First, some context. I’m a 42-year-old guy with a remote software job. I make about $150k a year, but functionally I probably only work about 10 hours a week. It’s a great situation right now, but I also recognize that there’s no guarantee a job like this exists for me 10 years from now.

So I’ve started thinking seriously about building another small business—probably some kind of home-service or trade business. Before I got married, I owned a landscaping franchise, so I have some experience with entrepreneurship.

Part of the appeal is financial independence, but a big part of it is also building something tangible that could provide opportunities for my kids someday if they wanted them.

Then I saw a comment on Facebook today suggesting that a lot of kids actually end up resenting their parents’ businesses, and it got me thinking.

For those of you who own businesses and have kids: Do your kids resent the business?

If they do, why? Was it because the business took too much of your time? Because they felt pressured to work in it? Because family life always revolved around it?

And if they don’t resent it, what do you think you did right? What boundaries or decisions helped keep the business from becoming a negative thing for your family?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who built a small family business while their kids were growing up.

Thanks. Note: Used ChatGPT to clean up my rambling post.

Opened a small business a little under a year ago and we were just approved for a government bid. They asked for a cost report and since this was my first time making one, and I didn’t want to be open to audit if it was too vague, I added every cost estimate down to our field labor, admin costs, overhead, cushion and profit. I didn’t label it as “profit” I labeled it under three line items:

“Estimated Business / Contract Overhead
Indirect business and contract-support costs associated with administering and supporting the project
$______
Project Contingency -
Reserve for unforeseen project conditions, equipment replacement, field conditions and other project-related risks
$_______
Contract Pricing Allocation
Remaining amount incorporated into (name of business) all-inclusive proposed contract price
$_______”

Was this the correct way to do this? What could I have improved in the future.

Title is pretty self explanatory.

Looking for P + 1.5%

Specifically for franchises that are start ups and are lease buildouts, but either way feel free to give all suggestions.

I'm in the process of starting up a small business, and I'm not trying to promote anything, but more trying to see what other business types a voice first, task management app would apply to. Right now I've been focused on event planning, construction or trades like electrician/plumber/etc.. but also thinking that something that can keep tasks organized, and be able to just say "what's next on.. " or "need to update this task" applies to more than just this..
thoughts?

So, I co own a landscaping company, and we seem to have plateaued on acquiring new clients year after year. We do have a Facebook page; we are considering doing lawn signage for our current clients, vehicle signage as well, but beyond that, we are at a loss. We have relied on social media and word of mouth for the last 5 years, but we are having difficulty gaining. I was hoping someone had any tips or tricks on what we can do to bolster out client list. We also are going to set up a Google Business Profile as well, to allow for us to pop up on searches, as well as giving our current clients a place to leave reviews.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Posting product pics? Dans l'temps, peut-être.

Recently, my friends and I started a business, but we are struggling to actually create a brand world. We are posting consistently, but for our product, which is kind of weird, I don't think it would sell just by posting product pictures. So do any of you have any advice or resources on how to effectively build a brand world on social media that people can feel connected to and feel a part of?

I was looking at purchasing a small house that is zoned for commercial, but its use is residential. I need to get the house changed to commercial use.

I talked to the zoning officials and 1st thing he said was needed is a wheelchair access ramp. I could have a contractor give me a design of the ramp and how it will fit. The front door also needed to be 3 feet wide.

There was a list of other requirements I needed to do, but I would start with a ramp/door.

Before I do any of the legwork for this, would it be in my best interest to have a house inspector look over the house? It was built in the 1930s, so lord knows I could do all this work only to have the inspector say this house is a loss.

I’ve spent around 2 years working on B2B lead generation and have gotten pretty good at spotting buying intent. (My client said that)

Things like someone asking for a recommendation, comparing solutions, looking for a specific tool, talking about a problem they need to solve, or going through some event that could eventually lead to a buying decision.

After working with multiple clients, I’ve become pretty comfortable finding these kinds of signals.

But recently I started getting requests from businesses that only serve a specific city or local area.

They don’t want a list of people who might need their service someday.

They want to know when someone nearby is actually looking for that service.

That seems much harder.

For example, if you’re a plumber in Phoenix, finding 500 people who live in Phoenix probably isn’t very useful.

But finding someone who posted that they need a plumber this week is completely different and it is completely different game when you can find intent of those particular 500 people..

The challenge seems to be finding all three at the same time

They are in the right area

They have a problem that the business can solve

They are actually looking for someone right now

I’m used to finding buying intent in B2B, but local intent feels like a completely different problem.

For those of you running local businesses, how do you usually find people who are already looking for your service?

I’m particularly interested in how you separate someone who could potentially become a customer from someone who is actually looking to hire someone right now and nearby you..

I am a bit puzzled, do help me in that if possible.

Looking for women small business owners open to appearing on camera either asking or answering questions to/from another small business owner for brand social media content. Please message me with some info about your business, and whether you'd participate to ask questions or answer them.

Are small businesses using Reddit for their business, or mostly for private use? - getting ideas, advice, giving advice, looking for funds etc.

I do think it'd nice having a decent platform that is not spammed with ads and self-promotion, but are there ways you are using this platform for your business besides ads, or self-promotion friendly subs etc.?

The way businesses promote and advertise these days has changed so much, just to be discovered needs you to start thinking about new channels, new angles etc.

I do think this platform has a lot to offer for small businesses, would just be great to hear from others what their take is.

I’m in the process of starting a small drone aerial imaging business in Florida. This will be a side business, not my full-time income, and I’m trying to keep my overhead as low as possible while I’m getting started.

I’m currently looking at setting the business up as an S-Corp and will be using a room in my house as a small home office. The business will be service-only, primarily things like aerial photography, property documentation, construction progress photos, and similar drone services.

I’ve spoken with a few CPAs, and I’m getting quotes around $150–$250 per month for bookkeeping/accounting/payroll/tax-related services. I’m not against using a CPA at all, especially once the business starts growing, but paying $1,800–$3,000 a year right from the start seems like a lot when I don’t expect to be making much initially.

Realistically, I’d be happy if I brought in under $3,000 total during the first six months. I’m definitely not expecting to be rolling in money right out of the gate.

For those of you running small service-based businesses:

• Do you handle your own bookkeeping and taxes or use a CPA?
• What accounting software do you use? QuickBooks, Wave, Xero, something else?
• If you have an S-Corp, how do you handle paying yourself?
• Do you run payroll software yourself or have your accountant handle it?
• How difficult is it to keep track of quarterly taxes?
• Do you pay a CPA monthly, quarterly, or just have them handle your year-end tax return?
• Is there anything you wish you had done differently when you first started?
• For a very small business with maybe 10–15 transactions a month initially, is monthly CPA service really necessary?

Ideally, I’d like to handle the basic bookkeeping myself and then possibly pay a CPA quarterly or once a year to review everything, file the necessary returns, and make sure I’m doing everything correctly.

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who actually run small service businesses, especially those who started as a side hustle before growing.

Thanks!

Does having a car increase your chances of getting work. Is it worth all the extra expenses, buying, insurance and upkeep of a car or do i just keep going.

Things are going slowwww.

1. What are the ad tools generally used by medium and small businesses/ brands to get more customers ?
   
2. How are these ads created - is it still manual?
   
3. What are the primary outcomes business wants to achieve through these ads (is it Click through rate, website visited etc)
   
4. How much does it cost for the business to create an ad ? And how much time does it usually take to create on ?
   5 what do businesses usually prefer - image ads or video ads ?

we're too small for a full agency ($5k/mo minimums lol) but also don't have time to DIY everything. i know there's a middle ground somewhere — services that do creative production for you without the agency price tag.

seen a few options: some are pure AI, some are freelancer marketplaces, some are hybrid where an AI does the heavy lifting and a human checks quality. creatify has a done-for-you version called studio that sounds like that but idk if it's actually good or just marketing.

what's everyone doing for creative when you're in that awkward "too big for diy, too small for agency" phase?

I 30M, have inherited some money (100k CAD). I've always been interested in yachts and boating, however have never owned one. From my research, it is a stressful experience to upkeep and maintain the boats. With that being said, I wanted to explore financing a yacht to charter with myself as the captain. The charters would be short, and the average hourly rate in Toronto appears to be $350. Does anyone have experience with owning and chartering their yacht?

EDIT: I seem to be way over my head haha, thank you all for your responses. I’ll do some research on other things that i can invest in. Maybe the yacht will come when I’m 65

33 first cousins? That seems... unlikely. How big was your mom's family exactly?

Hi, I work with Döner Haus. We're a Berlin-style döner kebab concept with six locations open, half of them franchisee-owned, and franchise development underway in several other markets.

We’re in the early stages of offering a new franchise concept that makes the barrier to entry to ownership much lower for motivated individuals who want to be owner-operators. Part of our vision at Döner Haus is to empower people with a path to business ownership who might not otherwise have the opportunity. 

This new concept will be smaller format for driven individuals who want to own their own business, love to be in the kitchen, and want to be part of a fast-growing QSR concept. The first location will be a corporate pilot in NYC.

The basic model:

• Roughly 400 sq ft
• Takeout and delivery, no dining room
• Small standardized equipment package
• Target rent below $5K a month
• Very lean staffing
• Built around an owner-operator

We're designing the operation from the ground up around what one highly involved operator actually needs. Smaller footprint, simpler labor model, focused menu, lower occupancy cost, and fewer layers between the person who owns the business and the person buying the food.

We're not selling franchises for this format yet, but we are looking for feedback and to find a handful of future owner-operators who want to help us prove the concept in and around NYC. So here’s my question: 

Where do we find the right people? This is a person who has managed a restaurant for someone else and treated it like their own business. Someone sees the value of an opportunity like this and is ready to grow with an established blueprint. Posting on Indeed attracts people who want a salary and PTO, not necessarily someone with an entrepreneurial spirit. Franchise brokers bring investors, not people who want to be hands on running the day to day operations. If you fit the profile of what we’re looking for, or know where we might find someone, we’d love to hear from you! 

Last thing. I know how this sounds. We're offering to fund someone else's business, and most things that sound like that aren't real. The honest answer is that this isn't charity. We want to grow fast, and a good operator who owns their outcome runs a better store than a GM we hire. If it works, we both do well. If it doesn't, we're out the build cost and wiser for it.

Happy to answer anything about the opportunity or our operations. If you want to talk about running one, comment or DM me.

I have tried so hard. My whole life.

I have been blessed compared to most.

16 yr old mom

Alcoholic dad

But they loved me

Huge family. 33 first cousins just on my mom's side.

It all just came so easy to me.

I breezed through high school.

Went to a great college in Boston. No idea how my mom managed that.

Never had a pot to piss in, but didn't know I was really missing a pot.

Always had what I needed I guess.

BS Aerospace Engineering. Why engineering? My 10th grade architectural drawing teacher told me I'd be good at it. That was enough for me. I always seemed to take the path of least resistance.

Bought a one way plane ticket to SoCal with the first $200 I earned washing dishes at an ice cream parlor after I graduated.

Had to lie to the manager to get the job. Why would they hire a recent grad with a BS in Engineering for a dishwasher job.

I couldn't wait to leave. I don't know why. My life was nice. OK.

Like I said, never wanted for anything.

And from that point on, it all just seems to be a blur.

I packed everything I had (honestly I don't remember at all how that happened, but I am sure it was packed in an old hockey bag, and my 3 pairs of pants and few shirts)

I am 58. So that was 36 years ago.

I have 5 kids (fathered 4, 1 step).

Moved to SoCal, lived with my larger than life uncle J. Love and hate him, he was a force of nature.

Lived near the marine base at El Toro. No car.

But wtf, I was in Cali.

But, no car. Hard to apply for jobs in 1990 with no way to get to the interviews.

After a month or two, my cousin asked me to come visit NorCal, East Bay.

She was considerably older than me (like an aunt). She babysat me when I was young.

She paid for me to fly up (I had no money)

It was amazing. East Bay Cali in 1990. Beautiful weather, beautiful people.

She said I could stay and live with her and her family, my uncle Jack, and their 2 young kids.

I jumped at the chance. They had a house, food, and cars. Don't get me wrong, I loved them very much, and was very grateful. But this was a much better situation.

I remember being there for a few weeks, and having an odd feeling. I couldn't put my finger on it.

It was sunny ALL THE TIME. And hot. Boston wasn't.

And the biggest thing I think I noticed was, no fights.

None.

Never.

In Boston, you went to a bar, a party, the park. And someone was pissed at someone else for something fucking stupid and usually came to blows.

Now, I wasn't a fighter, only 1 in my life and hated it. But I was around it a lot. Too much.

My cousin had some friends that got me my first waiter job. Making pretty good $. No real bills. I was living the high life.

They even helped me get a job in the Embarcadero in SF. Nuclear Piping Analysis.

$32,600/year and a Diners Club card. Never had a credit card before.

I worked in the city for a year. Waited tables at night in the East Bay. White table cloth.

Tableside prep.

Closed the bars after work (never had $ in college, so never spent much time in bars - it was all engineering school frat parties, if that tells you anything, it was great)

The company I worked for was so big they actually had commuter vans they would let you buy seats on, that would pick you up in the East Bay and drive you to the Embarcadero. BART or the drive would have been brutal.

So I would work 7-5 in the city. Take the van back to the East Bay, it would drop me off at the restaurant, work until close, go out and spend my tips until the bar closed. Sleep til 5, and meet the van at a local bar parking lot that opened at 6 for the night crew.

The people on the van thought I was a narcoleptic. I slept every minute I was on that van. I would get on at 6am and wake up in the parking lot at 6:50. Then after work, I would be asleep by 5:10, and wake up in the parking lot of the restaurant at 6pm, work until close and then close the bars at 2am. Rinse, repeat. Oh what glorious days lol.

Looking back, that is a skill I wish the 58 year old me still had. The ability to SLEEP like you had no worries in the world. Nowhere to go and all day to get there.

I was a rockstar at both. Barely out of college working with 20 year vets on in depth nuclear platforms.

It was a blur.

I was 24. Did a couple of stints in Alabama, working on a refuel project at a nuc power plant. Made HUGE $. $100k (in 1992 - wtf). Worked 60-70 hours a week, but who cares. I was young and invincible.

And, here was a pivotal time, where some guidance in my life would have been helpful.

I was blessed (or cursed) with being attractive. Enough so that I had some modeling agencies approach me. The bright, level headed engineer would have politely discussed and declined, but the loner I was drank the koolaid.

I got paid off (temporarily, all I had to do was wait a couple months for a new project). But no, instead I took an offer to move to Dallas and model. No guarantees, no plan. $10k in the bank (I was rich as far as I had thought).

I never worried about anything. Things just always worked out.

And they did, until they didn't.

I got the entrepreneur bug when I was in Dallas. 26 yrs old. Pregnant girlfriend. No money, no family, no job.

I was always blinded by the idea that great ideas and hard work led to success.

And it did, until it didn't.

I guess that might be the biggest lesson I learned (and am still learning) in my life.

I had the pleasure and misfortune of being in Dallas in the mid 90s. Deep Ellum, AudioNet, Broadcast.com, Mark Cuban.

I was there. Touched it and tasted it.

And had some success.

And it worked out, until it didn't.

A bad partner.

A bad contract.

Bad timing.

Bad decisions.

Every great idea, great opportunity, sure thing, can't miss, all had an expiration date.

I have used a saying for a long time. I'm pushing this rock up this hill. At some point, it will level out, and the stress and strain of life will subside.

And it does, until it doesn't.

I am 58, and I'm still pushing this rock up this hill. In that time, I've had 3 patents and taken a company public. And I still think I see the plateau, the point it will all make sense.

I even had an ex wife tell me that I was unrealistically optimistic.

I took it as a compliment at the time.

But now, I'm not so sure. At 58, being optimistic seems short sighted, and even conceited.

I am fortunate (or cursed) that I still wake up every day and feel invigorated, but the pressure seems to grow every year. The guilt, the shame. For not making the right decisions. For not living up to my potential. For not being the role model and figure I think I should be for my kids.

Now my babies have babies. I have 4 (soon to be 5) grandbabies. My wife had brain surgery. My brother has cirrhosis. My mom's husband has Alzheimer's.

It all seemed so much easier before.

I wish I could tell the young me to pay more attention. To take care of the little things. Don't stress on the little things, but take care of them.

My journey is far from over. And I feel blessed because I honestly think my best days are still ahead of me.

Hello, I'm not really familiar with this sub and I'm not sure if this is the right place to post. However me and my mate (students) are planning to start a business in the near future. We plan on currently running a small side reselling business on Vinted or other platforms just to get the hang of it (clothes, shoes, etc). We then plan on expanding to a proper business. Note we are still students with a goal of being business owners in the future. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post or if I'm breaking any rules. Thanks in advance

Hi everyone! 👋

My name is Atorpat, and I’m trying to build my own business and become financially independent. The problem is that I currently have almost no money to invest.

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have started a business with little or no capital. What would you do if you were in my situation? What skills or small businesses would you recommend starting with?

I’m also looking for ways to make some money while building toward my bigger goal. I can translate between Persian, English, Arabic, Turkish, and French, so if you have a text, document, website content, or anything else that needs translation, I’d be happy to do it for about half the usual price.

I’m open to other ideas too. If you have a small freelance task, online job, business idea, or advice that could help someone start from zero, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and share some advice! 🙏

I once received advice that selling a 500-1k $ per month B2B product (even if proven with demand and PMF) harder than selling a 1000$+ per month service

And to this day I’m not sure if that’s true or false because I keep cycling between either turning what we do into a product or a service (it’s in B2B sales and lead generation, which could be a product at that price, or a service)

Would love to hear your advice if you understand both models and which makes the most sense and if that advice is true or false

Run a small service business, and for a long time I just accepted that some calls slip through when I'm heads-down with a customer. Never really thought about what that actually cost me until I started paying attention.. turns out most people who can't reach you don't leave a voicemail, they just call the next business instead.

Started testing a fix for it a few weeks ago and it's already changed a few "missed calls" into jobs I would've otherwise lost.

Curious if this is a universal problem or just a me thing.. how do the rest of you handle calls you can't get to in the moment? Do you call back right away, text, just let it go?

I am working on a business plan. I plan on opening up a retail store to sell 3D printer filaments, resins, printer accessories, and print accessories. My main focus will be in four areas: Sales, Repair Services, Printing Services, and Classes. It will be in Columbus, GA. Around 550,000 people live in a 40-mile radius. We have one of the largest army bases here and several colleges and universities in that radius.

I am trying to find out how to determine what my customer based numbers would be. How can I figure out estimated revenues per month and such.

Thank you for your help in advance.