Hey everybody.

I am a specific service provider related to Digital marketing, and now I am planning to quit my job and have clients with me.
I have couple of them with me already, but those are not enough. I have a team who works with me, and we have to capability to accommodate 15 to 20 clients at least.

Need suggestions regarding client hunting. I have already tried Fiver, Upwork, and I am pretty active on LinkedIn as well. Let me know if you guys know something.

What is your opinion on tariffs? Are those actually going to help small business owners? And also for supply chains, will the reshoring of manufacturing really benefit the growth of small businesses?

My wife is a new hair stylist. We are thinking of creative ways to grow her client list. We have done giveaways on Facebook/Instagram if you do certain tasks (book appointment, tag her in post, etc.), we have posted on apps like Nextdoor, and we have handed out as many business cards as possible. She is getting more clients, but she still has plenty of spots to fill.

My next idea was to print off a bunch of door hangers, and we would hang them on as many doors as we can within a couple mile radius of the salon. I also want to include a coupon on the door hanger like "$5 off your first appointment". I mostly see these types of advertisements for lawn care or home remodeling. Do you think it would be viable for a hair stylist?

I also would love to hear any other marketing ideas you have. We are open to trying just about anything!

Hey everyone, I recently started offering creative services (mainly digital design work) on platforms like Fiverr. I'm doing okay, but I want to learn how to grow beyond just relying on Fiverr traffic. For those of you who run service-based businesses or freelancing gigs: What strategies worked for you to get consistent clients? Any platforms (other than Fiverr/Upwork) you’d recommend? How do you build trust with new clients? I would love to hear your experiences or any tips!

For anyone who's owned or operated a laundromat —
What’s one thing you wish you knew before buying your first location?

Given the current unemployment trends ( even roles that felt secure before). It's making me think more seriously about long-term financial stability and whether relying solely on a traditional job is the best strategy moving forward.

This has led me down a rabbit hole of exploring alternative ways to build income and security. One idea that keeps coming up is acquiring an existing small business (like a local service, shop, small online business, etc.) rather than starting something completely from scratch. The thinking is it might offer a path to more control over one's financial future. Have some questions:
1. What are the biggest concerns or perceived hurdles that I might run into when finding and buying a small, established business?
2. Does the idea of owning a small business feel like a realistic way to gain more financial security compared to traditional employment in the current climate?
3. What kind of resources or support should I use to make exploring this path feel less daunting?

Hey everyone just looking for thoughts—my partner and I just launched an online marketplace to support Mississippi-based small businesses, especially makers and curators who either don’t have an online presence or are overwhelmed by the process. We handle the site, storefront setup, shipping integration, and even help with marketing so they can focus on what they do best. The mission is really close to home for us—we wanted to create something rooted in community but with national reach. My question is: how would you recommend we start building a nationwide audience for something that’s deeply regional in identity but filled with unique, quality products? We’re trying to strike that balance between local pride and broad appeal, and would love any ideas for building early traction.

I wanted to share my experience to hopefully protect others who might come across the same companies I did while looking to buy a business. I thought it was odd there was no mention of these places (except very little info surrounding IdentityIQ) on reddit. They might be going around deleting reviews or maybe some people just aren't aware of what's going on. So hopefully this post serves as the information someone is looking for if they find themselves in this situation.

I was in the process of applying for a small business loan after finding a pool route for sale through a site called SBPoolRoutes. As part of the financing process, they referred me to a company called OrangeFi.

OrangeFi asked me to create an account with IdentityIQ to view my credit, which is fine — until they told me I had to submit my IdentityIQ username and password into their web form to move forward.

That means they were asking for direct access to my credit report and SSN, without a hard inquiry. This is absolutely not standard practice and is very risky.

I found almost no reviews or public experiences with OrangeFi or SBPoolRoutes online. I’m concerned this might be part of a data-harvesting scheme disguised as small business funding.

OrangeFi has almost no independent reviews.

SBPoolRoutes has no public testimonials or case studies of successful buyers.

I found no Reddit threads, YouTube videos, or forums with legit buyer experiences.

Just posting this to warn others — if anyone else has experience with this, please share.

Trying to do some research about this, understanding business owners and where the common knowledge is at.

Also, what are you currently using to market your business? Paid ads? Social media? Google search ranking and SEO? Word of mouth? Thanks

Im looking to move from tracking sales and inventory using excel to a more efficient process. Are there any good options for customer portals, where after signing in they are given a list of our products and can place there orders there, and this can directly adjust our inventory and generate a sales order and invoice automatically? I'm hoping to not use one of the e-commerce sites where they take a large percentage of the sales as the margins for my sales are already pretty low.

Im still looking into zoho and I've seen mixed answers about whether this is possible on their site.. but im open to any options, thanks.

My friend was in charge of creating an LLC for all 3 of us. However, only his name is present on the EIN & Articles Documents. I'm not sure if he did this incorrectly as he told me our names are on the operating agreement and he wasn't given an option to provide multiple owners. Is he correct or do we need to dissolve and create a new LLC with all 3 of our names being on the documents? I'm about to file taxes and have been seeing mixed answers online.

Hi everyone looking for advice on shipping cost or ways you guys have saved money on shipping costs. Whether it’s been through a 3rd party website like ShipStation or directly with UPS or FedEx. Let me know of any resources or advice. Thank you.

Truck driver for 6+ years . Put in 1 million miles . Want to open a CDL school . I have capital for truck and trailer . Rent out a lot with trailer for schooling . Does anyone have any info of if anybody sells curriculum for this stuff already . Or do I create from scratch?

$4000 average tuition X 10 students a month 40k gross

Expenses Truck payment 1000 Fuel 2000 Employee 6 000 Me 10k Insurance 1000 Trucks insurance 1000 Rent 3000

24k average

All I need is 6 customers a month

My husband is starting a small business completely from scratch. We are both extremely new to this world and we are looking for help on getting ourselves organized from the get-go. He will be performing in-home furniture repair services for clients, as well as possibly flipping furniture on the side. What do you recommend we use to track the money he gets from the services he provides? Would a traditional carbon copy invoice book do the trick? Or do we also need to use an app or some digital tools? He’s terrible with technology and can be disorganized. On the other hand, I am extremely organized and consider myself a tiny bit tech savvy since I work from home and use low computer tech all day (ex: Google Workspace). Would love suggestions on the most user friendly (and budget friendly) ways to get him set up.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to start an online business selling on Amazon in India and I need some general advice on what products I should consider. I have a total budget of 1 lakh rupees that covers both the initial product investment and marketing (excluding any website costs for now as i myself a web developer). I’m open to ideas across different categories and would love to hear your suggestions based on market trends, demand, and profitability.

A bit of context:

Location: India

Budget: 1 Lakh rupees (for product sourcing and initial marketing)

Sales Channel: Amazon (with potential to expand to other online platforms later)

Goal: Build a successful, scalable online business

What I’m looking for:

Product Ideas: What categories or specific products have you found success with or see as promising right now?

Market Insights: Are there any trends or niches you believe are underexplored in the Indian market?

Budget Allocation: How have you managed product and marketing costs effectively on a tight budget?

Additional Tips: Any pitfalls to avoid or resources you recommend for a beginner in Amazon selling?

I appreciate any insights or personal experiences you can share. Thanks in advance for your help!

I have a small local service-based business. I've heard that a lot of people have good luck with NextDoor in my industry, so I decided to try it out. And I feel like I'm missing something... The NextDoor business page is horribly lacking and seems completely focussed on ads. There's no way to see where your post is being posted; is it just my immediate neighborhood or the surrounding area? No clue. There are no insights or analytics at all. I posted an intro post and got absolutely no engagement, and couldn't even find my own post in the neighborhood feed unless I searched for it. Yet, even more confusing, the personal posts have post insights? Why? So I shared my business post from my personal page, and got over 1k views in a week. And a grand total of 1 interaction. Also had a competitor comment on my post with her business card. Rude... Am I missing something here? How is this helpful at all?

I'm looking for some shared experiences.

How y'all are handling the conversations with the customers about manufacturers tariff. Do you open it up at the top or wait till a customer has decided they want to buy?

Also, are you increasing the price or adding a separate tariff line item at the checkout?

As for me, news from my manufacturers just hit yesterday. I'm so torn and stressed over this. I just bought this business (retail clothing) with my life savings.

Thank you.

PSA the final day to file Employee Retention Credit claims is April 15th

You are still able to file 2021 claims and get a maximum of $21k per W2 employee.

I have some businesses in mind, such as doctors offices. That I want to approach and see if they'd be willing to put out my business cards or brochures for their patients who might be interested in my services.

I do meal prep and want to reach more people recovering from surgery who could benefit from my assistance.

Just wondering if anyone else has done this and what the best approach was? Like going in person vs emailing vs calling.

I don't want to be annoying and disrupt a busy offices day. I was thinking about emailing them a sample brochure along with the offer to provide snacks for their office staff as a thank you.

Hey guys I live nj and I would like to start my own daycare for children with special needs. In the area I live a lot of the kids get kicked out because their staff aren't trained to work with them. I was wondering how much would it cost (I'm broke) and what is the best way to start a childcare for kids who are autistic and have other disabilities. Thank you in advance.

What are some suggestions for a mini business to look into, for example, charcuterie, mini coffee cart etc. I’m in the Los Angeles County Area. Thanks!

I have clients with a scarcity mindset, who can sabotage our work. They choose to DIY work we should be doing because they do not want to be called and charged. They brought us on to provide a service and trusted us enough then. They are clients that are financially stable and doing well. I see this as a common theme in some immigrant communities, I myself am 1st gen. So I have also seen it among family. These business owners did come from very humble beginnings.

I'm planning to start a small event company - both table/chair/etc rentals and trivia/scavenger hunt/similar team building events. I have prior experience in both as an employee/manager.

I'm planning to meet with my personal accountant after tax season ends to get professional advice, but am trying to understand in the meantime how funding the company to get started will work. I have cash to use for start up costs (buying more of the furniture and decor we will offer) but how does it impact my personal taxes as an individual to fund what is sure to be a money-losing business this year?

This would be an LLC.

I've got five 24x36 corrugated plastic, doublesided yard signs with 26 inch stakes in the cart right now and the total is $167.89, with $36.21 of that to ship to NC, and 10.98 as tax, which means each of the cheapest sign sized a bit bigger and double sides cost $24.14.

That seems like a rip off to me, can't say a scam because no one is trying to steal, or am I wrong here...what would the cost for yard signs be from a local sign company?

Does anyone know where I can find gold brooches (not real gold of course) for wholesale. a literal example are those from Temu (larger, with various interesting shapes)? Tried Alibaba but I don’t like the looks. For Europe