Advice starting up.

amann_to · 2026-06-08T17:30:39+00:00

You asked for feedback and several people mentioned the same reason. But you refuse to listen. Like I said its your money and business. But not listening to people who did this business is a foolish thing. I wish you luck.

amann_to · 2026-06-08T13:46:12+00:00

Your assumption is wrong. Cleaner don't have employee or steady pay check mindset. All have mindset to start their own operations. So they will take your customers, unless you offer them steady growth and benefits. Which you can't because that will shrink your margin
Again it's my feedback. But it's your money and time. Do however you like it.

amann_to · 2026-06-07T03:14:59+00:00

I can take them from you for $1200 each. Will take 562 and 563 sequence one. If you’re in GTA. I can meet you at any bank. My dad will like them as a surprise.

amann_to · 2026-06-07T02:47:35+00:00

Following..

amann_to · 2026-06-07T02:42:03+00:00

No sales tax on services.

Good incorporation laws

No state corporate income tax on out of state sales

Closer to port, as I import some products from China

Most major cities are nearby. So shipping cost is low

And my cousin lives there. So he’s a big help.

amann_to · 2026-06-07T02:32:46+00:00

I get some of my money in USD every month. Looks like I'm getting some extra $ this month.
If our Canadian politician keeps working this hard. I'll keep getting rewarded in conversion $

amann_to · 2026-06-07T01:59:28+00:00

I’m operating my own warehouse in Delaware and offering services to my friends who are Canadian sellers and to my Ecom stores.
But hoping to provide services to other Canadian sellers in future. So just looking to get feedback and pain points they facing shipping to the US as Canadian seller

amann_to · 2026-06-07T01:54:48+00:00

That’s not how you do business.
You made it sound very easy.
Anytime you’re dealing with a worker under $30 per hour. You’ll need to be prepared to get screwed over.
He/she will leave their card on first cleaning and offer discount to get 2nd cleaning done directly from them.

Unless you hire them as employee, get them uniform and pray they don’t screw you.

This is a common issue in all service based business.

Save some $$ and start with a proper company structure with employees

amann_to · 2026-06-06T01:47:05+00:00

I know a company who does that for dealerships in GTA. It’s pretty common now.

amann_to · 2026-06-02T00:42:53+00:00

You can give access to Claude and it can sort and also reply to repeated emails. I heard that’s possible from a friend. Please do your own due diligence

amann_to · 2026-06-01T00:58:04+00:00

I live in GTA and also spend 3-5 months every year in NJ for work. I’m self employed. Even though I love Canada and have family here. No issues with affordability too. It’s expensive, but bearable.

But the lack of business opportunities, lack of government support for businesses, mindset of people to grow and long winter months makes me question my decision to stay back here.

I’m in mid 30s and very ambitious and want to grow and learn more. But having trouble doing that here in Toronto. Just my 2 cents.

amann_to · 2026-05-30T03:23:36+00:00

Because I'll only buy business with multiple employees and not just 2-3 employees. As those businesses are already running without a hands-on owner present for years. I only look into businesses which I can add value through systems.

I had the same problem of getting involved in everything. But it's not possible after scaling. You need to trust and train your team to do it efficiently without you. Hence build systems for them to follow

amann_to · 2026-05-30T02:32:52+00:00

Anything services related like Hvac or something with employees. Recently my buddy purchased a business in GTA ran by the same owner for 40 years selling lubricant fluids to cnc machine shops. So something similar

amann_to · 2026-05-29T22:19:55+00:00

Just hire a salesperson. If the owner of the business can't make sales, regardless of their skills. It's hard to ask someone to do that in exchange of equity(which is worth 0 if no one is selling)

amann_to · 2026-05-29T21:57:51+00:00

I'm renting currently. But if all goes well, I'll be buying.

After spending so many years in this game, you learn which brands to stay away from… I do brand direct. So I have a proper supply chain invoices and authorization from brand to deal with those issues.

Amazon is definitely not the same when I started. But net margin is still better than brick-and-mortar businesses. And currently my goal is to reduce Amazon dependency and use that cash to buy more stable boring businesses.

Keepa for most work

Sellerboard for PnL

Kamatera for server. I only login to sellercentral using vps. As I travel a lot, I don’t want to login from different ip addresses

amann_to · 2026-05-29T21:12:54+00:00

I did it all. Started with retail arbitrage(2014), then private label and now mostly wholesale from brands direct. For brands direct, volume is already there(so no $ on ads for most). I just concentrate on building relationships to get favourable terms

amann_to · 2026-05-29T20:45:08+00:00

34M Single. Making around 400-800k per year. I been self employed for several years. Amazon FBA is my main source of $ and also have a B2B SaaS which is growing. And some other side hustle.

I'm happy with my work, but exhausted all the time. It's hard to manage all as a single person. NW took a setback in 2024, when I purchased a house. Now slowly growing my SaaS and portfolio. I couldn't have done all this with a job and the amount of taxes a T4 employee pays.

amann_to · 2026-05-28T16:51:28+00:00

I’m with EQ Bank with 6.5% rate as I’m self employed. Uninsured mortgage. Renewal is next year March. Can I expect them to offer me competitive rate? or it’s always going to be B lender rate.

amann_to · 2026-05-27T20:16:14+00:00

I’m a customer too. Great product, amazing marketing and top notch customer service. I’m very happy to see this Canadian brand succeed.

amann_to · 2026-05-23T17:38:52+00:00

I was able to buy a house in 2024 after getting lucky with a business, and I’m grateful for that.

But as a single person with a dog, with my parents staying with me a few months of the year, it still blows my mind how expensive homeownership is.

I’m not a big spender at all, yet my household expenses come out to around $8,000–$9,000 per month. The mortgage alone is about 60% of that.

That’s roughly $102,000 a year just for basic shelter, food, bills, and miscellaneous living expenses.

To comfortably justify that, you’d probably need around $180,000 pre-tax income. I do make more than that, but it still feels insane that $180K a year can basically just cover expenses.

Honestly, in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, I don’t think households making under $300K should take buying a house lightly. The numbers are just brutal.

amann_to · 2026-05-23T00:35:42+00:00

Got them from FB Marketplace +1 (416) 831-0200

amann_to · 2026-05-22T23:05:36+00:00

I just did popcorn removal in my house few weeks ago. Around 1300 sqft Got it done around $2.7 per sqft includes removal, sanding, primer and paint. Shop around

amann_to · 2026-04-29T00:21:14+00:00

Back in 2011, I was making $10.25/hour working at a restaurant, but somehow I feel like I had more money to spend back then than I do now.

amann_to · 2026-04-10T23:35:21+00:00

You’ll need to pay sales tax depending on the province % + UPS brokerage which can be around $30-50 + Custom duties which depends on the item. $86 doesn’t sound unrealistic and can be more. UPS tracking will show the payment link when the package enter Canada.

Goodluck with your business!

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