I Have Listed All the Useful Features of a Local Business Website - Need Feedback

Hello Everyone

I have just created an Infographic for web designers who will design local business website[ given below]. Here I have clearly presented all the important features that a local business website must have. Now I need your honest opinion if I have done it correctly? Did I miss any point? Is there any way I can improve the infographic?

Infographic Address:

http://ift.tt/2kPlxKt

Selling On Amazon Vs. Website Vs. Both

Hello children of the business world! I have a question for everyone here. Okay so this is what's going on: My grandmother is discontinuing operations of her clothing business and I'm taking it over. AKA I get to sell items in the same stores she sold in. I decided to make a clothing brand called American Filth, it's an ironic meme ridden brand. Of course this in no way appeals to 99.9% of the audience of SBF, but just pretend you're a teenager or a meme lord. I have multiple large social media accounts ready to heavily promote the brand, the problem is I need to find somewhere to sell the product. I'm buying the shirts and hats in bulk from a local clothing manufacturer.

Anyways, I'm thinking of getting the $29 a month Shopify and creating a website there and selling. However, Amazon also seems like a great option. Sure I don't make as much money, but there's more exposure and people will trust Amazon more than my website especially if it's new. I was thinking about making a static website where if you click on the item it brings you to Amazon then if the brand makes more money and is a bit more established then invest into Shopify or should I go straight for both?

Thanks!

Michigan Unemployment Insurance Tax Penalty

Hello everyone, new member here looking for advice. I had an employee for the first time this year (previously I have used independent contractors) and had to open an account with the state. I hired a payroll service (OnPay, not someone I would recommend after this experience) to handle all of my filing.

Unfortunately the employee left rather suddenly after only around a week of employment, leaving me in the lurch. I contacted OnPay to cancel my service, which they did with little comment. Then, over six months later I received a notification stating that I owed over $300.00 in penalties with no explanation. After contacting the UIA directly they informed me that it was due to late filed quarterly reports.

I was never contacted through e-mail, phone, or snail mail regarding the late reports. When I spoke to the Tax Collections Unit they told me they had sent notices to my online account, which I hadn't accessed due to having no employees! This seems entirely unreasonable to me, since I was asked to pay less than $40 in UI tax to begin with! I am not even liable for the tax since I haven't employed anyone else since.

I am sending in a request for review, but is there anything else I can do to help my case? Any advice would be appreciated.

WordPress???

I've been away form this site for a very long time and I am sorry I missed so much!

I am finally to the point where I want to build my web site and start moving forward with my business.

What are the pros and cons of WordPress perhaps versus a weebly or wix? It appears relatively easy to use.


I know WordPress is highly recommended here. I was on there checking things out and see they have several different package options. For now my intention with a web site would be general information about my company so I think the "free" option will work for now. Am I correct in assuming the $99 annual fee is the hosting fee?

Thank you

Starting a LLC

I am developing a website that I will need to register as a LLC. My problem is I did not expect to have to do that since I am a sole proprietor so I am a little unprepared. I do not have a business checking acct, or a business credit card and I really don't want them because after a few very minimal start up fees I won't need them.

Does anyone know from personal experience is it ok if I just pay for my business licenses on a personal credit card?

A BIG Hello From Ironclad Systems Canada

Hello, my name is Lloyd Brown, and I am a owner/senior engineer with Ironclad Systems, and I just wanted to extend a official hello to the SBF community! We are a managed IT support and solutions provider specializing in bringing enterprise grade IT support, solutions and project consulting to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Hoping to make some positive connections in the community by listening to members experiences, sharing our own and offering free IT tips and advice.

Among the services we offer, we specialize in

-Both remote and on-site systems management and technical support/helpdesk ( Workstations, servers, laptops, mobile devices, etc)
-Website design and hosting solutions
-Cloud based business solutions ( cloud email, inventory, bookeeping, social media management, data backup and more)
-Network design and troubleshooting

We're a great team, with decades of combined experience in the field. Here to help, so please feel free to reach out if anyone ever has a tech related question, or needs a pointer in the right direction

PS A conversation is always free!!

How to promote a small business

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to promote your business?

Bigcommerce

Just wanted to post my experience with Bigcommerce. I have been in business for over 17 years. Started with just a html site I created using paypal buttons to buy. Like 6 years ago I decided I needed a much better site for obvious reasons. Ended up with a local company who claimed they could match all my needs. They set the site up using nopcommerce which is a free open source cart. It cost me a lot of money and certainly the site was an improvement in most regards, but I was never able to get everything I was promised and my search rankings really tanked. After a few years with them I was experiencing bad hosting and they were unable to do upgrades so I moved to another guy who was pretty good for a while. He had much better hosting, but eventually he too failed to be able to do upgrades. So finally last year I decided it was time to move the site and decided on Bigcommerce. Has been the best thing I have done for my business. Sales were slow the first few months as my search rankings returned, but I ended the year with huge double digit growth. Every search word that I think is important is at least on the first page now and most are first. I now have access to every feature I want on my website either through standard features or apps which are easy to install. It is not cheap, but find it well worth the money. I'm no longer hounding people to try and get things done on my site. The hosting has been great and so has the customer service. I've had to be a bit creative to make the site do certain things, but it does everything I want. Just wanted to share my experience as there are probably many now thinking they need to move and wondering what to do.

Return Policy Logo

I want to add a logo on my site stating my return policy to make it more easy to find. I have a return policy which is a 30 day return policy. Return an item in unused condition for any reason within 30 days and I will refund your money. So I want like a golden shield logo stating 30 day return policy on the footer of my page. If there is a better place to put it let me know. Now is just "30 Day Return Policy" good? Seems like most sites use something like 100% satisfaction guaranteed or 30 day money back guarantee. I assume most these sites still require the item to be returned but somewhere in my head I feel it infers you will give a refund if for any reason they are not happy. So would it be deceitful for me to use something more like that rather than just 30 day return policy? Just looking for opinions before I make the logo and post on my site.

Smile Marketing Tips Needed For New & Unique Business

I just opened a narcotic detection service company using trained canines.

I am the ONLY company in my city who offers these services currently.

I would like to get my business into schools, businesses, events, etc. For this I have been doing a lot of "cold calling" (which I am really not a fan of)

I am also trying to target residential/ families who may be worried that their child or loved one is using drugs.

I have thought about radio advertising but am not sure if that is effective or if there is anything else I should look into to reach residential and commercial customers.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!!

Personal expense as an LLC

Our business converted to an Llc from sole proprietor last year. I also started using quick books for our accounting.

First question is, how are the owners personal expenses paid? From what I understand personal expenses would still be paid from the profits of the LLC, but would need to be documented as personal. The plan was to have the person expenses paid out of a personal account, and then one check reimbursed to them from the llc and mark that as personal expense.

Second. Any money moved from the LLC to a personal account needs to be documented in quick books correct?

How would you document a owner taking money from the business and putting it into a personal savings? I was thinking it would be a transfer of funds from one account to another, not an expense.


If a check was wrote out for cash by the owner, that would need to be document as a transfer from checking to cash on hand correct?

Im trying to get this figured out because we are getting mixed answers from some professionals we have talked to.

Thanks in advance!

Greetings from Prime Servers Inc!

Hello! My name is Peyton Fontenot! Currently some friends and I are working on our own hosting business targeted towards young professionals, startups, gamers, and tech enthusiasts alike. Because we truly believe we can provide the best quality of server hosting on the planet, we decided upon a name that is in line with that idea: Prime Servers, Inc.

PrimeBanner.jpg

Some of the core elements of our business model include:
• Providing best in class webhosting for all who could benefit from it, including small businesses, online communities, blogs, gamers, etc.
• Offer quality Game Server hosting for all sorts of exciting online multiplayer games.
• For those who need cloud computing power, we offer top of the line virtual private servers.
• Finally, we aspire to provide fast, compassionate, and effective technical support towards all our clients across all our services.

I’m here to learn from experienced business owners here in this forum as well as networking to create mutually beneficial relationships.

Thank you for your time!

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Help me brainstorm: small gifts for repeat customers (retail)

I just got my first repeat customer today - woo hoo! My sales volume is growing slowly, which is okay. It gives me time to plan for future cool things and how to handle growth and stay organized. I've pondered the idea of including little freebies in my customer's orders before but haven't actually done it yet, and this first repeat order has me thinking about it again. I think it would be lovely to reward repeat business with a little gift, say around the 3rd or 5th order. (and more later, but it will take me while to grow to people placing more orders than that with me.)

But what would be nice gifts? I don't want them to be too self-serving, like discount coupons. And I want them to be appropriate to the customer. It would be dumb to send a little dog toy to someone who buys bird products, for example. Anybody here want to help me brainstorm?

Hi everyone, Starting out here hailing from Central Texas.

Name's Justin, my business is JC's Professional Headlight Restoration Service. I have a facebook page but don't know how to link it here for the business page. Basically I came here for 2 things. Feedback on my temp site jcheadlights.weebly.com and also seeking advice on how to score contract work with fleets and dealerships such as the best way to approach, present myself, and sell my service.

Last, I want you to tell me what you think of my own legitimacy of service.

Finally got a new computer!

I've needed a new one for a while. Spent more time researching this time around rather than just buying whatever the latest "business" desktop model is.
Experience has taught me that "business" computers are over priced, have crap specs, and are packaged for less than tech savvy consumers.

This time around I went with a gaming computer that had 100's of excellent reviews, even though I'm not much of a gamer.

Intel i5-6402P Quad Core 2.8GHz-3.4GHz.
AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB Graphics card (with 3 display ports, HDMI, VR Ready, 4K gaming)- Thinking of adding the 8G model.
It shipped with 8G RAM, I upgraded to 16G and it's expandable to 64GB RAM
1TB HDD, but I also added a 480GB SSD to boot windows and my most used programs.

Came with all disks, warranty, and so on.
Still gotta get new monitors, and while I'm at it may as well replace my desk and office chair.

So far it's been a dream. Makes me enjoy working again.
It's amazing how gradually my old machine just got bad and how long I dealt with it.


I thought I was tired of the job. Turns out I was just tired of working on that old machine and sitting in this old chair.

Does anyone else feel refreshed and energized when they get new tools?

Unique Gov-Backed OP

Hey everyone! I'm involved in a business responsible for recovering unclaimed assets belonging to private individuals/corporations.

Currently, our attorneys are working on a matter to recover court-held funds owed to our client due to a recent foreclosure. Along the way, before courts able to release funds to us, they discovered an old 57k judgment that our client owes from several years ago.

The courts attempted to serve the judgment creditor to have old debt resolved, but weren't able to due to having the creditors incorrect address on file.

So what I did was approach the judgment creditor with an offer to settle the debt for 22k instead of the original principal balance of 57k, which they ending up accepting! That would leave 35k of potential profit on the table if the outstanding debt is settled on time before they find out of the monies our client is due. Creditor won't consider optioning the judgment to us, so that leaves us with the only viable option of paying off the settlement upfront.

However, we currently lack sufficient capital to do so and wondering if there any creative investors out there that would possibly be interested in taking a closer look at this to consider splitting profits 50/50 (17.5k each). This, of course, would all have to happen before the judgment creditor finds out about the monies owed to our client, otherwise, the full 57k judgment amount would be applied towards the 134k court-held funds.

If anyone feel this is something up their alley, pls feel free to PM for more details. Prefer solid members of the community with some form of proven track record of success -- NO BS.

Free Invoice Maker - looking for constructive feedback

Hi guys, thanks for taking interest in my website. I have just started a new service on my new project and that service is a onepage website on which you can create pdf invoices for free.
Features:
Free to use
No need to register
Webiste uses SSL protection
Download clean and simple PDF invoice

The website is still in development so I thought to get some input from you guys.

Hi Everybody

Hi guys, my name is Ronald and I want to connect with other people with simmilar interests. Just starting out as a small business owner and hoping to find some tips from experienced forum members.
Great to be here.

Drench your happiness with these awesome gifts and shower them on your beloved

Deliver the eternal touch of happiness which is expressed in the form of flowers and in this scenario the flowers delivery becomes a hot item. This day is adorned with several items which are a mandate for every individual. This day is celebrated all across the world with a great splendor and as a result flower delivery happens in a common phenomenon. Thus, Valentine’s Day Flowers Delivery in Malaysia is on the rocks and this leads to a special bonding among the people.

Marketing overhaul

Hello everyone, new here. I am involved in a family business. I am in charge of our marketing, which has been unchanged for years. Currently our main form of advertisement has been word of mouth, our company vehicles, a full page phone book ad and a website. Our marketing needs a major overhaul.

I have a few ideas, but could really use some guidance towards the best options. My ideas are the following.

Focus more on how our business is viewed as a whole, T-shirts and sweatshirts with our name and info for our employees to wear, have our fleet of vehicles match in color, lettering and layout in general. Keep our vehicles clean and presentable. Have an open dialogue with our employees on how to treat customers and how to handle situations that arise. Also have a more formal and professional approach with customers such as having business cards for our employees to hand out.

I want to downsize the phonebook ad due to the lack of use of phonebooks anymore. This is a tricky subject with the others involved and it looks like its going to end up being renewed for this year as a full page. I do want to update our ad at least since it looks very out dated and ad a coupon that we can track to see how much traffic is actually being generated by the ad.

I want to update our website to a more streamline and professional look. I want it to be optimized for searches.

I want to branch out into social media such as facebook and possibly twitter.

I want to possibly use adwords and paid facebook ads to target certain areas and keywords to direct traffic to our web site.

Thinking outside the box, possibly hosting or sponsoring an event that could get our name out in different ways.

Any thoughts, comments and feedback would greatly be appreciated. I am still learning everyday, and would really like to increase the amount of traffic our business gets.

Thanks in advance!

Starting a Small Business Survey

Hello everyone! My name is Ryan and I am a senior majoring in industrial design at Iowa State University. For a part of my senior thesis project I am collecting data on what it takes to start a small business. Ideally I would like for as many small business owners as possible to take my short 15 question survey via the provided link. I would like to thank all of you who take my quiz in advance. Your insights are extremely important to me as a part of my research and they will be instrumental in allowing me to complete my project and hopefully someday start my own small business! Also please feel free to share this survey through social media if you like. The more responses I can collect the more informed I can be!

Thank you again!
Ryan

http://ift.tt/2j6WnpF

[Question] Media Outreach

Hey everyone,

I'm considering offering an outreach service to a handful of clients at most. Within the service, I'd write an article and publish it on Huff Post (contributor acc), Medium, blogher, WN, buzzfeed, and instructables.

The service would allow for an instant boost in brand trustworthiness and credibility, or even one-up one's competition. It would definitely also give you bragging rights.

Note: for those who do SEO, this service would be no value as most links (except for one) are actually no follow.

Hypothetically speaking, would you be interested in a service like? and paying roughly $75?thank you very much in advance!

Lear how to start a business

wwwthecaptflavorshow.com

Get business startup information.
Subscribe to get future episodes on new podcasts

Selling to Retail Shops

Hey everyone. I am a photographer and I have decided to start selling my products wholesale to retail shops. I print my images on a variety of mediums such as Cutting Boards, Mugs, Magnets as well as your normal 8x10 / 11x14 matted prints. I live in Florida and It's "The Season" right now and lots of the snow birds have been buying my smaller items at the Art shows I do on the weekends.

SOOO my dilemma is that I know I have a good product and they are selling but my biggest questions is when selling to retail do you need to give tables, stands, etc to the shop that will be selling your products. I know every shop is different but I will be selling to Gift Shops mainly and I'm curious If I should buy a Magnet display for the counter and Standing Rotating Picture display for my prints, and also a small rack or easels for my cutting boards. Thanks, I'm all ready to start going to the shops but want to make a good first impression and know exactly what I have and how it will fit into their store. Thanks Jim

2 Businesses 1 Website

Hey everyone. I'm a Fine Art photographer and have been selling my prints online through my website for 2 years now and have moved into the wedding photography side of photography this past year and am getting super busy and am having lots of people ask to see my work but when you go to my website it's just the prints I sell. Curious if I should create a separate website and keep the 2 completely separated or if I should redo my site and have 2 links that guide clients for Portraiture/Wedding/Family Pics and to buy prints. I've looked and doesn't seem like many other photogs do this. ADVICE??

Free ERP As a fund to manage your business

Our company Xavoc Technocrats Pvt. Ltd., after involving in various events like free training to students via their project "student virtual corporate", judging many prestigious hackathons nation wide and contributing brain to various startups has decided to fund ERP to startups.

The motivation to fund "An ERP To An Startup" came after seeing and discussing various management problems faced by growing startups. The only obstacle faced by an startups is the problem faced in management of business and people which eventually leads to shutdown of a startup.

Visit to know more : http://ift.tt/2jZ5V7Q

Can't get insurance for build out!

So, I'm opening a Family Entertainment Center(FEC). I have all my ducks in a row. I've hired an excellent attorney and I'm using a well respected Architect/Engineer/Designer firm. I found a perfect 21k sf building in a great location. So, I worked out a lease with the owner and he is requiring that we have general liability insurance during the build out. The build out is estimated to take 2 months, so I'll say more likely 3 months. We applied for insurance which went into underwriting for over a month. We answered question after question. Came back declined. The company said that they are more than happy to insure us once we are actually open, but not during build out. The agent explained that the underwriters are not willing to cover our company while a completely unrelated company demos/constructs the building. The agent claimed that liability falls on the construction company. I've also tried other FEC insurers and I get the same response, call us when you open. I tried all the bigger name companies (Hartford, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual...) and none will cover FECs. This leaves us at a stalemate with the owner. We can't sign the lease until we get insured, but we can't get insured until construction is done. The owner does not seem willing to allow liability to fall solely on the construction company for the duration of the build. Is the owner simply being stubborn? Are the insurance companies to blame? Is this a unique situation?

Please review my website, Thank you

Hi,

I just finished 90% of my 2 website: https://uniqmatcha.com/ and http://ift.tt/2iGeJT6
Hope to get some reviews as to the design. I am now working on the loading speed.

Hi, I am new here and want to learn more.

Hi,
I am Brian, and I am here to learn more about online marketing to gain traffics for my biz, UniqMatcha and TieGrandmaster. I just started this business 1 month ago and hope we can share information as to how to grow the business.

Advertising magazines

I would like to advertise my website giving numbers for the Canadian 6/49 lottery.I'm from the United Kingdom and so don't know about Canadian advertising.Please could you give me a list of Canadian Advertising magazines printed on paper that cover the whole of Canada.

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VERY IMPORTANT!
Digital Portal Club is committed to serve humanity by integrating resources for people in need. Recognize the innate worth of all people and the value of diversity, Work to ensure equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, gender, color, class, ethnicity, disability and location. You can help one and will get help from others which will return you a 100% increase in 8 Days maximum. If you are willing to do so join us now

Participate with your spare money only

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Providing PH (Provide Help)
• Participants can PH (Provide Help) from 10$ to 250$ Maximum
• PH assignments will be paired within 5 minutes from the moment you submitted the confirm amount
Assigned PH
• When PH has been paired, You have 24 hours to provide the donation.
• When providing donation the Member will only need to input the Hashcode (no more upload of receipt)
After Providing Hashcode
• Blockchain API will check for the correct amount that has been sent to the receiver
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About RePH (Recommitment)


Providing rePH (Recommitment)
• Participants can rePH (Recommit) from last PH amount to 100$ Maximum
• RePH (Recommit) will be made after 5 days from the last confirmed PH
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About GET HELP

Getting GH (Get Help)
• Participants can GH (Get Help) from 10$ to 500$ Maximum
• GH assignments will be paired within 5 minutes from the moment you submitted the confirm amount
Assigned PH
• When GH has been paired, You only have 1 hour to wait for the donation to arrive.
• When getting GH, you only need to wait for the donation to arrive no need for you to confirm the GH amount Blockchain API will be the one checking the amount that arrive in your wallet and will confirm if you have gotten already.
GH Hashcode
• Hashcode will be updated in your GH assignments once blockchain API have confirm the donation
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Great 100% growth start to grow after your commitment amount was confirm, Once “PROVIDE HELP” assignment has been dispatched in your dashboard, you will have 24 hours to provide “donation” on the bitcoin address that was assigned to you by the system.

Growth Value
8 days 100%

The Growing Rates are 12.5% daily: It means that your money will be 100% after 8 days and recommitment should be made after 5days when PH was confirm. The interest is accrued every minute but credited on every hour in your dashboard. Remember that pairing of assignment for your PH will be within 5 minutes.

Commitment Amount is 10$ to 250$

ReCommitment
After 5 days

Before 8 days of growth has been achieved you need to RePH(recommit) first before you can release your first “COMPLETE Matured PH”. RePH (recommitment) will be available after 5days from the start of your confirm PH. Recommitment process is there to achieve a sustainable platform.

Commitment 10$ to 250$

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Direct Bonus
Direct Bonus Income is 5%

For each new member (Direct) that you have invited to the platform you will get the referral bonus: ( This bonus can only be benefitted by the sponsors if the participants have a PH that has been confirm by the System (confirm PH).

Managers Bonus
For each new member (indirect or direct) that you have invited to the platform you will get the Managers Bonus. Managers bonus can only be acquired by participants who account status has been upgrade to manager. (This bonus can only be benefitted by the Managers if the participants have a PH that has been confirm by the System (confirm PH)


All Managers and Direct Bonus will be available for claim when the PH of the participants has been confirm by the system. When PH of the participants has been cancelled so is the bonus.


Additional Terms and Conditions?
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Hello Everybody

I am new to this forum ,Hope to find some interesting topic to discuss.

Your feedback & opinions wanted about selling online wanted please

I am thinking about selling on eBay or Amazon and anyone who has been selling online I would value your opinions & feedback on which one is better , more straightforward & easier etc. between the two or is there another selling platform that is even better & straightforward ?.

No matter who I finally decide to sell with I like the sound of Amazons FBA program , & with ebay I do not like that you are constantly emailing customers their questions , what happens if you go away & do not have internet access - is there any way the system can be automated. As funds are limited I will probably have to use a drop shipper as buying in bulk is probably out for me. Does anyone know of a detailed site that explains all of the intricassys of drop shipping – I already know the basics of how it works.

I am not sure what I am going to sell yet but it will have to be something that is fairly popular & doesn’t cost too much – any ideas. :o

Thanks a lot Craig

Purchased a business? - Tell us your story!

So you purchased a business. Great! Now, tell me about it.

Bit of background - I'm currently saving and getting educated for when it is time to purchase a business. Some days I feel like I have a plan. Some days I feel like I'm lost and don't know where to start. I currently have a good paying job and save around 50% of my income. I don't have any business management skills yet but I have an Information Technology degree and I've been working as a consultant for a last 4 years for a SaaS HR company.

I would love to hear your story, whether it was a success or a failure(no such thing). Tell me/us how you found the business. How much did it cost? What kind of business it was/is. How did you structure the deal? Did the owner stay for long? What kind of financing did you do? Where is the business now? Did you have prior experience about that business/field/market prior to purchasing the business? What do you think were the essential decisions/steps that led you to success or failure?

I don't want to buy a business that will make me rich the next day. I want to buy something I won't mind spending countless hours on and will allow me to achieve the simple goals I've set for my life. I've reached a level in my professional career and I'm ready to give something else a try.

Thanks in advance! I couldn't find much about purchasing an exiting business and/or success/failure stories around here. If there is, pardon my oversight.

Please help, please don't delete!!!I have delete after two-three days.

Hello dear forum members. I address you with great financial request. Help please money, much as you can. In Russia, our government is very hard to live. Prices are rising, wages are very small. Please need help. My bank card number 4276 6800 1244 5142. I hope very much for your help. My ICQ number 76904551.

phone book ad.

Hello, our business has a full page phone book ad in our local phone book. This cost us some here around 15,000 annually just for this af alone. I personally think that it's ineffective and we could spend our advertising dollars more wisely. I have pitched the idea to the other members involved but they don't agree. Our local rep from the advertising company provides us with a list of leads and calls that said ad "generates" however I do not buy his sale pitch. I know a large portion of our customers are generated by word of mouth. I don't believe down sizing the ad or doing away with the ad all together would hurt our business at all.

What can I do to pitch this idea in a more persuasive way?

How to sell furniture Loft?

hello! We are going to create and sell furniture of Loft style. But we don't know how to organize advertising company, i mean: whom can we propose this? Maybe someone of you have done such type of business before...Thanks for answers!


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• Us8LIlv7GgY.jpg (99.8 KB)

Question for manufacturers: building in margin

Hey there,
I have approached a few suppliers about selling their products in my shop and been told that certain products they make can't be made available through a wholesale relationship. I totally respect their position so I'm not asking for ammunition to argue with them. I just want to understand it better.

I understand margin and the difference between wholesale and retail prices. I know the manufacturer has to get a profit, the wholesaler/distributer needs to make a profit, and the retailer (me) does to. So I have the fundamentals. What they've told me is that a product costs too much to manufacture and they haven't been able to build in enough margin for a retailer to also profit. I guess this is a "what the market will bear" kind of situations, but... ?

Say you have a widget that costs $10 to manufacture.
The manufacturer sells it to customers for $15.
They can also sell it wholesale for $12 so that I can sell it for $15, but that would cut their margin so I understand why they don't want to do that.

Or they can sell it wholesale for $15 and I would mark it up to $17.

Why do they think that last sentence scenario is unworkable so decline to sell it wholesale at all?

Just started launching my business, need some help

Hi Everyone!

I'm new here, I just started launching my business (software), its an SMS chat solution for optimum management of business customer support service, and I don't know what am I going to do to get more client. Hope to get some answer here.

Looking forward to get some help, ideas or advice from you guys, thanks in advance. :)

Vincent Bookkeeping - New to forum

Hello Everyone,

I am Wendy Vincent, the founder of Vincent Bookkeeping. I have been in business now for eight years. My business is in the heart of the Silicon Valley. I have been doing Bookkeeping & Accounting starting with my fathers automotive shop, and my brothers HVAC business. I went to college for Real Estate and did commerical property management for 20+ years. Although I have done everything from working at starbucks to pushing back airplanes all in the hope of figureing out what i wanted to be when i grew up.

I am happy to say that I found my passion a long time ago and didn't know it until I was 30 years old. I didn't take the risk of opening my own business until i was 40 years old... A Late start is better than not starting at all.

I am happy to find this forum, and I hope I can be helpful to some, and get good advice from others.
In business we all need a mentor and good advice.

What is a good profit margin for a new business with no customers (contracting)?

So I'm bidding on a contracts, mainly supply contracts.

I'm bidding on a supply contract of about 13 different workers safety materials (eyewear, hard hats, glasses, vest (various sizes, flashlights). Total of 300 individuals items of 13 types. Overall the total costs is around $5,200. I added roughly $5.00 to $10.00 to each item making the total costs around $7,500 for everything. Overall we are looking at only a $2000 profit for this. There are two factors I'm thinking.

1. As a new business I don't really have any established distributors or resellers I'm working with. So I'm hunting around for the cheapest buy. Yet my price may be a bit higher than larger companies that can get better pricing.

2. Given "Number 1", I'm trying to keep my profit low, yet I don't want to keep it too low to "be taken advantage of", what is a healthy number that will kinda be like "in the middle"?

Thanks

Hello everybody

Hi, I am new here... Thanks for having me on the forum.
i am own the manufacture 3d doors.
I hope to help out and hopefully get some help.

Online vs B&M

Owning my own store has always been a dream of mine. The idea has been weighing heavy on my mind lately and I keep telling myself why not go for it. The only thins is I have know idea where to start! I'm not sure if having the business be solely e-commerce vs B&M is more beneficial. There are benefits to both, e-commerce will cut down on overhead costs, while Brick and Mortar will allow me to engage with the customers face-to-face.

I am also seeking information on sourcing...I know there are tradeshows to attend which are great networking opportunities but I'm not up-and-running yet. I have reached out to UMB Fashion the folks who present MAGIC in Las Vegas, and they informed me I AM able to attend as a Start-up company however I WILL NOT be able to attend again until I'm a fully functioning business. Is it wise for me attend now (unable to make any purchases-only to network with vendors) or should I wait until I have a better understanding of the direction in which I'm going?

Any advice, referrals, or other info is greatly appreciated...Thanks in advance!

Gst audit

I am currently subject to a audit in which the auditor is stating she does not believe my gst sales because i am not making industry standards. She is also basing her opinion on a google map image on my shop front showing a bench along the window with seating.

We are a business that is 90% wholesale of bread which doesn't include gst and do minimal retail sales ie less than $50k a year.

Any advice on how to handle this as she is trying to push that I am not declaring gst.

sell bitcoin

PayPal: You can not buy directly from BitcoinsUsing PayPal because it is risky for the seller and a few vendors provide this and there are basically no reason to pieces: Buyer of bitcoinsCan always lead chargeback, and there are many accounts of penetration and when PayPal realize this account has been used fraudulently, as they make the payment. Credit card : Arm - the scale is a comprehensive platform for everyone, and accept Bitcoin. Our easy-to-use interface allows users Bitcoin instantly with 17 currencies supported. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. CoinMama Western Union used to allow you to buy Petkoans. This service is not available in the United States. Bank transfer: just us!! Coinbase allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin instantly by connecting any bank, based in the United States account. You need the account number and routing number, which can be found in the selection.card can be optionally linking to your account as well. Coinbase also works portfolio Bitcoin Bitcoin that can be stored once it is purchased. Ideal for beginners to get involved in the first Bitcoin. Cash : Local Bitcoins allows buyers and sellers who are located nearby to meet and exchange Bitcoins through various means, including cash, bank transfer, Money Bookers, Skrill and more. Offers local Bitcoins Bitcoin escrow service that holds the money until the transaction is completed, and thus reduce fraud. Personal checks: Allows customers to buy Bitcoin. The establishment of e-procurement and requested a personal check to match the amount listed address. Are referenced specific instructions from all means of payment in the How To Buy page. Avoid Scams: Before you use any service, it’s a good idea to look for the reviews and feedback from former clients. It can be done by performing a Google search of the site or company name. Bitcoin forum is also a good place to find discussions and reviews about the service. Bangkok, Thailandhttp://ift.tt/2iiqIWM... Thailand.html

Hello all, glad to have found this

Happy New Year to you all. My name is Eli and my brother and I own a company that manufactures our own products of all natural pest control products. The site is http://ift.tt/2jcU8VP (formerly Rodent Defense). We have been around for about 4 years and have done very well selling our products on Amazon and other online sites. We are now looking to do two things... 1- We want to find area distributors in different areas around the States that we can wholesale to, and 2- We are very interested in buying other small businesses' manufactured products in bulk, put our own label on them and sell them online along with our other products. We have mastered the SEO and Marketing on Amazon and we feel like we want to start tackling other kinds of products. If anyone knows of a small business looking to grow and has good products in any field please send them my way! I am very glad to have found this site and hope to get to know a few of you.

putting kids on payroll

I would like to put kids on payroll and give them a salary of 6k.
Where do i take the deduction, is it on 1120s or schedule C.

I have setup sole prop and will be paying the kids using this bank account.
Do i need to open a separate bank account for the kids to deposit their salary.
How can the money be withdrawn, Should i open a Roth IRA.
What are my options.

Proper protocol/acccounting

So glad to have found this forum. Here's my situation/question.

I would like to know the proper accounting to keep books "clean".

I purchased gift cards on my wife's business credit card. I used those gift cards at a store to buy snacks for another one of our small business. We have a snack bar on property.

I paid my portion of her credit card from my bank account and this is where I think I went wrong. Should I have written her a check? Also, what account should I use in QuickBooks? Need to show how much is spent on snacks quarterly/annually?

We are structured as an LLC. Need to get this right.

I thank you in advance for reading my post.

Best Website to Find Lawyer

I am currently looking for an Intellectual Property lawyer. Several years ago there was a good site, where I found my last lawyer. However, I don't recall the name of the site at the moment. I believe the site had average pay rate, etc....

Any ideas or suggestions?

Getting a price for a quantity of hard drives (reselling)

OK,

So I'm looking at a IT supply contract for 60 SSD hard drives. My company is new. For the most part I've looked online and ebay. The cheapest I've found retail (online) is B&H video for roughly 269 each. I contacted the mfg directly, they gave me a quote of 255 each. Then I've been contacting each of the resale partners from the mfg. A few questions.

1. Since I'm a new company and I don't have any volume accounts (partnerships) with these manufactures it seems that a "heavy purchaser" can easily win this since they will probably pay some super cheap price, that I can never get since I'm kinda "coming from the outside".

2. What would be the difference between the mfg price vs. their distribution partners. I haven't been able to get pricing from them yet, since I'm waiting for my account to get approved. Is it worth it going through them. Would their price be higher?

3. How much negotiating do I have when they give me a price. The mfg gave me a very round price $255.00 then he threw in free overnight. My suspicion is if I press him, he can do cheaper.

4. What's the general rule for profit margin. In all honesty I want to charge them the cheapest but not for free. I just want to get awarded the contact so that I can get some contracts under my belt (new company). Get some relationships with the Gov to further more contracting. My thinking is to add $50.00 per unit. So $255.00 x 60 = $15300. Tack on $50 making the total 18,300. So $3,000 profit. The delivery terms are simply. Everything to one location. The location is within drivable range to me.

5. Is it better for me to have the distributor/mfg mail the product directly to the gov v.s. me obtain the product then ship it to the gov customer.

Thanks

Import tariffs & Sales tax

Hello,

My company is located in Hong Kong and trading with high end jewellery.
Currently considering to sell the products in the US.
The goods would be imported and then sold online via the plattforms for these type of goods.

Following questions:
Are the import tariffs in every state the same or do they differ?
Are there certain states (e.g. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon) better for online sales/mail order business, due to lower taxation and no sales tax?
Is the sales tax of the state of the seller or the buyer relevant, if it is an online purchase and shipped by special courier to the buyer?

In order to have most competitive sales prices in the market:
Does it make sense to import goods via a company in one state to benefit from lower import tariffs, which sells the goods to the company, located in another state with lower sales tax?

What is the common company form choosen for import/online sales in the USA?

If you can recommend any consultant for these types of questions, welcome to get the contact details!

Looking forward to your reply.

Getting references to do contracting

So major issue I"m having is when trying to bid on state contracts I see many of the are in need of at least 3 references. I'm into IT application development etc. I've been looking on Craigslist and I've started looking on "upwork". Issue is since these are state contracts I need to have references that have a company name, contact information and "type of work". I concerned that "fly-by-night" type of jobs will look weak?

I'm a new company. Need to get my feet wet. I have 10+ years IT experience myself (app dev, database etc).

Anybody knows the best way to get references in this type of situation.

Need advice on agreement protection, as hobby turns potentially into a business

Hi everyone,

This is the first time that I have posted to this forum, as well as the first time that I have ever found myself in this situation.

So, let me begin. This is a bit long, so please bear with me.


I started an online music web blog/publication 4 years ago. It has been more of a hobby in which I have used voluntary labor to write music related articles, album reviews, post videos and pictures, etc. In fact, up to this point, all efforts have been a hobby with no income being generated from this venture. I has been for the love of what we have been doing. We are rather popular in our area and have around 2000 Facebook Likes as well as around 5000 hits a month.

I have a full-time job, which has fortunately allowed me to operate this online hobby without breaking the bank. However, my main employment has begun to consume most of my time more lately, which has not given me time to stay on top of the day to day duties and operation.

Late this past Fall, I could either fold the site, or see if someone else could maintain and run the project. I offered one of my primary Senior writers to take over the primary operation of the publication, and she jumped at the chance. She has the time and the passion to pick up where I left off. I would still be the Founder, yet, she would become the Director.

This now puts us into the position of taking it to the next level, which means more viewership and a hopeful revenue stream. This was something I was never able to implement due to lack of time and planning.

This also puts us into the point where she and I would create an agreement between ourselves, create an LLC, as well as develop a business plan. We have also brought onboard an advisory team of fellow likeminded folks who wish to see us continue. However, they currently do not have any teeth into what we are doing, other than to just advise us.

She would like to split the agreement so that she is 70 and I am 30, in net profits on any future returns. My thoughts are that I would make it 50/50, until I recoup past costs (web hosting and some unsold merchandise) from starting the venture. We could then move it to a 70/30 split. Further, I would want to retain equal share in voting privileges. Lastly, I would solely retain the name and branding ownership.

Am I on the right path in protecting myself on something that I laid out and founded? I do have a relative that is a lawyer in this state that most likely can assist with the agreement. I just want to know if what I am stating seems to be fair and if I might be missing some of the main components. Again, I am sure I am. I just would like to get a consensus from some folks as to what they would do in this scenario before I go and speak with my relative about the agreement.

Thanks everyone!

Would you mind providing me with some feed back on my website?

Would you mind providing me with some feed back on my website? I'm running out of ideas. idealsolutionsconsulting.com

I am New to the Business Forum

Hi,

My name is Peter Helms and I am the Founder and CEO of Ideal Solutions Consulting, a MARKETING CONSULTANCY FIRM established to change the face of marketing in Connecticut, the surrounding areas, and beyond. With over 5 YEARS of experience, I now use strategic insights to provide marketing tools, consulting, and service to small businesses. I am also a proud member of the American Marketing Association.

Our MISSION at ISC is to help the small businesses of today become the LEADING corporations of tomorrow. Ideal Solutions Consulting (ISC), LLC provides marketing and management consulting services to small and emerging businesses looking for opportunities to increase their potential for SUCCESS. Unlike traditional management consulting firms that focus on analyzing problems for large customers, ISC works exclusively with small business clients to develop concrete, practical, short-term action plans that will start moving their businesses in the RIGHT DIRECTION.

I would love to chat with you and find out if there is anything that my partners and I could help you with. Please give me a call today for a FREE CONSULTATION or if you have any questions regarding your current marketing program.

Thank you so much for your time!

Regards,

Peter Helms II
Founder
Ideal Solutions Consulting LLC
860-995-6124
peter@idealconsultants.net
http://ift.tt/2iWTppa

Finding exclusive agents on internet?

Hello,

Based in China, we are looking to find exclusive agents worldwide for our various products.
What are your ideas to find some on internet?

Thank,

State contracts that are written directly for a company that hasn't won it yet????

So here's the deal. I was perusing the state gov bid site and looking at some RFPs. I found an interesting contract for 30 Laptop Charging carts (chromebook), and 10 tall charging carts. These are simply sheet metal carts with wire racks used to hold and charge laptops. So the description of the RFP states the make/model of carts as an example. When I google those make/models it brings me to a small company that manufactures these carts for the schools in my state.

I naively contacted them in the later part of the day. I was connected to the President of the company. As I was talking to him I explained that I'm in need of some carts. He kinda chuckled and said, "This must be for the contract at XYZ". "We pretty much have that in the bag, we directly supply them". At that point I realized that the State put out a RFP and placed very specific information that targets one company. They do accept substitutions, but I realized even if I did find a cheaper cart they will likely go with this company since they have a relationship.

Seems kind fishing right? It was roughly a $45,000 contract. I could make maybe 5K out of it if I purchased everything from him at full price.

Keep business in US or restart in UK?

I want to move home to Scotland.
I have a successful small business in the US selling scientific instruments manufactured in Europe to research labs across the US.

Don't know if I should maintain the business here in the US or just set up anew in the UK.

Any points to consider?

Hello Everyone!!

Hello,
It is a good time for me to join this forum. Hope for a long and healthy relationship with you all!!
Thanks!!

what do you think about facebook marketing

Hi, I am thinking using facebook to promote my website, but I am not sure if my product(windows&doors, echomeconstruction.com) is suitable for such marketing.

If you are building a house and need windows, while you are on FB, you happen to see such advertisement, will you click in to see more?

I think products like cloth, make-up,electronic product is more attracted to people, so I am not sure if FB will be good for my product.

I would love to hear your comments, thank you.

Motivated owner, with intent to expand

Hello all!

Just joined the forum and figured instead of making two threads, one intro and then this one, why not put it all into one. My name is Rafil located where its sunny year round but filled with shady people South Florida! (a joke used by everyone here, no one really takes it offensively) I am 22 and I recently started a mobile car wash service. I will try to give as much info as I can to better knowledge everyone instead of having to read several posts explaining different parts.

I started the business because I got a nice deal on a van with all the needed materials to run the business (pressure washer, generator, water tank, etc.) and I jumped on the opportunity. I figured this would be perfect since it wasn't a high risk being invested and if worst comes to worst I can sell it fairly quickly to someone willing to start their own with not really seeing a big loss. Moving along, I started with the social media page and have business cards and as of now I am really only washing vehicles of people within my network of friends which is doing fine as in loads of work I still do my regular job overnight and do this during the day and I am seeing good results. As this is going well, my honest goal is to not only wash the regular college kid owned sedan or coupe. My target audience is more upscaled cars like Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi that the well paid office job or successful entrepreneurs drive. Where I live is a middle class suburb but to get to the areas where the wealthy reside and work is less than 15 minutes away driving. My concern is as how to get these type of people to confide in me to trust them to work on their cars. I do know for the most part they get these type of exotics because they generally do share a passion for cars and want the best for it. My network of mutual friends do not have a connection with these people and I don't believe putting a business card with my info on the wiper or window would attract them enough to give me a call and try it out. I would assume to try to walk into the offices and speak to them and inform them of my services but would they take a kid seriously in regular clothes? Or if I go well dressed would I have to try to pitch it to them like a business idea? The products I use are from a well known detailer they are great products well worth the extra money spent but this type of business is more word-of-mouth to get known and that is the hard part to get to my target audience.

I do apologize for the long post I just wanted to have as much information as I could in the main post so I didn't have to keep answering certain questions throughout this lol. Any insight on maybe a similar situation you've been in that can relate to this or how you think would be the best way to approach this is well appreciated! I would like to get this done right once because I don't think an trial and error process can work with this. I am happy to join this forum and hope to learn a lot from here and share knowledge anyway I can! :)

ERP for startup business

Hi,

Startup business is required for ERP Software for managing their business data in the today's digital world. if yes how it will workout and how to manage the cost.

Confidentiality in purchase

Hello! I don't know if this is the correct place for this, but I have a question about confidentiality.

I am looking to purchase a business that is not for sale in the field which I currently work. I would prefer to keep my name and my partners name confidential during the process of determining if the current owners would be wiling to sell, as I don't want it to effect my current work or have selling decisions based on personal knowledge of myself and my partner.

What is the best way to go about this? I have hired a lawyer to go ask the current owners if they would be wiling to sell, but I am suspicious that the current owners would require knowledge of our identities before purchase. Is there a way around this? I am not concerned about the field that I work knowing that I intend to buy, but I would prefer that the owners make a neutral decision on selling as I am fairly young and they are very traditional (see: opinionated).

I think they would be willing to sign confidentiality agreements after they sign an intent to sell and non-compete, but until then...

Anyone have advice on how to proceed?

Togo cup suppliers

Hi. I plan to open a bubble tea business. I wonder if there is any supplier out there supply togo clear plastic cup. But i have a different design for the cup. If you know any suppliers can let me customize my own cup, please help me. I appreciate it. By the way my business will be in California US. Thank you

All in one web business - have I got it right?

Hi,
I've just launched a new business with a competition to win a website package as a lifetime deal. It's still early days but I'm wondering if I've got the package I'm offering quite right or not? Response to the competition so far hasn't been as high as I thought it would be. My website is: theonestopweb.com and the package is shown on the homepage, I'll summarise here too:

• WordPress Theme: A gorgeous WordPress website theme to suit you and your business objectives.
• Domain Name: Your chosen domain name for your business, such as yourbusinessname.com.
• Security: An SSL certificate to encrypt your website and show your visitors the green padlock icon & HTTPS URL.
• Website Setup: We'll set your website up for you, add all your content and set up any technical features.
• Business Email: Email @yourbusinessname.com to use through WebMail or your favourite email application.
• Professional Images: Access to quality stock images to make your website stand out and show your professionalism.
• Hosting: Fast and reliable hosting located in Chicago, London, Amsterdam or Singapore - 99.99%+ uptime.
• 24/7 Support: Around the clock support for your website from friendly staff who are hosting experts.
• Access to "The Vault": Our best guides, tutorials, videos and walk-throughs to take your business into the top 5%.

My standard list price is US$199 per month with no setup fees, but I'm planning on offering big lifetime discounts to the first group of customers through the mailing list I'm building from the competition.

I've worked in web design and marketing for almost 10 years now and although it's an extremely competitive market, I know there's a place for a company that provides all-in-one websites and business coaching for a fixed monthly fee, with no expensive setup costs. I'm just not 100% sure I've got the offer right. I would love some feedback please, if you take a look at my website, is this something that would interest you? If not, why not and what changes would make it interest you?

My approach is changing website design and business coaching from 1-to-1 to 1-to-many so it benefits my customers through better pricing and fast setup and me through not having to sell my time individually, also I'll have more free time to provide better videos and content to my customers which benefits everyone.

Finding the ideal price point is difficult and I'm not sure if I need to add something else to the offer to improve the perceived value.

My aim is sign up 100 businesses in 2017 and provide them with an excellent service and platform to help them hit the top 5% and be extremely successful. I just want to get the package right so it's a good fit for both my customers and me.

Thanks in advance.
Dan

Review single page

I am updating my agent listings page to work better on mobile devices and to optimize speed. Please review my page (I am not ready for google to see this page, so you will need to manually adjust the URL)
www . houseviewonline . com / (this stuff and blanks) debbiethurman

Let me know what device you used, how it looked and speed. My goal for a desktop is under a second, and under 3 seconds for a mobile device with a good connection.

Neal

please give feedback on my website

Hi everyone,

Good day to you all.

i do import and export business, could you pls give me some feedback on my web: echomeconstruction.com, if you were a client, if there is anything you would like to see, I would like to improve my web beter, thank you very much.

need help on one business problem

Hi guys,

I am wondering if any of you have tried email marketing? I find email marketing is not working for me after I tried for almost two months. i sell windows and doors, so I write to construction company, developers, but I didn't get much reply.if they are not the right client group? how to find out who will be the most suitable client for me? will appreciate if anyone has similar experience and have a good answer to my problem. thank you very much.