Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with business and entrepreneur

Help me learn about the clothing consignment business.

mintchip — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:18:57 -0800

Help me learn about the clothing consignment business. If someone is interested in opening a clothing consignment shop, what would they need to know? For example, is this a lucrative business? How would you know what kind of items to accept and how to price them? How would you hire employees? How would you protect against theft? Are there a general guidelines for how much retail should cost (rent wise)? How would one determine whether such a business is viable in a specific area? How do you attract consigners? What sorts of resources (books, web sites, etc.) would help someone learn about this type of business? What else do I need to know? Et cetera!

VHS to DVD business

st starseed — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:19:17 -0800

How successful can a VHS-to-DVD conversion business be? I've been told by friends they will pay me to convert their VHS tapes to DVD and have kicked around, for years, the idea of turning this into a real money-making venture.

I have the equipment to get started and have done small consumer-based projects in the past. I know people have thousands of tapes lying around dormant, particularly from vacations and other self-shot stuff.

While I haven't done any formal market research, I do know this service is offered by Costco and Walgreens, among other large chains.

But do you think there's really a market for this? More importantly, what mediums would you use to promote it? Most importantly, how can the business grow?

Use cash to start a business or for a down payment on a home.

mintchip — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:40:50 -0800

Use cash to start a business or for a down payment on a home. I have been interested in having my own business. I have read business magazines for years and have even had a couple of small service-based businesses that I ran part time. No big bucks there but a rewarding experience.

Recently I've been considering trying to start a business for real. I have a small sum of cash (between 10-20k) I've been slowly saving for a home down payment.

It's a tough choice. Since I need a home to live in, buying one would mean an investment in my future and security. However, chances are that I won't get rich working for a private company. In fact, it's quite hard to get ahead nowadays with most of the good middle management positions gone. Meanwhile, most of the people I've known who did quite well for themselves did it by owning their own business.

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm just thinking that owning a business seems like my best shot at getting ahead, and it also happens to be a genuine interest of mine. At the same time, starting a business is a huge risk (I think it's something like 4 out of 5 fail within 5 years) and I could lose the money as well as a lot of time and energy.

I believe I have many of the qualities that would contribute to success in business. But it's hard for me to know if I have all of them.

What's your take? How have those of you who have been in a similar position weighed the pros and cons of such a decision.

What's it like to own a business?

btkuhn — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:09:52 -0800

What's it like to own a business? Hi,
I have long been interested in owning and running my own business. I have never taken any steps towards doing so, but my financial situation is pretty good and I'm interested in exploring the idea. I'd like to read accounts of "normal" people who started their own business, purchased a business, or opened a franchise. Success stories, failures, whatever. Can you suggest books, websites, or anything else that would fit the bill?

good research materials on the subject of electric cars, 3d modeling and/or entrepreneurship?

groovinkim — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:40:29 -0800

good research materials on the subject of electric cars, 3d modeling and/or entrepreneurship? my boyfriend is the son of a mechanic and dreams of starting his own electric car company (not for the everyday consumer, more like higher end sports cars). he does a lot of online research. he's very intelligent and relatively knowledgeable about cars, engineering, etc. when he gets that dreamy look in his eye and starts rambling about the technical specifics i usually don't understand a word he says. his feelings were hurt initially because i was skeptical about the project. he has viable ideas, but he's more of an archetype of a creative genius/professor than a pragmatic businessman. but i do think that his business has potential.

his birthday's coming up relatively soon, and i'd like to help him by getting him some books and magazines on related subjects.

some things i can think of that i could possibly get him reading materials about:

- electric cars in general. manufacturing processes, the market overall, engineering of them, etc.

- 3d modeling. he's mentioned that he plans on acquiring dual lcd monitors, a 3d scanner and whatever else he needs to make clay models. i don't want to buy him any of that stuff (not that i could afford it anyway) because i'm sure he's very specific in what he wants/doesn't want and probably already has his software of choice picked out. but if there are good books or magazines for a beginner, that could be useful.

i'd much rather have him rent or share a workstation somewhere here in seattle than invest a bunch of money in equipment, but he's weirdly paranoid about using public workstations and the slight possibility of his designs getting disseminated without his knowledge. i really doubt that would happen but haven't been able to successfully talk him out of his paranoia. i'd really like to find local people doing it that would be willing to talk to him about it so he doesn't accidentally buy something crappy, but if there's a consumer reports type magazine that covers related products that could potentially help.

- starting a business, specifically the economic aspects (licensing, getting funding, attracting investors, patent laws and copyright laws, etc.) i do sales/marketing for a voip company currently. although it's not my passion in life and i plan on switching careers, i think i can help advise him on marketing, networking and related topics. but i know nothing about starting a business... i've always worked for other people's small/midsize companies.

also, if anyone happens to know about related college or non-credit programs in seattle, that'd be of interest too. he's currently a programmer making a good living but he never finished his bachelor's. he preferred teaching himself. although he's generally good at self-education, i really feel like it'd be helpful for him to get hands-on experience with 3d modelling, advice from someone knowledgeable on the subject etc. while i don't think you need a degree in business to start one, i've also seen several friends start small businesses that were great ideas that failed miserably. my outside opinion is that they failed in part due to lack of sufficent research/knowledge.

i also feel the need to include a rambling offtopic paragraph about how i <3 metafilter. i work full time and go to school full time so i don't have much time to spend here, but it inspires me that there are still little pockets online where intelligent people communicate in a usually-respectful way. i'm sad that there was no seattle meetup and i didn't have time to organize one myself.

Mmm, bagels...

firei — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:00:27 -0800

Thinking of opening up a bagel store in a town nearby where there are no bagel stores. Looking for tips, suggestions, advice, and name ideas! (First off, if you've read my previous questions, you know I'm a bit conflicted because in the past year I have graduated college, gotten two part time office jobs, and was thinking about becoming an english teacher. Sorry.)

Anyway. My father and I are pondering going into the bagel business. Yay! Before we decided whether or not this is a good idea, I am going to be getting some early morning work at a bagel shop, in order to figure out if I like it, what it really entails, and if it is feasibly for us to do. I'm also working on a business plan.

I've read a few accounts of the bagel business (like the self-proclaimed bagel guru's), and have a general idea of how it works.

If we do it, we will be using the kettling method, and we will be making them from scratch, not a starter.

And we'd be doing it on Route 6, in Carmel, NY, and the location is a good one - lots of parking, close to I-84, no other shops around, etc.

So, have you worked in, run, or owned a bagel shop?

What does your favorite bagel shop have or do that is different and awesome?

Do you have a fabulous bagel recipe?

Any other random bagel thoughts or recommendations?

And, bet of all, what clever/fun/interesting/descriptive names can you suggest? (or boring and standard, that works too!)

Can I possibly buy a business?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:17:01 -0800

Help me find out if my dream is totally unrealistic! Hi mefites,
I graduated from college two years ago and immediately began working at a stressful, high-paying job, where I stayed for a year and a half. I lived frugally and saved quite a bit of money, and I was lucky enough to keep almost all of it out of the stock market. I was again lucky earlier this year, when I decided it was time to put my money into the market, and I just about nailed the bottom. So if I sold my stocks today, I’d be sitting on a substantial (to me) cash cushion of $80-90,000.
I have struggled for a long time to figure out what I want to do with my life career-wise. I've considered a number of diverse options - med school, law school, going for a PhD, and on...but so far I haven't felt strongly enough about any one thing to commit to it. That's why I went into finance immediately after college - I could get the job without any higher education.

Anyways, I've had this nagging thought for the past few months...I have always wanted to run my own business and work for myself, but it has always seemed totally unrealistic for a young guy like me with no experience and no brilliant ideas that will sell themselves. Starting a business is for people who have worked for a while, developed some unique skills, saved some money, etc. Even then, most small businesses fail.

So...nothing has really changed, except that I have a bunch of cash. Starting a business from scratch is still unrealistic, but now I could buy an existing business. Still probably a risky gambit, but much less so when everything is already set up and running.
I know this sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky, but I'd like to learn more about the feasibility of something like this. At this point this is admittedly still just a vague, inchoate idea in my head. $90,000 seems like a lot of money to me, but maybe it's not. Obviously I would not be able to buy a large business. So I guess what I'm looking for is advice to learn more - resources, books, places to look for info. I know how a business works financially - I can read a balance sheet, determine cash flows, etc...but I know little about actually running a business. How can I find out more, and decide whether this is a realistic idea?

Business documents needed for startup?

Elminster24 — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:28:37 -0800

Help me get my ducks in a row in terms of what business documents and billing method I'll need for launching my new lead generation business! I've decided its time for me to break out of the corporate rat race where I do lead generation and start my own lead gen business.

In short, it works as follows (don't worry, not giving away the secret sauce here)...

1. I acquire customers who want to buy leads on a CPL (cost per lead) basis, meaning they only pay when I deliver the leads.
2. I obtain leads using my Secret Sauce(tm).
3. I provide weekly lead reports to my customers with the info for the leads. Ideally I would charge directly to their credit cards at this time but I'm not sure how refunds would impact me in terms of money if I have to refund a junk lead or two (which is a given).

So, that's it in a nutshell. From the lead-gen side of things, I've got things covered. What I'm still trying to figure out are some of the operational/business management things and I'm AskMeFi can help me figure out what sorts of documents, etc. I need to get created before I begin and anything else I'm forgetting.

Some documents I've already determined I need are:

-Contract for customer for a minimum number of leads that I will guarantee outlining payment terms

-Contracts for my various vendors who I work with to obtain the leads

-Financial books for tracking revenue and expenses (if anybody has any suggestions on software for tracking this based on the type of business this is I would appreciate it)

Any other big documents here that I'm missing? I'm also wondering about whether I need a DBA since I have an EIN registered to a generic business name I obtained for my consulting work (think: "FirstName LastName Consulting") but I'd obviously like to call this business something else. I figure since it will have its own website, that website would just be a product owned by my consulting business and I don't need any additional paperwork. Am I wrong on that? I'm in Chicago if that helps any.

Lastly, I'm wondering about charging direct to credit cards versus accepting 30 day net terms with a check. Ideally I'd like the first method as it puts money in my pocket sooner and means there is less I'll need to float from the actual lead-gen expenses. I figure I need a merchant account and a payment processor but I'm not sure how to actually get something setup whereby I can type in the customers info and charge them. Any resources on that would be appreciated. Also, I'm not sure if I'd be opening myself up to a ton of fees if I have to process a few refunds every month--are they expensive?

I realize there are several questions buried in this post, so any resources or guidance you guys can provide on anything therein (or all of it) would be much appreciated and I'm happy to clarify on anything I've written. Thanks MeFi!

How can I use 10k ft. of space?

puddleglum — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:38:56 -0800

How can I generate some income with a 10k sq. ft space, only available three weekdays out of the week?

Broke but ambitious in Barcelona.

Zé Pequeno — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:42:07 -0800

I've just finished business school and have landed myself an internship at a very respectable multinational company in Barcelona, Spain. The internship is great, the salary dreadful. So, I'm now in a position where I can barely afford to live and need to find something else to suppliment my income. Can someone give me an idea of what formalities I need to address in order to sell food in the streets of Barcelona? I work just six hours a day so I have plenty of free time and I'm warming to the idea of starting my own business. I have identified a possible business opportunity centering on selling a very easy to prepare, mouth-wateringly delicious South American dish at night to drunken revellers. All I need from a purely logistical perspective, as far as I can tell, is a mobile barbecue, food and a few cooler boxes. I don't want to have any problems with the law, however.

I would be really grateful to anyone who could explain exactly what legal obligations I must fulfil before I can be legit. Also some indication of the probability of being able to do this would be also appreciated. I've already found out the hard way how spirit-crushingly obsinate the Spanish bureaucratic behemoth can be.

I'd welcome any informed suggestions but also ideas from anyone at all as to how I could feasibly make honest money in this city.

I need tips to be a tougher negotiator

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:52:22 -0800

I think I'm too nice to do certain things entrepreneurship requires. I need tips to be a tougher negotiator and be able to drive good deals. Here's my background: After 7 years of working regular corporate jobs, I took a 2-year break to do some independent consulting, pretty much working from home. Then I decided to start up a proper business on my own, with about 20 employees. This new business was based around another area of expertise that I had. I've been running the business for a bit more than three years.

Here's my problem: I think I'm too "nice" to be a tough negotiator on business deals like negotiating office rents, equipment prices, etc. It's a character trait that I am a big believer in "fairness", so I can't negotiate the best prices and rates because I want the other person to make a "fair" deal. When somebody tells me something like "Oh Mr. X, our margin on these products is only 5%, I really can't give you any more discounts", I find it hard to press any more. (I suspect the 2-year consulting break may have mellowed me out too much. I was quite an assertive firecracker in my mid-20s.)

My speciality is production, planning, and project management but as a small business owner who doesn't have specialists to handle various areas, much of the high-level negotiating has to be done by me.

What tips do you have to make me better at these things? I want to be that ruthless Donald Trump type of guy who gets the best deals.

Trying to brainstorm for a one-person business idea.

pinkbungalow — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:41:30 -0800

Help me think of a new business or career that can be started by one person with a small start-up budget? The more portable the better, and I hope to be able to support myself (not extravagently) with income from the business within 2 years. I have done this before starting a massage therapy business in FL that is now quite successful. I don't need to change the world, I just need something interesting and challenging to support myself until I retire in about 15-20 years. I am more of an idea and big-picture creative type than a detail or numbers person, but I am not averse to hard work. I do enjoy flexibility, travel, and living in a temperate climate. Start-up budget of $50k +/- Thank you!

Help me appraise the intellectual property values of acquaintances, if I do all the work bringing their ideas to market.

Redruin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:34:21 -0800

Need help appraising the intellectual property values of acquaintances, if I do all the work bringing their ideas to market. I seem to have interested a number of people/friends in entrepreneurial endeavors. People whose ideas I think have good value and high potential, but people who are utterly clueless about how to turn it into money, and who are completely unmotivated to make things happen. In other words, their ideas will stagnate, and eventually be exploited by someone else if not for my effort and time investment.

Since I find inherent value in their ideas, I am considering lending myself to a few of their projects; but if I decide to "partner" with them I will be doing nearly all the work, using my own ingenuity and creativity to turn the ideas into products, marketing them, etc.

In cases like these, where the final product would consist mostly of MY intellectual property and effort, which is however, completely built around the initial kernel of THEIR intellectual property, how should I determine the profit split?

It seems that people's opinions of what they deserve for their ideas varies, but most expect a high percentage of the profits, with minimal involvement, (one facet of The American Dream). I would like to be able to present clear guidelines that would explain to them what is fair.

Help me prepare to prepare my web project.

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:56:16 -0800

I'm in the very early phases of putting together a special-interest web site, which will begin as a blog but could eventually add other features. For at least the first year or two, I expect to lose money on this. Eventually, I hope to cover my costs or maybe even make a small (very small) profit with advertising. What business, tax and technology considerations should I keep in mind as I get going? For example, should I incorporate a business before I register the domain name and launch? Are there books I should read on sideline businesses? On building online community?

[Entrepreneur] What do you call yourself?

dcbarker — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:33:32 -0800

You're an entrepreneur. You're the owner and head of your own business. You're a completely new start-up with no (or very few) employees. What do you call yourself? CEO? Managing Director? Development Manager? So I'm considering starting my own business (in the UK). The specifics are non-existent at the moment and I'm no-where near writing a business plan but some friends and I got into a debate about titles.

Some entrepreneurs call themselves CEO or MD. Personally I find this unnatural when they are the only employee (or there are only a couple of people involved). I know lots of people find this really pretentious and a bit of an ego-inflater. "Partner" doesn't sound too bad but there need to be at least two people.

Google are well known for their zany titles, but less established businesses may find it more difficult to get away with this.

I know a title isn't all that important but for the sake of things like domain registration, bank accounts, business cards, contact details for suppliers, etc, it would come in handy. Many other businesses require your title in communications.

So to all the entrepreneurs out there - what do you call yourself and why?

What to do with my startup?

lunchbox — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:12:19 -0800

What should I do with my internet startup business? At the beginning of the year I started a startup with some friends. It's a really good Web 2.0 idea; we have been offered funding several times. Unfortunately, in the past few months the team members have had other pressing issues in their lives. It doesn't seem that anyone on the team, myself included, has the time and energy to make this a successful startup.

A little background: the project has a similar infrastructure to multi-user websites like eBay, del.icio.us, or MySpace. Money exchanges might take place between users on the site, and there are of course ways to make the site profitable.

So now we've got a lot of functioning code, although the software needs some more work before launch. What do I do with the project? Some options I can think of:

* Can I sell the startup, along with our intellectual property?
* What about open-sourcing it, so that the code becomes open-source but the users' data is kept private? (Just as the SourceForge or Connotea websites are open-source.) How much effort would it take for me to maintain ownership of this project? What resources are available for me to learn about doing this?

Note: I know that everybody's going to be gung-ho about the open-sourcing option, but remember that I and my startup team have poured hundreds of hours into this project and want to consider ways to compensate ourselves for having done so.

Help me grow my small computer repair business?!?!

Bjkokenos — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 19:55:35 -0800

I need advice about taking my side business to the next level. I have been repairing peoples computers for a while now and earning some extra cash and I am ready to start turning it into my full time job. Wanna know why? I work construction by day and I hate it. I am pretty much self taught on computers and i have no certifications but i know a lot about hardware and software and a little programming/web design. What should i do to start taking it to the next level? I have gotten a DBA (assumed name) in the name i use for the company. I want to start advertising. I have set up a website.

Is there anything i should know before i start advertising? I think my best bet is doing a PC Tune Up type of thing where I remove adware/spyware, clean up the registry and optimize the startup programs and such. Any other suggestions?

I am a home owner and am getting married later this year. I want to be out of the construction field before i get stuck having to stay at the job i am in because i have to support my family so i can't take any chances. I am confident in myself but I really am not sure what the best move is. Any advice from business owners would be appreciated.
Thanks

Office parenting

acoutu — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:02:50 -0800

Parents with home-based businesses -- how do you do it? I've been a home-based, self-employed consultant for many years. I've got a toddler now and I'm starting to ramp up my business again. I'm wondering how other self-employed parents work from home with a toddler at their feet. I'm not planning to work a lot of hours. I can schedule the work during naptime or in the evening. I can do a little bit of work when my toddler is awake, but childcare is the primary focus at that time. The biggest things for me are how to handle new clients who want to meet in person and unscheduled phone calls. I'm not really in a position to go to a meeting for more than an hour, given my childcare arrangements. And I typically only do phone calls during nap time -- but there's the risk my toddler will be in the background.

Hiring someone to do childcare is not an option right now.

Any tips on how to handle this? What works for you and other people you know?

Who can make custom iPod accessories for me?

zeerobots — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 11:14:38 -0800

I have an idea for a couple of new iPod accessories. Unfortunately, I have no technical knowledge to design and manufacture them myself. I have put some money aside which I can use to finance the production. Where can I find someone who I can hire to build these products for me?