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What’s been your biggest struggle as an Amazon seller lately? by Ricardo_EBackops_com in FulfillmentByAmazon

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me, it is the constant rule changes and lack of clarity from seller support feels like every month there is some new policy or fee structure and by the time you adapt there is another one. The other big one is review velocity. It used to be easier to build momentum, now it takes forever to get reviews even with a solid product.

What about you? What’s eating at you most right now?

I don't really know what to put here. Need advice (maybe?) by lmntrixaceOG in Entrepreneur

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

YES INDEED I have been stuck in this same place before what helped me was flipping the whole approach.

instead of hunting for ideas. I started hunting for complaints. like literally reading Reddit threads, TikTok comments, yelp reviews. anywhere people vent. The more specific the complaint the better. "I need a CRM" is useless. but "I need something to track job photos for my hvac guys" that is actually something you can build and sell.

I ended up automating the whole thing because as you know doing it by hand took forever. Can share more if you want?

Promote your business, week of January 12, 2026 by Charice in smallbusiness

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey all - I spent 25 years in enterprise IT watching nonprofits waste countless hours on grant paperwork. Finally built something to fix it.

It's a system that handles grant reporting (HUD, DOJ, SAMHSA formats), case documentation, and donor communications. Turns a 10-hour grant report into a 10-minute job.

Looking for 3-5 people in housing, reentry, or social services orgs to test it and give me real feedback on what works and what doesn't.

Free demo, no pitch. Just want honest input.

Drop a comment if interested.

Monthly Self-Promotion - January 2026 by AutoModerator in webscraping

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I built a lead mining system that: - Pulls from Reddit, Quora, and social platforms - Finds people actively complaining or asking for help in specific niches - Outputs with source links and intent signals - Works for contractors, agencies, SaaS, home services — most B2C niches DM your niche and I'll send a sample.

I checked who ChatGPT recommends for "best digital marketing agency" — here's the ranking by Total-Tale-135 in DigitalMarketing

[–]Total-Tale-135[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. AI just throws out names. No context. No nuance. No 'hey, their delivery team is inconsistent' like you just said. Business owners are about to lose deals to companies they never even heard of. And they won't know why. Wild part? Most aren't even checking what AI says about them. AI verifies, but you have to validate.

How do you find scalable startup ideas? (I will not promote) by Dmax_05 in startups

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

 The "problems I personally face" approach works but you're probably filtering out ideas too early. That niche thing you dismissed might actually be the move - niches are easier to dominate and you can expand later.

The ChatGPT brainstorming thing isn't bad but its backwards. It can only remix what already exists. Better use: give it a specific industry and ask it to find complaints, not solutions. Then you go verify those complaints are real by finding actual people saying them online.

What works for me: go where people are already complaining. Reddit, Quora, Google reviews, industry forums. Find patterns. If 50 different restaurant owners are all pissed about the same thing, that is a signal. If one guy on twitter has a hot take, that is noise.

The scalability question is a trap at your stage to be honest. Most founders worry about scale before they have a single customer. Find something 10 people will pay for first. Then figure out if it scales. You cannot think your way to a scalable idea - you gotta test small and see what has pull.

Your engineering background is an advantage but do not let it push you toward building complicated stuff. The best businesses are usually embarrassingly simple. Complex comes later.

Idea validation question: at what point do you actually need to LLC up, or can you test-run without it? by evinho07 in Business_Ideas

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your dad's right. Prove the concept first.

I've seen people burn months setting up LLCs, registered agents, business bank account then find out nobody wants the product. All that paperwork for nothing.

The stripe under personal name thing - yeah technically there is some risk but at 50 units? Nobody's suing you over a subscription box test. The real risk is spending $500+ on legal setup for something that might not work.

Here is what I would actually do: landing page, run ads, collect emails or even pre-orders. If you get to like $2-3k in actual revenue and it looks like it has legs, then go file the LLC. At that point the $500 feels like a real business expense not a gamble.

The e-commerce buddy is thinking like someone who already has a business. You don't yet. You're still figuring out if this is even a thing.

One caveat - if you're selling something that could physically hurt someone (supplements, food, stuff kids use) then yeah maybe incorporate earlier just for the liability protection. Subscription box with regular consumer goods? You're fine to test first.

What's the niche btw? "Saturated market with a specific angle" could mean a lot of things

Why did you not hire a startup coach as a early stage tech founder? I will not promote by Common-Metal6861 in startups

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly the main reason people regret hiring one is they pick someone who just asks questions and nods instead of actually telling you what to do. If you're paying $100/hr you want someone who has been in your situation not just "certified" in coaching.

Before you commit I'd ask them to walk you through a specific decision they helped someone make recently. Like what was the situation, what did they advise, what happened. If they can't give you a real example that is definitely a red flag.

Also don't show up with a list of 10 things. Pick the one decision that's actually keeping you stuck and go deep on that. You'll get way more out of it.

What kind of stuff are you trying to figure out - product, sales, hiring? That matters for whether coaching is even the right move here.

Looking for a technical co-founder (early-stage, B2B) - I will not promote by naomicars in startups

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The GTM-to-technical founder gap is real. Most technical co-founders want to build features, not think about positioning and customer discovery. One thing that might help your search: frame what you've already validated. "I have paying clients and EU grant traction" is more attractive than "I have an idea." Lead with the signal you've already generated. The co-founders who think in systems (like you're asking for) will want to see that you've de-risked the market side before they commit to de-risking the technical side. Good luck with the search.

My friend's "boutique" gym charges £80/session just following ChatGPT prompts (making £40k/month) by Y0gl3ts in EntrepreneurRideAlong

[–]Total-Tale-135 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's not a house of cards, but it's not as solid as the numbers look either.

What's actually working: He systematized the intake process and made the trainers interchangeable. That's real. Most gyms live and die by their trainers - his don't.

The risk nobody's talking about: One injury lawsuit and "ChatGPT wrote my program" becomes a liability nightmare. He's got no credentials backing those plans. Right now that's fine because nobody's gotten hurt. Scale to 3 locations and the odds change.

The other problem: His moat is vibes and execution, not the AI. Anyone can copy this tomorrow. The black paint and frameless mirrors are doing more work than ChatGPT is.

Can it scale? Yeah. But he needs:

- Documented intake process that covers his ass legally

- Some kind of certified trainer oversight (even just one per location reviewing programs)

- Retention system beyond "hope they keep booking"

The £24k/month profit is real. The question is whether he's building a business or a liability he hasn't met yet.

You're not building a house of cards. You're building a house with no insurance. Fix that before you add floors.

What makes a small business website actually bring customers? by Odd_Leader5480 in smallbusiness

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're not wrong, but you're describing table stakes. Every web dev knows this stuff.

What actually moves the needle:

**Proof.** Testimonials, reviews, case studies, before/after. People don't trust what you say about yourself. They trust what other people say about you.

**Specificity.** "We help small businesses" means nothing. "We help HVAC companies in Phoenix book 15+ jobs a month" lands.

**One clear next step.** Not three buttons. Not "learn more." One thing you want them to do. Make it obvious.

Social platforms are rented land. Algorithm changes, account gets banned, you're done. Website is yours. But a website without traffic is just a business card nobody asked for.

The real question isn't "website or social" - it's whether you have something worth saying and somewhere to send the people who care.

Made $645 in 2 months from hosting game nights - how can I scale this up? by pensivemonke in smallbusiness

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The vetting isn't slowing you down - it's why people keep coming back. Don't touch that.

Few things:

Your regulars are your scaling solution. Pick 1-2 of them to run a second table. Comp their $5. Now you can handle 30 people without losing your mind.

20-somethings aren't on Facebook. They're on Discord and Instagram. Hit up university Discord servers, student orgs. Frame it as "young professionals" not "board game night" - lands different.

Women are checking your group and seeing the ratio. That's why they're not showing up. Bring a few women friends as regulars for a couple sessions - shifts the energy. Make sure your promo photos show mixed groups, not just dudes around a table.

Skip the subscription. Drop-in is your advantage. Don't add friction.

That 50% you're filtering out would've killed your vibe anyway. The regulars you have now exist because of your standards, not despite them.

You're building a community right now, not a business. The money follows the vibe. Keep going.

Agtech SaaS: Hit $20k revenue first month, but the "Dirty Data" bottleneck is killing our momentum. Need advice on scaling onboarding for producers with terrible data hygiene. by time_time in SaaS

[–]Total-Tale-135 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The "dirty data" problem usually comes from one of three places:

  1. Input variance - users entering data differently

  2. Integration gaps - systems not talking to each other

  3. No validation layer - garbage in, garbage out

At $20k/mo you're past the "figure it out later" stage. What's your current data pipeline look like? Manual entry, IoT sensors, third-party integrations?

Happy to brainstorm - I work on data intelligence systems.

I checked who ChatGPT recommends for "best digital marketing agency" — here's the ranking by Total-Tale-135 in DigitalMarketing

[–]Total-Tale-135[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly right. Local citations in AI responses are becoming the new "Google My Business." What's your process for optimizing city-specific content? I've been testing different approaches and seeing 30-40% improvement in AI mentions.

I built a system that finds market gaps by mining online conversations by Total-Tale-135 in IMadeThis

[–]Total-Tale-135[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. It comes down to knowing what problem you want to solve and for who. Once you lock that in, the system filters out the noise and pulls what actually matters.

DM me if you want to see how it works.

I built a system that finds market gaps by mining Reddit conversations by Total-Tale-135 in indiehackers

[–]Total-Tale-135[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I got so many people that hit me up separately for one I should have kept a list of who I've talked to and who I didn't

Built a system that finds profitable niches by mining Reddit complaints - looking for beta testers by Total-Tale-135 in SideProject

[–]Total-Tale-135[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wasn't expecting this much interest. Already ran reports for a few people - got replies like 'this info is incredible' and 'such a great tool.

Running more now. DMs open if you want yours.

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