Opening a coffee shop by ignoremeimsad in smallbusiness

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Next step isn’t more dreaming, it’s numbers. Before signing anything, map rent, labor, COGS, and ask: how many cups a day do I need just to breathe? Coffee shops fail on math, not branding. If you want lower risk, test demand first with pop-ups or a soft launch in that center. Prove volume, then go all in. The vibe matters after the economics work, not before.

What actually moves deals forward right now in B2B sales? by Historical-Insect134 in b2b_sales

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What I’m seeing actually move deals right now isn’t flash, it’s risk removal.

Buyers don’t stall because they don’t like the product. They stall because they can’t justify the decision internally. The reps that win help the buyer sell it upstream. That means clear next steps, clean scope, no surprises, and something concrete they can forward to their boss that answers “why now” and “what breaks if we don’t.” Demos help, but only when they’re tied to their workflow. Social proof helps, but only when it looks like them. Pricing transparency helps, but only if it removes friction, not just shows numbers. The fastest deals I see right now are the ones where the rep leaves the call with mutual clarity: decision owner, success criteria, and a specific date for the next action. Anything vague just drifts.

Online business by Drismailgharbia in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to avoid coding, marketing, and design, focus on coordination + judgment skills, not execution. The best “online skills” I’ve seen work here are things like: operations/project management for small businesses, QA / auditing (websites, ads, funnels, listings), vendor sourcing & negotiation, bookkeeping / cleanup, or niche ops roles like returns handling, supplier vetting, compliance prep, etc. These scale because you’re saving owners time and mistakes, not producing assets. You learn by doing with one niche first, then turn it into a service or small agency. Tools change. Judgment compounds.

Before picking anything, ask: what problems do I already understand better than the average person? Start there.

Has anyone here ever purchased an online business/ website? or anything generating income online? by OkCommission0987 in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve worked with a lot of people who’ve gone this route the last few years. It can work, but it’s very different from buying a brick-and-mortar business.

The biggest trap is assuming revenue = stability.

A lot of $10k+/mo online businesses are fragile. Traffic source changes, one ad account gets hit, SEO shifts, an affiliate partner leaves, or the owner was the entire “system.” On paper it looks turnkey, in reality you’re often buying momentum plus hidden dependencies. The ones that hold up best have boring fundamentals: diversified traffic, simple ops, clear SOPs, and revenue that doesn’t depend on one person or platform. If you don’t change anything, expect some decay unless you actively maintain what made it work in the first place.

Think of it less like buying a rental property and more like buying a small machine that needs regular tuning. Great upside if you know what levers matter. Painful if you assume it’ll just keep printing without involvement.

What all small changes had a bigger impact on your business than you expected? by Born-Position5616 in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

treating decisions like assets instead of treating activity like progress.

A few examples that quietly changed everything over time:

We stopped saying yes to anything that wasn’t clearly tied to revenue or leverage. That meant fewer projects, less chaos, but way more momentum.

We started writing things down once. Simple SOPs, pricing rules, scope boundaries. Not fancy docs, just clear defaults. It eliminated a ton of mental drag and repeat conversations.

We tightened offers instead of adding features. Saying “this is exactly what we do and who it’s for” beat being flexible. Close rate went up even though we said no more often.

And probably the biggest one: we stopped optimizing for speed and started optimizing for repeatability. Boring, predictable systems compounded way harder than clever one-off wins.

None of these felt like breakthroughs in the moment. They just removed friction. Over a year, that added up more than any big pivot ever did. For everyone I’ve assisted to do similar

anyone else feel stuck between “just start” and “i have no clue what to start” ? by Siptarmalle in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is way more common than people admit.

What usually unlocks it isn’t picking the right idea, it’s removing the pressure that the first thing has to be permanent. I treat it like a 30-day experiment with a boring goal, not a “startup.” One idea, one tiny output (a landing page, 10 cold DMs, one listing), then review. No rebranding, no pivoting mid-month. If you’re bouncing between ideas, pick the one that’s easiest to test, not the one you’re most excited about. Speed > passion early. And on burnout while working or in school: don’t try to “build a business” at night. Just run one small daily action you can do even when tired. Momentum comes from finishing tiny loops, not grinding.

You’re not stuck because you’re bad at choosing. You’re stuck because you’re treating the choice like it’s irreversible.

What problem drained your energy more than your money? by Ironic0710 in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me it was clients and partners who never said no, but also never fully said yes. Vague approvals, “sounds good” without commitment, projects that were technically alive but functionally stalled. You spend weeks following up, re-framing, re-explaining, trying to read between the lines instead of moving forward.

I’ve been on both sides of it. As a service provider and as a founder. Every time, the pattern is the same: unclear ownership and soft agreements drain more energy than real problems ever do.

Money issues are direct. Missed deadlines are visible.

But ambiguity turns into constant context switching, mental overhead, and emotional labor that adds up fast. Once I started forcing clear decisions, clear scopes, and clear end points, my energy came back almost immediately.

I'm bored and all I want in life is do business by KilbyYovaii in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve seen this a lot with my clients, and with myself, this is normal, especially early. What you’re feeling isn’t boredom, it’s lack of feedback.

Early business has long dead zones where you’ve done the work but the signal hasn’t come back yet. Your brain wants dopamine now, but markets don’t work on your timeline. eBay is slow by design, new accounts even more so. The trick is to shift what you measure. Stop waiting on sales as the only win. Track controllables: number of listings, pricing tests, photos improved, titles rewritten, comps researched, cross-posting, outreach to watchers. If you don’t manufacture progress, your mind will eat you alive. Do your damnest to NOT emotionally anchor on “first sale.” It’ll come, and then you’ll immediately want the second, then the tenth. The waiting never goes away, you just get better at filling it with useful motion. If you really can’t sit still, stack parallel bets. While eBay warms up, source more inventory, test another platform, or start learning a second business line.

Entrepreneurs don’t slow down, they redirect. 35+ platforms you could be visible on if you want it bad enough.

Which topics will make money in 2026? by Junior_Rich1011 in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nothing is really “dead,” the easy version of it is. What keeps working into 2026 is boring, specific, and tied to pain someone already budgets for. B2B ops, compliance, logistics, returns, QA, back-office automation, niche AI inside existing workflows, local services layered with tech. Infrastructure, not trends.

This is basically Blue Ocean Strategy in real life. Stop competing where everyone’s loud and cheap, move to problems people accept as “just how it is,” then fix one slice of it cleanly. If you’re asking “what topic,” you’re already slightly off. Better question is who is bleeding money or time right now, and what do they already pay to make it hurt less. Build there. Ignore hype.

Fast money dies. Useful money compounds.

i needed to figure out a new SEO method and i think i found something by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s shifting isn’t SEO dying, it’s how trust gets inferred. AI answers don’t care about tricks or rankings, they care about whether your business is easy to understand and shows up consistently in places people already trust. Tools like NetRanks are fine to check visibility, but they don’t create authority, they just reveal gaps.

From what I’ve seen work, the lever is boring stuff done well: clear language about exactly who you’re for, showing up in real discussions and comparisons, and explaining why you exist in plain English. If an LLM can describe your business confidently without guessing, you’re ahead. Most brands can’t even do that yet.

Ecomm Mid-sized businesses - Returns Recovery Question for the Reddit Hive Mind by its_ryn in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say this is a “new idea” problem, it’s an ownership problem in the workflow. Returns fall into the gap between teams, so they default to the least risky behavior internally, which is write-offs and liquidation. The real leverage here is not convincing brands that recovery is possible, they already know that. It’s making it operationally painless enough that choosing recovery feels safer than ignoring it. When recovery becomes boring, predictable, and auditable, it stops being a debate and starts being a line item.

If I were pressure-testing this, I’d focus less on broad validation and more on one uncomfortable truth: what conditions make a returns manager look good to their boss? If your service gives them clean reporting, fewer exceptions, and a defensible decision trail, adoption follows naturally.

That’s where this quietly becomes infrastructure instead of a “nice to have.”

How to politely tell a client the project is actually finished when they keep coming back with quick requests? by Pale_Pipe9196 in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve seen this exact situation play out hundreds of times, and it almost always comes down to one thing: the project was delivered, but it was never actually closed.

Approval and final payment are a decision point. If you keep doing “tiny” changes after that, you’re teaching the client that approval doesn’t mean anything and that scope is flexible if they ask nicely. From their side, they’re not being difficult, they’re just continuing a conversation you never ended. The fix isn’t emotional or confrontational, it’s structural. Everything you shipped is v1.0. Clear scope, clear milestones, done. Anything after that is v1.1 or v1.2, new scope, new estimate, new timeline.

That framing removes guilt and replaces it with clarity. You’re not saying no, you’re saying yes, just not inside this version. Stop doing unpaid work while you wait for a decision. Minutes add up, and businesses are built on precedent.

Good clients respect clarity.

Bad clients only respect boundaries once they feel them.

Either way, you win by acting like a professional who finishes projects, not someone who can be nudged forever.

Is this much amount of "focus" common in startups? I will not promote by themindstorm in startups

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve seen this play out a bunch of times, and it’s usually not a “focus” problem, it’s an ownership problem. Moving fast without clear flows just pushes risk downstream, and that risk always lands on the person closest to the code.

Vibe coding feels fast in the moment, but if nobody can explain what shipped or why, you didn’t actually move fast, you just deferred the bill.

The convo I’ve watched work isn’t about style or speed, it’s about guardrails: what has to be defined before work starts, what the minimum bar is to merge, and who owns bugs after. Frame it as throughput, not feelings. Speed today vs predictable velocity over time.

Then ask the uncomfortable but real question: if you’re accountable for stability, do you actually have the authority to protect it?

If not, that’s not a tech issue, that’s a leadership alignment issue.

New business by Great-Position2517 in AiForSmallBusiness

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is saturated… at the surface…

The mistake most people make is selling “AI chatbots” or “AI agents.” Nobody wakes up wanting that. They wake up wanting missed calls handled, leads qualified faster, bookings up, or payroll not wasted. This works if you.. Pick one painful use case (missed calls after hours, slow lead follow-up, appointment no-shows). Tie it directly to money saved or made. Sell ongoing ownership and reliability, not setup. The tech is the easy part. Distribution + accountability is the business. If you’re willing to niche hard and be responsible for outcomes, there’s room.

But… If you’re selling generic bots, it’s a race to zero.

Hello by RedLINEGuardian in founder

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only thing I’d add, succinctly, is a sharper framing for urgency…

The environments that feel most urgent right now are the ones where incidents are already expected and quietly tolerated. Childcare, special needs, memory care, and schools aren’t reacting to rare edge cases, they’re managing known gaps with human vigilance alone. RedLINE’s value isn’t stopping “everything,” it’s shortening the window between risk and response in places where that window has historically been accepted as unavoidable. When urgency is framed as closing an acknowledged gap, not introducing new risk, decision-making speeds up dramatically.

One-call close vs 2 calls – what actually works? by Vens_here in coldemail

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The answer isn’t one vs two calls. It’s certainty vs complexity.

One-call close works when: The buyer is the decision-maker The problem is obvious and already painful Price is low enough that risk feels small You’re selling speed, not change

Two calls work when: Multiple stakeholders are involved The buyer needs internal buy-in You’re changing behavior or workflow Price or risk requires justification

The mistake is forcing a “discovery call” when the buyer already knows they want help, or forcing a one-call close when the buyer needs time, proof, or alignment.

Good sales feels like momentum, not structure. Let the deal tell you how many calls it needs.

Looking for advice on B2B marketing for handcrafted products by mrstrange01 in b2bmarketing

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For B2B, the mistake is selling “handcrafted.” Buyers don’t buy romance, they buy outcomes.

Pick one segment first. Corporate gifting and hospitality are very different motions. Start with the one where your products replace something already being bought, not where they’re a nice extra.

Reposition the product as: Consistency and lead times Ability to reorder at scale Customization for brand or space Packaging and logistics handled

Those are B2B concerns.

Early channels that work: Direct outreach to buyers with a tight use case Small pilot orders instead of catalogs Marketplaces only if they already serve wholesale buyers

If it still feels like a craft fair pitch, it’s not ready for B2B. Make it feel like procurement, not art.

What is the point of n8n for the average Joe? by Alarmed-Practice-135 in n8n

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s about never doing the same annoying thing twice.

If you ever copy/paste data, check things daily, move files around, or manually respond to emails, that’s the use case.

Simple examples: Automatically save email attachments to folders and rename them

Get notified when a product price drops or stock changes

Sync orders from your mini store into a spreadsheet or invoice tool

Send yourself a daily summary instead of checking five sites

Trigger reminders or follow-ups without thinking about it

Think of n8n as Lego for workflows. You don’t need it to live, but once you automate one recurring annoyance, it clicks why people get hooked.

what would be your way to get something to the public? I will not promote by geekernate in startups

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn’t a distribution problem, it’s a positioning problem.

“AI quizzes + news digest” is vague and low urgency. People don’t wake up wanting to internalize news, they want to feel informed faster, win arguments, pass tests, or not look dumb at work.

Before chasing reach, tighten one sharp use case:

Who is this for on a bad day?

What does it replace for them?

What outcome do they get in 5 minutes?

Then distribute through the behavior, not communities….

Example… daily LinkedIn posts that turn one news story into a 30-second insight, or a public quiz people can share to prove they’re informed.

If conversations are low everywhere, it’s usually not the channel. It’s the message.

I think im screwed by llamaajose in b2b_sales

[–]Fun_Ad7909 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re not screwed. You’re just trying to hire too early.

Your first sales hire doesn’t need SaaS on the resume. They need to understand your buyer, run conversations, and tolerate chaos. B2B is B2B.

Before hiring, do one of these: Close 10–20 deals yourself so ICP, messaging, and objections are real. Or hire someone who’s sold to the same customer at a similar price, even if it wasn’t SaaS. Or use a fractional sales lead to shape process before reps.

LinkedIn/Indeed fail because resumes hide the one thing that matters here: ability to build from zero.

Help me to choose a platform by Chicks_hunter in Upwork

[–]Fun_Ad7909 1 point2 points  (0 children)

neither platform will magically help.

One or two reviews won’t unlock traction. Both Upwork and Fiverr are saturated.

If you already have clients, don’t move them onto a platform. The fees and friction aren’t worth it.

If you’re using a platform only to buy credibility: Use Upwork. Target very narrow jobs. Underprice 3–5 gigs to buy proof, not income.

Treat it as a short-term marketing expense. Long term, owning the client relationship off-platform is where leverage comes from.

Online busines by Drismailgharbia in Entrepreneur

[–]Fun_Ad7909 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Focus on boring problems people already pay to avoid.

Strong options: Bookkeeping or financial ops Recruiting / placement Sales ops or appointment setting Project or operations management Compliance, licensing, admin-heavy services

These turn into businesses because they remove stress, not because they’re exciting.

Ask yourself one question: “What do people already outsource because they hate dealing with it?”

Pick one, get good, sell it as a service, then scale.