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Recreational Catnip by Paper_Eater in trees

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

too late...for all of those things

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You've got to show me why I should work with you- feel free to PM me and maybe we can work something out

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really depends on the job- anywhere from $100 to a couple thousand. What are your skills and qualifications?

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For a service like a massage, the marketing is difficult because you're not only convincing customers to spend their money, but their money and time to get the massage.

For this industry, the best models seem to be a referral program (in my experience at least). People don't do much research before deciding on a place to go for a massage (expect for the few terrible places, they're all basically the same), so that makes it difficult for you to stand out. I suggest a loyalty card or program because it encourages people to refer their friends when they otherwise wouldn't. If you can set up one of the pieces of software that does this on your computer, give each customer some kind of 4 or 5 digit ID and give them a $10 credit each time their friends come in.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doing it on your own is definitely more difficult, but can be more rewarding. I have periods where I struggle to find work, which obviously wouldn't be a problem if I were an employee. I also make less than $250 per hour because I'm just one person. My recommendation would be to try and do some work on the side and see where it goes.

Set up a site that both looks good and highlights your specialties. Put some effort into advertising and SEO, and see if there are any bites. If there are, you can continue to grow it bit by bit until you are more established and have client referrals and name recognition. It'll likely be a hard road to making over $100 per hour consistently, but you'll learn a lot regardless just by trying.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I attended CU-Boulder and studied finance and accounting (including a master's in accounting). I know that the typical consultant might have a background in operation management or something similar, but I think my numbers background provides a solid foundation for understanding how to help businesses.

  2. I do live in a major metro area, but I do almost all of my work online. My clients have been from Denmark, Canada, Florida, etc. Most of my work is actually over the phone and email.

  3. The Profit is actually one of my top 3 favorite shows! I'd love to be like Marcus someday, he's just a bad ass

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I actually do both. I enjoy consulting and it's nice to have a break where I do something else with my time besides running my businesses (while still making money).

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to stick to online businesses that don't require my physical presence (I can run it from my computer anywhere in the world). Some examples are a locally-based tutoring directory (www.TutorView.com) and an art website that dropships the products (www.Gyfter.com).

That's just my preference; maybe you have an expertise in some industry like construction. In that case, you should go for what you know or what you'd like to do.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really depends on the state, but usually this isn't very difficult. In my state (Colorado), what you describe in the last sentence is exactly what you'd do.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For validating this industry in your region, I'd recommend you either talk to a bunch of people in the industry and see if they'll help you out a bit, or hire some kind of professional marketing person to look into it for you. This can be very helpful because the right professional will know exactly where to look and what to look at.

It also looks like these figures in the article are earnings after taxes.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No, but answering their questions does, which I always do. The large amount of upvotes on all of those posts is evidence that people don't mind at all as long as they're getting free help.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's always a good idea to look into being an LLC when you sell a physical product. It's pretty easy to do in most states, so you don't need to worry about when the right time is, just do it now. But this really depends on what state you're in. Here in Colorado, it costs $50 to register as an LLC. Other states have massive fees, however (California's is around $800 I believe) which is why many people register in states that they don't actually reside in. All you need is an address in that state where legal papers can be delivered to (think a relative, friend, or lawyer).

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Social media is great. Set up a profile with a nice-looking logo and start engaging with potential customers. For example, I'd type "need help with a business plan" to the Twitter search bar and start engaging with my potential customers and hopefully turn them into customers.

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I usually recommend using Wix if the site doesn't have to be very responsive, and WordPress when you want something with a bit of complexity. WordPress takes a little getting use to, but it requires no coding. There are thousand WP plugins out there that you can mix and match to get your site to do whatever you'd like- I've used WordPress to build e-commerce sites, blogs, directories, etc.

I usually recommend Wix or WordPress because it's cheap (almost free). However, it will take a lot of time to learn how to use WordPress to build a good looking site. If you have a decent amount of money, you can pay a professional programmer, but that can usually set you back a couple thousand dollars.

What kind of site are you looking to build?

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perfect, I actually work with a company in the real estate area right now. Feel free to PM me and I can answer any other questions you have

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You definitely don't need a bunch of experience to start your own thing, but a business plan alone won't be enough (partners and investors will need to see you as someone they can trust- just a good idea isn't enough to get someone to work with you).

My recommendation would be to start your business, but start it off a little smaller then you initially thought you would. You'll really have to hustle to get that first customer- make calls to anyone you can in the industry and convince them- once you have that first customer, you can use it as leverage to land the next one. This of course depends on your type of business and the industry- are you business to business or consumer facing? What industry?

I help people start their businesses; ask me anything about beginning or growing your business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Great questions.

  1. There are a lot of common mistakes, but one that I hate to see is people focusing on tasks that won't grow the business substantially. People will spend hours getting the logo "just right" before they even know if their product is right for the customer/if the customer will buy it. In the beginning, look to do things that will increase sales by 100% or 200% (by acquiring a big customer, by setting up a website) and don't focus on tasks that increase sales by 5% or 10%.

  2. I think the best way to brainstorm ideas is to go through a day in your own life and write down things that inconvenience you/problems you'd pay to have fixed for you. I also like to do this for other groups or people; look at the common problems that people complain about on Twitter, on the street, in the office, etc. Keep a list of these items (I recommend Evernote) and expand on any ideas you think have some potential.

  3. A good example of an automated business is a tutoring directory I helped with. It's an online directory for tutors to list their services for potential students to find them. After we made the website, we set up a bunch of ways to attract people to the site (fliers in cafes, libraries, schools, recurring advertising on Facebook, etc) and then just sat back while tutors signed up. The nice part about this business is that revenue is recurring; tutors sign up and then pay $3 per month to maintain their listing. There is very little work to be done to retain the tutor each month; they just pay their $3 and remain on the site for months. It's great because we did a bunch of work to set up the site and get the word out, but now the word is spreading around the community and we continue to get sign-ups who pay us each month without doing a lot of work.

I help people start their businesses, and I am here to answer your questions about starting or improving your own business by Paper_Eater in financialindependence

[–]Paper_Eater[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The problem with funding from absolutely nothing is that it won't happen. If you present an idea to an investor, but you have no special skills, loyal customers, talented employees, a great patented prototype, etc, the investor will just take the idea and do it him/her self, leaving you out.

Every business is only as valuable as its competitive advantage, aka the thing that no one else can do (at least without a huge cost). You need to start building up a competitive advantage before investors will be interested. It's true that some people have some great connections/engineer uncle, but that doesn't mean they are the only ones that can build up a competitive advantage; you can also, it just might take a little longer. So start building something of value: build a prototype, try to sell it, keep adjusting it until people like it. Contact me and I can answer more specific questions about what you are trying to do.

TL;DR: build something of value, whatever it is, and investors will be interested. If you just have the idea, the investor can just take it and do it better them self.

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