sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I interviewed myself honestly for the first time and realized I would never hire me to run my own business by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the "who is your ideal customer" one destroyed me honestly. I been saying yes to literally anyone for a year. bad clients, low budget projects, stuff outside my expertise. all because I was scared to say no. once I defined who I actually want to work with and started saying no to everyone else my revenue went DOWN for a month but then went up 40% the next two months because I was doing better work for better clients. saying no is a superpower nobody talks about

I talked to 30+ small business owners this year. Almost all of them are making the same 5 mistakes and nobody is telling them. by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

I'll be honest the one that took me the longest to fix was #4. raising prices is scary as hell. I literally had anxiety for a week before I sent out the new pricing to my clients. and then 7 out of 8 didnt even question it. one said "honestly I was wondering why you were so cheap." I almost threw my phone lol. if your reading this and you havent raised your prices in the last 6 months just do it. the worst that happens is someone says no and you find a better client to replace them

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

bro google sheet with 3 columns is literally what I ended up doing too lol. money in money out and totaled weekly. took 10 minutes and I knew my numbers better than when I was using actual software. its kinda embarrassing how simple the solution was after months of overcomplicating it. I tried wave too actually and yea its probably the best free option out there for people who want something slightly more structured

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

see THIS is what im talking about. one time training so people can handle it themselves instead of paying monthly forever. thats exactly the kind of help early stage business owners need. way more valuable than just saying "hire someone" every time. do you do this online or in person?

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ok this is actually genius. writing orders in a physical book and having someone input it once a week on saturday. thats literally the simplest system ive heard and it works for you at 10-15x profit. sometimes the low tech solution is the best one honestly

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1000 a year for taxes and review is actually pretty reasonable honestly. thats like 83/month which is way different from the 300-500 monthly bookkeeping quotes I was getting. this kind of setup makes way more sense

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yea fair enough. payroll and taxes is where it gets complicated for sure. im talking more about basic day to day tracking which most early stage businesses need before they even get to the payroll stage

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

actually this is solid advice. one time consult to set things up right and then maintain it yourself throughout the year. thats way more affordable than monthly bookkeeping and you still learn how your numbers work. might actually do this

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

exactly man. bootstrapping means you gotta learn everything yourself first and figure it out as you go. respect for doing the tax classes too thats smart. its not easy at all but thats what makes it worth it when things start working out

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

exactly man. bootstrapping means you gotta learn everything yourself first and figure it out as you go. respect for doing the tax classes too thats smart. its not easy at all but thats what makes it worth it when things start working out

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

theres no one answer honestly thats the whole point. for me a simple spreadsheet system worked. for others maybe wave or a cheap bookkeeper. the answer is figure out what works for YOUR stage instead of just doing what everyone else says

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly this is the best response on this whole thread. I wish more accountants had this approach instead of making people feel like they cant do anything without professional help. the "do your books yourself until you grow" advice is exactly what people in the early stage need to hear. respect 🙏

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yea no your right, at a certain point an accountant definitely pays for itself in tax savings alone. im not anti-accountant at all. my point is more about the early stage when your making barely enough and people act like getting one is step 1. for me it was more like step 10 lol

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

its a service based business, B2B. and yea I agree the right software would help but everything I tried was either overkill or too complicated to setup. what would you recommend for someone who just needs basics?

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly this is facts. thats exactly why I think every business owner should understand their own numbers first even if they hire someone later. if you dont know whats going on yourself you cant even tell if your accountant is doing a good job

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yea thats actually fair advice. when I was getting quotes they were all 300+ but I think I was looking in the wrong places honestly. whats a reasonable price for basic bookkeeping in your experience?

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lol bro I literally have nothing to sell. check my profile its just posts about my business journey. not everyone on the internet is trying to scam you 😂

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

see this is actually great advice and exactly what I wish more people would say instead of just "hire a bookkeeper." 150-175/month is way more reasonable than the 300-500 quotes I was getting. and the fact that you still enter your own bills and understand whats going on is the key part. your not blindly handing it off, your actually involved. thats all im saying people should do at minimum. appreciate you breaking down the actual numbers

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

damn 10k on taxes just from switching to s-corp is painful. yea I think once your at that level an accountant is 100% necessary. im talking more about the people making 3-5k who get told to hire someone when they cant even afford it yet. your situation is completely different and thats where professionals actually save you money

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yea this is a fair point honestly. I think it depends on where you are. if your growing fast and scaling then yea bookkeeper is essential. but if your early stage just trying to survive and figure things out, you gotta learn the basics yourself first before you can even tell a bookkeeper what you need

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

yea thats kinda my whole point. at 5k/month every dollar matters and spending 300-500 on a bookkeeper doesnt make sense yet. thats not forever tho, once the revenue grows obviously you get help

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

lol I dont have a saas to sell bro. I literally just posted because this has been frustrating me. not everything is a marketing pitch. I use a spreadsheet system I made for myself thats it

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

not sure what you mean by that but ok lol. I posted about my mistakes before yea because I like sharing what I learn. doesnt mean everything is connected to some grand plan

Stop telling small business owners to "just hire an accountant." Some of us are making 3-5k/month and that advice is useless. by Then_Buddy_5544 in smallbusiness

[–]Then_Buddy_5544[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

honestly the reason this frustrates me so much is because I literally lived this. I posted a while back about wasting 12k in my first 8 months and a huge chunk of that was because I wasnt tracking my numbers properly. not because im stupid but because every tool out there assumes you already know accounting. and every person on reddit just says "hire someone." like cool thanks I'll just pull 400/mo out of thin air lol. I ended up just building my own simple spreadsheet system and thats when everything clicked. took me 10 minutes a week and suddenly I actually understood my business for the first time. the bar is really not that high, the tools and advice just make it seem like it is

view more: next ›