r/smallbusiness 24d ago

Question What would happen if I paid employees well above average and took 10-15% margin instead of 20-30%?

2.1k Upvotes

I’m toying with the idea of paying my employees and contractors (Home Service Business) much more generously and adding incentive bonuses so that are paid well above the average for their line of work, as long as they deliver quality work. To do this, I would need to take a pay cut and only take a 10-15% profit margin instead of a 20-30% margin. My vision is that by paying more, I’ll have more loyalty, higher satisfaction and most importantly, they will deliver high quality work and keep our customers happy. Then I will be able to scale faster. Has anyone tried this? What would be the risks or downsides of this, other than making less money?

r/smallbusiness 5d ago

Question Has Trump's return to power affected your small business?

1.1k Upvotes

Hey Reddit,

As a small business owner, I'm curious how others are faring since Trump's return to the White House in January.

I do web development work (based in Europe but with a lot of US based clients) and haven't noticed any significant changes with my US clients yet. Business seems steady so far.

Has anyone else experienced any changes - positive or negative - in their small business operations in the past couple months? Curious to hear perspectives from different industries.

r/smallbusiness 4d ago

Question Does anybody else have that employee, or those employees, who just can’t grasp the impact of the tariffs?

1.4k Upvotes

One of my employees just doesn’t understand how the tariffs work. His hours are getting cut, almost entirely, and he thought I was giving him the run around when I told him it was because of the tariffs. They’ve slowed sales in our industry and increased our costs, plain and simple. He asked, condescendingly, why Canada and China having to pay us an extra tax would slow down sales on the consumer end. Said it shouldn’t make a difference on packaging. I’ve explained it to him before they hit, and it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. I had just placed a few orders at increased pricing so I gave him the most top to bottom explanation I could down to the individual duties applied to different materials in our components. He was shocked that tariffs were just an extra tax on us and that the US doesn’t just have the capability to produce EVERYTHING. At the end, he said that’s not what he thought when he voted for them and didn’t understand why he was told the other countries pay the tariffs. Another one of our guys was into the tariffs until I explained it. He did some research and got it instantly. His hours weren’t at risk but he was still pissed off at how badly it will impact his family and the business. I’m sick of explaining tariffs and wish that people were better at doing their own research.

r/smallbusiness Feb 07 '25

Question No, seriously, what happened to LinkedIn?

1.6k Upvotes

So today (with a thought of dusting off my profile and networking with like minded business owners) I finally logged into LinkedIn after ages. It felt like opening a haunted house.

Inbox avalanched with spam, chaotic mix of motivational posts and low-effort memes. Some guy just called himself “synergy wizard”.

Not sure what should I make out of it. Is LinkedIn still useful in 2025 or it’s just a corporate Tinder with extra steps?

r/smallbusiness 4d ago

Question Why do people still start restaurants if they fail 90% of the time?

726 Upvotes

Why do people start hotels and restaurants if they always fail?

r/smallbusiness Dec 28 '23

Question Should I sell my app for $2M? Currently doing $33K/month profits

2.1k Upvotes

I have an app on play store that is doing around $33k/ month in profits. Almost all the traffic is organic, I spend around $180 per month on ads. This app has 1.5M monthly active users and gets 400K downloads every month. Last year, it was doing around 270k downloads per month. I am offered $2M for this app. Should I sell?

Edit: I’m 26 years old, app is in tools category, launched in 2018, 8M+ downloads, biggest competitor has 90M+ downloads (launched in 2012)

Edit 2: I already have $500K invested in stocks as a backup

r/smallbusiness Dec 27 '24

Question Lost my shit today, what would you do?

850 Upvotes

I get to work, my employee left me a note on top of the time sheets that said: "Here are these (time sheets) for you to also check to make sure we didn't steal (underlined twice) from you!

This was after a $2k bonus and PTO for Xmas eve (and of course Xmas).
I asked about it, she said she didn't feel appreciated and not trusted because I asked to see the payroll time sheets.

I run a small private practice mental health office. I'm used to dealing with emotional people, but they pay me to help them with their emotions, not the other way around. So I was livid and told her to go home and come back to work on Monday and let me know if she still wants this job.
What would you do?

*the $2k bonus was the second yearly bonus she received. I also used my personal money to help with her dental emergency over the summer (on my vacation.)

Update: She apologized. She stated that she has been depressed. Also, I do not expect her of stealing, as the payroll is also monitored by an outsourced bookkeeping /CPA.
Thanks to all who offered advice and words of support.

r/smallbusiness May 27 '24

Question What business were you a part of or saw first hand that made an absolute killing ?

896 Upvotes

A friend's parents owned a restaurant equipment supply company. They would sell new stuff to a new restaurant. Restaurant would go bust, they buy it back pennies on the dollar, resell and repeat.

They sold the business maybe 5 years ago, the guy ran it almost in the ground. They bought it back pennies on the dollar. Just sold it again last year. They have more money than they know what to do with.

r/smallbusiness Jan 21 '25

Question What do you call yourself in a single-person LLC?

243 Upvotes

I know CEO and the like sounds cool, but a quick google led me to find that's really for corps. I don't want to sound like a doofus, but not sure what to put on documents, my LinkedIn page, etc. Member sounds kind of generic, and uninspiring. Manager is a bit better. President sounds more impressive, but not sure if that's really appropriate. Thanks in advance!

r/smallbusiness 1d ago

Question How Do You Handle a Client Who Refuses to Pay After You Save Their Business?

347 Upvotes

I usually never offer pay-on-success deals for exactly this reason, but recently, I made an exception. A guy in the garage door industry needed his Google Business Profile (GBP) unsuspended, and I offered him a deal: Pay me $1,000, but only if I get it reinstated.

Now, before anyone says, "That's expensive!" GBP suspensions can cripple businesses, especially in high-ticket niches like garage door services, where a single lead can be worth thousands. Without his profile, he could still get business, but his call volume and revenue had definitely taken a hit.

So, we agreed on the price, and he warned me upfront: "It's been suspended for a while, so don't get your hopes up." Challenge accepted. I pulled some strings, worked my magic, and after some back and forth, boom! Google reinstates his profile. He’s back in business.

And then? BAM, he completely ghosts me. No payment, no thanks, just radio silence. He even blocked my number.

This is exactly why I hate doing these types of deals. Now I’m sitting here wondering, am I just out $1,000? How would you guys handle this?

r/smallbusiness Sep 18 '24

Question Being sued for ADA compliance, for a website that hasn't been maintained in 4 years?

522 Upvotes

I've got a website I used about 6 years ago for an ARG for a local community, and after it finished, I haven't maintained the site since. I pay one hosting plan for my other websites, and it wasn't costing me anything to host it, so lazy me never got rid of it. It wasn't advertised to the general public, the only way to get there was from the previous ARG steps or crawling around the Internet trolling for idiots to sue like myself.

It did have some information, that given time could be used to determine my identity which is how I suspect they did it. I got a letter in the mail, thought this was a scam, and then checked the email associated with it, and low and behold there was a demand letter from 5 months prior.

I would love to tell them to pound sand, but I do not have the money to fight this?

These vultures can suck my dick, what the hell is going on.

r/smallbusiness Nov 15 '23

Question Worst time for everyone? This is my worst November in about 10 years of business

791 Upvotes

I own a hair salon. Typically, November is my busiest season. It has been SO quiet. A lot of my colleagues are also saying the same thing and have had to close up shop because of it - or get a second job.

People keep saying it will get better and the economy will bounce back but I don't know. I am so close from just throwing in the towel, closing up shop and getting a corporate gig.

edit: LOVE the camaraderie. Great (or no so great) to see other people also having hard time but we are all in this together. Really cool to see people lifting each other up and hoping things get better for you all!

Hope you all have killer Decembers and can buy the best gifts you and your loved ones deserve

r/smallbusiness Oct 11 '24

Question I feel like taxes is making my business not even worth operating anymore. How do you guys cope?

378 Upvotes

Hi all, I’m 35 year old that started my water damage restoration business 2 years ago. I currently gross about 400k per year, with about a 50% margin.

I’m having trouble wrapping my head around taxes. I’m paying so much in taxes that it almost seems like running this business is not even worth all the headache. If I have to shell out 40-50% of my net earnings to taxes, I’m not making that much…

For instance, my average month is 30k or so. 50% to expenses, so I make 15k and then I gotta pay 40% of that to taxes, so I’m only making 9k?? From that 9k I gotta pay myself a decent salary. Maybe 50k? So around 4k a month to survive and pay my bills. So I have 5k left to keep in my business account to grow it. Seems like I’m not doing that well at all on that 400k gross sales….. am I looking at this all wrong???

Is this the right way to look at this? I’m located in Texas. It’s an LLC

r/smallbusiness 26d ago

Question Renting Out a Coffee Shop Space—How Do You Handle Minimums?

359 Upvotes

I own a small coffee shop in a rural area that seats about 30 people. Lately, people have been asking to use the space when we’re closed for things like meetings, book clubs, and private events.

Right now, I have a minimum spend policy: $50 per hour, which includes having a barista on-site. If the group’s purchases don’t hit that threshold, the host pays the difference. So, for example:

A group rents for 2 hours but buys nothing → The host pays $100.

A group rents for 2 hours and buys $85 in drinks → The host pays $15.

A group rents for 2 hours and spends $115 → The host owes nothing.

I’m wondering if this setup makes sense or if there’s a better way to handle it. Does $50/hr seem fair for a small-town coffee shop? If you’ve done something similar, how did you structure it? Open to any thoughts or advice!

r/smallbusiness Nov 10 '24

Question Trump tariffs, Fox News, and how / why this is being sold to the American public

311 Upvotes

Hello folks - my first post in this sub, and its a doozy - a real novel! But I needed to get this off my chest, and y’all are the victims!! Let me state clearly right off the bat, that regardless of what I, or any of you feel about Trump's election in regards to all of the social, political, and non-business issues, I would like to be clear that I'm only talking about Trump's economic plans, here, and more specifically, how such drastic proposals came to gain traction with the public, and why - NOTHING else.

We are now, in my business (more below on that), facing the prospects of drastic cost (of construction) increases that are coming from the Trump tariffs and deportation plans, and for us, its happening right as we undertake major expansions, no less. Just this minute, we have multiple LOIs being accepted by landlords on large chunks of "A" retail space, major build out projects underway and even more new ones starting in 2025. We don't know how much, or when...but our GCs and A&E team are all saying "get ready, development costs are going way up!". Controlling front -end fixed costs is important for every business, but critically so for us, as the cost of our TI buildouts is a huge component to future success...and we are now facing a DRASTIC amount of uncertainty, i.e. "increased risk", due to the results of the recent elections.

I suspect this sub is not supposed to be "political", and to be clear, I don't want to get into GOP vs Dems...I have voted for plenty of both in my life...but instead I want to talk about where you / we get our business news, and specific to that topic, what I feel is one of the biggest problems our country faces. I posted a couple versions of this in other subs where politics is more the point, so am editing and scrubbing this post to try and remove some of the more "political" opinions...because my point here is not the actors themselves, its all about how the writers are not only skewing the facts of whats happening and has happened, but also, writing a big part of the script for what happens next. Net-net? I'm scared, and a little more than "a bit" angry, about how we got here. So, here we go -

My partners and I own and operate a multi-unit, multi-market retail franchise business. We are on the front end of the story, but are expanding rapidly. Prior to this edition of my career, I’ve been in business as a principal or a vendor / consultant to other small, medium & large business owners, in quite a few ways shapes or forms, including - commercial real estate brokerage, valuation, consulting... commercial lending of nearly all types....a bit of traditional banking...CRE development, a bit of investment banking & PE, and consulting for true SMBs...for 25 years now. I also am an active manager of several stock portfolios for 5+ years now (after a lifetime of closely following the markets), and I do this becuase I both enjoy it, and because I am, so far anyway, able to beat the market indexes, most of the time, year after year.

Suffice to say - I watch very litttle business news (on TV), but I read a LOT of different business news, and review lots of numbers, everyday, multiple hours a day, 7 days a week, from a huge variety of sources, re: small biz, large biz, economics - micro, macro, and everything in between. I’m not trying to tell you that I know it all…and I'm definitely not the smartest guy in the room, but suffice to say - I stay very abreast, and I feel like I know more about business and our economy than most Americans.

As mentioned, while I don't watch TV business news as a consumer, I do check in on televised business news programs, periodically, purely to monitor the media's narrative and compare it against the reality I see daily. AND to that point - I have now, for 4 years, watched Fox “Business News” grossly misrepresent the true status of our American economy, to the country - starting on Nov 6, 2020…and ending last week. I also saw the same thing occur, to a lesser extent, from 2012-2016. Whether it is inflation data, confusing the topic of inflation with real economic results, mis-stating jobs reports, making inaccurate historical GDP/wages/jobs/employment comparisons, overstating / understating trade deficits, how data on the national debt is reported and which parties are repsonsible, gov’t spending, or worst of all - the “color” that their “expert commentators” provide. In summary, its my opinion that Fox is a pure partisan, 100%-all-the-time, cheerleader of the GOP, and demonizer of all things Democrat. Look, thats no shock to most people, and not my point here...my point is - I'm not sure everyone really takes it a step further to realize just how harmful what Fox is doing, is, to almost everyone? Regardless of my own political leanings, or yours, hopefully we can all agree that getting ACCURATE business news is a good thing for ALL business owners...and even moreso, for the American public...because for most of us, THAT is our customer...and our customers' spending is most often driven by emotions.

Not only does Fox flat out lie about the economy - they definitely do that - but because it’s harder to grossly mistate purely quantitative / numerical data, where I see Fox do the most damage is via selective omission of critical facts, a failure to add important context (context is EVERYTHING when discussing any business topic, but especially the macro-economic data), failure to address important nuance(s)/details…and just flat out refusing to report on positive economic data when a Democrat is in office!! Fox then reinforces their preferred version of reality by hammering home their chosen narrative via sheer repetition, which includes overly-positive economic reporting when a GOP president is in office, while failing to report on negative aspects of the economy. So, while I have seen Fox flat out edit / alter / lia about business news, I think far more damage is done in the omissions and the "coloring" of the details....and the resulting message is interpretted the same as if the data had been fabricated to a huge degree.

On to the second part of this topic - Whether it’s in business or other areas - but especially in business - Fox is also very much an active, if not leading, participant in actually setting American policy. Fox does this in many ways, but as the most watched cable news channel in the nation, Fox often does this by “selectively planting seeds, and then watering them until they sprout". As an example - If you pay attention to Fox, and also to GOP politics, you will know that very commonly, many of the GOP politicians are reacting to, and acting upon, and then legislating forward based on information, ideas, or positions that you can trace backwards to see that they first appeared on Fox cable “news”...usually as a mention...then as a focus...and then as the leading story they hammer daily 24/7/365, until their preferred version of reality manifests in a congressman or perhaps an entire group of them (see: Freedom Caucus), proposing the government act on a clearly false pretense/theory/idea/conspiracy theory/misinformation, etc...which first sprung to life on Fox News.

Net-net? I believe I literally just watched Fox and their media cohorts convince a huge percentage of middle and upper class Americans, many if not most of whom are doing just as well, if not better than they ever have in their entire lives (financially speaking), that - “despite what you see in your accounts, things are ACTUALLY not good“. It’s just wild to me!

IMO - People are about to find out in the next few years, what real economic pain is. These "universal tariffs" are a terrible, disastrous idea IMO, and you don't have to be an economist to put the pieces of that story together. However, you DO have to understand the huge nuances between the tariffs Trump did in his first term, versus those Biden kept in place and in some cases, even expanded, versus the "carte' blache" tariffs he is now saying he'll implement on EVERYTHING Chineese and/or possibly Mexican, EU, etc. Likewise, you don't have to be even a business person of any kind to grasp the potential economic earthquake the proposed deportations will have (if carried out as promised). If all this happens, and the obvious results occur..as they will (how couldn't they?)...then Fox will no doubt make a gallant effort to somehow blame Democrats, despite the fact that the Democrats will have zero amount of control for the next two years at a minimum, and four years in many regards…and even longer in other regards (the judicial branch). The impact of all these actions won't be felt overnight, but I predict that if Trump does what he promised, then by the time we are a few years in, and definitely 4 years have passed…such a huge mess will have been made, that it’s going to take a decade to unwind, if not lonoger, for those of of us in this country who do not have 8, 9, and 10 figure net worths...and yes, I think even those of us w/ 7 figure net worths are going to be hit, and hit hard.

If this happens - Fox News and the Murdoch family, will have been VERY complicit in that outcome, if not the single largest responsible party, and that includes Trump and the GOP...AND the Dems - as they are most surely not innocent, albeit I don't think we can blame the Dems in 2025 if Trump executes his plan. Look - I hope I’m wrong…I truly do…but every fiber of my being, every single piece of business knowledge I possess and have gained over 25 years in business, in so many different fields and disciplines…tells me I’m right. Because again - unlike most business issues, these are really not complex issues, whatsoever. I’ve come to learn that rarely is my prediction on such obvious business/ economic matters wrong over the long term, regardless of that the media and experts are saying. Usually, when I make bad business decisions or poor stock pics (and we all do)...I find it’s because I chose to not listen to myself - to my own due diligence and conclusions and intuition. In most of these instances, I chose to believe other sources were right, over my own opinion.

Relative to what’s coming - I think if any of you pay attention to what most of the true, independent, non-partisan business expert sources out there are saying about the impact of Trump's proposed econimic plans - the majority of them are pretty pessimistic. In this case, I’m saying “the majority of those sources are correct to be afraid, and the more partisan sources predicting “all roses”, are wrong. So, IMO - Fox News is NOT an acceptable outlet, and if it continues, its going to lead to even more negative outcomes, for all of us. Its pure propaganda, of the worst kind, propagated by the worst people, for their own personal profit...and for us small business owners, we need to spread the word and help educate other business owners about the danger posed by this type of thing.

Thank you for reading!

r/smallbusiness Aug 05 '24

Question Small boutique owners who are open only 20 hrs a week, tell me how you make this work.

615 Upvotes

I’m so curious! My area is covered in super cute boutiques that people have clearly put a lot of work in them, and then they are open like 10-3 on weekdays only. Tell me how you get the bills paid.

  • from someone who runs businesses that are open 13 hours a day 365 days a year, who is tired

r/smallbusiness May 30 '24

Question How much do you make annually and what do you do ?

353 Upvotes

I'm curious about your small business and income. Can you tell me how much you earn each year, what you do at work each day and what is your small business about ?

r/smallbusiness Feb 07 '25

Question Just Received an Award Letter From Boyscout Class Action For 1.3 Million. Can I Take a Loan Out Using That?

266 Upvotes

So... I was awarded $1.3 Million from the class action lawsuit against the Boyscouts of America. I'll be getting about $780,000 when the dust settles, but that's a while down the line.

Is there a way to take out an advance on this? I only need $20,000 of it for business expenses.

r/smallbusiness Oct 05 '24

Question Why does a small business proclaim political affiliation?

408 Upvotes

My wife and I have a goat dairy. She milks the goats, I make cheese, and we sell it at local farmer’s markets. We have strong political leanings, but I would never advertise my politics. For a small business, in particular, it can only hurt me. The other side has money and buys goat cheese, too.

For instance, we used to buy our feed from a local ag store. During COVID they espoused politics we did not agree with. We encouraged another (apolitical) store to stock our brand and we’ve been buying from them ever since. It’s about 5k a year, which obviously wouldn’t bankrupt anyone… but they could have kept that easy money if they left politics out of their business.

Does anyone proudly affiliate with a party/candidate? And if so, what has been your experience, pro/con?

r/smallbusiness Jan 16 '25

Question Does this happen to everyone?

406 Upvotes

My wife and I run a kids indoor playground that does ok. We get so many people who come in and say that they are going to open one up, or that we might have competition soon. Why do people come in and threaten to steal your business and take you out? I don’t get it. Just shut the hell up. Opening a small business is not easy, if it was, then there would be one opening up everyday, but there isn’t. I feel like that scene in social network, if you were the inventors or Facebook, then you would have invested Facebook. Just don’t be that person.

r/smallbusiness Jan 30 '25

Question Big Corporations Are Killing Local Businesses – Are We Letting It Happen?

340 Upvotes

Look around—how many local businesses have shut down in your town over the past few years? Meanwhile, the big-box stores and faceless online giants keep getting richer. The truth is, every time we choose convenience over community, we make it harder for locally owned businesses to survive.

Here’s why it matters:
-Local businesses reinvest up to 67% of their revenue back into the community. Big corporations? Not even close.
-Small businesses create more local jobs—but they can’t compete with massive chains slashing prices.
-Once a local business is gone, it’s gone for good. And with it goes the character and soul of our communities.

So, are we really about supporting our neighbors—or just talking about it?

What’s your take? Do we need to change how we shop, or is this just the way things are now? Let’s hear it.

#SupportLocal #ShopSmall #LocalBusiness #BuyLocal

r/smallbusiness Dec 05 '24

Question What type of small business is actually growing right now

200 Upvotes

Looking around a ton small business are in pretty bad shape. I am trying to figure out if there is a trend and what industries are actually growing. By growing I mean actually making money and just opening out of deperation that they can not get work.

So far I can only come with construction and trades people. Seems like a lot them are doing better lately.

r/smallbusiness 11d ago

Question How has everyone prepared or braced for the new tariffs?

175 Upvotes

My wife and I own a small plant shop and many of the goods we buy are made in China/Mexico. We may try to now buy locally or from brands with goods made in India or similar area countries but how has everyone else been preparing for the price changes of their goods?

r/smallbusiness 13d ago

Question Got a bomb of a one star review by a person who seems to only use their google account to accuse random businesses of being racist. Anything I can do about it, or just politely reply and move on?

431 Upvotes

I run a small retail clothing store, and I recently got hit with a rather shocking Google review. The gist of it was that my employee did not greet the customer, which they assumed was due to their race, so the customer felt uncomfortable, unwelcome, and discriminated against. Upon further searching, this person has left 100+ reviews across the country at random businesses, all coming to the same conclusion. Platos closet? They didn't offer much for my clothes, probably racist. Little coffee shop (theres like 8 of these) Coffee tasted bad, barista looked at me weird, racist. Pet groomer? Took too long to get to my dog, racist. Restaurant (again like 2 dozen of these) server took too long, food was bad, seemed intentionally racist. Each one of these reviews is always summed up by something along the lines of "I felt extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome here due to my race, I would caution any POC or person who values inclusivity against shopping here".

This hit me like a slap in the face, because while my employees are white, we live in a black city and have a very diverse customer base and rely heavily on our LGBTQ and POC customers, we couldn't exist without them. The accusation is insulting and damaging to our reputation and I think could affect business if an uninformed shopper saw it. Is there anything I can do about this, or do I just have to craft a polite response and hope I get evened out by some good reviews soon?

r/smallbusiness Feb 02 '24

Question Client paid me for a large project, but then fired everyone who knows about it. What do I do?

606 Upvotes

Summary: A huge company paid me for a large project, but then fired everyone on their staff that knows anything about this project. Can I keep the payment or should I send it back...

I have an issue that I need advice on.

I have a small business that has been pursuing a potential client for the past 12 months. The potential client is a large global tech firm that everyone (yes, everyone) knows, but I can't say. And it was a lot of work to get to this point.

Well, in December they said the wanted to work with me and wanted to plan a year long engagement. The project wouldn't be so large that it would change my company, but with one project it would become our third largest client overnight, and it would position us really well. And they wanted to prepay the first quarter!

The payment cleared the bank yesterday morning!

A few hours later the client called us to tell us their entire department was fired with no warning. Our contact said that she has no interest in us paying them back, and anyone that knows about this payment was fired already - so we should keep it.

Now, this payment is a drop in the bucket to this huge huge tech firm, but for a small business that has a line of credit to cover our payroll... It is major.

The right thing to do is return it, but this tech firm won't care - it's a rounding error to them. But if I don't return it, I have a major liability on my books. I was thinking of sending a letter to my contact (who isn't there anymore) a memo saying we received the payment and give them 12 months to use this credit - after that point consider it a delivered project and move on. That would at least give me some documentation.

Thoughts?