Author Topic: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!  (Read 6678 times)

WellBehavedWallet

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Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« on: February 03, 2019, 01:07:49 AM »
Come on in, you entrepreneurs! It can be a cold, lonely world out there - come check in and share what you've done TODAY and what you plan to do TOMORROW. At the moment, I sell on eBay (in addition to a Youtube channel and website) shamelessly, I'm looking for support and encouragement. Also looking to encourage and support as well. So c'mon in - share what you've done TODAY to move your business forward!

My store has 380-ish items listed and I'm looking to get to 600 items total THIS MONTH (Feb 2019)

The things that move my business forward:
+Photographing and processing items
+Listing items!!
+Exploring new inventory sources

Yesterday, (Sat, 2/2) I listed 5 Items. Small, but it's a step. 

Today (Sun, 2/3) I plan to list 10 Items.

What will you do TODAY to move your business forward!?!?

Rosy

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Re: Entrepreneurship - Daily Check In!
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2019, 05:34:22 PM »
Quote
What will you do TODAY to move your business forward!?!?

Good thread, good question:)

I did some research and started on an outline for my upcoming e-book. Just brainstorming some ideas and thinking about networking.
My plan is still a bit nebulous, but beginning to take shape.
Starting on chapter one this week - I'll need three chapters to start with.

MoustacheDArgent

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2019, 10:45:20 AM »
I have a real estate business, and I send out direct mail which I estimate will bring me 5-10 new properties to buy and resell.

Also assigned some tasks to my VA

WellBehavedWallet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2019, 10:25:41 PM »
Hello Rosy and MoustacheDArgent!!! So happy you guys stopped by!!!

Today (Mon) I listed 10 items and looked at 2 manifests for liquidation lots...
Tomorrow (Tue) I will list 10 more items, photograph at least 10 items, and learn more about the products I want to resell...

Keep on going, you brave warriors!!!

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2019, 11:24:39 AM »
Less than 6 months ago, I opened up an e-store selling my craft (handmade soap) and have since then made over a hundred sales and sold at two different events. :)

TODAY I'm going to put a few packages in the mail, and finish packaging up the rest of this week's orders (so I can toss them in the mail tomororw.)   Later this week I'm going to work on going full KonMarie on my space so I can free up more room to store my soap-- space for equipment and inventory has been one of my biggest challenges!

AlexMar

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2019, 12:00:14 PM »
Today I'm going for a swim.

WellBehavedWallet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2019, 11:52:56 PM »
Great job, fish sweet and Alex Mar (self care can be an important part of being an entrepreneur!)

Today, I listed 10 items, shipped 1, and am considering an offer on another.

Tomorrow, I plan to list an additional 9, shoot and draft and additional 11 more.

One step at a time!

MarciaB

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2019, 09:43:47 AM »
I'm sending out a couple of emails to potential referral partners in order to rustle up a few more clients for my small bookkeeping business. I love me some QuickBooks and the more business owners I can help the better!

HoneyandSugar

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2019, 04:34:24 PM »
Less than 6 months ago, I opened up an e-store selling my craft (handmade soap) and have since then made over a hundred sales and sold at two different events. :)

TODAY I'm going to put a few packages in the mail, and finish packaging up the rest of this week's orders (so I can toss them in the mail tomororw.)   Later this week I'm going to work on going full KonMarie on my space so I can free up more room to store my soap-- space for equipment and inventory has been one of my biggest challenges!

How did you get your initial customers via your site? I sell handmade candles and I've only sold through friends, family, coworkers...

WellBehavedWallet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2019, 07:44:44 PM »
Great job, everyone!!! MarciaB, you are my hero!!! I love me some people who love Quickbooks!

TODAY I did (and plan to...)
Check out a UPS postal address
Photograph and list 11 items

TOMORROW I plan to ...
Photograph and list 20 items
Find at least 80 items in my house to sell!
Purchase a UPS postal address
Apply for an EIN!

HPstache

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2019, 08:11:07 PM »
Set up a free shipping promo and did a quick Facebook/ Instagram ad hoping to convert a few sales for Valentines day. 

WellBehavedWallet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #11 on: February 09, 2019, 09:58:16 PM »
Yesterday (Friday, 2/8)
Acquired a UPS postal mail box!
Listed 10 items

Today (Saturday, 2/9)
Shot 20 items
Listed 10 items

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2019, 11:53:47 AM »
Less than 6 months ago, I opened up an e-store selling my craft (handmade soap) and have since then made over a hundred sales and sold at two different events. :)

TODAY I'm going to put a few packages in the mail, and finish packaging up the rest of this week's orders (so I can toss them in the mail tomororw.)   Later this week I'm going to work on going full KonMarie on my space so I can free up more room to store my soap-- space for equipment and inventory has been one of my biggest challenges!

How did you get your initial customers via your site? I sell handmade candles and I've only sold through friends, family, coworkers...

To be totally honest, it sounds like a weird humblebrag when I write it all out, but the three things I had going for me when I launched my soap store were: a love for writing copy, a pretty good grasp of my target audience, aaand NEPOTISM.  I made nerd/geek themed soaps, and have close friends with large followings in the nerd artist community.  They were willing to promote my store on social media, so that was definitely a big help to me initially (and by promote I mean tweet my stuff once, maybe twice, not spam their followers with my info.)  This is also on twitter, so having good pictures and encouraging re-tweets also allowed me to put my stuff out there.  I'm also part of that same nerd/geek community, so interacting with my fellow fans and making friends with shared nerdy interests meant that I had some insight into what sells, and friends and community members who are happy to also promote my shop.

I also gave away a lot of soap in the beginning, both to friends and via giveaways promoting people to repost/comment/engage with my social media posts.

For my shop itself, I spent a LOT of time writing compelling copy targeted toward my (niche, nerd) audience and making soap/products targeted toward that audience as well.  Artisan soap and candles are a really oversaturated market right now, so if you want to be able to reach a wider audience you really need to work on branding (blech, I feel like a corporate drone just typing that out) and identifying that makes YOUR stuff stand out from the rest of the pack.

Off the top of my head, here are some ideas and stuff that I do/have seen other people do:

- If you haven't already, THEME YOUR STUFF.  Go for a specific "look and feel"to your products and your packaging, hopefully one that matches your own interests and attitude.  Are you going for geometric lines and artful minimalism?  Witchy black magic vibes? Natural, organic products with a forest/greenery theme?   Ocean surf and beachy relaxation?  If you're using a service like say, etsy, what keywords should people be typing in to find your candles?

- Go where your people go.  I have a friend who's really into the pentagram/goth/ETERNAL DARKNESS aesthetic, and she shops at online/b&m stores and goes to events catering to that crowd.  Whatever or whoever your target audience is, where do they go, how do they shop?  How can you engage and promote and reach out to them?

- Arts & crafts fairs.  Straight talk-- getting in, paying for space, accomodations, food and drink, can make these very expensive.  However. they can also be pretty lucrative, and are a great way of getting your products out into the public view, attracting first-time customers that become long-time customers, etc.etc.

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #13 on: February 15, 2019, 12:29:51 PM »
As for my actual check-in, I made a fresh batch of soap on Wednesday, and am experimenting with making silicone casts for some custom molds.  Still not sure if it'll work out, but it's also fun practice for some other crafting projects I've got in the pipeline!

MarciaB

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #14 on: February 15, 2019, 01:59:39 PM »
Less than 6 months ago, I opened up an e-store selling my craft (handmade soap) and have since then made over a hundred sales and sold at two different events. :)

TODAY I'm going to put a few packages in the mail, and finish packaging up the rest of this week's orders (so I can toss them in the mail tomororw.)   Later this week I'm going to work on going full KonMarie on my space so I can free up more room to store my soap-- space for equipment and inventory has been one of my biggest challenges!

How did you get your initial customers via your site? I sell handmade candles and I've only sold through friends, family, coworkers...

To be totally honest, it sounds like a weird humblebrag when I write it all out, but the three things I had going for me when I launched my soap store were: a love for writing copy, a pretty good grasp of my target audience, aaand NEPOTISM.  I made nerd/geek themed soaps, and have close friends with large followings in the nerd artist community.  They were willing to promote my store on social media, so that was definitely a big help to me initially (and by promote I mean tweet my stuff once, maybe twice, not spam their followers with my info.)  This is also on twitter, so having good pictures and encouraging re-tweets also allowed me to put my stuff out there.  I'm also part of that same nerd/geek community, so interacting with my fellow fans and making friends with shared nerdy interests meant that I had some insight into what sells, and friends and community members who are happy to also promote my shop.

I also gave away a lot of soap in the beginning, both to friends and via giveaways promoting people to repost/comment/engage with my social media posts.

For my shop itself, I spent a LOT of time writing compelling copy targeted toward my (niche, nerd) audience and making soap/products targeted toward that audience as well.  Artisan soap and candles are a really oversaturated market right now, so if you want to be able to reach a wider audience you really need to work on branding (blech, I feel like a corporate drone just typing that out) and identifying that makes YOUR stuff stand out from the rest of the pack.

Off the top of my head, here are some ideas and stuff that I do/have seen other people do:

- If you haven't already, THEME YOUR STUFF.  Go for a specific "look and feel"to your products and your packaging, hopefully one that matches your own interests and attitude.  Are you going for geometric lines and artful minimalism?  Witchy black magic vibes? Natural, organic products with a forest/greenery theme?   Ocean surf and beachy relaxation?  If you're using a service like say, etsy, what keywords should people be typing in to find your candles?

- Go where your people go.  I have a friend who's really into the pentagram/goth/ETERNAL DARKNESS aesthetic, and she shops at online/b&m stores and goes to events catering to that crowd.  Whatever or whoever your target audience is, where do they go, how do they shop?  How can you engage and promote and reach out to them?

- Arts & crafts fairs.  Straight talk-- getting in, paying for space, accomodations, food and drink, can make these very expensive.  However. they can also be pretty lucrative, and are a great way of getting your products out into the public view, attracting first-time customers that become long-time customers, etc.etc.

BEST post on marketing I've read in a long time! What you are describing is the difference between someone who makes something that everyone else makes (jewelry, candles, soap, cards...etc. etc.) and someone who is making money making those things because there's an actual customer for them.

No customer...no business. No customer...you have an expensive hobby.

If you don't stand out in a crowded marketplace you will have no sales (and no customers, and hence no business).



HoneyandSugar

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2019, 08:28:24 AM »
Less than 6 months ago, I opened up an e-store selling my craft (handmade soap) and have since then made over a hundred sales and sold at two different events. :)

TODAY I'm going to put a few packages in the mail, and finish packaging up the rest of this week's orders (so I can toss them in the mail tomororw.)   Later this week I'm going to work on going full KonMarie on my space so I can free up more room to store my soap-- space for equipment and inventory has been one of my biggest challenges!

How did you get your initial customers via your site? I sell handmade candles and I've only sold through friends, family, coworkers...

To be totally honest, it sounds like a weird humblebrag when I write it all out, but the three things I had going for me when I launched my soap store were: a love for writing copy, a pretty good grasp of my target audience, aaand NEPOTISM.  I made nerd/geek themed soaps, and have close friends with large followings in the nerd artist community.  They were willing to promote my store on social media, so that was definitely a big help to me initially (and by promote I mean tweet my stuff once, maybe twice, not spam their followers with my info.)  This is also on twitter, so having good pictures and encouraging re-tweets also allowed me to put my stuff out there.  I'm also part of that same nerd/geek community, so interacting with my fellow fans and making friends with shared nerdy interests meant that I had some insight into what sells, and friends and community members who are happy to also promote my shop.

I also gave away a lot of soap in the beginning, both to friends and via giveaways promoting people to repost/comment/engage with my social media posts.

For my shop itself, I spent a LOT of time writing compelling copy targeted toward my (niche, nerd) audience and making soap/products targeted toward that audience as well.  Artisan soap and candles are a really oversaturated market right now, so if you want to be able to reach a wider audience you really need to work on branding (blech, I feel like a corporate drone just typing that out) and identifying that makes YOUR stuff stand out from the rest of the pack.

Off the top of my head, here are some ideas and stuff that I do/have seen other people do:

- If you haven't already, THEME YOUR STUFF.  Go for a specific "look and feel"to your products and your packaging, hopefully one that matches your own interests and attitude.  Are you going for geometric lines and artful minimalism?  Witchy black magic vibes? Natural, organic products with a forest/greenery theme?   Ocean surf and beachy relaxation?  If you're using a service like say, etsy, what keywords should people be typing in to find your candles?

- Go where your people go.  I have a friend who's really into the pentagram/goth/ETERNAL DARKNESS aesthetic, and she shops at online/b&m stores and goes to events catering to that crowd.  Whatever or whoever your target audience is, where do they go, how do they shop?  How can you engage and promote and reach out to them?

- Arts & crafts fairs.  Straight talk-- getting in, paying for space, accomodations, food and drink, can make these very expensive.  However. they can also be pretty lucrative, and are a great way of getting your products out into the public view, attracting first-time customers that become long-time customers, etc.etc.

This is SUPER helpful! Thank you so much :)

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #16 on: February 26, 2019, 09:22:54 PM »
BEST post on marketing I've read in a long time! What you are describing is the difference between someone who makes something that everyone else makes (jewelry, candles, soap, cards...etc. etc.) and someone who is making money making those things because there's an actual customer for them.

No customer...no business. No customer...you have an expensive hobby.

If you don't stand out in a crowded marketplace you will have no sales (and no customers, and hence no business).

This is SUPER helpful! Thank you so much :)

:)  Thanks, you guys!  HoneyandSugar, wishing you a great success in expanding your business.

Edited to Add:  My daily check-in is staying on a strict soaping regime, even when I'm ~not feeling it.  I've been steadily building up my inventory after the last event depleted most of it, and also spending time fixing up soaps that didn't turn out quite the way I wanted them to-- it's time consuming, but will be profitable in the end.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2019, 09:24:45 PM by Fish Sweet »

KathrinS

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2019, 01:29:25 AM »
Interesting to read everyone else's daily tasks.
I'm a self employed instructor, so my tasks this week are teaching all my classes, figuring out schedules for the next weeks and filling some of my last slots. In the longer term, I'd also like to research career progression and ways to expand my business, past just the number of hours a week I can work. (e.g. referral earnings, providing online content/ teaching materials, etc...)

nyxst

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2019, 09:12:46 PM »
Posting mostly to follow - I have had a few "expensive hobbies" in the past that ended up being profitable... Now I am looking to find a way to have a bit more focus slowly building up a side gig to eventually shift into after FIRE. Possibly a bookkeeping gig or something I can do mostly remotely.  Been trying to build up some local connections (difficult as I am introverted by nature.... As I assume many on this forum are... how do you all overcome that and "sell yourself" without feeling invasive or pushy?)  Besides that, I have also been trying to write consistently in my blog and trying to find another avenue to get more followers on that, though the audience is rather limited, so I need to sort out where those people are (like the amazing list by HoneyandSugar!! great post there!)

nyxst

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2019, 12:43:32 PM »
Interesting to read everyone else's daily tasks.
I'm a self employed instructor, so my tasks this week are teaching all my classes, figuring out schedules for the next weeks and filling some of my last slots. In the longer term, I'd also like to research career progression and ways to expand my business, past just the number of hours a week I can work. (e.g. referral earnings, providing online content/ teaching materials, etc...)
What do you teach? We have a local high school that has night classes on everything, from pottery to retirement to aerobics, and I have been wanting to sign up to offer a class there for some time now. I have so many hobbies, and a lot of other knowledge to sell, but I am not really sure what I should offer.  I am curious what you teach and how good the turnout usually is.  Do you teach at a college or at a store? Or out of your home?

KathrinS

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #20 on: March 08, 2019, 06:58:28 AM »
Interesting to read everyone else's daily tasks.
I'm a self employed instructor, so my tasks this week are teaching all my classes, figuring out schedules for the next weeks and filling some of my last slots. In the longer term, I'd also like to research career progression and ways to expand my business, past just the number of hours a week I can work. (e.g. referral earnings, providing online content/ teaching materials, etc...)
What do you teach? We have a local high school that has night classes on everything, from pottery to retirement to aerobics, and I have been wanting to sign up to offer a class there for some time now. I have so many hobbies, and a lot of other knowledge to sell, but I am not really sure what I should offer.  I am curious what you teach and how good the turnout usually is.  Do you teach at a college or at a store? Or out of your home?

Hi nyxst, I am a Pilates and German teacher living in London. I usually teach between 32 and 40 sessions a week, roughly split up into:
- About 20 sessions at a Pilates studio. The studio provides clients and pays me a hourly wage based on how many sessions/ clients I have.
- 7-10 in-home sessions, both German and occasionally Pilates. I go through a website, which provides the client but takes a cut (15-25%, decreasing the more lessons you've already taught). The advantages of this set-up are that I can set my own rates, and in case a client doesn't pay, the website still pays me.
- 2 hours (one evening class) at a language school. This might be a similar set-up to what you're looking into. The language school advertises and attracts clients, and I go in to teach. They need at least 3 students for the class to run, but at the moment I usually have between 5-8. The class always runs in blocks of 8 weeks at a time, so once enough students have signed up, the class is guaranteed to run for two months.
- One Pilates lesson at a lawfirm, set up by another teacher. I got this job through word of mouth - the aforementioned studio owner knew the other teacher. Pays very well, but probably hard to set up.
- A few clients I've picked up here and there, who pay me directly by bank transfer or cash.

What kind of class would you like to set up?
Let me know if you have any other questions!

lifejoy

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #21 on: March 10, 2019, 02:24:36 PM »
Just wanted to say thanks for creating this thread. I think of it often and look forward to having a daily check in once I get my ducks in a row! :)

SwordGuy

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #22 on: March 10, 2019, 10:19:18 PM »
We got rental #4 fixed up and handed over to the property management company last Friday.  That gets our non-stock and non-bond passive income within $3000 of our FIRE budget.  (We're already FIREd, though FIRd would be more accurate given our ages.)

Today I started organizing my woodshop and my wife's pottery studio so I can start making a new art tool product line.  (We stuffed things into it when the hurricane came thru our area last fall and I'm just now undoing that.)

I'm going to make the tools out of various media (wood, clay or metal).    They will be both pretty and functional, and I'm going to try a number of different designs to help with ergonomics, too.

I'll be going to a conference this summer where there will be 200-250 people who are really into this art form.

Not a one of my target market NEEDS a decorative tool like I'm making.  They already have cheap, ugly plastic tools that do the job.
But I think that if my tools are pretty enough or cute enough or comfortable enough, they'll buy them anyway because working with them will make them happy.   :)

The cheap plastic ones cost about $6.   My cost to make them is anywhere from $2 to $5.   I'm not sure exactly what price point I'll use, but I'm thinking from $20 to $40.    It depends upon how much time each design takes to make and what they are made out of.

If I'm right, I'll sell out all 50 I plan to take.    Quite a few of those folks teach classes so I'll see if I can get them to sell them for me and pocket a bit of change while they are at it.   I want to make at least $10 a piece when selling wholesale.   Plus, there will be several vendors there that might want to sell them also.

I already had plenty of raw material lying around so my only cost to make them was for one material I had to buy that cost me $70.     That's enough material to make over 100 of the tools.    The rest of the material I want to use to play with so it's not lost either way.

And, if they are too pricy to sell, they will make great gifts.






Cezil

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #23 on: March 11, 2019, 11:15:28 AM »
Thank you for this thread!  I’ve been reading along, and I’ve been hemming and hawing about whether or not to make a post here since I am kind of modest/shy.  If I post, then I’m accountable to other people, not just myself…yikes! :D  So here I am (I see there are some other crafty people in here, yay!).  I’m not exactly an entrepreneur, I don’t sell things, I am just in the first learning stages of my hobby.  However, I had a “but..what if I did maybe sell one thing, at some point?  I can’t be the only person who thinks this is neat?” moment a while ago..so..yeah. :)

Sorry for being vague, but I’m still working on all my various beginner’s projects, and if they don’t turn out good, then you never saw/heard anything from me about working on anything. ;)

But in the meantime, tonight/this week before I go on a long vacation starting Friday, I want to make some tough color choices.  My current overall goal for March/April is to find a way to creatively continue on this art project that I am halfway through [and originally figured would look so bad (it looks beautiful!) as my first “big-ass project” that I bought only HALF the required materials (argh @ self doubt);  finally I am at a point where I can laugh at my own foolishness and the joy of making mistakes!] and have a finished product from my own hands that is useful, beautiful, and..I just cannot fully express my excitement.  I can’t wait to make up my mind, work on it, and complete it.

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2019, 06:34:12 PM »
@SwordGuy & Cezilous:  I love seeing posts from other crafters and creators in the forum!  Sometimes I feel like most MMM'ers are hyper focused on big billable gigs and business ventures tied into consulting and business ownership and flipping valuables etc.etc.  Nothing at all wrong with that, especially if it gets you closer to FIRE, but there's just a lot of joy in making things with your own dang hands and creative fire, y'know?  Anyway, I wish you both a lot of luck and joy (and $$$!) with your projects.

For my check-in, the Kondo-ing of my crafting space is complete, and some nice IKEA shelves now house my newly organized soaping equipment and materials!! :)  I'm making up a list of new supplies to order later this month, and my latest soap batches have been turning out beautifully, so I'm delighted and inspired and wish I could be making soap instead of going to work....

SwordGuy

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #25 on: March 14, 2019, 09:28:13 PM »
@SwordGuy & Cezilous:  I love seeing posts from other crafters and creators in the forum!  Sometimes I feel like most MMM'ers are hyper focused on big billable gigs and business ventures tied into consulting and business ownership and flipping valuables etc.etc.  Nothing at all wrong with that, especially if it gets you closer to FIRE, but there's just a lot of joy in making things with your own dang hands and creative fire, y'know?  Anyway, I wish you both a lot of luck and joy (and $$$!) with your projects.

For my check-in, the Kondo-ing of my crafting space is complete, and some nice IKEA shelves now house my newly organized soaping equipment and materials!! :)  I'm making up a list of new supplies to order later this month, and my latest soap batches have been turning out beautifully, so I'm delighted and inspired and wish I could be making soap instead of going to work....

@Fish Sweet , thanks!   I do feel obligated to note that I focused on the money for the last 6 years instead of the art.   Now that I'm FIREd I have more mental energy to do the art.

Fish Sweet

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #26 on: March 15, 2019, 09:54:36 AM »
@SwordGuy & Cezilous:  I love seeing posts from other crafters and creators in the forum!  Sometimes I feel like most MMM'ers are hyper focused on big billable gigs and business ventures tied into consulting and business ownership and flipping valuables etc.etc.  Nothing at all wrong with that, especially if it gets you closer to FIRE, but there's just a lot of joy in making things with your own dang hands and creative fire, y'know?  Anyway, I wish you both a lot of luck and joy (and $$$!) with your projects.

For my check-in, the Kondo-ing of my crafting space is complete, and some nice IKEA shelves now house my newly organized soaping equipment and materials!! :)  I'm making up a list of new supplies to order later this month, and my latest soap batches have been turning out beautifully, so I'm delighted and inspired and wish I could be making soap instead of going to work....

@Fish Sweet , thanks!   I do feel obligated to note that I focused on the money for the last 6 years instead of the art.   Now that I'm FIREd I have more mental energy to do the art.
Hey, nothing wrong with making it about the money-- heck, one of the reasons I'm trying to make it to FIRE is so I can devote more time and focus to the art bit too.  I'm glad that's working out well for you though!

lunahsol

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #27 on: April 12, 2019, 01:43:40 PM »
Great thread - thank you!  Today, I am working on getting the financial pieces of my business put into place.  Also, my goal is to have three blog posts written and scheduled by the end of the day.  Finally, putting together the space in my home that I will use for filming and photography.

Dare2Dream

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #28 on: April 30, 2019, 06:39:33 AM »
Interesting thread.

Today I am surfing the MMM forums looking for things that might inspire me and writing those down.
Tomorrow will probably be the same.
One of these days I will actually put one of these things into motion, I am mostly just a write things down and not follow through with them kinda guy, but I am hoping to change that.

Imma

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #29 on: April 30, 2019, 07:06:29 AM »
Today I have mailed out a parcel and will respond to an e-mail message from a contact. I can't help him out this time but I will let him know that I'm happy he thought of me and give him a short overview of the things I can do for him.

HPstache

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #30 on: April 30, 2019, 08:13:36 AM »
Stayed up way too late last night getting my new theme going for Mother's Day.  Tired this morning, but I think it will pay off.  Check it out here:

www.washingtoninabox.com

lifejoy

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #31 on: May 18, 2019, 09:37:20 PM »
Stayed up way too late last night getting my new theme going for Mother's Day.  Tired this morning, but I think it will pay off.  Check it out here:

www.washingtoninabox.com

Omg those cherries! Good choice.

Very cool website. I'll keep it in mind!

As for myself... I sold my first wedding band last week. I am OVER THE MOON! :D

Imma

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #32 on: May 19, 2019, 12:56:17 AM »
Congrats @lifejoy !!

I won't be doing too much today: just making sure I'm well rested and doing laundry so I can visit my customer tomorrow in clean clothes and do around 6 hours of work on their location (bookkeeping). They're in a city 2 hours away so I like to make multiple appointments there on one day, but this time I they are my only appointment. Then I'll be invoicing them on Thursday. They are usually quick to pay so I can hopefully do my own books next weekend.

minimustache1985

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #33 on: May 19, 2019, 10:38:28 AM »
Stayed up way too late last night getting my new theme going for Mother's Day.  Tired this morning, but I think it will pay off.  Check it out here:

www.washingtoninabox.com
While I’ve only visited Washington, this is super cool and I hope it does really well for you!  Quick question as I am also on Shopify and have a numerous options- what app do you use for customizing and how did you get your product description to show up above the options instead of below?  Also just FYI it still says today is the last day to order for Mother’s Day, might want to remove that, but otherwise I think your site looks fantastic.

lifejoy

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #34 on: May 19, 2019, 03:05:25 PM »
Congrats @lifejoy !!

I won't be doing too much today: just making sure I'm well rested and doing laundry so I can visit my customer tomorrow in clean clothes and do around 6 hours of work on their location (bookkeeping). They're in a city 2 hours away so I like to make multiple appointments there on one day, but this time I they are my only appointment. Then I'll be invoicing them on Thursday. They are usually quick to pay so I can hopefully do my own books next weekend.

Hey cool! May I ask what sorts of things your clients do to make your job easier? It's my first year of business and I'm doing my own books but I hope to have an accountant at the end of the year look over everything.

HPstache

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #35 on: June 02, 2019, 09:42:14 PM »
Stayed up way too late last night getting my new theme going for Mother's Day.  Tired this morning, but I think it will pay off.  Check it out here:

www.washingtoninabox.com
While I’ve only visited Washington, this is super cool and I hope it does really well for you!  Quick question as I am also on Shopify and have a numerous options- what app do you use for customizing and how did you get your product description to show up above the options instead of below?  Also just FYI it still says today is the last day to order for Mother’s Day, might want to remove that, but otherwise I think your site looks fantastic.

Thanks for the heads up, I got that fixed.   I use the Product Options by Bold plugin to do the dropdown menus.  $19.99 a month, ouch!  I dream of getting a professional website designed so that I can get away from the monthly payments to both Shopify and Bold.  Not sure in the product description location....

Imma

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #36 on: June 03, 2019, 01:27:07 AM »
Congrats @lifejoy !!

I won't be doing too much today: just making sure I'm well rested and doing laundry so I can visit my customer tomorrow in clean clothes and do around 6 hours of work on their location (bookkeeping). They're in a city 2 hours away so I like to make multiple appointments there on one day, but this time I they are my only appointment. Then I'll be invoicing them on Thursday. They are usually quick to pay so I can hopefully do my own books next weekend.

Hey cool! May I ask what sorts of things your clients do to make your job easier? It's my first year of business and I'm doing my own books but I hope to have an accountant at the end of the year look over everything.

The most important part is kind of knowing what you're doing. I've worked for someone who had absolutely no clue and it took so much time to correct every single thing. Assuming you know the basics of bookkeeping, the other big thing is organising everything properly (so you can find things when you need them) and using clear descriptions. This is useful for yourself, for your accountant and especially in case the tax office asks questions later on. I don't have a perfect system myself but I know 100% that everything related to my business is in one single box.

I was called by a new customer this week, a friend of an existing customer. They just started out last year too.

Cezil

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Re: Daily Check In - Entrepreneurs - Come On In!
« Reply #37 on: July 16, 2019, 09:34:01 AM »
I thought I’d post an update here because life has taken a turn since I last posted.  A good turn, but one that already has me/us feeling very overwhelmed.

My SO is starting a photography business, selling his(/our) photos as prints on canvas, aluminum/metal, etc.  He’s got a real basic website (just a homepage), an account at a printer website, we’ve gone to a bunch of art shows and have determined that the quality of his photos is better than some of what we’ve seen..

We’re sort of stuck on how to move forward.  Researching the pros and cons between a LLC or S-corp, how should taxes be handled, does he need a separate bank account (does it go under his business name or does he need a DBA, or is it under his own name – same questions for how to go about getting a business credit card), does he need software to keep track of money, etc.  Does he do the whole gig under himself, or do we do it jointly (not married) so we can both sell our own art?  It has been overwhelming/analysis paralysis.

But we’re getting started so there is that.