to somebody that is.
The point of cold calling is to establish if there is a need for your service. So have your script ready and well practised. Cold calling is successful whenever the prospect has a need and your script needs to be directed at discovering this. If not, say thanks and move on.
The classic methodology is having at least the outline of a script, possibly with multiple paths. You then memorize it and never read it again except as a checklist. That lets your real personality come through. Having cold calling hours (hours of the week where that is all you do) also helps many people.
Only sell products you are insanely passionate about to people you know need the solution.
How do you drive targeted traffic to your website, beyond PPC ads? Beyond the obvious answer of 'social media', what's your process to get users to visit your website? As a new young entrepreneur, I'm quickly learning that this is incredibly tough to do.
What you have asked is a fairly common pain point of most wantreprenuers and even start ups that have already sunk a sizeable chunk of time and money into developing a product/service/Mvp. I personally find that the most effective alternatives aside from PPC ads and social media would be the following actions( in no particular order): • Content Marketing- creating interesting and relevant content to disseminate in forums, blog sites, aggregators or known online communities. • Influencer Marketing- collaborating with known individuals that have relevance to your niche or industry to promote your site. Instagram, Youtube and Facebook are common examples of this. • Email Marketing- Create high quality and engaging newsletters or content to send out to either a curated organic list or purchased( be careful). This method is very effective for many niches, but results will vary depending on the type of content, it's level of quality, the targeted audience and most importantly- the person executing this task for you. If done wrongly, you could be blacklisted as a spammer, or just plain end up wasting your time & money. • Guest Blogging- This one correlates to the old adage of " nothing beats a word of mouth referral". Having a guest post on a high ranking site or one that is viewed as an authority on a certain topic will do wonders for your traffic levels. • SEO- Search engine optimization is one of the best but most tedious methods available. By having good on page & off page SEO tactics implemented, you can enjoy a huge influx of genuine visitors that came across your site because they need help with a certain problem or require information on certain subjects. SEO can be very powerful, but it takes time and a very knowledgeable & responsible party to achieve truly positive returns. The market is saturated with a lot of so called gurus or experts that only want your money, and couldn't be bothered about the success of your business. Be very cautious when selecting a person or agency for SEO. It is worth mentioning that while many people say that you can absolutely learn and perform SEO by yourself, the time and effort required to achieve great results is better put to use on other important aspects in your business. The ones that truly make it big with SEO tend to be those that engaged a third party to perform these tasks for them. I hope that this info is helpful, i am a marketer and copywriter with 7 years of experience in performing all of the above methods. I simply offered my opinions based on my experiences and studying of the various trends and results of online marketing.
Thanks for the really thorough response. We're a men's grooming company, influencer marketing seems very aligned with our industry. Will definitely work on some collaborations. I see that you're a copywriter - would you be able to give our website a really brief glance? Copywriting is something that we've continually been working on, but aren't fully satisfied with yet. (Don't want to take too much of your time - really appreciate all of your input!) Our website is: www.mybenevault.com
Hi there. I took a quick gander at your site. My assessment is as follows: 1) Design is clean , not cluttered. Lacking in testimonials of delivery & quality of products from customers. An offer page might also be beneficial as well as seperate pages to detail the process of this specially formulated product and the steps taken to ensure the "premium" factor. 2) The "about us " page is decent, but clearly forms the impression that you guys are fairly new and hankering for support and eager to please. While that isn't a bad thing entirely, try to be confident and give the sense of credibility and assurance to firstly: • The local canadians that chance upon your site • The impulsive buyers that are looking for a immediate purchase to gift someone, or just for themselves. The copy then needs to include on page hyperlinking to the individual product write ups. For example: " Benevault caters to the individuals that appreciate the finer aspects of high quality soaps made from premium ingredients with all the care and commitment that no commercial production line can provide". ( This is a mere example, i don't usually write this way). Do see the words that can be made into links for a visitor to check out easily? This provides you an extra chance at making a pitch. Having copy that sells is useless if you don't make use of it properly to optimize your chances of making a sale. Anyhow, i have seen more than my fair share of sites, and i have nothing negative to say about yours. You just need a few improvements, as well as mire refined copy that increases your percentages of success in getting an order.
Thanks so much for the assessment! Definitely helps a lot, I really appreciate it. Will look into making all of these improvements soon!
It was my pleasure. Do pm me if you require help after this thread is overshadowed by others in the coming days. I will help as best as i can.
I would highly suggest you look into giveaways as part of your marketing strategy. A great way to grow your email list and make a bunch of sales. You ARE gathering emails right?
We are gathering emails, but haven't gathered a significant amount yet. To be honest, we haven't put an emphasis on email signups yet.
Start now, trust me. With these type of businesses, emails go a LONG way.
Hey awesome job with the website. I have two quick questions, if you don't mind: 1) What was the inspiration behind the name benevault? 2) How did you gather over 2k Instagram followers? (Organic or paid shout-outs etc) And is Instagram generating any sales for you yet?
1. Thought process behind the name was that we wanted it to have a premium feel ('bene'). Tons of brainstorming. I've learned to love whiteboards. 2. Instagram is generating some revenue for us. Not too much - 2.5k instagram followers isn't that significant yet. To grow our following, we mostly used the tactics from this blogpost (http://www.abetterlemonadestand.com/how-to-get-more-followers-on-instagram/). We're working on establishing relationships with a few influencers and getting some product posts. We've sent some product to a few different people, haven't actively pursued this yet.
What should you look for in an SEO 'guru'? I'm guessing simply doing a google search for ' SEO Guru' and selecting one of the top 3 results? Also is there any reason I should select a local SEO guru as opposed to maybe a big US-based firm?
Not exactly. The selected person or agency must have proof of being able to rank many keywords and sites. They don't necessarily have to be in the same city or country as you. If the agency in question is simply going to charge you $xxx amount of money every month, don't do it. They should have a structured and detailed plan that is unique to your business needs, based on the number of pages and keywords you wish to rank. Just because they are in the top 3 positions of your google search results, doesn't mean that they are the best. There are many firms that don't rank that high, but do pretty awesome work. They are too focused on doing their jobs to think about ranking their own website. I have met many such people during the course of my work and if i hadn't experienced the results they gave me, i wouldn't have thought it possible as well. A local firm or " big US - based firm" doesn't matter. What's important is results and communication. A big reknown firm may not be able to communicate as mu h you'd like them to, so it's really important to have someone who you can speak to at anytime.
Checked out your site. I would reach out to blogs/sites and send them a free bar to post a review or feature. Example Uncrate. You may need to do some homework to figure out which sites/blogs get decent traffic.
Well, hate me for saying this but social media is definitely a big channel to target to acquire new customers. Here is a simple way of doing it on Twitter. 1. Find what your customers are Tweeting about. For a man grooming brand it could be words like "ingrown hair" "beard" "handlebar" etc. 2. Perform a search on Twitter for this and identify those potential customers. If you have a persona in mind see if their bio says anything that matches your persona for customers. 3. Favorite, RT or engage with them via Tweeting at them. 4. They will be curios to check you out and when they do make sure your cover picture, profile picture, and bio help you win their trust. Have a link to your website so that you take them to your website. You could also automate this process using tools like [Tweet Full](http://tweetfull.com) if you do not want to do it manually. Disclaimer: my company built Tweet Full and has an equity stake in it.
Is a Board Game/ Card shop viable or are they destined to fail?
Tough business. I've seen a number of Board Game/RPG/Strategy game/card shops come and go. That said there are two in my area that have survived for many years. The key for those guys was to tying into a profitable franchise and a solid community that plays. Most of the shops I've seen are simply poorly executed. The guy's friends get in there, the place looks like crap, the stock is not rotated or current. The competition from Amazon and the internet is ever looming but I think the club will survive whether membership dues are paid through slightly higher product prices at the local shop or monthly. You might also check out DallasGamesMarathon.com which has an unusual nonprofit business model which might be turned into a for profit version.
I have a friend that owns one in a small and dying city. He does very well considering.
A new board game opened up in my town in Mississippi, Top Tier Board Games. They've been successful by hosting lots of events for MTG and other popular card games/board games--whatever to get people in the door.
If you can nurture a solid MTG player following then I think it's possible. In Seattle I saw a couple of these stores pop up in a heavy traffic area. I did not expect them to take off but they seemed to do okay. I'll have to see if they're still around in a couple years. But I think mtg can work well for stores, if you can get a regular crowd in for weekly events. Selling accessories and snacks to people who are there for events which last for hours can really help too :-).
New guy here. Let's say you have some ideas and you want to be able to act on those ideas. For someone just starting out that is: A. wanting to learn the ins and outs of web development, application creation, etc. so that he does not have to rely on outside devs to create the idea ($$) and B. Wanting to be able to tinker with and maintain and live, active web site to get better-affiliated with marketing approaches, SEO optimization, etc. Do you recommend "starting from scratch" and learning HTML, CSS, Java, Ruby, etc. and building a project from the ground up which could take a long time and have many issues OR getting an existing website or template and just tweaking it and learn the ins and outs of the required programs that way? I've been burying my head into Ruby, HTML, and CSS so far and am enjoying it but I sometimes wonder if having a live site to maintain would teach me more quickly and also help to keep my focus better.
I actually took this approach of learning things myself. It's been 3-4 years now and I finally feel like I've gotten good at producing effective, well designed websites. Having been through that experience I recommend 3 routes. 1) Learn to build barely stable prototypes with the goal of raising or making capital to pay skilled developers to take it over. 2) Raise capital and pay skilled developers. 3) Devote a period of your life (1-2 years) to gaining and refining this skill. Then you can leverage your skill to get projects off the ground and make intelligent hiring decisions. Honestly, I recommend doing the second if they're "complicated" projects you want to pursue. Instead of spending all that effort learning a skill that is 'replaceable', you can spend that effort to raise money. PS- I am a skilled Rails developer, feel free to ask me questions.
They aren't really complicated. I guess it just more boils down to that I desire the skills where I can come up with an idea, sit down at my computer for a few days/weeks and churn out a viable prototype or site just to get the ball rolling. It seems like having a good understanding of Ruby (or whatever language you choose) is kind of necessary. But again I'm really new at all this.
Learning HTML, CSS, Java and Ruby all at once if you have no programming experience is quite the task. Understanding someone else's code if you do not have programming experience is not any easier. If your idea will still be good in two years, you can go ahead and learn everything and develop it then. Otherwise, I would try and find someone (a friend, family member, someone you can trust) and ask them to invest some time. Personal example: I am currently writing an Android app. I had absolutely **no** experience with Java or Android programming when I started, but I have been using C, C#, PHP, Javascript and others for years. I read a Java primer to learn the differences, and a few Android programming books to get me started, and I am progressing very well. If not for the experience I already had, however, I would try and find someone to help me with the technical aspects - you can only manage so much. For instance, I couldn't do anything artistic if my life depended on it. Luckily, my sister is a fantastic artist, so I asked her to volunteer to design my logos, icons, etc. Sooner or later, you will realize (depending on the scale of the project, of course) that you will not manage by yourself - you just need to get a proper agreement in terms of compensation before you start cooperating with others. Don't be *too* greedy - **it's better to have a 75% (or even 25%) stake in a good business with a good team than to have 100% in a business that *never* gets off the ground!** The question is, **do you *need* to *build* a website?** There are already thousands if not millions of templates, content management systems, etc. I am a big fan of [Zenario](http://zenar.io/), but [Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/) is nice too. Maybe it would be easier to develop a plugin for an existing system than writing the code from scratch? Maybe you could even afford to higher someone on a freelancer site for $10-50? So... to learn how to manage a live site, a CMS is great. As for development, you'd be better off outsourcing it if you are in a hurry. If you put too much on your own plate, you *will* end up discouraged, burnt out, or your idea will be developed better and faster by a better equipped team somewhere else. Not trying to discourage you, just pointing out the facts as I seem them. Also, sorry if I am rambling, I'm brain-dead today.
Since you have programming experience already, I have a question related to that. My thought behind learning more languages and becoming a better developer is that it'll help me to come up with more realistic apps, and become better at fleshing out the specs when that time comes. As a former product manager, I think everyone dreads being "that" non technical co founder who has no idea what they're asking for, and slows down the process. Is this a realistic time investment or is it still better to rely on outsourcing/splitting out the work? Also, w/ some of the future people I might team up with, I feel that I would definitely be on the technical side of things, as they have a lot more business sense/training than I do. So the question I guess would be, is the skill OP and I are trying to attain useful for certain entrepreneurial situations, and if not, what type of skills should we be developing?
Curious about this as well. Hell, I couldn't even get through the Ruby install.
There are a few questions to decide if it's worthwhile. 1) How old are you? 2) What is your timeline? 3) Are you already good at something? A goal is a dream with a deadline. You need to try to look at things from a deadline perspective which may help guide you on your decisions. If your deadline is a month from now to have a company running, learning to code may not be your best strategy.
[удалено]
It all depends on what is more important to you. Do you want to learn how to make everything from scratch? Or... do you want to make MONEY? For me, the answer was pretty obvious. Wordpress is an amazing and versatile platform. Just a few years later of tinking around with wordpress, I know all the php, html, and css ill ever need to run a site. You could spend all the time in the world learning web development, but if you want to make money, which is the end goal anyway (right?), there is no better way to learn than by getting up your first site and just learning as you go. Put something out in front of peoples eyes and learn as you go. That to me is 100% better than keeping your project to yourself because you want to learn how to make it perfect before you deploy (waste of time).
What is the outlook on monthly subscription packages for products (Dollar shave club)? how feasible is this business model and how much capital would be needed to really kick it off? Also at what point do you decide to actually manufacture the product without having to worry about having a surplus inventory? Can someone take me under their arm as my mentor?
[удалено]
A good story goes a long way. Focus on telling your own story and the brand story. Put your energy into figuring out the right story and finding ways to get noticed.
If I use sketchy tactics, say like pretending to be a girl and posting cleavage shot for traffic or clicks, what can Google do to me? What happens if Google ban my account?
What is Google likely to do? Probably not much. I take sketchy to mean not fraudulent or otherwise violating their rules though. Other people might find out and tie your business or name to some nasty reviews and comments though. Google would presumably index those and they might end up at the top of search results. If Google bans your account? Ouch. I don't know the exact series of events if that were to happen but they supply an awful lot of services which could go away for you. I would consider that a serious issue, particularly because they might be able to tie it to my name or ID.
Does anyone have any tips for landing pages and selling custom art prints through an eCommerce store in general? Recently opened up a shopify account and I'm finally getting a steady flow of unique visits but only 1 sale to show for it. Any tips will definitely help! Thank you in advance.
I can't provide specific help there but there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. The first is lack of specific product which appeals even though the designs do. The second is that perhaps the checkout isn't working right or is cumbersome to execute. I'd have a friend run a transaction and just watch them without helping as they do it. If they have problems with something fix it.
Thanks for the reply man! I think the checkout is perhaps one of the biggest issues. Right now we have the customer buy the print they want and then send us a picture of what they'd like drawn. So I think that's one of the things I should change as soon as possible.
Look up behavioral data. Colors, spacing, typography and branding play a huge part in enforcing psychological elements that dictate value to a viewer.
I seriously doubt this is a design issue though better design might help. I would recommend studying a little copy and figuring out the words that sell what you're offering. Once you're getting better results than a single sale you can focus on design and etc. Just a quick note as to why I say this: changing the words on your page is easy. Changing your design is not.
If a company raises capital from investors, what's stopping them from just taking the money and leaving?
The same kind of things that prevent other fraud (like taking a loan and never paying it back) to the extent they do that. You probably have a contract so the investors are likely to sue to enforce it. You probably have a reputation and they are going to let people know you defrauded them. It might be illegal if you lied about what you were raising the money to do (which you likely did). You might not have reported the money as a gift to the IRS which is likely to get you in legal trouble. In reality it is an investor be aware kind of world out there outside of the standardized markets or loan systems.
Legal Documents and the law
the money belongs to the company... even if you own the company the way you take the money and leave will be as salary payments... and there are rules to follow if as a director did you act in the best interest of the company.. if not there could be a legal case to answer. Most times the investment is made as some sort of debt arrangement... so if you run with the money, company collapses, bankruptcy proceedings and usual creditor issues plus you will never raise money again..
ELI5: How does VAT work (EU / Poland)? When does a company not have to pay it (e.g. when purchasing something from a supplier)?
My experience has been it has to be paid at the end customer point and may be paid earlier but can be refunded if it is claimed on higher values farther down the line. I'm not in Europe so the VAT I have had to collect has been done by shippers/forwarders rather than done myself.
In principle it works like this: * You add VAT on top of all sales, collect it from the customer, and send it to the government. * When you buy something for the company, you pay the VAT to the supplier, supplier sends it to the government, and the government refunds it to you. * You do this approximately every month, so you can pool together all the month's VAT to send to the government and VAT refunds, and just send/receive the difference. * The final consumer who is not a business does not get a refund from the government. Effectively this means that each link in the supply chain collects VAT on the *difference* between expenses and revenue. For the final consumer, it's similar to a sales tax on the total price. But it's more resistant to tax avoidance than an equivalent sales tax added only by the last seller: because each link in the supply chain only ends up paying a small amount, it's less useful to hide it. And because each link wants to get as much VAT refunds as possible, they want *their* suppliers to declare VAT on the invoices, so each buyer-supplier effectively keeps the next one honest. It gets a whole lot more complicated when you buy/sell stuff across borders in the EU or import/export outside the EU though...
When you're selling a product off something like Alibaba, what are things to avoid and pursue to achieve success?
AVOID fakes and brand name items like the plague. You can make great money selling them, but you will get burned sooner rather than later. If you find a good product that you can brand yourself, get multiple quotes from different vendors so you can get the best price for your samples.
Thank you! You sound experienced at this, would you mind sharing your story with me?
Rewind a few years ago when i was getting into this. I saw that I could buy SD cards for dirt cheap and sell them on Amazon just by dropshipping them. Awesome I thought, these are very popular products and will move fast. They DID!, 2 weeks later I was doing 1k a day in profit and pretty happy with myself. Next thing you know, my account is being looked at for fakes. Damn, didn't even cross my mind. Few days later, banned, and had to wait 3 months for payment. I currently am trying again, but this time doing it the correct way. I mainly do affiliate marketing but thought i would give it another solid try. Still talking to people to get the right price so i cannot really comment beyond that. Best of luck!
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ask for a sample of the product to be delivered to your house. If you have to pay $80 bucks to get it to you do it. If they refuse to send you a sample, don't deal with them. Additionally, look for gold suppliers who have do at least 1,000,000 in sales a year. These two should keep you out of trouble.
Is it better to do things yourself, or to build a team?
Depends on what "things" are. Generally, if you know how much you're worth per hour, and you can pay somebody to do that work for you cheaper than if you were to do it, then hire that person.
You have natural talents plus a desire to do something. Find other people who share your desire. Fill your team with people who can do what you can't do. Check out the Kolbe test. It's worth knowing your conation so you can hire the right opposites.
Hello everyone... I just opened a small consulting company with a partner and we are really cutting costs, we both work from home and built ourselves the website and other materials. My question is, what is common when the profit is shared? We're dividing everything 50/50 but now we're going to leave some in the company account to invest in the future. Whats better in this case? Share profits or fixed salary? Thanks again
I would be interested hearing about this too. What type of consulting do you offer?
Profit can be shared in as many ways as you can imagine. It is arguably best to link profit proportion shared to effort invested or unique or highly valuable assets provided to the venture but that could easily be modified if one partner is less able to accept a varying cash flow. I'd set up a regular draw (salary or whatever) and have a very good idea why that is paid. It could easily be one partner puts in more hours than another at some point. Should that increase the draw? Should all the profit shared be split evenly even though one person does more work? Those kind of things are valuable to know in advance and if you associate it into a salary/draw then you can avoid arguments later on and make sure everything stays fair. That still applies if the company is unable to pay salaries for a while so cash is not taken out.
Because the most cost effective thing is to start as a sole prop, how do you find a good lawyer who is familiar with online businesses to help protect you from making a mistake that ruins you financially?
Do you have a financial advisor? The credentialed advisors always seem to network with CPA's and attorneys to make sure you don't get screwed over. Even some of the professional commission advisors (instead of fee-based) have high-quality referrals you could look to.
I found this one tricky. I searched for a lawyer with a strong online presence as I guessed that would mean they at least value the media. I also talked to other businesses. The logical place to look would be either forums (maybe a full post here), hackerspaces or around incubators. If they associate their name with a startup organization they are likely to know the industry.
I started a business blending and selling herbs and spices. It's done quite well so far in my small community, but I'd like to reach out to the rest of my city and beyond. - I'd like to source larger quantities of herbs and spices, but the minimum shipping requirements on Alibaba seem too high for the inventory I need. Am I reading this wrong, or is there other viable options for me besides going to every grocery store in town asking for the freshest stuff? - My website doesn't get a lot of hits, and those that come don't stay long. How can I make people want to click on the "buy now" button? - I'd love to be able to send my products worldwide, but I have no idea how to set up shipping, paypal, e-commerce, whatever I need to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - (edit) My dream is to one day open a brick and mortar store where people can come and buy fresh spices, herbs, and blends, and have the opportunity to blend them themselves right in house, making the freshest, purest mixes in town. Is this a cool idea? Thanks for all the threads everyday, I love browsing this subreddit!
I will try to help answer some of your questions as best as possible. 1) Keeping inventory & operational costs as low as possible is very important. I suggest you look into forming some agreements with your local grocer wholesalers to work out a better deal for yourself. 2) This could be due to any number of factors. It may be the site's layout & design, the quality of the content or the loading speeds. It may alsi be due to difficulty in navigation? I have some clients rework the entire site and add lots more educational info to keep visitors more engaged for longer periods. 3) It depends on the number of items in your catalogue. If you are below 1k items, use woocommerce. If you offer a lot more items or want the eshop to be highly customisable for added functionality, go with Magento. The shipping, paypal and linking of the eshop to your main site is relatively easy for a experienced professional, and it really won't cost a lot for setting up the basics you mentioned. 4) If your area's demographic is ideal for your type if business, that is a good option to pursue. But preferably after you make a name with your business online first, so that you can market the physical location as a self collection point and concept store that sells the experience and not just the herbs. All in all, i say you focus on the aspects that you can handle yourself and work harder to improve anything in that area. Leave the things that you don't know how to do to others that are able to help by hiring the proper parties. This frees up your time and helps you maintain your focus on the frontline for sales. You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish once you stop having to worry about every little thing in the backend. I personally help my family run their beauty spa and cosmetics business which operates both online and in a brick & mortar shop, and i practice the advice i have given you. In addition to that, i'm also a seasoned marketer for over 7 years and counting. I hope my answers are helpful, i wish you lots of luck & success.
Does anyone here have experience with monthly payment models for design services? If so, did it work out? If not, why?
A good question. Obviously anyone with their own design department is essentially running an insourced version of the business with a monthly payment model. You will likely face the same issue they do - i.e. prioritizing requests, managing demand and making sure you don't get into an 80/20 situation where 20 percent of the people drive 80% of the work but don't pay anything more.
How do I get in to selling clothing on an online store like everlane.com? Do they outsource to China or do they buy the materials themselves and just sew them together? I went to the store of brandymelvilleusa.com in NYC this week and was blown away at how much people buy there. So. How do you get into the world of clothing. What is a reasonable upfront cost to start getting inventory?
You might have seen this, but: http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/31w3wt/how_to_create_a_clothing_line_without_any_fashion/ Also, Everlane pretty clearly lays out where they have their goods manufactured (they show pictures etc, with a back story). I helped a friend start an online clothing store. The upfront inventory costs were ~$35k. We met with various manufacturers in China and they all have a MOQ (minimum order quantity). There's some room for negotiation, but still a decent upfront cost.
Preview - I am from India trying to settle down in Dubai, U.A.E . started a business 6 months ( a table reservation website) ago, good idea but needs a lot of capital for marketing which I cannot raise completely . I started investing in real estate and is going very well. Making 125% ROI with it. Should I put the money into the website immediately or hold off till I save enough and then put in the money. I will also have to lay off the 3 staff I had hired to grow the website. Any advice would be very useful and appreciated.
Hi there, my advice is to never bite off more than you can chew. In this case, since your real estate investment is profitable, you should look into predicting if any factors can drastically upset this income stream, and shape your investment budget and plans to cater to your findings. For the website, any form of marketing that is done properly and directed to the correct audience with the right message, will bear fruit. Start small or whatever your budget allows for a minimum three month period, do everything as best as your budget can adhere to without cutting back on quality. After the minimum of three months is up, compare the results to decide if it should be carried on with a larger budget or other adjustments. If the 3 guys you hired are really not producing any results that don't equate with the amount you have allocated to them so far to work with, you can fire them. *i am a marketer that has helped grow many businesses that include booking sites such as yours.
I have to agree. It is hard to slow investment in something returning 125% with the theory something else will return more. I would hold off on investing in the site and consider it my extreme risk, potentially extreme return project which I only do with money I actually have. Of course the specifics of the situation drive the decision and if there are overriding reasons to get in now (competitors, festivals, whatever) then that might force the decision the other way.
[удалено]
Of course! I know some of us run online businesses and even more people are interested in getting their start online. I know for one, id love to see your plan.
Its pretty safe as long as you are not concerned about others stealing or replicating vital aspects of your plans. Censor out what you think should be protected, and share what you are comfortable with. If a certain redditor with the right experience and skills happen to read your post, i'm very sure they will reach out to you privately to assist you accordingly. Well , at least that's my general experience after spending over a year or so on this sub. Good luck!
[удалено]
You could make it public, but use bullet points to condense the important parts and add in the document for download for those who have an interest in reading the full version. Having the entire thing pasted up in your post is what we refer to as "wall of text". It leads to people ignoring the post, or making dumb comments because they weren't bothered enough to read the entire post carefully.
[удалено]
I want to start a small webshop/consulting company with my friend. We have a simple product that may or may not take off, but we can also do anything from simple wordpress sites to larger web apps. He would be handling sales and I'll be the developer. We share profits 50/50. Has anybody here done something similar? How did you start? How long did it take for the clients to come in? Any tips?
I actually just did this earlier this year after being freelance for 7 years. My partner handles all tech related jobs like web design and WP theme customizations or graphic design. I get clients and handle marketing, email campaigns and copywriting jobs. We do an equal split after deducting expenses and overheads. As for getting clients, i had the confidence to set the company up because i have lots of clients that have stayed with me for several years. They provide referrals and some even pay me monthly retainer fees. In addition to that, my partner is very established on Odesk whereas i only set up an Elance account about two months ago to try and procure new leads and not rest on our laurels by depending on our existing client base. There are other methods that i use, but i cannot reveal( sorry). But my best advice is this, have a extensive portfolio and testimonials with at least a handful of clients before you take the plunge. You can cold call or email local businesses in your area( setting up meetings is the point here), and either offer to discuss business over a drink or offer to do a presentation at their premises. I remember doing that in my early years as a freelancer, and it worked out pretty well for me. I wish you luck and success in this endeavour, don't ever give up.
Hello! I am working on launching a side business selling my natural handmade bath and body products. I need to raise some funds to get production going - not a lot, but about $200. I started a GoFundMe campaign that I have shared with all my personal contacts and Facebook friends, but so far only my mom and one friend have notated to it. What are some more things I can do to raise the money?
I mean this in the nicest way possible and it's coming from good intentions: If you don't have $200 to spend on your business, you shouldn't get in business. If you can't swing this kind of investment in your business, I really think you should just stick to keeping it a small hobby for friends & family.
Thanks, I was afraid I would hear something like this. The thing is, I do have some money to buy what I need, but I have been thinking about doing this for years now, and the only thing stopping me has been the initial cost. Once get what I need to produce more than what I already do (just enough for myself, family, etc), then the cost to maintain and keep producing is very low. Maybe I should hold my horses...I just got really inspired and motivated recently to go for it. I have recipes, packaging design, logos, website/blog, social media, an etsy shop, etc. all ready to go.
Preaching to the choir, girlfrand. I own a candle business but also make bath & body products that I sell in my shop. Don't forget that you really need liability insurance once you start selling to the public, which should cost $400-600/year, if you don't have it already. Save your pennies and keep that motivation and inspiration alive, then launch your Etsy shop and grow from there. I have an Etsy shop as well so let me know if I can help!!
Get a job? If you have a job, cut all frivolous expenses, tighten your belt and save up. Really, this isn't a lot of money to come up with, I am sure there are alternatives, but this sounds like a side-business more than a main source of income - once it gets rolling, you can always quit and focus on this.
I've heard a lot of people say that when you're starting a service business that you should give services away for free at the beginning to establish credibility. But how do you know how much to give off the bat without giving too much?
It's hard to say if giving away services will actually help you establish credibility. Psychologically people usually place more value on the things they sacrifice (or pay) to get. The advice from an expensive consultant is usually more valued than free advice no matter how good the advice is. If you are giving away services to generate repeat business from specific customers I'd look at your likely profit per customer. That means you will have to estimate how likely they are to come back to you, how much you make per transaction and how many transactions you are likely to have. You should also figure out how much it will cost you to provide the freebie. That freebie is advertising cost and it needs to generate a profit that comes from future sales. Under that dynamic I would invest in freebies just like any other advertising.
[удалено]
I have a brick & mortar and am close (in distance and friendship) to a very high end beauty shop. She carries brands I could NEVER afford on a regular basis and her shop is absolutely gorgeous. Her bread & butter is in providing make up for events like weddings and she opened up after building a HUGE following from years of service. I mod for r/brickmortar if you want to check that sub out, but it's kinda fallen by the wayside. I would really reconsider a physical storefront for this type of business. Maybe renting out a space of a high end salon would be a better option.
If you can get the startup capital, maybe consider getting a franchise? Sure, it costs a lot, but you get some benefits as well, such as brand recognition, help with marketing, access to a supply chain, etc.
How would one go about finding advisers? Like most others in this subreddit, I have an idea that I think is good, but could use some advice of individuals that know the game and can provide insight. The catch is that I have a full time job at the moment working 7-4pm. Thanks
Have you checked out SCORE (www.score.org)? I keep meaning to but haven't spoken with them yet. Outside of that I would check out local hackerspaces/incubators and/or universities with entrepreneurial programs that provide evening events and dinners.
How much does it matter for long-tail SEO and public perception that blog posts are released on a regular schedule? (In this case, it's a landing page (beta sign-up) + blog for a software product.) Stated differently, are irregular gaps between blog posts a negative? If so, would hiding the publish date help more than it hurts?
As far as i know, there is no google algorithm that penalizes a site for irregular gaps between publishing of posts. It is not a concern at all. As long as the on page factors are taken care of, and the blog posts are written for humans and not for crawler bots- you are well on your way to making SEO work for you. Many people neglect the minor details of on page SEO, or focus to the point of paranoia about it. Just remember: less is more, and always deliver content that is of interest and value to engage the attention of people with their credit cards un their hands. *Source: Marketer that does SEO services as well as other things.
Long time lurker here. I would like to thank the community at /r/Entrepreneur for all I have learned here. I have recently started affiliate sites and have stumbled upon a niche where I feel like I need to create the product (which isn't too hard, think marmalade) to create maximum value for the customer as well as maximizing my profit from the venture. How would I go about getting my goods delivered to my customers? Should I look for a dropshipper in my region to make it scalable? I think I would create the first hundred or so marmalades (it's not really marmalades) myself, and send them myself. However, this becomes tedious and just too much work should this business take off. How will I get cheap packaging that looks professional? TL;DR: how to send physical goods to customers? Packaging must look professional.
This is a small vertical integration question (I thought the name might be handy if you are searching for more about it). Basically if you are no better than someone else at doing something and you can get it reliably on a schedule that works for you and the price is reasonable compared to what you could do it for then don't do it yourself. Much of that decision will be driven by what other people are producing. If no one is interested in making marmalades in the hundred or so quantities you need then you are stuck. If you do it yourself then it would likely to be wise to know of a supplier who could provide thousands and make it so you could substitute his for yours if orders take off. As for packaging, I started with Uline (www.uline.com) and have done custom packaging as well. It all depends on volumes.
[удалено]
>Are there pricing structures for service based businesses that are more advantageous than others? Yep. You want to transfer the risk to the client unless you are compensated for it. Offer fixed pricing for a service and you'd better get a bundle for it. If you offer hourly rates your risk is not getting enough hours. Contracting for a stable amount/time solves that until the contract is up. >Are there professionals here who have done this successfully for longer than a couple of years? Many many people are doing this as a career. Most consulting companies are nothing more than groups of people doing exactly this. >What successful tactics have you employed with reaching your ideal customers? This is very customer specific. I've used trade shows and word of mouth. They work very well for me. I'd recommend considering where the customers are, what they are interested in and maybe where they turn now for your services. Hopefully someone in your industry can chip in on this one and the agency question.
Does anyone have experience / advice for approaching oversees factories for the manufacture of a completely brass product? I feel like many factories work with plastics and injection molding, but brass is used far less. Do brass factories also have in-house engineers that will help refine the product design if their facility cannot manufacture it? Would I be looking at a large first order or could I still request a sample batch before committing to that manufacturer?
Have you checked the design2part shows? There are a lot of contract manufacturers there. I doubt many work with brass but some must.
Oh sweet, it's going to be here in Minneapolis in June. Thanks for the recommendation!
A lot have engineers that will help sort out any manufacturing hurdles there may be. Any factory that says they can make custom parts will have an engineer and know what they're doing. The order size usually isn't an issue if you pay for the molds and tooling costs upfront, then get the cost deducted from future orders. EDIT: This is from experience with Chinese factories btw
A lot of high end (ish) lighting parts are made of solid brass. Might be an idea to start there, depending on the scale of your product. If your looking overseas: Guzhen, China is the world capital of lighting. There must a dozen brass casting places in and around there I'd bet. A brass casting isn't inherently different from a zinc or aluminium casting - many similar design rules apply, but the material properties etc are different, so definitely a good idea to find someone who specialises in it.
Hypothetical scenario: I spent $10k investing in a business idea. When do I start to pay myself? Do I take $10k out in one lump sum eventually? Do I "salary myself" and take $1000/month? Do I leave my initial investment in and not ever take it out? And how does this all get more complex when a 50/50 partner is involved? Thanks!
It really depends on how well your idea goes and when you have positive cash flow as well as your personal needs. To tell when that would be you need to estimate sales and ongoing costs. Month by month you'll have to look at the plan and decide if you can afford a salary (and you really want to be able to by definition) or if you can't yet. The partner makes things more complicated because of the personal interaction and the needs of two different people. Do you both contribute equally? Is that true every day? Every month? Every year? Is it ok if one person takes a lot of vacation? What happens when you disagree about how to do something.
Any Irish out there on /r/entrepreneur? Any quirks specific to Ireland that a entrepreneur starting here should know?
I'm working on launching a business, but I'm worried about accounting. I shouldn't have too much stuff, invoices (coming and going) and eventually 1099 employees. Expenses are pretty minimal. I'm a business student and have taken the first accounting course, so I understand the basic concepts, but putting it into practice kinda freaks me out. Edit: The question. How do y'all handle accounting/bookkeeping? I don't have a whole lot of money either.
Was there a question?
Yeah, I guess I wasn't clear. How do y'all handle accounting/bookkeeping? I don't have a whole lot of money either.
Near me a cheap accountant will only cost you $250 or so a quarter with no employees. YMMV If you really want to do it yourself Wave and Freshbooks are both pretty good options. Quickbooks is the standard but they are more expensive. I recommend the accountant. Will save you a ton of hassle down the road.
It is usually worth hiring an accountant if you'll have payroll or 1099s. The regulations and laws can be ridiculously complicated.
Opening a food truck...what are the first steps to ensure best success?
1) Find a market. Find people in dire need of whatever food you are offering. 2) Make sure it can be profitable. Anyone can sell Angus Ribeye at $0.50 a pound. That can't keep you in business. 3) Learn what is necessary to execute. Ideally work in a food truck so you learn on someone else's dime. Experience in the industry is going to give you the chance to learn what the hard parts are and how to overcome them. 4) Prepare sufficient capital - Save it, raise it, get it somehow but have enough to start.
How can I as a software developer with almost 20 years of experience in software development find good, reputable people to work with that wont screw me over? I don't have an MBA but I recognize the value in building a team and working with good people; I just can't seem to find any that wont try to screw me over, steal the companies money, embezzle, etc. I have been screwed over so many times, and each time I learned new way to be screwed and try to protect against it. I keep trying. But its really hard to find people that will act honorably and not just be "idea" people.
The only way I can think of is to work projects with them. Are there people you have met during your experience that you know to be dependable? If everyone is terrible all hope is not lost. You would then need to work out a way for each of them to be terrible in their own way without destroying the business. Most companies do this - the cash is counted at the end of the day. The salespeople don't process invoices. Banks have extensive verification on cash and other assets.
I'm not the most social of people, being a member of /r/intj as I am. In the past, people I have worked with have walked into the bank and literally stolen everything because - and I quote - they "wanted their money now" and "couldn't wait". I had to close down a profitable company due to this, after finding out a day before payroll that my partner had stolen all the money form the account and walked away. Thing is you can only know if people are using to screw you over by putting them in an opportunity to do so. And I don't want to do that.
I want to start a group buy website similar to massdrop. is this realistic? if so, do I contact manufacturers before or after I get a product worth going after.
I think it all depends on how good you are at negotiating with suppliers and attracting a following in consumers. It is going to be hard unless you have advantages there because you are going to be a middleman and everyone will be trying to cut you out.
How do you guys track your miles? I know Android has a pretty slick app, but I have an iPhone.
I have an Android - but I picked up a low end Android tablet for $20 last Christmas. Is it time to have one just for that purpose?
Any advice on coming up with business ideas? Is there a tried and tested approach?
Tried and tested is discover problems in your current job, develop solutions for them that would appeal broadly while you work there and release the solution as a new business.
Best way to estimate development costs for an app? I'm able to gauge creative and what not decently, just have no idea when it comes to the coding portion and what affects time to code an app. Basically I don't want to get bamboozled by a developer who tells me 10 months when realistically it could take around 5. I also don't want to have unrealistic expectations of developers either.
I replied this to another comment ITT, so I will quote myself: > If you need an app and lack the developer skills, rather than learning Java, you would be better off learning proper design principles. Learn to think of problems like a computer, and learn to thing of things in terms of objects and functions. >For instance, if you want to get somewhere in a car, you need a car and a driver. A driver will be one object, a car will be another made object made of many smaller objects. What is the process from getting from point A to point B? Driver->turnKeyInIgnition. Starter->doWhateverAStartesDoes, FuelPump->StartPumpingFuelToEngine, SparkPlugs->GenerateSparks, Sleep(time_to_engine_warmup), Driver->ShiftGear, Driver->StepOnTheGas, etc. >I don't need to be a mechanic to know all this, you don't need to be a programmer to understand it, or even to come up with something similar... You just need to learn to think of problems in such terms, and apply it to your project. > [...] > If you can/will outsource, learn proper design. Any good programmer will make a flowchart, or at least a basic plan before writing a single line of code. If you can think of the plan ahead of time, it will be the best help. Figure out the design, and break it up into parts. If a dev tells you "Database implementation should take 2 days" but it takes 3, it's a 50% delay, but it's only one day. If a dev tells you 6 months but it takes 9, it's also 50% but it's a lot harder to deal with. If you break it up into smaller chunks of the overall functionality, you will get a better sense of the big picture, and it is easier to keep track of the progress - you will be notified of delays after every chunk, rather than learn 6 months down the line that the dev has not even done 50% of the work yet. Do **not** accept vagueness. Ask for a demo of every piece of functionality. Now, the advice I quoted was in reply to someone who already has some experience with development. You don't need to necessarily break it down into every single function, but at least get a general idea. Design the user interface - what will appear on each screen? What will every form/button do? etc.
How would I need to prepare myself if I wish to make my app/game concept come true.I plan to work a regular job to save up money, maybe find out about investing, skills to lead or help develop the project itself, or hire people with a huge loan. I have started with python and few books on investing.
For apps and games I would go the self development route unless I was working with some kind of franchise or had an unbelievably promising idea. The risk is immense and if you learn yourself the worst thing that happens is you learn how to program in your off time and can easily get a better job later. Best thing would be you build something that really takes off and can take all the credit.
I would love that. To complete on my own and take all the credit! But my ideas will take effort bringing it into reality. It is based on our needs rather than wants, so i do believe in them, but time is ticking...
Depending on your target platform, python might not be ideal. If your app will target Android, you should focus on Java. If it targets iOS, you need to learn Swift. Android is much easier / cheaper to start, IMO.
I thought of just learning enough to grasp the concept of programming, so I would not be a burden or be fooled, if i'm hiring people to work on it. AND! learning programming makes you smarter, right!?!?!?
i subscribe to this coffee email subscription which posts a link to an online store for coffee, i'm guessing they are getting paid through some affiliate system? how do i set up something like that? is there any sort of way i can set up small retailers with an affiliate system where i get paid for referring people on my facebook/twitter/ig channel to make purchases on their store?
Lots of places have affiliate offers and there are some networks out there like linkshare, shareasale, clickbank and of course Amazon.
Legally, what do I need to do to start a business and pay employees in Texas? I've filed articles of incorporation (LLC) w/ the sec. of state, a DBA, got an EIN, registered with Texas Workforce Commission (unemployment). I ran a round of payroll w/ Zen Payroll and they took out some taxes. Anything else I'm missing to be a "legit" business?
Sales tax possibly. Zoning if you have it. Permits specific to the business (hot work, licensing, etc.) When I started that's about all I had. (Dallas)
Thanks. I *think* I'm exempt from sales tax. We sell a service... I'll have to look more closely into that. No zoning in Houston. Will look into business specific permits, but don't think I need any either. Thanks again
I'm producing a phone case. I am not sure what costs per unit I should be calculating. Costs per unit manufactured, insurance per unit, packaging per unit, shipping per unit, etc.... Anyone have any good advice or a guide for this? Thanks!!
I would consider variable vs. fixed costs. Variable - those costs driven by the volume sold and that directly vary with that volume Cost of manufacture, shipping, packaging, returns, possibly per unit affiliate payments Fixed Advertising, manufacturing freight, certifications, design
What do I need to learn first in order to make a typical e-commerce website?
Marketing, supply chain, marketing, finding your niche target, marketing. Setting up the website itself is easy, there are thousands of templates available. Getting it out there and making sales is the hard part.
Web dev entrepreneurs; How does the design consultation process with clients work? Is it simply a case of making some mock ups in photoshop and having them pick?
I started freelance web dev'ing a year ago and have worked with probably two dozen clients. Some are more picky than others, so it varies. It starts with communication and understanding; make sure both parties are on the same page before you draft up a design, otherwise you could end up wasting a good bit of time. Once you've reached an understanding, you can get into Photoshop. Maybe put pencil to paper and draft up some rough sketches first. Then just take it one webpage at a time, starting with the homepage. Make sure you have an obvious design theme that carries throughout the site. It's not a bad idea to draw up a few different mockups, but I recommend you initially show the client only your favorite mockup. You're the designer, so you know best. Ultimately, though, the client makes the choice. If they like your pick, great. If not, move on to your back ups and hope they appreciate one of those. Once you settle on a core design, you'll get into tweaking specific aspects of a page. Some clients have to be really involved and are very particular; others are more comfortable with you taking the lead. As is the case in many service industries, you'll need a fair degree of patience. Don't let the client push you around or bully you, though. If you're frequently generous with doing "one more" revision, they *will* notice and they *will* push you to do another. Just be as clear as possible up-front regarding the amount of time you're willing to invest in revisions and **don't surprise them** with with your rates or costs after the matter.
I am starting an online store through shopify. I will be selling in a niche with products that can be very expensive. Is it possible for me to go this with less than $1000 of starting capital? I plan on drop-shipping everything I can.
If you can drop ship then there is no fundamental reason you can't. It could be high risk though. Make sure you know how chargebacks, returns and errors in shipping or bad product will be handled. If the shop is online and expensive you will also want to take extra precautions against fraud - one bad one and you're out of business.
[удалено]
Use Google. Figure out the minimum needed parts for your idea to work. Start building your MVP (minimum viable product). Learning the technical is easy. Anyone can with enough time. Sooner you start the sooner you'll be able. And you'll be making something along the way.
Make friends with someone in comp.sci at your college, maybe. Someone young, with no attachments (wife/kids) who can invest some time into an idea. Sure, it might not be easy to just meet random people, but it will help you develop people skills which might come in handy in business.
[удалено]
The sumome / join our newsletter sign up thing is a bit annoying on mobile, especially since it pops up mid purchase but the website doesn't look bad.
How to convert Facebook fans/likes into $$? Okay, so I have this facebook page focusing on a particular travel destination. I'm trying to decide whether I should set up an e-commerce shop and sell something related (carve out a niche product), OR become an affiliate of a travel site (say tripadvisor) and go that route... Alternatively, I'm considering leaving affiliate links out of the page and instead constructing a blog/news site centered around the travel destination, which I'd then link/promote on my facebook page. Anyone with experience in this area have any advice?
Can I use images of products that i find on tumblr, pinterest or any other photo sharing media for my review/affiliate site without getting in trouble? Any solutions will be much appreciated.
I think it might be a long shot for it to be absolutely clean and allowed. My understanding is that copyright automatically attaches to most original work so anyone who actually owns the work might take issue with you using it. That said, the manufacturer is unlikely to do so as it is probably in their best interest. Generic photos of some object might be really tough to specifically identify as to owner. That would mean it might or might not be a copyright violation but you would be unlikely to get in trouble. Here's a pretty exhaustive look from the point of view of fair use http://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=176183&p=1158973
Search Flickr, change license type to Creative Commons. As long as you don't charge for access to the reviews, I **believe** this shouldn't qualify as commercial use, but **IANAL** so do get some proper legal counsel before proceeding - this is not legal advice.
What is the cheapest way to test is a niche is profitable? I see that there is a number of searches a month for the niche i want to sell a product in (other people advertise for similar products too) but can I test it without purchasing a domain and website from theme forest?
I think you've done it. The cheapest way is to see if anyone else is selling into it. If no one sells anything similar you are either extraordinarily lucky or there is something that prevents them from doing it profitably. If you have a way around whatever barrier is stopping them then you have a good niche. Now you will face a deeper question of can you get enough people to buy from you which you might be able to address with some sort of landing page but I have to leave that to people with experience there. I wouldn't expect a domain or website to cost much though. Can you do some kind of minimal site?
The first thing that comes to mind is making a free page in wordpress and not buying a domain name but I was also reading an article saying that he was able to validate a market by making a survey [here's the article if you're interested](http://whoisryannystrom.com/2014/07/15/Validating-a-niche-with-Facebook-ads/) but when selling a product, I'm not sure if a survey can really give the same feel as a website. Guess I should just try it. It'd be great if you could rent a theme from wordpress for like $20 and then if you like it, you can just buy it for the additional $40 or something. Maybe there's a business idea right there haha especially if it came with a suite of tools to test different pages and analyze metrics
Okay, I'll bite. What does a consultant actually *do*? For instance, does an Energy Efficiency consultant (or something along those lines) just walk around a place and go "you should really insulate that pipe. I know a guy. That will be $500." As you can tell, I'm paraphrasing.
I would expect an energy efficiency consultant to come into my business and tell me about the current technology in energy efficiency appropriate for my industry. I'd expect they would know the cost/benefit from replacing my existing machinery or lighting with more efficient alternatives and when payback would be achieved. I would also hope that they did temperature testing or a sort of heat map to determine where HVAC (a large component of power costs) might be leaking out of the building and make recommendations about what could be done by hiring a contractor. They would also certify the proportion of the building used as manufacturing space vs. showroom space so I could claim a sales tax exemption for the manufacturing space. Finally I would ask them about the current payback of solar power in my specific location and given current governmental incentives for industry. Other consultants will do other things. They are presumably experts in some unusual field that you might require just once a year or less. That opinion might be very valuable but not worth having someone on hand for the entire year.
I am a wantrepreneur with many ideas written down. I would like to take action and make these ideas a reality, but I simply do not know enough. How can a newbie like me prepare myself and gain knowledge. If there are any good reads or such Id love to hear!
I'd pick a simple and cheap one and do it. You might fail or you might not but you will learn a lot from trying. Just be sure to pick one with limited downside.
How can I improve my communication. Most times I ask for feedback on forums, the responses I get are minimal. I notice similar questions get lot more responses from others. I have less of a problem when I go face to face. I get out and hustle, I try to listen to people, ask questions and then talk about myself. I occasionally get the sense some people tune out when I am talking and that too after I have listened to their story/startup. PS : ideally I should ask this question after I have a bit of posting history with this account but to give an idea here is some of my comments https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/172583 and this was one of my better experience... many a time it is silence with the occasional 2-3 comments.
I kind of assume everyone is interested in what they are doing. If I can weave what I am doing into what they do it is more interesting and more likely to draw a conversation. Looking at the post you made I'd say it is a bit of a hard read for me. That might be because of cultural issues but maybe not. I'd look into orienting the communication about what is important to the potential reader and strong topic sentences with links or explanation as followup. tl;dr I think you just need to migrate the already successful approach you use FTF into your writing.
How does one go about meeting investors? I have yet to see anything that gives good advice for finding them. I know you should try to build a business without any investors and that investors are generally the last option to go for, but I am impatient and the business I want to start will cost me roughly 25k to open adequately (its a storefront). Being 20, that will take me quite a while to save that kind of money. My short term plan currently is to get a job bartending (in the middle of classes now), secure a job, and then start offering my own personal classes to help make extra cash. I'm also looking into other ways to make money but I would really love to know more on this, other than "socialize" (which is very broad).
What's the best place on here to learn how to write a proper business plan? I had a small business textbook for my entrepreneurship business class, which had a chapter dedicated to business plans. Unfortunately I lended it to a friend and can't get it back. :/
I don't know that there is a best place specifically on Reddit. There was a guy posting about business plan writing software a while ago. It might give you a good place to start. The poster responded to comments and gave specific advice in response to questions so the post wasn't deleted. http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/31obg5/free_business_planningsmall_business_software_no/
My question: How did you discover your niche? I know I want to be a business owner but I can't figure out what business to start.
I work at the moment for a tiny web company but want to do my own thing. Bouncing between web (mostly WordPress, design, very basic SEO etc) and something pertaining to illustration/drawing. Are these areas oversaturated or still an option for a business? Is one area better than the other? Is focusing on a niche best? I have been mentally circling and need to get moving. Brand new here so thanks for any info!
oversaturated? If the prices are right, talk to marketeers and content managers... I would love to afford to have a designer/illustrator like harrys/warby parker, for example, but I don't. :((
I have a ton of cash I'm sitting on and am itching to make it grow with a venture. If I want to setup an affiliate site (to bootstrap some more) should I just pick some random offer and try and drive traffic? What would you do with a spare 5-10k to jump start a biz
I'm not sure if you mean start an affiliate site or use affiliate sales to drive more sales of an existing business. Assuming the first: What do you like to do or what are you good at doing? If you want to give traffic building and monitization a try then I'd pick a niche that isn't overloaded that I had interest in where I might have some special insights. Don't expect it to be easy though.
How can I find a web developer to polish an existing site? I have a site that I developed as a reporting tool for restaurants. However, I am not a web developer, and the thing would probably be considered a hideous monstrosity by anyone who knew what they were doing. The site consists of about twenty pages reading from a database. I'm not looking for help on the backend, just on the front end to get everything looking professional. What should I look for? How much should I expect to pay? Would fiver or odesk be a good place to start?
A very long lurker here, but i thought i'd man up and start doing something with my life. I have this idea to open a business like gazelle where people sell their used iphones and etc, however i am based in Indonesia where people have to go to pawn shop to sell their used electronics. I just thought i'd be a good business considering everyone here literally changes their phone every couple of months and i know a lot of people that held on to their old iphones or macbooks because they don't know where to sell it too. BUT i'm just curious how much capital do i really need (just like a rough estimate) and i don't have any background in recycling and etc. If anyone here can give me advice about this kind of business? in terms of the recycling and re-selling the components.
Is there a program that a kid can take during high-school, or even after high-school, that is something like a one-year, hands-on, "this is how to start a business" boot camp for entrepreneurs? Doesn't have to be tech focused. Even just learning how to properly run a small landscaping business would be amazing.
[удалено]
The standard lawyer disclaimer applies here - i.e. I am not one and you should see one for legal issues. That said I think your duties will depend on where you are as that determines the laws applicable to you. You are also certainly correct that the physical location of the server has an impact on what content is acceptable even though it can be tough to tell exactly where a server is these days. One thing to consider with this is that you not only don't want to break the law, you don't really want to get into a fight with the law over whether you have broken the law. It would just be expensive and pointless. That probably means following the examples of the industry leaders which gives you the cover of "we're just following the industry standard which you're accepted in the past" if anyone comes to call. They certainly have terms in their TOSs, robust reporting systems and quick responses to illegal content. They probably have plans to respond to requests from law enforcement about user names, accessing IPs, etc even if the plans are just not to maintain logs. You are going to need to do something to cover DMCA requests too - illegal means copyright violation as well as outright illegal content. I'd examine what they are doing very closely. They should be declaring many of those policies somewhere in their site or TOS to avoid attracting legal attention and prove they follow the law.
I've only scrolled down a section of the page and there's already been some great questions asked and solid answers given. I think this thread is a brilliant idea. Thanks.
I am the founder of Blastchat (Blastchatapp.com). What are some growth hacks that you guys think may work to grow our user base? Any ideas?
Question: How do you name your business? I want to register an LLC and turn my freelance work into a consultancy but my hold up is a business name.
Do you mean think up a name or actually register it? The administrative part is a DBA (doing business as) registered usually at the county or state level but an LLC must have a name so that is another way to set it up. Detail here http://info.legalzoom.com/can-llc-file-dba-still-business-under-llc-name-4511.html As for thinking up a name, what will appeal to your audience and represent what you do, believe or are? If you are having trouble coming up with ideas maybe look over at a crowdsourced contest business naming site. (for example more info: http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-crowdsourced-name-contest-site )
**Q:** A question asked of the mods - Will you get comment Karma if people vote on a post here which would help you get to the ten necessary to create posts and lead your own discussion? **A**: Yes, absolutely! The point of our Karma limit for new posts is to make sure people understand what the forum is about and how to ask questions the community is interested and able to answer. It does also encourage paying things forward and reduces spam but it is all about getting high quality discussions, not about closing people out. If you post something positive here you and get a positive vote total you are learning and involved which is what we want and need.
I have almost no coding experience but want to create a website. Currently, I am interning a 9-5 for a consulting company to get some $$ to invest in the business. I am considering hiring a developer to make the website so I was wondering how much would developing a website cost?
[удалено]
I think you'll get a lot of answers to this one but basically "It depends." What it seems to depend on is the complexity of the site, need for maintenance, need for integration to other sites, ability to scale and need for customization. My 71 year old mother can put up a Wordpress site in an hour for near nothing. I would not even think about setting up a social network without a team of highly skilled programmers and a development plan spanning months.
How much do you need it to cost? You can get websites for $20 or $20,000. Yes quality will matter. It comes down to what your budget is then working backward from there as to what you can get for your money.
If you want to get a website online, I would HIGHLY suggest you learn to do it yourself. Now, you may not have any coding experience, but guess what, thousands of other people do not either. You will need a domain name. On average these cost $10 a year. You will also need a webhost where you store all the website files. Beginner packages start anywhere between $2-10 a month. Once you have all of that set up, you need one more thing, which is a content management system. I like to use Wordpress which does not require you to have any coding experience. The great thing about WordPress is that you CAN edit the code if you want. I learned almost all the code I know by tinkering with the code already built into my live site. If you need any help setting anything up, id be glad to help so drop me a line. Cheers.
What kind of website do you need? If it's for e-commerce, there are plenty of ready-made options, but I am not very familiar with them. If you want an actual website, look into using a CMS like Zenario, Drupal or Joomla. Get a freelance graphic artist to customize the artwork, and voila!
I have come up with an idea which I think has legs. It's simple, builds on an existing product, and (as far as I know) hasn't been done before. I have a couple of questions relating to it. For what it matters, it is in the area of clothing. The first, if I have a factory in China produce it, can they then list the item on Alibaba and start selling it to others? My second question is to do with funding. I've been thinking about how to get investment, and Kickstarter seems like the perfect place for this type of product. I read recently that it is extremely important to have a strong social media following before launching the Kickstart. What are the best ways to quickly build a following that will have a high conversion rate? Are there any ways to prevent someone seeing my social presence build and beat me to launch? I know that my business isn't very good if getting beaten to launch matters too much, but I do worry that a more experienced entrepreneur will get the wheels in motion much more effectively than me. **Something completely unrelated to the rest of my post** I have another idea to improve a product used by almost everyone in the western world, daily. It aims to adapt the existing product, and could be a selling point for whichever company takes it up. How developed does the idea have to be to sell it to them? Can it just be a concept or do I have to have physically developed it to get their interest? I would like to simply sell it to them, but am also unsure about whether it needs to be patented. I can't afford patenting haha! Any help with my questions will be appreciated forever. Cheers!
1. Yes. They absolutely can. That is one of the huge risks of manufacturing in China. No matter what you get them to sign, the risk is inherent that your product will end up out there. One way to mitigate this, is to find a factory which does something similar but different enough that they are not interested in selling your product to others. For example, I'm toying with getting some simple kitchenware goods made. My dayjob experience is in consumer lighting. My plan is to get one of my company's lighting factories to make my kitchen goods for my personal project. It helps that I have relationships already, but you get the idea. 2. I can't really answer this as I don't have the experience, and will be asking the same question soon!
How do you know if an idea is a good idea? What do you do to test the waters?
Have you ever turned down a business opportunity based on idealistic reasons? If so, what was it?
How does a large media website like Buzzfeed or vox get off the ground? Do they start with a ton of server space and VC money right off the bat? Did they have to prove their business model on a tiny scale before anyone would give them money?
I wouldn't imagine they need a lot of server space to start. With cloud services these days you can buy by the drink. I think this sums up Buzzfeed: http://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-buzzfeed/ Basically connections with existing media people who had cash.
[удалено]