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The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Atomic - 11-23-2017
Just publically launched a web/mobile app. Extra features are provided on the web app, but the mobile app includes the core features uses need when on the go.
Only 20 users so far, but I did receive this email from an active member
"I have been doin this (career) for 10 years. In that time I have tried more than 10 apps. This app is more useful than all of them combined, and the easiest one to use! Thank you so much for taking the time to build this!"
Feels good helping people.
Now to build the user base and monetize.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - qwertyuiop - 11-23-2017
Quote: (11-21-2017 08:03 PM)Ethan.Allan Wrote:
Quote: (11-18-2017 11:29 PM)qwertyuiop Wrote:
Are you selling b2b? if the price is that low call up possible clients and charge them 30k and watch them run to buy.
I'm not sure. I mean, this product is opening a totally new market. I have seen a few variations by other companies, but they are more entertainment curiosities than an actual commercial product.
Call em up and pitch...only way to find out.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 11-24-2017
I've been wrestling in my head the last several days about product price points of my upcoming product release.
It's a digitally distributed curriculum product, meaning that it's about the easiest thing in the world to copy. My plan is to bundle it with online tools and marketing features (that can't be copied) and offer both for a monthly rate. In other words, you'd have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the product. The risk is that folks will simply pay for one month, get all of the digital product elements and then cancel the subscription, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
(A) If I charge a high monthly fee, people are going to be even more likely want to steal the product, because paying the monthly fee every month may be far more than people will want to pay for the product's subscription based tools and marketing benefits.
(B) If I charge a lower monthly fee, it'll be low enough that I'll be more or less fucked if people still cancel the subscription after one month. I can deal with this by requiring them to pay a full year in advance, but this will push up the initial minimum required payment well beyond the comfortable range for impulse purchases.
Thoughts?
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - roberto - 11-24-2017
Quote: (11-24-2017 06:31 AM)Suits Wrote:
I've been wrestling in my head the last several days about product price points of my upcoming product release.
It's a digitally distributed curriculum product, meaning that it's about the easiest thing in the world to copy. My plan is to bundle it with online tools and marketing features (that can't be copied) and offer both for a monthly rate. In other words, you'd have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the product. The risk is that folks will simply pay for one month, get all of the digital product elements and then cancel the subscription, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
(A) If I charge a high monthly fee, people are going to be even more likely want to steal the product, because paying the monthly fee every month may be far more than people will want to pay for the product's subscription based tools and marketing benefits.
(B) If I charge a lower monthly fee, it'll be low enough that I'll be more or less fucked if people still cancel the subscription after one month. I can deal with this by requiring them to pay a full year in advance, but this will push up the initial minimum required payment well beyond the comfortable range for impulse purchases.
Thoughts?
You're in China. It's gonna get duplicated no matter what.
Could you stage the release over a longer time period? They can't study it all at once, so why not release a new bit every month?
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 11-24-2017
Quote: (11-24-2017 08:55 AM)roberto Wrote:
Quote: (11-24-2017 06:31 AM)Suits Wrote:
I've been wrestling in my head the last several days about product price points of my upcoming product release.
It's a digitally distributed curriculum product, meaning that it's about the easiest thing in the world to copy. My plan is to bundle it with online tools and marketing features (that can't be copied) and offer both for a monthly rate. In other words, you'd have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the product. The risk is that folks will simply pay for one month, get all of the digital product elements and then cancel the subscription, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
(A) If I charge a high monthly fee, people are going to be even more likely want to steal the product, because paying the monthly fee every month may be far more than people will want to pay for the product's subscription based tools and marketing benefits.
(B) If I charge a lower monthly fee, it'll be low enough that I'll be more or less fucked if people still cancel the subscription after one month. I can deal with this by requiring them to pay a full year in advance, but this will push up the initial minimum required payment well beyond the comfortable range for impulse purchases.
Thoughts?
You're in China. It's gonna get duplicated no matter what.
Could you stage the release over a longer time period? They can't study it all at once, so why not release a new bit every month?
Actually, I'm physically no where, since it's a digital product to be sold via a website, so China has no more to do with it than with any other product being sold on a website somewhere.
I'm actually not concerned about a company ripping me off. The product is niche enough that if any attempted to sell copies of what I'm offering, their biggest challenge would be marketing. I'm only going to succeed by successfully building a brand and engaging in consistent marketing efforts. Not an ideal target to rip off.
It will also impossible for anyone else to calculate the demand for the product for some time, so I can't see it being a tempting product to simply buy once and then re-sell. The more likely concern is customers who don't want to continue paying on a monthly basis, but are too cheap to shell out a larger fee for a year membership.
Staggering the release would only delay the inevitable. There's little point in doing that and there's no enough material to justify it, since I'll be initially releasing a year's worth of study material. If fact, as soon as I release the first year's worth of material, my next task will be to create the next year of material.
The larger issue with staggering the release of different parts of the sequence of material is that not all students need to start from the very beginning of the subject matter. There may be certain teachers, such as those who work at international kindergartens who have students who have already covered the basics and they want to jump immediately into higher level subject matter. I'll lose customers by preventing them from doing so.
A possible solution (as a compromise between lowering my month rate too much and scaring off potential customers by charging too much money upfront, is to make the minimum subscription period 6 months instead of 1 year.
That way, I'd be able to still charge a subscription fee equal to $10 per month, but still make each payment (every 6 months) about $60, which would keep it well under the psychological barrier of $100. I'd pocket $60 from each customer as a minimum, even if they didn't continue as a subscriber after the 6 months ended and I'd also have 6 months to prove to them the value of the subscription only elements (things that can't be simply downloaded) of the product.
With this strategy, I could also offer a year long subscription of $90 and a 3 month subscription of $45. My bet is that most people would just cough up the extra $15 for the extra three months and some may even opt for the full 12 months.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - worldwidetraveler - 11-24-2017
Quote: (11-24-2017 06:31 AM)Suits Wrote:
I've been wrestling in my head the last several days about product price points of my upcoming product release.
It's a digitally distributed curriculum product, meaning that it's about the easiest thing in the world to copy. My plan is to bundle it with online tools and marketing features (that can't be copied) and offer both for a monthly rate. In other words, you'd have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the product. The risk is that folks will simply pay for one month, get all of the digital product elements and then cancel the subscription, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
(A) If I charge a high monthly fee, people are going to be even more likely want to steal the product, because paying the monthly fee every month may be far more than people will want to pay for the product's subscription based tools and marketing benefits.
(B) If I charge a lower monthly fee, it'll be low enough that I'll be more or less fucked if people still cancel the subscription after one month. I can deal with this by requiring them to pay a full year in advance, but this will push up the initial minimum required payment well beyond the comfortable range for impulse purchases.
Thoughts?
Drip feed sections every month.
You can also set up a forum or Facebook group with access to current subscribers. The networking and support from others may be worth the monthly if you get enough people posting. You do need to focus on getting people to post in order to get the forum or group going.
I have a support forum for my products. I tend to make people post questions there instead of trying to get support via email. After some time, you will find other members will start answering questions. Then you got a place where people like to hang out.
Edited to add:
I just saw your post above mine. It is hard to throw out ideas when we don't really have a clue as to what is the product. I originally thought it was a course but you mentioned a second year of training material.
One year is a long time for most people. I imagine they are taking the course for a reason and don't want to wait a year to attain that reason.
I would personally sell the course as a complete course they can go through whenever they want. You could also set up a trial period for the first month and release a section or two for those impulse buyers. I wouldn't worry about impulse buyers for a specific "how to" niche product. Something on a mass scale, sure, but not from the sounds of your market.
And don't price it too low.
Focus on developing your marketing and don't worry about someone copying it. Most people that illegally copy stuff are too lazy to figure out how to sell it.
Membership site wise... most people will drop out between the first and third month. Based on many people I've talked too and my own experience.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 11-24-2017
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
Quote: (11-24-2017 06:31 AM)Suits Wrote:
I've been wrestling in my head the last several days about product price points of my upcoming product release.
It's a digitally distributed curriculum product, meaning that it's about the easiest thing in the world to copy. My plan is to bundle it with online tools and marketing features (that can't be copied) and offer both for a monthly rate. In other words, you'd have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the product. The risk is that folks will simply pay for one month, get all of the digital product elements and then cancel the subscription, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
(A) If I charge a high monthly fee, people are going to be even more likely want to steal the product, because paying the monthly fee every month may be far more than people will want to pay for the product's subscription based tools and marketing benefits.
(B) If I charge a lower monthly fee, it'll be low enough that I'll be more or less fucked if people still cancel the subscription after one month. I can deal with this by requiring them to pay a full year in advance, but this will push up the initial minimum required payment well beyond the comfortable range for impulse purchases.
Thoughts?
You can also set up a forum or Facebook group with access to current subscribers. The networking and support from others may be worth the monthly if you get enough people posting. You do need to focus on getting people to post in order to get the forum or group going.
I have a support forum for my products. I tend to make people post questions there instead of trying to get support via email. After some time, you will find other members will start answering questions. Then you got a place where people like to hang out.
This is a good idea. I was playing with the idea of how to create a community around the product, but simply refusing to offer support by email (and requiring users to use the forum for such purposes) is a really good idea that I hadn't considered. Thanks.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
I just saw your post above mine. It is hard to throw out ideas when we don't really have a clue as to what is the product. I originally thought it was a course but you mentioned a second year of training material.
It's a curriculum product. The target user is teachers, who would purchase the product (or schools) for use in the classroom teaching 2nd languages to students. The current form is for teaching English, but its nature is such that it can be easily modified to teach other languages as well.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
One year is a long time for most people. I imagine they are taking the course for a reason and don't want to wait a year to attain that reason.
The target consumer is a teacher who has regular weekly classes with a certain age group of language students. So, for the target consumer, the more material they have to rely on, the better. Students would not generally sign up to use the product, unless they did so with the intention of bringing the material to their private tutor and demanding its use.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
I would personally sell the course as a complete course they can go through whenever they want.
That's a possibility. However, getting re-occurring payments is the holy grail of customer acquisition in my opinion, so if I can succeed at this, it would be ideal.
To be clear, all product elements can all be downloaded and permanently saved to the user's personal hard-drive for use after the subscription period expires. The service elements of the subscription (online tools that require logging in) would only be available for as long as the subscription fee was paid.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
You could also set up a trial period for the first month and release a section or two for those impulse buyers. I wouldn't worry about impulse buyers for a specific "how to" niche product. Something on a mass scale, sure, but not from the sounds of your market.
My plan is to offer the first unit or two publicly on the product website and then the next 3-4 units for free after they create a user account by supplying their information and email address. This will allow my to salesfunnel their asses towards becoming a paying customer. I'm fairly confident that after using the first 5 units, most members of my target audience will be very much interested in continuing to use the product and the only question will be one of price.
The reason why I'm concerned about maintain an impulse buy price tag is because I think most of my target consumers are going to be hesitant about laying down over $100. It just feels like a lot for a digital product. I have no doubt that they will never regret doing so, the product is very well conceived and developed, but I know I'm personally always hesitant about dropping dollar amounts of more than $100 on a single purchase and I'm very much in my own target demographic.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
And don't price it too low.
I'd like to price it low enough to get customers in the door. I'm confident that if they use this first product, many will become diehard fans who will jump at the opportunity to buy future products, even if they are more expensive.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
Focus on developing your marketing and don't worry about someone copying it. Most people that illegally copy stuff are too lazy to figure out how to sell it.
The type of person that would be capable of creating a meaningful imitation of my product are few in number. While it may not be obvious to every end user, designing such a product requires a lot of specialized knowledge and extensive product testing to get everything just right. While it may be easy for the end user (a teacher) to use the product, that doesn't mean that even they will understand why everything is arranged as ordered as it is. During the testing process, I've made a ton of changes from the original design as a result of testing.
A complete copy is a possibility, but I can respond to that with legal action (easily, if the perpetrator can be identified). Even then, the challenge is not simply in having the product, but in having a platform to sell it, which is a ton of work.
Quote: (11-24-2017 09:51 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
Membership site wise... most people will drop out between the first and third month. Based on many people I've talked too and my own experience.
This is what I'm worried about, but I think that making the minimum subscription period 3 months and charging a fee for that time period that I would be satisfied with, even if 99% of clients cancelled their service after that period.
Being a digital product with low bandwidth requirements for distribution, my costs after development are just above nothing, so even $45 per unit is a markup of about $44.
I've thought of the following ideas to keep customers subscribed and paying the monthly membership fee:
*Create an phone application (eventually) which will allow the teacher to update the vocabulary list and share the vocabulary words for the next lesson in advance. The application will allow students to practice the vocabulary words with any effort on their part to setup a system for doing so. However, the moment the teacher stops paying the membership fee, the applications downloaded under that teacher's customer code are automatically disconnected and are essentially rendered useless the next time the user's phone connects to the Internet.
*Offer a significant discount 10-25% on all add-on physical products associate with the base product. For example, items that they could buy and then resell to their students for a profit. The large discount would allow me to essentially wholesale the products to them, which would allow them to make enough money to profit from having the monthly membership.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - worldwidetraveler - 11-24-2017
Suits, I am just brainstorming here...
You may take a page out of the software industry. You pay for the program and typically get a year of upgrades included. Afterward, you pay a smaller amount for another year of upgrades. I've even seen customer support sold on a small monthly basis a well.
If you have something, like teaching lessons, that are updated enough, people may pay for those types of upgrades. The marketing app would be killer for getting people to purchase the first time. Chances are they are trying to get into that market and get a job. After the job, they wouldn't need the marketing app.
But anything that would help them do their jobs better would be ideal for upgrades. Additional lessons, vocabulary, video teaching critiques, etc.
More specific products...
In my business, I try to push all sales towards a product that is a monthly license (I'm going to start testing yearly licenses as well). It is a type of product that can become a vital part of how they work. My focus is getting them invested into the program to make it a vital part of their workload. After that, there is pain in not using it. They have to change the way they work without it.
It is a big program and not everyone wants the main feature. But they do want some of the smaller features. So I created smaller apps, that did one specific thing, and sell them on a one time purchase. I don't mind the support because when I fix one program I essentially fix them all. Some of those people end up going towards the monthly once they start using my programs and see how kick ass they are.
![[Image: wink.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/wink.gif)
I don't know if you can break your course up into smaller segments that could be sold as a one off for those that just want to learn something specific. It may be something to at least test if you can.
Your complete package would be less than if they purchased all the individual products. And they would get additional tools, free upgrades on those lessons for 6 months or info that are only included in the main course. You give them a incentive to get the bigger course.
You obviously put a lot of work on this and I am sure it is pretty sweet. You have a lot of options on how you package and sell this. You really won't know until you start testing these offers out. We can say this or that kicks ass but it may not work for your product/market as well as it did for us.
I see a lot of money to be made even after they purchase your course. It really depends on how much you want to invest your time into coaching or video critiques. And you will get more ideas for more courses once you get more customer feedback. I never run out of ideas these days.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 11-25-2017
Quote: (11-24-2017 11:31 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
Suits, I am just brainstorming here...
That's what I need.
These are great ideas.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Irenicus - 12-06-2017
Seems that I am a victim of another fraud on Ebay. Thank God, I won that dispute as well (two so far as a seller).
I must admit, he almost got me.
How it went:
(1)Buyer pestered me with questions. Each month was the exact same question (a legitimate one, something about color). Fine with me.
(2)He bought, and paid. Nice
(3)He received it, but didn't like it. Shit, which happens sometimes.
(4)I have accepted return. Told him to ship it back to my address. He provided a tracking number.
(5) Day after, Ebay said that I was supposed to refund him, and threatened that they will, if I don't. I was alarmed.
(6)I have checked the tracking number. It was sent from another state, to a state in which I don't live (can't tell more due to privacy).
(7) I have contacted my buyer, and told him to double check the tracking information. He did, and he insisted that the number was correct. Told him that I'll notify Ebay.
(8) Contacted Ebay on Facebook, and explained the situation. They put the case on hold (so that they don't take my money).
(9)Buyer provided documentation - the dates did not match, and there was not a proof that I got my item.
(10)Because of that, Ebay closed the case in my favor (I proved that I did not receive anything).
Two and half weeks later, I still did not receive anything, so I am quite sure it was an attempted scam. If I was not playing detective, I would be screwed. Be careful guys, and always check tracking on your returns!
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - kapitaw - 12-06-2017
Suits, it sounds like a very interesting project and a great example of entrepreneurship within the TEFL world. Hope you post it in the Teaching English Abroad thread when it's ready to launch as I'm sure there are a few teachers who might be interested in the product and process.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - 1818Steve - 12-06-2017
Quote: (11-25-2017 02:56 AM)Suits Wrote:
Quote: (11-24-2017 11:31 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:
Suits, I am just brainstorming here...
That's what I need.
These are great ideas.
Suits, I don't know if you can use any of this but I think this is an excellent article on pricing. The concepts of anchoring and bracketing are gold.
https://fizzle.co/sparkline/most-common-pricing-mistake
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - WeekendCasanova - 12-06-2017
I wanted to start a thread pertaining to finding a business partner, but not sure if it's worth it.
In any case, I'm looking at starting a modeling agency as a side business in Europe, using Ukrainian girls. I know a guy that runs a modeling agency in Barcelona and it works great, as the girls shoot-fees aren't high.
I'd like to do the same in Ukraine.
I'm looking for a partner because it's quite time-intensive at the beginning, and involves a lot of work. Preferably, I'm looking for someone who is a digital nomad/location independent.
If you've read my money-making thread, I'm quite skilled with traffic/marketing, but I'm looking for someone who is good at logistics/planning.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 12-06-2017
Quote: (12-06-2017 05:56 PM)WeekendCasanova Wrote:
I wanted to start a thread pertaining to finding a business partner, but not sure if it's worth it.
In any case, I'm looking at starting a modeling agency as a side business in Europe, using Ukrainian girls. I know a guy that runs a modeling agency in Barcelona and it works great, as the girls shoot-fees aren't high.
I'd like to do the same in Ukraine.
I'm looking for a partner because it's quite time-intensive at the beginning, and involves a lot of work. Preferably, I'm looking for someone who is a digital nomad/location independent.
If you've read my money-making thread, I'm quite skilled with traffic/marketing, but I'm looking for someone who is good at logistics/planning.
What can a partner do that an employee cannot?
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Malone - 12-07-2017
Give a shit about the business, for one.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - CleanSlate - 12-07-2017
Quote: (10-23-2017 02:15 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:
I've decided to try something different to generate leads.
Direct mail.
With everyone doing social media, email, phone calls, etc... direct mail is the zig of today's zag. I'm even putting a small QR code on my sales letter, when scanned, will lead to my landing page with a call to action for a free consultation. Tossing in a small flashlight keychain with my logo engraved on it, too...
Going to start small with about 100 people within a niche market, and see what kind of response I get.
I've already sent my first direct mail campaign to that group of people.
It was an educational experience.
First, you have to spend a lot of time making the creatives and the letters. Triple, quadriple, and quintiple check that there are no typos. Test print them first, to see whether the color comes out right. It may look somewhat different from the computer screen. Also, you have to decide what kind of paper to print it on. There are many options -- thickness, size, matte, glossy, and the list goes on.
Second, you use the mail merge wizard in Word to personalize your letters. You need a list ready for this. The list should be in a .csv format with the first name, last name, job title, address, company name, and all that information. You select those fields and they will populate from your list for each printout.
You can order your all your printouts at Staples or Office Depot or one of those big office stores, and pick them up on the same day or the next day. Or for an extra fee, you can have them delivered to your place.
Personally, I picked them up near my family's house during my US visit, plus the envelopes.
Third, to personalize my campaign a bit, I decided to order some keychains with my company logo engraved on them. They call it "lumpy mail". I hand-wrote the address on each envelope, put the creatives in along with the letter and keychain, and sealed them shut.
Finally, when I took the envelopes to the post office, they quoted me a postage of $3 per piece because each envelope contained the keychain. That was a bit of a surprise to me, but I paid anyway. However, if it were not for the keychain, each envelope would only be $1 for postage.
So for a small campaign to 100 people, it cost me almost $800, or about $8 per piece. If not for the keychain, it would have been a little over half that, or about $4.50 per piece.
Next time I'm going to hire a company to do this for me, instead of doing it myself. Knowing the DIY cost is roughly $4-8 per piece, hiring it out might cost at least $6-10 a piece? Or am I overestimating this? Using postcards might be a lot cheaper, though.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - CleanSlate - 12-07-2017
On another note, I'm raising my rates for 2018 by between 30-50%. Between taxes, payment fees, and scope creep, it is a necessary move. Current clients will remain grandfathered with the old rates, though.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - This Is Trouble - 12-07-2017
Quote: (12-07-2017 02:36 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:
[quote='CleanSlate' pid='1669893' dateline='1508742935']
I've decided to try something different to generate leads.
Direct mail.
So for a small campaign to 100 people, it cost me almost $800, or about $8 per piece. If not for the keychain, it would have been a little over half that, or about $4.50 per piece.
Man, $800 for 100 leads seems awful pricey - thinking in terms of how many clicks I could get with Facebook ads for that price.
Of course, only takes one to pay it all back and then some.
Not sure if you mentioned this prior, but what demographics are you targeting?
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - CleanSlate - 12-07-2017
Quote: (12-07-2017 03:58 AM)This Is Trouble Wrote:
[quote] (12-07-2017 02:36 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:
(10-23-2017, 07:15 AM)CleanSlate Wrote: I've decided to try something different to generate leads.
Direct mail.
So for a small campaign to 100 people, it cost me almost $800, or about $8 per piece. If not for the keychain, it would have been a little over half that, or about $4.50 per piece.
Man, $800 for 100 leads seems awful pricey - thinking in terms of how many clicks I could get with Facebook ads for that price.
Of course, only takes one to pay it all back and then some.
Not sure if you mentioned this prior, but what demographics are you targeting?
Yeah, after checking websites of other companies who take care of direct mail for you claim that they only charge $2-3 per piece even for packaged mail, even less for postcards. Seems pretty low to me. Either that, or I paid too much for what I've done. Remember, that keychain did double the cost of my campaign. Either way, direct mail ain't cheap.
But direct mail is supposedly a more effective lead generator for B2B than most everything else including Facebook ads, and a bigger moneymaker, too. Facebook ads tends to lean towards B2C, as far as I know. I tried Facebook ads for B2B, and it failed miserably.
I'm going after CEOs and marketing directors/VPs of small-medium sized companies. The top decision makers, basically.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 12-07-2017
CleanSlate, this is hugely informative. Thanks for sharing.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - H1N1 - 12-07-2017
Is anyone au fait with company formation in the US? I have a few basic questions I'd be grateful to pick someone's brains on over PM. I'm looking to start a company registered in the US, I have a state in mind, but will be operating from here in the UK. My questions are quite specific, related to a particular area of trade that may require additional hoops be jumped through, so I will need someone with more experience than just having started a company once. If any one is in a position to answer a few questions/direct my research then that would be much appreciated.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - tomzestatlu - 12-11-2017
Does someone has any experience with selling workout/gym protocol?
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Suits - 12-11-2017
Recently, I've been a little fatigued by my current lifestyle routine and situaton. Between working a lot of evening hours and living pretty far from the best action in Beijing (to reduce my rent costs and be closer to my clients), it's a struggle to have a meaningful social life and existence. I improved my lifestyle a lot this fall by going down to working 5 days a week instead of 6 -- but it still feels like I'm not fully living.
Additionally, living here on a tourist visa is not an ideal situation. It is far from stable, as although my visa is good for another five years, I can only stay in country 60 days per entry and I'm never guaranteed re-entry if they ever decided that I've been misusing the visa.
I've considered the idea of negotiating a job with minimal hours and a work visa, going back to school to get a student visa, stopping work altogether and returning to Canada for a few months to work full-time on my side-gig, but every time I mentally consider any of these options, I can't help but conclude that I'm on the right path. Any other options would involve taking two big steps backwards.
The way to wealth and freedom is to earn a non-hourly income. Having a performance based income is superior to working by the hour (which in my mind includes salaried positions, where you earn the same amount of money every month as you try to claw your way to a raise), but the Holy Grail is owning a set of products that you can employ other people to sell.
My present situation allows me to earn decent money as I test and develop products and it keeps me in a city and region of the world with plenty of my target consumers close by, so I'll be able to attempt face-to-face sales as soon as I have a finished product ready to go.
At the same time, I'm in a bit of a limbo as I push forward trying to finish up product number 1. Although I have time nearly every day for product development, as I have other work on my plate, progress is made slowly. I keep imagining what I would get done if I could do it full-time, but that would be sans-income, which could put me in a terrible situation if it took longer than expected to complete or it took a while to get sales rolling.
So, I'm sticking with my present situation for now, but I'm intensely motivated to get a product finished and begin experimenting with sales. My plan, as it currently stands, is to use my free vacation time to finish the first product in February and then begin attempting to sell it in the spring of 2018. If I'm making sales by the summer using a replicate-able process that could earn me even 40% of my current income, I'll start making plans to wind down my hourly work and begin focusing 100% on sales and product development by the end of the summer. If I can't achieve that much, then I'll simply have to stick with what is working for now.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - H1N1 - 12-12-2017
Does anyone consider themselves a hardcore (high level of ability and some experience) programmer? I have an idea that could be very lucrative that I am looking to explore with a tech partner. It's legal/financial technology with some 'smart contract' requirement. I have a regular tech partner that I work with offline on a couple of projects, but he has no more time to give currently. I have been over the idea with him, and it has passed first contact with an exceptionally gifted programmer with some business accumen. I am putting some feelers out offline too for this, but figure that there may be some brilliant CS type on here looking for a project to sink his teeth into. Possibility for some collaboration with lawyers & accountants too in time.
I don't see much of this done on here, but it strikes me that the forum ought to be a tremendous resource for bright, ambitious guys looking to partner up/collaborate on ideas that can be lucrative, and it could be a good recruiting ground for tech-based projects.
The Entrepreneur / Business Owner's / Self Employed Lounge - Teep - 12-12-2017
Can anyone recommend a website builder that doesn't require a developer and doesn't look like shit?
Wordpress is making me pull my hair out. I've been looking at Squarespace?