Small business general - /sbg/

Summer shirt edition

This is a general to discuss the real business of business. What kind of business are you trying to start, or to desparately keep alive? Ask here about how to solve your problems, how to network, or how to get started. Helpful answers not guaranteed.

Remember to keep yourself accountable (and give us something to read) and share:
>What you did this week
>What you want to do next week

Feel free to split your posts for easy reading and to stop every new crypto shit knocking us into the archive.

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>summer shirt edition

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I want to start a drink business. Do you know where to start?

>this week
Still waiting on the Afghan contract, we are in the final round of bids.
Approached a niche investment advisory firm to offer to do some analysis work.
Made an interesting contact (see below)
>next week
Contact the new lead, a Thai guy interested in importing exciting British startup tech products to Thailand. Have some initial ideas to send him to start understanding more about what sectors are of interest.
Submit scholarship application.
Look for more VCs/boutique investment firms.

This week.

Closed my business because I can get free money from scamerica

Bought pajeetcoin. It works with proof of poo and it is the next breakthrough in distributed scam technology.

What sort of drinks? What sort of business model? There are a couple of guys that post here about their being businesses. Our I used to do a lot of threat analysis in fmcg, so can talk a bit about soda/soft drinks.

Excellent choice and excellent bump

Bumping with a business studies question. Inventory is easily defined for businesses that sell goods, it's the physical product you produce and sell. This was the model of a standard business for centuries and a lot of useful concepts like overage/underage costs etc were developed to fit this.

Now that services are an increasingly important sector, how should we think about the concept of 'inventory' in this context? Is the common 90's approach of treating customers/clients as your inventory valid in this context?

When I drive through through the ghetto I see those little signs like people use for election candidates but for nigger “clothing lines”. Each yard with them has a different “clothing line” so I assume it’s the ceos section 8 apartment.

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Do you have any problems with professionals getting back to you? I sometimes wonder if people don't take me seriously as well, I'm pretty small and look pretty young, I'm waiting on some consultants to get back to me with reports so I can submit approvals and they seem to disappear after a few weeks of chasing them up, my old boomer dad gave it to me straight and said I need to get some balls and just confront them and ask if they can do it or not, but the industry is absolutely flat out at the moment and I can understand why the small timers aren't getting attention.

I have had success before with just accepting a failure rate, I cold emailed about 10-20 people with some real low ball offers with nothing before I had the actual CEO of one company return my call with a pretty good deal, but going back to what i said before he seemed pretty suprised when i showed up and asked how old I was and what I did for a living.

Based incoherent poster

This is a good question that deserves a good answer. Can I just check how old you actually are, what services you sell, and what sort of companies you're approaching?

>how to network
Get into a local networking group. I've been in one (similar to BNI) for a few years and before Covid we would meet for breakfast every Thursday morning, but now it's been happening on Zoom. It's a great way to get to know local business leaders and once you build rapport in a group like that they are more than willing to help you make other connections.

I want to make a Gatorade or a soft drink.

How do I do taste testing?

And how much does it cost?

You need to assemble a team.

If you really don't know the industry that well you need to mentor under someone who is a guru in the field and be a fast learner.

t.user here looking to start a tech business.
Question:
In order to get some funding for a startup, how far off does my MPV need to be at.
Fully implemented, or can it literally be shit code stitched together to give the impression of something that will work in the future?
Could only an idea get me funding?

it sounds a bit far fetched but gold mining exploration and development, it is really full of people with no idea and dreamers but I do have experience in the industry and have a rough idea how it works, then again I also realise it is the domain of big companies with 100's of millions of dollars that still fail, it was a good experience though, i remember asking him some questions and straight away he fired back and was like nope thats not going to work because will expose our company to a legal liability further down the track, things I didn't even even think of he knew through his many years of big business experience.

I focus on the support earthmoving parts to setting up the projects, I can operate all the machines myself and done it as a worker for companies but want to do it as a business, so lacking on the legal, regulatory and engineering side of things, I think i need to get a small contract to prove I can do what I say I can do. I'm only 28 and I met this guy recently discussing some new technologies that I could use he sounded excited in the emails and as soon as he met me I swear I could feel him dismiss me straight away.

So you're offering to do them a service or to operate the vehicles for them? 28 doesn't seem too young, but I know the feeling. My approach is to laugh it off and say 'yeah I have a baby face' without ever actually admitting my age. I'm actually younger than you but in a very different industry. Play to your cv assuming you look strong on paper.

Also, STOP LOWBALLING. I know it seems like a good idea but it a) sets the price for your services and b) when combined with your age will worry people. Low price for someone you know can do the job is great, low price for a young unproven option is worrying.

Your hit rate doesn't actually sound bad, seems like finalising is the issue. Do you get to the point of having a contract or agreed proposal? I can't recommend calling them enough. Emails get ignored, calls get answers. Don't underestimate the ability of busy people to just forget you.

It could be literal shit. Think 'tech demo' that a user can sort of click through to understand the functionality. Almost everything that gets VC seed money is at that level. Better to focus on communication of the key points of your tech project and business plan. Nobody expects you to show them a working product.

If you're exceptionally glib, I've seen ventures get away with a frontend mock-up and a cute webpage.
If I was your investor, I'd need to see at least one feature that will carry forward from your minimum viable product to the final product (improvement allowed).

bump for actual business on biz

Based

Okay well congrats for pressing a sore spot for the industry. If you have a product you're already making, look for 'pannel recruitment' companies. For a dozen or so people and an in depth interview about a consumable the cost is probably in the range of $1000. Per panel group. In terms of making it there are cobottling facilities in most countries that will put whatever you give them into bottles and apply labels etc. Here though you need to really know your formulation. You say 'like gatorade' - if you think of that recognisable gatorade bottle, that is a major cost driver but they have to use it because gatorade insists on no preservatives; hence they have to hot bottle the drink and need the expensive bottles to withstand the negative pressures. Depending on factors like pH, preservatives, etc, cost of bottling will change a lot and this will really impact your margins. As another user said, it would be worth getting someone with production experience on board.

Oh and another trick I used before is getting an older friend to join me in meetings to give an air of experience.

To respond to this, I find it hard to really accept the clients are the 'inventory'. To me it feels like my time is the inventory I'm selling.

Why even bother trying to start on your own? Has any successful non tech company like a consultancy actually been originally founded by just one dude? I don't think it's realistic to expect to make any real kind of money that way...

I think owning a laundromat would be fun. Anyone have advice/experience? I'm saving up now. Probably ready to purchase within a year. Hoping rona shakes out a good deal.

I have the opportunity to learn data analytics very comprehensively in the next six months. After this I plan on starting an analytics advisory company- Does anyone have any advice?

Your largest recurring cost would be rent so ensure that you take advantage of the current pandemic and slowing of the commercial real estate industry, there are some great deals to be had right now for tenants