Starting up a business

motorguy

louloulouisa wrote: »

pgilc1



Billy - this is for you :kisses3: THANK YOU

Starting your own business after you've been made redundant and with no experience in business is a fantastic way to lose any remaining cash you have trying to keep yourself afloat until / IF it succeeds AND sap up all your free time too.

I'd say 90% of startups fail in the first year and maybe only 5% are trading after five years, most often costing the owner thousands or tens of thousands.

Having been there and done it and failed (and with a strong business model to work from), i think i'm pretty well qualified to offer caution before jumping on in there on a business idea that is around one week old for you.

But hey, ignore the negatives and see what you want to see. It not my money.

motorguy

wynnvegas wrote: »

That's a bit harsh - I've seen any number of successful graphic and web design consultancies whose offerings are well below this. It looks pretty decent and I wouldn't be put off using it for any business I was looking to kick off. The OP is trying to do something on the back of being made redundant and doesn't need naysayers like you jumping up and down on what was stated as a work in progress.

Cheers,

Billy

The OP DOES need naysayers giving them FACTS rather than a bunch of head nodders saying sure go for it. Far too many businesses start up, then crash and burn because friends and family all went 'yes that'll work', 'sure what have you got to lose', 'the secret to starting your own business is perserverance' and 'if you can make it work in a recession you'll make a fortune'

Or are you saying that we shouldnt give honest opinions?

motorguy

Debt_Robot wrote: »

I think what separates the successful people in business is sheer perseverance.

I think that needs qualified - perserverance to dust yourself off and try another business idea when a business fails.

Rarely does anyone succeed first time in business, often they've failed many many times before hitting on an idea that works.

Perservering with an idea that isnt working is only digging yourself deeper into a financial hole.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

If you are struggling, and need to earn extra money, why dont you 'save' money, maybe not sending your 7 month old to nursery?

PLEASE... listen . we are not trying to piddle on your parade so to speak, but i honestly dont think that you will make a part time living wage out of website design for a long time, so maybe its worth trying to concentrate on saving money ( the os board is fantastic for this:T) and maybe do some on-line surveys... cashback sites etc..

are you good at crafting? baking etc... as maybe you could have a little stall at crafting fairs markets etc...or sell kiddies toys at bootsales or start an ebay business?

debbie42

pelirocco wrote: »

To be honest I thought the designs in her portfolio looked very good

They are all cited as a completely different company's designs, though?

Debt_Robot

Why is the OP being discouraged from giving it a go?

If it fails, keep trying. Failure is a sign you are getting closer.

Debt_Robot

Perservering with an idea that isnt working is only digging yourself deeper into a financial hole.

If the OP is doing a side business of providing a service such as web design, there will always be a market of businesses
who need improved images for their brands.

How the OP executes it to make it successful is another subject though.

Debt_Robot

louloulouisa wrote: »

Debt Robot - thanks for your positive reply. :beer: At the moment, I have had friends that have asked me to build a site for them, but I am just thinking of working part time, so people with small businesses, or setting up a new small business, with a limited budget most likely. (At my previous work, due to the recession, more people are trying to set up their own new business due to loosing their jobs, and have a limited budget for web design, so I thought I would target this group of people)

Lou xxx

Have you wrote a list of maybe 5-10 markets or 'markets within markets' that you can contact?

Try looking at obscure industries that need websites to sell to one and other such as waste management, sewage or plumbing.

Might be worth getting a yellow pages, calling your local plumbers and electricians and checking out if they have bad websites and trying to sell to them. Plumbing/Electricians are service based industries that not just anyone can do, so there should be a little marketing money there.

Other ideas for web design markets: Green business such as recycling and again waste management.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Debt_Robot wrote: »

Have you wrote a list of maybe 5-10 markets or 'markets within markets' that you can contact?

Try looking at obscure industries that need websites to sell to one and other such as waste management, sewage or plumbing.

Might be worth getting a yellow pages, calling your local plumbers and electricians and checking out if they have bad websites and trying to sell to them. Plumbing/Electricians are service based industries that not just anyone can do, so there should be a little marketing money there.

Other ideas for web design markets: Green business such as recycling and again waste management.

I hate cold callers.. i get a few of them everyday

anything from
mobile phones, broadband
advertising
insurance
landlines
fuel
and yes website designs and domains from only £50

it is very frustrating when i am busy and i get these nusance calls, because thats what they are.... and they will not accept ' no i am not interested' as an answere so in the end i just hang up..

and I am in the recycling and waste management industry.... why do people think this is an area which needs 'hitting' with the cold calling?

Debt_Robot

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I hate cold callers.. i get a few of them everyday

anything from
mobile phones, broadband
advertising
insurance
landlines
fuel
and yes website designs and domains from only £50

it is very frustrating when i am busy and i get these nusance calls, because thats what they are.... and they will not accept ' no i am not interested' as an answere so in the end i just hang up..

and I am in the recycling and waste management industry.... why do people think this is an area which needs 'hitting' with the cold calling?

I totally respect the fact you hate cold callers. No one likes to receive them and no one likes to make them [trust me on the latter, we all hate to make them].

I should state that cold calling a business to sell them a product is perfectly acceptable and normal in business circles. I would never advocate the OP to find someone's private landline and try and sell them their web design service that way - that is just morally wrong by calling someone at home.

Calling someone at their business address to ask if they would be interested in a product or service is fine because that is how industries and markets were built - by people selling to each other.

I just think if the OP wants to be entrepreneurial and start their own business, especially if they want to sell to other business, you have to make cold calls. It is just how it is. It is a 'kill or be killed' mentality and I truly believe that.

I wish the OP the best of luck. Many small business do not have good websites or even websites so the OP could make some good income provided the execution is first class.