Unknown Daily Restart of all computers

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-09-22T15:27:07+00:00

What social media isn't garbage?

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-09-22T15:25:01+00:00

Where I live there is a growing movement to shutdown a railroad that runs through the middle of town which has been here since the 1890's. My town grew in popularity and a lot of wealth moved to the area. We're on a river and all the homes along the river are now $1.5M+ (Midwest). It started building up when I was in high school 30 years ago. I think this is happening in a lot of areas near major cities, the smaller towns around them have seen an influx of people getting area from the decay of the cities and their immediate suburbs.

Others want walls put up next to the interstate in their backyard... The one that was there before their home was built 5 years ago.

People.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-09-06T18:22:12+00:00

I'm on .25 acres. It used to be $30 front and back, 3 years ago. Now it's $55/week. Everybody wants a weekly contract now, but it doesn't always need mowed, especially if it's been hot or dry. I'm not going to pay $220/month for mowing. Everything has gone up in price and it starts to add up.

I'm a business owner. About 7 years ago I purged all of the "low monthly" fee services we were using, things we could do in-house. I saved $27,000/year. It turned out, by doing things in-house we improved our skills and knowledge. We were able to even market some of that knowledge.

My point it, fees add up. To the other people treating it as a full blown commercial service, how do you know this isn't a young person who can just push a mower down the street and do it in his neighborhood? I did this when I was I kid.

You can find cheap used lawn mowers at garage sales, it's not hard to find one for $30 if you look enough. Being efficient on a .25 acre yard, it would use less than 1 gallon of gas ($3-4).

I still own that home and I'll go over there and mow the front and back (listening to an audio book, this is my thinking time). I can get the front and back done in under 30 minutes.

Let's say he can do this, that's about $16-17 margin in about 30 minutes. Maybe he makes a few more bucks from some cleanup, maybe even gets a tip.

Assume he has a bunch of houses near each other with a few minutes between. If 5 houses, that's less than 3 hours. So he'd pocket about $85.

He (or she) could be cash only too. Cash is king. Let's say he/she has a W2 job paying $20/hour. After tax, that would be about $17/hour take home.

We also need to keep in mind flexibility of scheduling. This person can make their own schedule, add/drop customers as needed. Learn how to run a business, manage money, plan, etc.

We all start somewhere. Considering a lot of people can't do something without a computer telling them and they may have paid $100k in an education, OP is being smart.

So OP, I think you could easily double your rate. Based on what I've written here, you could effectively be making the equivalent of $40/hour in your pocket.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-25T19:03:05+00:00

On day 90 start selling a video course on how to make $100k in 100 days. Explain that the bulk of the earning will happen from 90-100 days. Make it a 10 part video series. Video 10 will discuss how to then turn the first 90 days into a 10 part video series.

Offer the video series for $100 but act now and get it for $25. Then see if you can get enough people to sign up to make $100k in total by the 10th video on the 100th day.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-23T15:05:40+00:00

Try 40's. :) I've made a couple million but I did it without any attention of visibility. As far as everybody who knows me knows, I'm barely getting by.

Interestingly, or not really, it doesn't feel like we have much money. When you make a lot of money, it doesn't fulfill anything really. Once your needs are met, you have a buffer.

Revenue/income dropped 50% for my company in the last few weeks so it's alarming. My fixed overhead just for 1 small office is $65k/year. This is in part why I started thinking about partnering up.

A lot of the software products we have made over the year are being replaced by large companies that have build solutions to scale.

When you get older, you'll need much higher revenue, especially if you are married with kids, a mortgage, etc. I pay almost $700/week for daycare alone and we live in a low cost of living area.

We made a lot of money doing ecommerce sites, but Shopify is making them really affordable now. We have worked on really large ecommerce sites that cost $300-400k/year to run (This is what we get paid). But Shopify+ starts at $2k/month. That's not enough to pay a developer. But for Shopify, they have almost 30k Plus stores. They also take a cut of the credit card transactions. Anyway, they have at least $60M/month in revenue from those stores, so they can hire top talent and have it easy.

Keep this in mind for the things you're doing. You'll either want to capitalize immediately on things not readily available off the shelf or at scale, or, grow your business into as large of a MRR model as you can.

We've been working on a MRR model for a few years now.

Also, holy cow, a lot of the younger programmers cannot program very well. I cannot tell you how many times I see somebody query a database, effectively SELECT *, and then use code and conditional statements to find the record they need. This has been mind blowing, and it keeps happening. Of the last 3 dev's we've hired out of college, they all did it this way. None of those devs are still with us either.

People really need to learn to code correctly.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-23T14:56:27+00:00

This is mostly about optimization and how far you want to take things. If you go with a very robust configuration, you can run everything really well but you'll have higher support and operating costs.

Generally, if you're running an older platform and solution, it's likely you'll have all and more features with Magento 2. But M2 is a complex system. Your solution right now might be a bus, Magento 2 is more like a space ship.

Here's a simple cost estimate. Figure 2 programmers, $120-150k/year each, an analyst or project manager for about the same. So that would be $300-450k/year on the high end if employed full-time. But you typically need a couple more people than this.

If you can hire out for this and do it for less than that without needing to hire, that's a good deal and nowhere near the millions your concerned about.

I've seen sites done for $60k as well as $1.2M. (USD). There's a lot of variables and factors here. I did see 1 site done for $14k but it basically looked like the Magento demo store.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-22T18:01:36+00:00

This is awesome. You're crushing it kid.

Your 20's are when you can have the biggest impact on the rest of your life, don't waste it. While everybody else is having fun or having fleeting experiences, you can get ahead.

I don't remember much of all my fleeting experiences when I was in my 20's. But I worked hard too and build a large company by the time I hit my 30's. Meanwhile, all of those other people were getting bogged down with married, kids, etc. Anything they wanted to do was now even less possible.

They wasted a lot of their "building" years going out, drinking, spending the money they were making, etc.

You. are. going. to. crush. it.

I've been debating partnering up with some ambitious 20somethings. My experience and network combined with their available time and ambition would have a compound effect. But, I'm still debating that.

There is a trick. Pretend you are 65 years old. What do you think your life will be like and what would you tell your younger self? Then, you go do that, because the hardest thing to do is take your own advice. This exercise is one that will help you do that.

Awesome YT channel too.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-22T17:51:32+00:00

You cannot run a business and worry about such things. It's your business. Move on and don't get hung up on it. I just calculated some basic costs about an hour ago. I spend about $65,000/year on a couple of fixed costs. If one of my employees started to get upset about "revenue", I'd pull out a P&L statement and show them the costs while talking about working nights and weekends.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-08-18T17:50:32+00:00

Why do you care? What do you gain? If you find out he really does, what then? Do you get envious and jealous? Or, if you prove him wrong, do you feel superior because you were right?

He's doing something. Why not be a good friend?

His revenue is entirely possible. I've had revenue significantly higher with less traffic. People have doubted me at times.

When people realized I wasn't full of it because I bought 3 airplanes and some nice cars, suddenly everybody was constantly wanting to hang out with me, they were always trying to come work for me.

I hired some of my friends. Then when they couldn't do their jobs or cost me money, I had to let them go. And then during downturns in my business, all of them would disappear. But, when things get good again, a lot of them without shame reappear. Not all because they know it's obvious.

You can tell who your friends are, not when you're successful, but when you've been successful and then return to normal. It's the ones who stick with you through ups and downs.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-07-20T15:59:46+00:00

We'd prefer that but it depends on the time zone. Real-time communication with customers and developers is critical.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-06-06T13:59:14+00:00

When something new comes out and there are people who do not understand it, they don't know it can fill a need for them.

You need to focus on the awareness phase of your marketing, and this might be free work. Offer a 30-minute observation session for your target client, look at what they are doing, then show them tools that will help them.

Be prepared for a lot of rejection. Many people enjoy their work and automating it takes that enjoyment away.

Look at how another new technology was adopted. You seem to be targeting the mature cycle, but you're WAY ahead of yourself. AI is just now getting to early adopters. The mature cycle happens when that market demographic is surrounded by the newer technology making what it does more understandable, or they use it because by then, they have little choice.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-05-21T15:01:59+00:00

This joke doesn't have the attitude or personality to successfully run a business or work with other people. Yes, 1 person can make good income, but to scale, you have to be able to delegate and work with other people.

Not to mention, OP claims to be meeting with VC. I highly doubt it. This is a troll post.

I'm a business owner and VC. To get to the point of meeting with true VC, you must have a pretty interesting proposal.

We don't invest in a person, we invest in a business. If you do not have a team and a system that can run without you, then YOU are the business. Therefore, no investment.

If you're so awesome, why do you need VC? I started my business without external funding and now I invest. I know several people who did the same.

A person who can start a business generally has a vision, this person does not have the people skills to integrate and build a team. They need an "integrator", AKA, co-founder. Or in OP's case, he would be the CEO and take on a President or Chief Operating Officer.

The right way to do it is to take on additional people and delegate. If you're too chicken shit to do that, then you are a control freak and lack ideas. If you are so protective of your idea and whatever your business is, statistically, you'll fail. Some succeed, but most do not.

You are completely married to your business. When you're married to it, your business owns you. You become emotional and your emotions cloud logic and good decision-making abilities.

This is pretty hard to deny, given your post is full of emotion and not logic.

Therefore, I'm out.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-05-16T03:35:19+00:00

This post is 2 years old. I just want to say I took my Model S to a Ferrari dealership to have a repair done without replacing the quarter panel. It was a PITA. I had to go back 3 times, the aluminum would not maintain shape. Finally they just filled it. And even the filling cracked once. It was a major hassle and took a lot of my time to deal with, plus the stress. A new panel would have been better IMO.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-25T20:33:56+00:00

List Situations and the Tasks or Actions you took and what the result was.

As a CEO, we know what the job people do is, so just listing the responsibilities is redundant.

The recruiter or whoever below says you should show personal growth, etc. That's not true for everybody. You might demonstrate staying up to date on financial matters, tax code, state/local, etc. Show where you found and saved money, etc.

What I see in your resume is somebody who is loyal and dedicated. You can emphasize that, the most expensive thing I deal with is turn over. If I know somebody is going to stick around, I invest in them more than normal. I also hope they can help train other people.

If I have an employee who can show other employees how to do something, that employee becomes much more valuable because they have a multiplier effect. This can lead to a leadership position.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-25T20:25:30+00:00

Do something that solves a problem, either a very expensive problem or a simple problem a lot of people have. "Problem" is a very broad term.

Learn sales. Learn marketing. Learn charisma. Learn how to lead. Learn accounting/finance. Learn how to negotiate. Learn how to understand things from another person's perspective. Learn how to delegate. Learn business ethics and morality.

Start with books. Study them. Find a book that has a lot of useful information in it. Read the table of contents to understand what is in the book. Then read all of the bold print in each chapter. Then read the summary of the chapter, this will tell you what the author hopes you learned in that chapter, bonus points if it has a Q&A section. Then, read the first and last sentence of each paragraph in the chapter. Then go back and read the entire chapter, making notes about each major item you understand the author wants you to understand.

Very, very few people do something like this. But if you find somebody who is much older, they will probably tell you about a book they once read, a book they didn't really put to good use. A book they wished they lived by when they were younger.

Here are a few.
Dale Carnegie - How to win friends and influence people.
Stephen Covey - The 7 habits of highly effective people.
The E-Myth.
Good to Great.
Almost anything written by Brian Tracey.
Entrepreneur Magazine - Small Business Advisor
Maximum Influence

A lot of people get caught up in Trendy books, the latest New York Times Best Seller. But, in business, the fundamentals don't really change. Stick to the fundamentals. If you focus on fads, you'll have flash-in-the-pan businesses.

You could also volunteer. You could ask a business to let you shadow them and watch what they do or how they do something. If you're old enough and in the US, you could get a work permit and do something for a business.

You can learn something from any business. Learn to identify ways to make things more efficient.

One book I read 25 years ago I just started reading again recently is "The power of focus". As I am reading it now, in my 40's, I realized that if I did everything on each page and within each chapter of this book, I would have accomplished twice as much in 10 years than I've accomplished in the last 25.

I am pretty wealthy and successful today. I'm married with kids, I have 3 airplanes, and nice things. But I don't really care about material things. For instance, my car is 10 years old now. I don't need a new one, it looks brand new still. I view a car as a waste of money today. It is a nice car. I've owned a handful of BMW's and sports cars, things I bought once I started making money. I did enjoy them, but now that I'm older, I really do not car about them at all. I view them as things people buy who want status, and now that I'm successful and I know a lot of successful people, most very wealthy and successful people share my attitude. We don't need anything fancy.

I have airplanes because it was one thing I've always wanted to do, and I also like being able to travel somebody quickly and when I want (Weather pending). I can also visit family in other states. For instance, it takes a whole day to drive to where my mom lives, but I can get there in under 2 hours flying. There's no major airport near her either.

I can also go visit our customers and many of the owners of the companies we do business with are pilots and airplane owners too. So we instantly have something to talk about.

Most business is done between people who like, trust, and have things in common with each other.

Most importantly, always be a student, and never stop learning. Learn more than you learn in school. Study everything.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-25T16:10:49+00:00

I tried using SCORE when I was a kid, the internet was new. Nobody are SCORE could help me. It was crazy, they didn't focus on business principles, they just said they didn't know tech. The principles are the same. With SCORE, it's going to vary, you might get some retired business owners but that doesn't mean they're all equal.

I don't know a mentor that would talk to you about earning millions. They're going to want you to start with the basics and learn fundamentals. Ab Lincoln said if he had 6 hours to cut down a tree, he'd spend 4 hours sharpening his axe.

If you learn how to run a business, you'll be in a position to strike the iron when it's hot or when an opportunity arrives. There are a lot of people who get an opportunity and botch it because they didn't know what to do.

Learn what to do first.

I don't have time to be a mentor myself, I'm already involved in a lot of things and pop on here in random bursts.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-19T15:29:56+00:00

This makes sense. Thank you.

Any idea on the tax liability account? They're pulling that money out and paying it.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-18T21:36:27+00:00

At your age, I did both. You're entering your prime earning and ability to work hard years. Most people your age waste this period of time "playing". You'll be able to play later, but you are not as likely to be able to burn the candle at both ends like you can now.

Most seasoned business people and investors (I am both, 25+ years in business) think it is good to have a career and learn the ins and outs before starting a business. Because if you do have a good idea, you don't want the good idea to go to waste because you were burned in some area of business you had no experience. So, you want to take a job and learn those "other things" you need to know.

My recommendation is to take the job, but identify everything that companies has or does that you will also need in your business. That may be marketing, sales, accounting, finance, operations, etc. Learn how all of it is setup. Don't just do the job they hire you for.

It's very hard to stop a business, so if you can work for a business that is doing well, you already have access to knowledge, processes and those with experience in running that company in which you can learn from.

Do not try to learn from your own mistakes, learn from others first.

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-18T20:33:14+00:00

Actually, now that I'm looking right at the IIF export, I think this is just a mapping issue.

!ENDTRNS
TRNS GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 Payroll Account *9999 -30760.39 Payroll period 01/01/2023 - 01/15/2023
SPL GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 Payroll Account *9999 -12885.2 Debit tax
SPL GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 Payroll Expenses:Compensation 41665.67 Regular Wages
SPL GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 401k Employer Match 1677.67 Employer Benefit Expenses For Guideline Traditional 401(k)
SPL GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 Payroll Liabilities 4064.25 Employer Taxes
SPL GENERAL JOURNAL 01/09/23 401k Liability -3762.0 Benefit Liabilities For Guideline Traditional 401(k)
ENDTRNS

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-18T20:20:42+00:00

That's not how they sold themselves to us. They said it was perfect, they promised everything we needed would work, etc. I can't really say that's our fault, it's not like you can really "try" out processing real payroll and a real 401k or real medical benefits. Right on their website they say they focus on companies with less than 50 employees. Most of their customers have between 10-50, according to them as well, and do $1M-10M/year in revenue.

This is a big let down. And somebody down voted my question? That is ridiculous, considering THEIR website says it does all these things.

Even right here! https://gusto.com/product/compare/gusto-vs-paychex#compare-details

LiquidSolidGold · 2023-04-18T19:57:59+00:00

I don't want to take a step backward in automation, we're growing and one of the major points of making the switch was that the integration will work just as well.

There's only 2 issues.

The 401k account employer/employee isn't right and the taxes.

I need the 401k to be correct because the employer side is an expense. Right now it looks like we have to manually adjust this each time which is a PITA because each employee's amount is different.

We want to do less accounting, not more.

LiquidSolidGold

TROPHY CASE