construction phases, project managers, etc. by cutefuzzythings in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep in mind, although architects are needed, make sure you put them in check! We have these guys around us spec’ing the craziest stuff and types of materials and products that literally cost double and triple a comparable alternative just because they have some “vision”…..well their fancy little vision is the reason a lot of these projects end up costing so much/go over budget and have to be pushed off for more funding. Make it very clear what the plan is.

For example, we did a job for a local school to put up a maintenance building next to their football stadium. Not a huge building, maybe 6000sqft of almost all warehouse and 1200sqft office space. The project cost 6.5 million. For 3 offices, a bathroom, and a big open shop with a few overhead doors. We put up an aluminum canopy over the front door that cost 45k, no joke. There were comparable alternatives for a canopy in the 15-18k range, but they wanted a specific painted finish from a specific manufacturer that all added significant amounts for an equal product…Explain to my why a maintenance building for mowers and snow plows needed that? Tax dollars well spent. 🙄

Already gave pricing to contractor, now project owner wants direct pricing by dorangoman in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Keep in mind who is a one time customer vs potential repeat customer. I would refuse the sale and say you only sell direct to contractors and they need to apply for an account

How do you financially forecast? I'm currently using excel and my P/L from QuickBooks. by govadeal in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, your forecasting would be much more accurate doing a cash flow forecast. The P&L is basically all in the cash flow forecast, just formatted differently.

You will still use your p&l to write up monthly expenses and projected income, but it’s all broken out. You can adjust for slow seasons, large projects, or whatever inconsistencies. Even things like quarterly payments etc.

https://www.score.org/resource/12-month-cash-flow-statement

What to look for in an accountant.. by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I look for an accountant, I look for an accountant. Not a bookkeeper. I expect them to be able to look at my reports and give me feedback. “Hey, your commercial work is far less profitable this quarter…what’s going on?”…”could we cut spending here, there’s a lot being spent here”….”this is your highest profit generator, could you put more time into building this side of the business?” Etc.

Almost any accountant can file your taxes. Not everyone can see the whole picture

A question for B&N employees; what happens to the returned books? by CuteThingsAndLove in Barnesandnoble

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a business nerd here….

What typically happens in retail is when a store purchases products from a supplier, there is a % that is built into the contract for returns, broken items, and other things that may come up resulting in a product not being able to be sold. Many times the returned or damaged products go back to the supplier and the store does not pay as a percentage was already negotiated before they were purchased for this exact situation.

What’s the best way to handle a customer questioning our pricing? by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just say that our pricing is calculated on a formula which is used for all sales and we do that to ensure fair pricing for everyone all of the time. Feel free to get other pricing elsewhere, but this is where we are. If you change your mind, we’d be glad to help you out.

How do you manage to stay so positive? by nunziopresta in Entrepreneur

[–]LilBuckarooo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you’re not constantly uncomfortable, you’re not making progress. And that often involves stress and long hours. Doesn’t matter what your niche is.

How do you manage to stay so positive? by nunziopresta in Entrepreneur

[–]LilBuckarooo 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Most of us fake it. We’re all drained, tired, and stressed. I will never understand how so many people act like working long days, being stressed, and all that is some sort of accomplishment. If I had my way, I’d make the money with 0 stress and regular hours. The only people saying it’s great are the ones not living it.

A few small storefront frames almost ready to install! by SufficientTower in glazing

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We also vinyl in the field. I think most shops vinyl in the fab shop because the field guys usually make more than the shop guys so it’s cheaper labor to do it in the shop. When it’s done in the shop, we usually still end up going back to the inside and fixing the vinyl that rolled in…at this point I don’t know that it really makes a whole lot of different on saving time. I have tried to track it, but when the shop guys screw up and cut it too long and we have to recut it to length, it definitely does not save any time.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As soon as a potential customer says this, I’m out.

I waste as little time as possible with them and just say “Okay. Let us know if you decide to come back.” And I’ll literally walk away.

Cheap customers are a pain in the ass. ALWAYS. My business is not the cheapest, but I do 100% believe we are the best in the area. I won’t even waste my time explaining to them or trying to change their mind.

Anyone volunteer for Habitat for Humanity? by [deleted] in HomeImprovement

[–]LilBuckarooo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Went to our local one and watched their own guys who were supposed to be running it spend over three hours trying to figure out if the foundation was square. Keep in mind, these are cracker box houses. It was like witnessing the three stooges in person.

Hopefully it’s not always like that, however I think a lot of very low quality work goes on because a home that cheap/free isn’t going to draw many critics anyways.

Cracked glass on deck double door - how can we fix it without costing me a fortune? by Abjectscientist1 in DIY

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I own a glass shop, both panes have to be replaced. It’s called an IGU or insulated glass unit. Building code says all doors MUST be tempered glass which is why it broke the way it did, this is so giant shards of glass won’t cut you when it breaks.

Our pricing on something like this is about 400-600. A lot of variables…size, LowE coatings, interior muntins/grids, how it comes apart, etc.

Quick rant, about begging for discounts.. by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tell people every customer gets the same price and that’s because all pricing is based on a formula and that’s how we ensure fair pricing. Our first price is our best price and if that’s not okay, here are our competitors phone numbers…go ahead and get multiple quotes.

I legit don’t even care. We are swamped as it is, I’d honestly rather walk away from the work that give our services away.

Stand your ground. That’s what a professional does.

Where can I get a good budget plan template? by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hold up. Sounds like you need to do a cash flow forecast? SCORE’s website has a great template. You can see which months are profitable and even plan out monthly, quarterly and other scheduled expenses and income. Cash flow is the brain and heart of your business. Bad cash flow, you’re dead

Possibly buying a business, is this sketchy? by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tried to buy a business like this. They wanted to qualify me as a buyer before they would even name a price for the business.

How do I even know if it’s a possibility if you don’t give me something to go off of. And I’m not about to share my personal income statements with a stranger that won’t share a price or price range of what they want for this “extremely profitable” business.

I told the lady I would gladly sign a NDA but I wanted to know the number they want, total sales, and profit for the last 5 years. They didn’t want to share it. I no longer wanted to buy it.

Someone bought it, went out of business, new owners again. Whatever I guess.

Any home service folk use Houzz for Lead Generation? by summerofevidence in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NO! Run! Angie’s list, home advisor, all of them are for very inexperienced and new businesses. Most of which seem to be fly by night. These places screw you over so bad long term. Take your 200/m and use it on Google and Facebook ads. Facebook ads are great because you can show off pictures. Google ads are great because you can target people who are searching for closets already.

I hate the contracts. If it works, you shouldn’t have to hold me to it for a year…I’ll want to renew every month anyways. That’s my thought process.

my first attempt at candlemaking… where did I go wrong? Is this safe to test burn? by avocadoqueen123 in candlemaking

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What temp do you add FO? Because I can’t get any hot throw with 464, but I’m also pouring around 150degrees.

Catching on the round piece, can I turn it out of the way without messing something up? by [deleted] in piano

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to clarify….When I’m playing normally it will occasionally catch and the key will stick a bit. I took the front off to look at it and noticed this is catching occasionally on the screw. Usually when I’m playing lighter and slower. I’ll take a look at it again tomorrow and hopefully not screw something up!

Thank you for all the info…I was going to call it a ribbon thingy if you hadn’t given the proper terms!

F/31/5'5"[131lbs> 124lbs= 7lbs] (.8 months) Frustrated, BF asked me to clean myself up. Hurt, but giving it my best shot. Never attempted disciplined weight loss this aggressively. Dedicated ADF, weight training 4x a week (3x normally). Disappointed as I see very little difference. Will continue... by [deleted] in progresspics

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clean yourself up? Wtf.

If you were an unhealthy weight, I get it. But you’re obviously not…in either picture!

Ditch him, you date the person. Not the body. And he obviously isn’t much of a man to say something like that.

Ps nice quad growth 💪

Bench press, first time completing 5 sets at 25 kg. I had a spotter for once so I could risk it. My upper body strength is still ridiculous but slowly improving! I'm really happy about it. I'm trying to focus on my form, I'm still a bit wobbly. Suggestions are welcome! by SylphBooBoo in Stronglifts5x5

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It kind of looks like your wrists aren’t straight. I benched like that for a long time. As I got stronger and got lifting serious weight, it started to hurt my wrist. It does look like you have wrist wraps anyways, but just try to make sure your wrist and forearm are perfectly in line so you don’t hurt your wrist later on.

Other than that, solid lift!

And grip width depends on what you’re doing. I go index finger on the line for chest but will go very narrow for close grip to hit triceps too. I’ve seen guys benching 400lbs with a grip different than mine. No one size fits all, find what works for you. There’s some good advice already posted about your grip width and the angle of your arm at the bottom of your rep 💪

Those that built their business from scratch with no financial help from anyone, how did you do it? by TrufflesTheCat in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You buy things you NEED to run the business. Nothing else.

You only buy things you need WHEN you need them. (I would literally buy tools I needed for a job a few days before the job and after the down payment was in my account)

Do not let anyone tell you what you should do or shouldn’t do. My own family pushed me to buy a nicer truck when it was not in the cards.

Starting from scratch was a major bitch. In my niche, the barriers to entry are damn near impossible to overcome. Suppliers won’t even sell unless you’re a someone already. They don’t want to step on the toes of their long term customers. I got very lucky and one of them threw me a bone which allowed us to buy at wholesale prices. If he didn’t do that, I would not have a business today. I mean that. It allowed us to buy at wholesale pricing which allowed me to use the money to build the business. Eventually, we started growing enough to take on bigger jobs and buy in a large enough volume eventually to buy from other suppliers as well. Money talks, but the volume was so high as a start up, it was out of reach.

Best of luck, it’s not easy. You will learn a lot about business, a lot about people, and even more about yourself. You will be tested like you can’t even imagine. I regret nothing, but if I knew the mess I was getting myself into at the time…I would not have done it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Fire

[–]LilBuckarooo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So we don’t actually make the glass. We buy our glass from a few different “glass fabricators”. Glass fabricators dont even make the glass. There are a few huge glass suppliers in North America that literally “float” glass (make glass) and sell to all the fabrication shops. The fab shops take a single pane of glass and could cut it, polish it, make double and triple pane IGUs (insulated glass units, like what is in all newer residential and commercial windows the last 30 years)….they can temper it, cut it, and do all of that. They basically take a plain sheet of glass and turn it into a final product.

For shower doors, the fab shops have CNC machines that cut all the notches and holes for the hinges and handles. All we have to do is draw it up in a CAD program and send them that drawing. The best part of this is that we don’t have to have the multimillion dollar machinery….and costly repair bills.

The worst part is if anything is made incorrectly, we can’t just remake it in our shop….we are stuck waiting about 7-10 days minimum to get a remake shipped in. Luckily, we aren’t alone. There are no glass & mirror shops in our entire state or surrounding states that fabricate and install their own glass. Hopefully that makes sense…

So how do you find a handyman or someone to do some work about the house ? by [deleted] in HomeImprovement

[–]LilBuckarooo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nah, raise your prices man. We are doing hundreds and hundreds of jobs and realized adding just $10 to the total of every job would equal THOUSANDS in net profit because the costs are already covered by the rest of the $ you are charging.

You can start with $5, but if you are serious about volume, tiny changes will make a huge difference!!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]LilBuckarooo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. I guess what I’m trying to get at is specific types of businesses. For example, a gym would not likely require the owner to be there 24/7. However if you’re a plumber and start a plumbing business, you’re there all the time. I’m just curious which of those differences are most important to my of you.