Opening a small business

[AllisonAmy]

I know it might be premature of me to post this, but there is a very high likelihood that I will be signing a lease for a small retail space later this week. Any other small business owners out there? What have your greatest challenges been in opening your small business?

I am sort of freaking out, but if I don't try this now, I likely will never try again. I have inventory and a vision. I imagine it will be a lot of work because I intend to keep my "real job", too. I would like to see what 24 months might bring. If I fail, I think I will be OK with that - at least I won't look back on my life and regret not trying.

Any advice? Challenges that you didn't anticipate?

Thank you!

 

[Fives]

Good Luck with your business, i hope everything turns out great!!

 

[intothevoid]

All the best! Sorry no experience I can share

 

[The Ween]

I know it might be premature of me to post this, but there is a very high likelihood that I will be signing a lease for a small retail space later this week. Any other small business owners out there? What have your greatest challenges been in opening your small business?

I am sort of freaking out, but if I don't try this now, I likely will never try again. I have inventory and a vision. I imagine it will be a lot of work because I intend to keep my "real job", too. I would like to see what 24 months might bring. If I fail, I think I will be OK with that - at least I won't look back on my life and regret not trying.

Any advice? Challenges that you didn't anticipate?

Thank you!

I am....but I don't rent space. We have a small add on to our house. You just have to be sure that you'll be making enough of a profit to cover the rental space and costs that comes with that, and still have enough for yourself to make it worth while. You don't want to use your other job to fund this business. My mother made that mistake at first.

Good luck to you!

 

[AllisonAmy]

Good Luck with your business, i hope everything turns out great!!

All the best! Sorry no experience I can share

I am....but I don't rent space. We have a small add on to our house. You just have to be sure that you'll be making enough of a profit to cover the rental space and costs that comes with that, and still have enough for yourself to make it worth while. You don't want to use your other job to fund this business. My mother made that mistake at first.

Good luck to you!

Thanks, guys! I expect it to take a while to begin to recoup my cost. I feel like I am ready to jump in the deep end and the water is going to be very cold. If it happens, I will post a few pictures.

 

[toylion]

Thanks, guys! I expect it to take a while to begin to recoup my cost. I feel like I am ready to jump in the deep end and the water is going to be very cold. If it happens, I will post a few pictures.

Wish you the best AllisonAmy. I"ve heard starting your own business doesn't show a profit for two years. So hang in there. Wish you Good Luck.

 

[EVILFACE]

Make sure you are selling something people want.

 

[AllisonAmy]

Wish you the best AllisonAmy. I"ve heard starting your own business doesn't show a profit for two years. So hang in there. Wish you Good Luck.

Thank you, toylion!

Make sure you are selling something people want.

It will be all jewelry that I have made. I have a wide variety of styles for every budget and age, but the problem is that I live in a small town. I do well at craft fairs and shows I do out of my house. The problem with a website is that it isn't always visible. There are thousands of listings for jewelry on etsy and eBay, so I would just get lost in the crowd. If I could put it in front of people, I may have some success. The location is next to a Subway (as in the sub sandwich chain), so there may be hope for me, yet. I do have enough inventory to fill a shop. The place is 38' x 13'. I hope I get it because I just ordered 11 showcases and a cash register counter, this morning.

 

[The Ween]

Wish you the best AllisonAmy. I"ve heard starting your own business doesn't show a profit for two years. So hang in there. Wish you Good Luck.

Sometimes longer depending on how deep you jump.

 

[The Ween]

Thank you, toylion!




It will be all jewelry that I have made. I have a wide variety of styles for every budget and age, but the problem is that I live in a small town. I do well at craft fairs and shows I do out of my house. The problem with a website is that it isn't always visible. There are thousands of listings for jewelry on etsy and eBay, so I would just get lost in the crowd. If I could put it in front of people, I may have some success. The location is next to a Subway (as in the sub sandwich chain), so there may be hope for me, yet. I do have enough inventory to fill a shop. The place is 38' x 13'. I hope I get it because I just ordered 11 showcases and a cash register counter, this morning.

If you have that much inventory, then you're good to go. You'll have to advertise! It doesn't hurt starting a website anyway, and a Facebook page. I'll gladly share it around!

 

[AllisonAmy]

Thanks, Ween! My kids' babysitter started my business Facebook page. Sometimes I'll post pics on my regular page and my friends will share them. I initially got a Facebook account to keep in touch with my brother (who has taken continual contracts in the middle east since 2005). I just started using it this year to promote my business.

 

[The Josh]

Good Luck Amy

 

[toylion]

If you have that much inventory, then you're good to go. You'll have to advertise! It doesn't hurt starting a website anyway, and a Facebook page. I'll gladly share it around!

Post a link to your Facebook page.

 

[beeshaw]

Good luck AA! You'll be fine, I'm sure!

'Vision without action is just a dream...'

 

[karamazov80]

I don't have a business, and never had one previously. . .in fact, I doubt that I have much of any business sense whatsoever. So, should probably ignore this post.

BUT, if I were in your shoes, I would probably start out by drafting a business plan with some clear strategies and goals/objectives. I would also set some realistic benchmarks, and do some periodic evaluation of my current situation to see how well I was doing in relation to those. Key to that is good data. Data is something that I do know and understand, and I'm confident that being able to collect, organize, and interpret data reflecting the effectiveness of your business (general cost/benefit analyses, relative changes in business following different promotional and advertising strategies, projecting estimated profit/loss accounting for seasonal trends, etc.) could only work to your benefit. Data on your competitors would also be nice. There might be some publicly available tax information that you could get ahold of that might give you an idea of what kinds of profits you can expect if you were more or less as successful as your peers (assuming they report everything).

I'm not envious of you Good luck!

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Make sure you are selling something people want.

Porn.

~~Good luck, have fun, and enjoy it for what it is.

 

[cokebabies]

One of the absolute biggest advantages to owning a business vs. working for one is tax deductions. Make sure you talk to a tax adviser, because taking advantage of every tax opportunity is crucial to a small business owner. And even if you think you're deducting everything you can, chances are it's just the tip of the iceberg. So definitely talk to someone to make sure you're getting everything.

 

[Devil_666]

Didn't really read the thread but from the parts I skimmed: AllisonAmy is selling porn out of The Ween's garage!?

 

[Jen]

Best of luck to you Allison. It's great that you are going for your dream. Nothing worse than living with regrets and wishing you had had the courage to just go for it. I wish you success!

 

[thenammagazine]

It's all about advertising and social media. The biggest mistake people make is dumping all their funds into a business and then having nothing for advertising. Expecting to thrive, let alone survive on walk-ins and word of mouth is the first step to failure. If people don't know, they won't go. Also, make sure you save enough from the income to reinvest in advertising. I've seen sooooooo many businesses dump every penny the advertising brought in, into product etc., forgetting that they need to keep advertising.