A-any of you here actually run a business and what is it?

Staking trumpcoins for dat sweet sweet 2% baby

>>1398011
Shitposting on 4chan all day, and I'm working as an unpaid intern, currently.

Im a trader. I trade mainly $KNPD and $LPBM stocks

>>1398018
>mainly $KNPD and $LPBM
this is the board for that

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>>1398016
What field?

>>1398051
Mostly /fit/ and /int/

>>1398016
Does this actually exist? Do people really work for free? I'm not american and I always thought that internships were just memes and jokes.

>>1398011
Setting up an internet business right now that will hopefully allow me to become a NEET in the next few months.

i run a landscaping business myself. make good money, base pay is 35 an hour, ive charged upwards of 150 an hour for certain jobs. Its nice, work is hard labor, but im gonna hire some workers next year to help me, make good money, customers love me, life is good m8.

>>1398011
I sell toys from a legitimate distribution channel (not scalping). It's only ever been online and at local conventions. I really wanted to open a physical store but rent is sky high even in a small town or city with many vacant storefronts.

I own a brand of beauty products I developed. It's a business, but still very small. I'm lucky to see 5k profits a month right now but it's getting better each month. Old ladies seem to like my stuff.

Yes, Hair salon.

Pro tip; If you ever start your own business, do it in a way that you never need to employ other people. People are fucking hopeless, it is not worth the extra capacity.

>>1398711
Hair dressers seem like very flakey people. Sell the shit before you get a stroke.

>>1398730
Closing down soon anyways, rent went up and is simply too much now.

Nearly lost it when I sent an employee last FY's payslips in a .zip file and they didn't know how to open it.

>>1398094
Same. I started mine because I enjoy mowing. Currently own a 52" wright stander, a 60" hustler super z and an older lesco 48" walk behind. Kinda want a 36" stander so I wont have to push mow ever again. Just cant justify 7k until I get a few more customers with small gates.

Maid service cleaning company

I run a flooring business that does around ~2 million a year.

Repossession company

Advertising company.

>>1398084
What country are you from where non-paid internships aren't normal?

>>1398094

Tile guy here. About the same.

I earn about $100/hr

>>1398761

Whats your takehome though?

Custom cabinetry
~1.2M revenue this year

>>1398011
Not really a business, I'm a self employed web dev

charge £300 a day, should charge more to be honest

can pay my rent and bills and extra working 4 days a month

>>1398824
300 quid is too little? Where do you live?

>>1398833
South of england

>>1398734
Fucking classic! So, what's the next step? I'm starting to feel that being employed does't really cut it anymore. I guess I'm sick of people in general.

Just lost my job, so started doing IT consulting at $55/hr. Mostly network type jobs; VPN turn ups, etc. Have billed out 22 hrs past 2 weeks, so it is def slow.

Would like to make this a full time gig, but not sure how big I can make it or how stable it will be.

>>1398734
>rent went up and is simply too much now

Sky high rent kills more businesses than a thousand immortal Obamas on a 24/7/365 killing spree could ever dream of. The day I went into business and saw real problems is the day I wrote off most cuckservatives as hapless crybaby losers who wouldn't succeed if the world was handed to them on a silver platter.

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>>1398011
I started a relatively successful manufacturing business in 2010 primarily around industrial energy equipment.

Tripled revenues every year and ended up doing about 26 million in business and having 205 employees.

Went bankrupt in Q1 2015 when commodities prices (Oil) crashed. 36 million in orders cancelled overnight.

Lost all my money trying to keep the business open as it fell apart in my hands.

Now wageslaving and rebuilding my warchest for round 3.

1st business was a stupid technology consulting firm not worth mentioning.

>>1399466
indeed. Capitalism is an infantile fantasy espoused by economic fantasies. Left and right wing politics benefit the business environment they're adapted to. Some market conditions flourish with the most socialistic insane government infrastructure spending imaginable. Some market conditions will flourish with absolute pure free market. It's all dependent on time and volatility in relation to the global trade atmosphere and the state of the countries economy. America is unfortunately at a state now where only considerable infrastructure investment by the government will generate stability to prevent leveraging. Can't bear the thought of Hillary in the whitehouse though senpai

*derp DELEVERAGING

Clinical counseling and other services. I have a woman who answers the phone and rent space by the hour to a fellow hypnotist.

>>1399484
Oh, believe me, I know she's in the pocket of globalists working to crush opportunity in America. Sadly, the "opposition" doesn't offer anything except for empty promises, let us do this horrible thing to you (slash your wages, pollute your backyard, sell unsafe food, etc) and we swear the wealth will trickle down this time.

I just get so mad thinking about rent. All of these storefronts cost more to rent than they would generate in revenue, let alone profit. So they sit vacant for months and years as would-be entrepreneurs are turned away. We used to be able to circumvent that by going online but entrenched interests have ruined that with domain squatting and fee extortion. Anybody can make money on eBay with a 2% fee; 14%, or 20% for Amazon, is totally different story.

Hell, last time I wanted to advertise a side business in the "Merchandiser" (a local area "newspaper" that's basically just ads), they wanted $250 for a 25-word spot that would run once. Jesus Christ, how do you sell a business with 25 words and not even a logo? $250 is a week's pay at minimum wage and 2 days at $60K (a "rich" government job). Forget radio or TV.

If you aren't rich, you have a vertical climb. And the rich that do have businesses are just some of the laziest shits ever. They make bone-headed decision after bone-headed decision but it's OK because they'r rich.

>>1398972
What credentials do you have and how long have you been in the IT field?

>>1398011
Own and operate a pawn shop, gun shop, and 'we buy gold' operation. Work about 60 hours a week to bring about $250k a year home in straight profit.

Small-fry trader with around $100K aum.

>>1399479
Damm sorry to hear that anon.

>>1398011
Low volt electrical contractor. 4 years in. 300k revenue.

>>1398869
>>1399466

Trading at home meme seems to be working well enough now that when I've got no morons to look after I'll be able to actually put some time into it.
Of-course, trading is anything but consistent but with enough capital and patience (skill aka; luck), it can be very rewarding.

Here are some details on the lease and the business if anyone is interested;

Currently on a 3-year lease, $305 dollars a DAY rent, not including the power or anything.
On average, it costs over $4000 a week in wages including myself.
I employ 4 full-time staff and have 4 casuals/apprentices.
Supplies and inventory cost around $1000 a week. Varies wildly though due to certain products (like human hair extensions and high end hair products).
The margin on these is fairly decent and can turn a good week into an excellent week but there is the local market saturation problem and also the high initial outlay spent on their purchase. Of course, it must be eventually sold to see any returns.

So currently, the bottom line needs to match cost which, every month, comes to around $36 000.
Most of the time, we break even. Sometimes we will make $15k profit, this is usually during the Christmas/holiday months. On quiet months however most of these gains can be wiped away very easily.

P2 inc.

>>1399654

The shopping complex we are currently located in also requires a complete store overhaul every 2 years as per the lease. This costs around $40 000.
The complex is very large and has excellent foot traffic (Westfield, NSW for you other shit-posters).

However, with the upcoming lease renewal, the rent has been increased to $370 a day and upon renewal I must overhaul the shop again, only 10 months after its previous one. And, I must sign on for another FIVE years. I have a meeting with the centre’s management to “renegotiate” next week but at this point I’m ready to give them the finger. My Accountant agrees.

With the current decline in foot traffic and subsequently sales, advertising is only getting me so far. At the meeting, I will bluntly offer $200 a week for rents and show them some actual data on revenues. If they say no well its annoying but I have other avenues I can now take. The poor girls I employ however are shit out of luck.

Fucking Jews I swear.

>>1398736
Of your looking for a nice smaller mower i couldn't recommend a toro timemaster high enough, 30 inches and quick, check it out man, I've got a 52 great dane Right now, love the stander life haha

>>1399655
>The shopping complex we are currently located in also requires a complete store overhaul every 2 years as per the lease. This costs around $40 000

So in other words, your looking at $400 per week minimun on top of the already overpriced rent??

I have heard bad things about Westfield, Anymore stories of Westfield being power-tripping cunts?

>>1399652
like 120 home shit?

>>1398701
how does one get into the toy market without going scalper mode and buying out shit from walmart/TRU/etc

>>1398972
good luck and god help you. I was in IT before going self employed

In my experience IT is a shithole unless you get in with a nice big company that has in-house IT

>everyone's that comes to you is mad because their shits broke
>its always your fault that their shits broke even though they just met you today
>its mission critical to get their shit fixed and working in the next 3 minutes even though its a problem they've been creating and making worse for the last 5 years cause "we just haven't gotten around to it"
>they don't want to pay more than 10 dollars for it to be fixed though. how DARE You ask for more than 20 bucks for the 24 hours of work you just did

I love IT and working with computers. i fucking -hate- the clients that you get.

>>1399479
serious question:
when you're making that kind of money, I can only assume you were making at least 1 mil salary for yourself...

Why not take 1 mil and put it in a safe "if everything goes belly up, i'm still a millionaire" savings?

or maybe you did, i guess.

Man I don't know why self-employed Americans earn so much compared to people who work for others. They take so much for some reason.

>>1399746
Most small business owners don't make that much money.

Run my own office cleaning business. Make around 60k a year. Work around 25 hrs a week. Live with parents (21 years of age). Have been doing this since 19, I don't have any friends and don't spend much on anything so I've saved around 100k. Nothing flashy

I want to expand my business but that would require hiring people and managing them. I don't know how to do any of these things. I am an introvert at heart and very socially awkward, so I'm not the leader type. So right now I am stuck at this income level.

Job is comfy, I started after 5 pm and basically until the morning of the next day to do the job, so I can go to the job at any time I feel like. Work 5 days a week. Most of my jobs are offices so they are very clean a lot of the time, sometimes all I really have to do is take out the rubbish, wipe the tables and I'm basically out within 15 minutes for some jobs. To pass the time I listen to audio books and albums. Downsides is that this job earns you no social points, no body thinks highly of a cleaner. Also there is no career advancement and no real holidays.. so yer I'm not going to be doing this forever. I might consider going back to study, learn coding or try and find a way to expand this and automate it so I don't have to do much.

I live in Melbourne, Australia for those wondering.

>>1399791
How do you get clients?

>>1399791
I trust that 100k is not in an savings account?
Unless you can get cheap illegals to work for cash, having other employees really isn't worth it. Unless they're good friends and you can trust them.

Are you incorporated? If so, there are ways to make it seem that you are only just breaking even so you're not getting absolutely raped by tax. even at 60k a year there could be a few extra grand to claw back.

There is just so much shit you've gotta do to legally employ someone in this country.
On top of their pay, you will be looking at specialized insurance, superannuation, sick-leave, annual leave blah blah and that's just the monetary side of things.

>>1399805
Get new clients from a lot of different places. Helping.com, leaving advertisements on Gumtree, word-of-mouth, website, sending letters, true local, leaving business cards everywhere you go, etc. I got a new client in the same building just by leaving a business card believe it or not. Business cards are very cheap and you don't lose anything just by leaving one around.

Also I will say that the cleaning industry is a very unregulated industry. A lot of the people who work in this industry are from immigrant backgrounds and don't tend to do that good of a job. So it's very easy to differentiate yourself and get new clients just by being good.

>>1399812
You're exactly right.

I just don't trust people enough to do the job. Most of the people who are in this industry from my experience tend to be immigrants and international students so not a very good bunch to pick from (no offense). And it's just to much of a hassle hiring someone and I just don't have the inclination to deal with employee problems.

I am not incorporated. But I will look into doing this.

I would say that I am pretty comfortably right now. But I like I said I don't see myself continuing to do this forever especially at this income level. I might consider downsizing and going back to study soon. Or just wait till I lose some clients.

>>1399825
Live at your parents for as long as you can, you are doing really well.
I'd advise to keep doing what you are doing. University is a waste of money and precious time unless you're really passionate about what you want to do.

If you learn to trade, and if you can manage to save $300K. Invest it. You will be able to grow that by atleast 10% per year.
Hell, the $50k I've used to "invest" this year is now $135k. All you need is a head that's screwed on well and a bit (alot) of starting capital which you have.

at you rate, you can easily become a millionaire by 30. As-long as the parents don't mind you hanging around for a bit :^).

>>1399655
>Millenial_crying.jpg

>>1399846
? it's just business..

>>1399828
Yer. I will be looking at going back once I find something I'm passionate about. All I know is that I don't like the corporate world and the hierarchy involved. I would rather go into something where I am able to become a contractor or become a free lancer hence I've looked into Computer Science. But given that I don't work that many hours it is possible to self-study this instead. I actually clean a web design agency and two other IT related businesses. I have a fairly good relationship with one of the clients. Who knows maybe I can get them to give me an internship or something.

My family are very supportive and encourage me to stay. So I have no plans of moving out any time soon. So I will continue to save. I'm still young and I don't work that many hours so I have plenty of time to help around the house. I try and help pay the bills and groceries as much as I can, so I am not a burden. However I have thought about buying a house and just renting it out. But as you mentioned, there might be better investments to make with that money. I plan on reading up on trading.

And congrats on your investment gains. That's very impressive. :)

>>1399861
>My family are very supportive and encourage me to stay.
Very jealous.

>And congrats on your investment gains. That's very impressive. :)

Cheers.

>All I know is that I don't like the corporate world and the hierarchy involved
Yes, fuck working for other people.Other people are idiots.

>However I have thought about buying a house and just renting it out
Wouldn't touch the housing market in any of the major cities with a ten foot pole at the moment.

Learning to trade is not only just to do with the stock-market, suddenly everything that happens in the world can have an affect on what you are doing, so you learn to keep your eyes open and 1 ear pressed to the ground at all times.

As far as my experiences go, it is probably the best chance to get ahead in life if you have the ability and the capacity to do so.
If you really think about it, there are not many people that can actually commit the resources needed to trade.
The time, the capital, other commitments (debt,study,job,kids) are all huge limiting factors. The kicker is that every one of those people are connected and are apart of the stock-market through their superannuation and yet they do not have the means to tap that vast wealth and skim some off of the top.
Unless you have millions, you are a small fish. You don't have any of the constraints that the big fish have, you are agile, fast, inconspicuous.
This is a huge advantage when combined with some time and effort.
I will tell you now, that you will lose money on the market, no matter what you do. It is unavoidable. It is a game of averages after all.
Finally, the last thing I'll add is that YOU are your biggest enemy on the market. In particular your emotions. They are always present, they are apart of you. But you must not let them control you. Only cold logic as a place here.
Stock is going down? cut it loose. (what's called a stop-loss). Made your price point gain on a stock, lets say, 10%?, sell it. Don't get greedy but don't be afraid.

>>1398756

nooo....

>>1399890
What?

Also to the guy doing commercial cleaning... Dude start hiring people. I don't clean shit and I have my teams do it. But we're only doing residential currently. I have a friend that owns a maid company in AU doing 80k in sales a month.

>>1398789
Literally every other country has paid internships

>>1398011
Broke a window at my house. Got on internet and found a glazier to come fix it. While fixing it I asked the dude how he got in the business of residential glass repair.

Dude says he couldn't keep a job. Swore he would start his own low cost business. Said he would do whatever it took to be successful. Started a glass cleaning service; used Craigslist to get business. Then started a window caulking service. Then learned how to cut glass and install it as well.

He had a helper and drove a brand new Ford 350 diesel work pick up. Did a great job.

He found a need and filled it.

>>1399741
You get a distribution account.

EntertainmentEarth, GTS Distribution, Toy Source, HLJ Wholesale, BBCW Distributors, Diamond Distributing, Japan-Toys, etc.

Be forewarned, though, you really have to have alot of seed capital and multiple accounts to make a buck. You absolutely cannot make money buying toys $500 at a time unless it's something that gets popular out of nowhere like the Mezco 1:12 Batman. The only reason i feel like I could probably limp along with a store at this point (assuming realistic rent of course) is that I have enough backstock to fill a decent number of shelves.

>>1399741
Also, scalping is NOT to boogeyman it's made out to be. I made a rule starting out that I was not going to scalp at all. I had legitimate distribution accounts so I didn't need to stoop to that. In my experience thereafter, I learned that almost nothing is worth scalping. Customers that are poor enough to bitch about retail will rarely pay even 25% over retail. Anything that can be flipped is so low run that you might find a handful in the tri-county area _if_ you're lucky so you do all that running around to make $100 every now and then. Really the only people dumber than scalpers are the people that think scalpers are living the high life.

>>1399791
Nice man.

If you want to get wealthy though I highly suggest overcoming your problems and hiring someone. You could expand to the moon. Think about it, you could just sit at home, while they do all the work, and I bet you'd only need to pay them like $13hr - $16hr (not sure what the standards are in Aussie land)

Some Tips:
> Interview a few people
> Tell them the job is terrible up front, emphasize all the bad
> Be a little harsh up front, and then get nicer over time assuming they do good
> Reward good performance with raises
> Don't befriend the employee ever. Keep all conversation business

Professional meme poster. Make about 300k upvotes a year. Food and housing is provided by mommy and daddy

I'm a writer for a few sex blogs and I manage some Tumblr girls' PR. I make about $1200 a month which is kinda laughable but the jokes on everyone else because I haven't left my house in weeks! Ha. Hahaha. Kill me.

>>1400496
I have some writing ability

Is there any work for me?

>>1399647
Thanks! Honestly at the end of the day it was the biggest education of a lifetime. You move forward and work harder or you don't :)

I've far from given up on building businesses.

I own three restaurants franchises. Ask me anything

>>1398756
That seems to be a meme on the entrepreneur subreddit. How's that working out for you?

>>1398734
What the fuck? Doesn't Windows have a built-in way of automatically opening those now?

>>1400683
Names?
And also how much do you pay your managers

>>1400747
It makes money

>>1400772
Mind saying how much of that you take home?

>>1400773
2nd month in desu so I've done 2500 in sales month one. Well see how it goes.

Used to have an outdoor sports business, teaching sailing and running the schools. It was decent money but tourist season was only 3 months long so once i finished being a student it was no way worth it.

But some friends went into the private yacht business and they make over 10k a month (tax free if you're not american)

>>1400800
Nice, good luck.

>>1400833
how do you get "into the yacht business" and why is it tax free for non-americans

>>1398011
Internet based legal and tax expert. I make six figures working from home. Ask me anything.

>>1400683

Is the income worth the effort you put in?

>>1400958
how did you start?

>>1400987
Undergrad degree then law school.

Thread dead?

What are some good resources that you used to teach yourself how to set up and run your businesses?

I'm an Ausfag working 34hrs/week and I want to start something on the side. Any recommendations for things like textbooks, websites and courses?

>>1401197
You kind of have to look at blogs depending on what field you use. The gov. should have legal guidelines.
There is no specific outlined guideline though

Lobbyist with my own firm. AMA

>>1400958

What state do you live in?

>>1400997
>>1400958

but is it comfy working from home, or does it screw with your worklife balance?

>>1400952
Hang around fort Lauderdale and try to talk your way onto a crew. Bonus points if you have your tickets.

Yanks have to file no matter where they live... The rest of the world let's you off the hook if you don't reside in a country for more than six months (whoever owns the boat will generally keep this in mind when deciding itineraries as it is also in their best interest)

>>1399727
Actually fire and security alarm. Mostly commercial. Need decent certs/licenses for it. Bill 90 an hour. Could bill 100-110 if I didn't want to grow at a decent clip. Finding good people sucks.

>>1400680
One of my favorite sayings about entrepreneurs "how do know if an entrepreneur is experienced? He has failed." Makes me scared to death at the prospect but I should have faith that I can turn it around.

I run an appliance repair company

I sale Avon

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Small custom sock business. Took off after I marketed to furries. Still trying to make it a consistent profit, rather than just bursts of orders.

>>1401473
You might as well charge extra for those stocks since furries can afford it

>>1401473
Babies anon. You need lots of socks for babies.

>>1399655
I hear you mate, it is the one reason I wouldn't mind a recession, just to make those bastards at westfield (and the rest) come back to reality. Shopping centres (malls) really only work for the multi-centre outlets that can have a store in every centre, and negotiate deals Oz wide (still pricey) but also buy generic stock in volumes and big margins. It's why shopping centres are so boring. Small retailer just have to find other ways.

I got out of the retail company I first built by the skin of my teeth. My subsequent companies have been no rentals, and contract only staff. It's a great relief.

>>1399861
I would stick to this business of yours and just grow when you are ready.
It is rare for someone to build it, and rare for someone to stick with it.
Remember, even if it is just you, your business has value- so you could sell it when you eventually want to leave it.
In the mean time, you can certainly invest your money for greater returns. The stocks are one angle, I currently have 11 properties, all returning between 10% and 16% pa, that I purchased with business profits. It's my retirement fund.
If I were you I would keep working, growing, saving and investing in something that gives solid consistent returns, until you do not need to work anymore... and take that well deserved holiday.

>>1398011
small dj and lighting company

>>1401473
How do you manage the supply side of the business?

I'm starting up an online company just to gain some experience but I'm only selling digital services to start with. I'm mainly interested in getting into consumer products though.

>>1400800
how do you get your clients?

>>1399745
>hen you're making that kind of money, I can only assume you were making at least 1 mil salary for yourself...
>Why not take 1 mil and put it in a safe "if everything goes belly up, i'm still a millionaire" savings?

lol mate, when you're beholden to an investor and your cashflow and payrolls are dependent on large single project customers you may be able to reward yourself very well one month, and the then go 3 without pay.

My overhead very quickly reached 500k a month for indirect with that many employees. As you can imagine life savings drains pretty quickly when you've got a core staff that costs 250k a month and a handful of customers promising you orders as your coffers dry out.

We milked it as far as we could, but in the end I was largely left with a paid off car, and about 20 grand in savings.

Naturally when starting the business I put every ounce of everything I had into it.

Would do it again. Got a job the day after we went bankrupt paying 90k a year. Now I'm planning my next.

Still basically broke, but that experience was worth a million dollars. I can go sit in a VC's office and tell him to his face I know more about scaling a business than the last 100 people he's talked to and still feel like I'm being honest.

>>1400329
Sound like a fag anon

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>>1402155

Damn. One hell of a story.

>>1403457

Biggest challenge is ego. It's fucked going from having just over 200 people basically taking your word as gospel and constantly developing them and working with them to create a mutually beneficial atmosphere....

vs.

Being surrounded by a bunch of wage slaves, and management that has no idea the optics you have on their terrible approach to problem solving etc.

Once you've done something like this working at a "job" is soul sucking in all of the worst ways. It feels like you're just milking something for money.

>>1398824

Could you be more specific about the stuff you're doing?

>>1398701
>I really wanted to open a physical store but rent is sky high even in a small town or city with many vacant storefronts.

Put together a presentation about what you can do for the landlord in regards to having a nice store that's actually rented if they give you a break. Tell them it can be short term or w/e...empty windows isn't a good look and they have to pay taxes.

I've thought about this a lot while planning my business. First online just because it's easy then if things go well enough a physical store. There are loads of places in my city that have been empty for over 2+ years...nobody is offering the landlords shit, so maybe you are under what they want, but hell, pay your own bills and some rent and make the place nice looking. They then have a tenant instead of a dark cold building/office/room/property.

>>1399479
What was your business called?

I make and sell original, single serve sweets/cakes wholesale to cafes. located in Melbourne Australia

>>1400190
ausfag here, they're mostly unpaid in finance