r/smallbusiness

I like to be transparent with everyone, because it helps with connection. This is how you figure out you aren’t alone in the world and that many people are going through the same things you are. And voila! You have your village.

I have a business with my husband, but at the end of the day, it’s his business. I’m happy to help him grow it and get it where it needs to be, but I have always planned to start my own. I made the mistake of telling someone my dream and they asked me how much I currently make at my 9-5. I make around 120k before bonus and they said “oh, you’ll never make that much working for yourself.” They didn’t say it in a hurtful way, just a time to wake up way.

I should have known better to say anything, because you risk this type of response when sharing your drama and then end up where I am, questioning my abilities. TBH, I see money signs when I see myself with my own business. I see myself making way more! But I need to be realistic.

To the small business owners, what is your take home pay? Is this realistic?

Hello everyone, I am 22M and pursuing a business degree... And I am entrepreneurship oriented aiming to create something big in my country. I am working on a business startup with other people of different skills, whom I met both in university and online. It takes a lot of energy and learning to move forward. This of course, is normal for business life.

Now here's the thing: there's been a girl I have always liked from secondary school though I never made anything start( like a relationship there) I was a nerdy type back them. Right now she's in medical school whilst I am in business school. The universities are about 01:30 hrs apart.

I decided to just let her be ever since we finished high school so as I fully focus on my craft or development. Got advice from the "guidance counselors" who told me that it's better to focus on your goals and development right now since you are still young as you are just finishing high school. You might not even love the girl if you wait for some time. I admit I was so young then.

Fast forward to the future(years later), we are now both university students and I still like the girl. I constantly, everyday, choose my business ventures over going for her. But it feels like I am trading or playing dice with two most important parts of my life. I don't like the thought of choosing between the two though I know it might be the right choice. Thinking of balancing the two feels like I am just trying to defend myself whilst making the wrong decision maybe.

I need advice from everyone of you who have experience or knowledge on this situation. I believe you happen to know the right choice to make in this situation, though I might find it difficult to accept. Just tell me the truth as you believe, in your opinion, it is. How do you go about entrepreneurship when these two parts of life crushes?

Thank you

Im self employed and I didnt expect how much random payment admin there would be

A few vendors only take checks and it gets annoying when payments are due before client the invoices clear. I was thinking about putting more expenses on a card for the float but not sure if that creates more bookkeeping mess

Are you guys handling this stuff manually or with a workflow?

I'm curious how everyone handles invoicing and collecting payments.

Is it sending invoices, following up on late payments, clients forgetting to pay, or something else?

I'd love to hear what's been the biggest headache for you.

I have 3 big clients, 10 little clients and hundreds of singleb purchases. I have not delivered as well as I have done in the past on some of my big clients this year and in the past month the three of them have all hinted that they might not continue with the relationship. One of which just straight ghosted me.

I have been worried about this and it's been extremely stressful however I just thought about it. And despite the fact that they are my biggest clients, I actually don't make that much money from them. I did. But they have so much discount it's not worth using my employees to do work for them. It's only worth it if I am the provider.

Thinking about it this way has sent a wave of relief over me. Because it takes less work off my shoulder. I also subconsciously have been neglecting them or being less helpful to them because I know the work is technically not profitable.

Hi,

Not sure if this belongs here but I'm just looking for advice for a problem that I don't know if its just me or if this is quite a common thought. I'm a Software Engineer that specialises in retail systems end to end from tills, ERP integrations for Shopify, Woo etc and have wanted to have my own business since I was a little kid. I'm 27 now and have been in the game as an engineer and in this industry for just under 10 years and I've wanted to start my own business and have tried (multiple times). Well actually tried is a bit of a stretch. I just have this overwhelming feeling that no one will be willing to pay for my services or they'll just go to a big agency and get the work done.

My angle was I wanted to keep it as quite a small studio to keep the communication quite close with end users and this was due to almost every single agency I've personally worked with in my career has either done work to a poor standard or sit me down in a teams meeting making out that an issue is way bigger than it actually is knowing full well its about an hours worth of work and they drag it out for weeks using the "hourly credits" assigned in the contract.

I just saw it day in and day out of these companies abusing the cashflow of bigger companies hoping they wouldn't know this and D365 development agencies seemed to be the worst ones in my experience and these guys were being paid into the millions for development. Am I just being 'too nice' in this dog eat dog world or is being a wolf the only way to truly capitalise in an industry like this?

I digress, what have small business owners done to tackle the devil on the shoulder telling you that this idea you have won't work, how there are other places people can go and how that you should just give up? What pushed you to keep going even when your brain is trying to convince you otherwise?

OK, I’m officially over it. After 15 years of using QuickBooks, with quality degrading every single year, while the price continues to go up, customer service is turned over to AI, glitches, and on top of that inundation with ads throughout the workflow, they can go jump in a lake of hot garbage where they belong.

I am just a small service based business, with small amounts of retail sales. Easy payment for my customers as priority.

Occasionally, I have an employee but most of the time it’s just me.

I’m trying to de-subscription my life, but that may not be realistic.

I have done a little bit of looking around, but I’m curious what you other small business owners are doing. I can’t be the only one tired of QuickBooks study decline into useless trash.

Anyone have suggestions for alternatives to QuickBooks?

When you're just starting out, there are a lot of things that feel unnecessary.

Keeping written records.

Sending proper invoices.

Getting agreements in writing.

Following up after meetings.

Things like that.

But I've noticed a lot of business owners have one habit they started early that ended up saving them time, money, or stress later on.

I'm curious—what's that one habit for you?

Something you wish you'd started even sooner.

Hey, I’m Jon. I’ve worked in a corporate environment for nearly 20 years now - I’m one of those millennials you hear about that is completely burnt out and sick of the 9-5 toxic corporate culture!

Let me start by saying I’m not selling anything, I’m not looking for work, and I’m certainly not here trying to flog any of you guys any AI slop or vibe coded solutions!

I am not a small business owner, but I feel as though it’s something I’d love to pursue.

My problem is a lack of understanding of what really goes into running a small business, warts and all.

I’d love to connect with like minded people across the whole spectrum of small business owners - from the ones just starting out, to the ones that have been going five years but tearing their hair out, to those going twenty years and have it all figured out!

I just want to hear your story, what was your motivation to start something for yourself? What’s the biggest challenge you face every week? What are you most proud of?

I’d honestly appreciate any comments you have, or a DM to start a conversation, anything really to allow me the opportunity to learn from you.

If you made it this far - thanks for reading! Hope to hear from some of you 🙂

Lately I have noticed how easy it is to spend an entire week dealing with whatever feels most urgent.

By Friday I have cleared everything on my immediate to do list, but it does not always feel like the business has actually moved forward.

I am trying to get better at recognizing when it is worth stepping away from the day to day issues and making time for work that will have a bigger impact over the long term.

How do you decide when it is time to stop reacting to what is urgent and focus on what will actually move your business forward?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for honest advice from agency owners who have already been through this stage.

I recently started my agency called Omnala. Right now I'm completely solo and I handle everything myself (sales, design, development, communication, etc.).

My services currently include:

- Webflow websites

- AI automation

- AI chatbots

- Custom software

- Mobile apps

- SEO

- Website maintenance

- UI/UX

Current situation:

- 3 clients so far

- No recurring revenue

- No team

- No LinkedIn presence

- Small Instagram page

- Almost no marketing

- No consistent lead generation system

My biggest problems are:

- No positioning

- Weak branding

- No sales system

- No traffic

- No predictable client acquisition

My goal is to become one of the strongest digital agencies in Morocco over the next few years and eventually expand internationally.

If you were starting again from almost zero in 2026, what would you focus on first?

What mistakes am I making?

What would your 90-day plan look like?

If you own or have owned an agency:

- How did you get your first 10 clients?

- What generated the highest ROI?

- What would you completely avoid?

I'm looking for brutal honesty rather than motivation.

Thank you!

i run a commercial vehicle graphics shop, so my waiting room is usually full of HVAC owners, plumbers, and electricians talking shop while we letter their fleets.

Lately, there’s been a massive debate going on by the coffee pot about flat-rate pricing models vs. old-school hourly billing (time and materials).

One HVAC guy with 5 vans swore that switching to a flat-rate menu book completely saved his business. He said it made his revenue predictable, allowed him to pay his techs a performance bonus, and stopped customers from hovering over his guys with a stopwatch.

But another old-school plumber got seriously heated arguing against it. He said flat-rate pricing models just force honest techs to act like high-pressure salesmen. He claimed a few shops in his area switched to it, made a killing upfront, but then got absolutely slammed with 1-star Google reviews from angry regulars who realized they just got charged $550 for a 15-minute part swap.

Since i just charge a straightforward rate for my wrap labor, I don't really have a horse in this race. For those of you running residential service trades, have you actually made the flip to flat-rate? Does it actually kill local community trust over time, or is it the only way to scale an outfit nowadays tbh?

Let me start by saying that this family business goes way back to my grandpa. He opened a middle eastern sweets store (Knafeh, Baklava and such). And after passing away in 2006, the business is now owned by my father (the eldest) and my 3 uncles.

So far we have 5 branches, 2 of them in the same city and 3 of them in different ones. The main branch has the factory right above it, I worked in the factory for a couple of years, learned a few types of sweets, and mostly worked as a technician in the business.

In 2024, the one who runs one of the branches (not part of the family) decided to quit and open his own store, he was in debt, and the store wasn't profiting. My older brother and I stepped in (my dad was the owner of that branch, but worked in the factory as a technician too).

My older brother barely worked in the business, he has an entrepreneur mind, but working with him the past 2 years has been difficult, he micromanages, he considers himself as the owner since he is the older one and that he knows the most, he isn't a good leader, and doesn't know how to manage himself, other people and money.

Currently he is the owner, the business is being run by him, my dad doesn't really care how we deal with things, and even though I went to him before about these problems, he doesn't do anything, he just wanted to give his children "something".

My brother is smart, he notices things, but he is too negative, and like I said, micromanages, he studied 5 managing and marketing courses on Udemy and considers himself the most knowledgeable, he doesn't listen to advice, and I argued with him a lot about managing money and creating a system, but he doesn't listen to my advice.

We buy most products from the factory for a set price, and we have to sell these products the same price the main branch sells, but the pricing doesn't make sense most of the time, I tried telling my brother that in order to have a good business running, third of the gross income should go towards the COGS, a third for the OpEx and the last third should be the earnings. He thought I was talking nonsense, and that this doesn't work for us, since COGS cost us 50%, although this is very wrong, other wise the business wouldn't survive this long for anyone, we have been in the business for around 40 years.

I don't claim that I know more than my brother, but I am willing to learn, I have listened to a few books, Extreme Ownership, The E-Myth, Radical Candor, The Goal and Profit First. I keep looking for answers, I have a better relationship with employees than my older brother, they like me more, they respect me more, they fear him more.

I am a technician most of the time in my store, and this is how most businesses run in our city, most family owned business, the owners work long hours, they make money, and that's about it. My brother and I believe in franchising and working on the business not in it, but he's actually making it difficult, he's too emotional, one day he wants to conquer the business world, and another day he wants to fire every employee and work in the business himself. He wants everything to be done perfectly, and anything less than that is a probelm to him, he shouts, he screams, he gets emotional, and starts questioning every little mistake.

I make the workd schedule, most of the days I keep my brother out of the store, I don't want his negativity around the store, he doesn't work well with the employees, he doesn't work well in the business, any rules that apply on us, don't apply on him, that's what he believes.

I considered eventually moving him to an investor role, this way he is free to explore other businesses without interfering with mine as long as he makes the money.

I also considered going back to working in the factory and eventually, maybe, become a manager there, but I am married, a child on the way, and I make more money where I am right now. But I also don't want to quit, and I understand the challenges that come with running a business and the path to becoming a leader.

I know I wrote a lot, and I tried to cut it short as much as I could, there are countless stories I can tell about my situations, and I don't mind being the one in the wrong here, I want to learn, become better and do better, I just want to know if I am on the right path or not.

Been digging into small/mid businesses ($500k-5M rev) that are still stuck on spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and paper — trying to find something worth building software for, but I keep landing on HVAC/landscaping/auto repair, which are already crowded with tools like ServiceTitan or Shopmonkey.

Anyone here worked with a business that surprised you with how outdated it still is, despite making real money? What's the actual daily pain — is it scheduling, chasing payments, tracking inventory, compliance paperwork? Genuinely curious what's still being run on Excel and duct tape in 2026.

Just curious - is this a prevelant issue? i feel as though it it - many people dont know where to go to find warehouses

I live in Michigan and camping is pretty big here.

I have awful ADHD and being an electrician is pretty fulfilling, but I went to college for Hospitality Business because I love human/ client interaction.

This has been my dream for 14 years now and I will make it happen one way or another. I WOULD very much like it to bring in a livable income in the future.

Anybody have any advice?

I'm down to partner up also.

I talked to a few old friends who are VERY famous skateboarders about throwing a grand opening with a few punk bands and helping build a skatepark in the grounds.

Am I getting a little too ambitious?

Love y'all.

i run a small services business and the timing gap between when i deliver work and when I actually get paid is getting harder to manage. Most of my clients are decent people but payment terms are different things for different people. net 30 for some means day 28, for others it means day 45 or whenever they remember

I’ve tried upfront deposits which helped somewhat but not everyone agrees to them, especially new clients who don’t know me yet. I have late payment fees in the contract, but I feel like if I enforce them, it will do more damage to the relationship than the late payment itself.

Really interested to hear what systems or approaches small business owners here have put in place around these that actually reduced late payments without creating friction with clients

i’m going to write a lot because i’m anxious and thorough but will put a TLDR at the bottom lol. delete if not ok to post here! i’ve posted in a couple others so if you see more than once just trying to get the right input

i’ve been running a small craft business since the holiday season of 2023. i mostly sell small crochet and vinyl/cricut items at low price points with a few higher priced items! i have an etsy shop, take custom orders online, and do craft shows every once in awhile. june 2025 i had a super successful event (profitable!) even though it was a torrential storm at the show i still did well. i had more young girls (think older elementary-early high school) buying my items than my target audience which was 20 something girls & moms buying for their 20 something’s lol.

my best selling items were crochet scrunchies & accessories, some summer tops, book sleeves and acrylic bookmarks. during the holidays beanies & scarves do really well plus custom pet ornaments. i also get custom orders for cardigans. i have some small low priced crochet patterns on my etsy as well as editable canva templates for events lol.

after my successful show last year, i found out i was pregnant with my daughter & the first trimester destroyed me i couldn’t get any customs out so i finished my queue and stopped taking orders. i couldn’t even crochet or craft for fun because i developed arthritis around 20wks. we welcomed our baby this april and now that she’s 3m, im really missing the business and creating. i’d like to get back into things but needing some guidance. i’ve never had great social media presence but when i can dedicate the time to it i enjoy it. i have not posted since last july lol basically got pregnant and ghosted the business.

looking back at my business - it lacks direction. i love crafting and will honestly make anything someone asks because it’ll make me some extra money. but i have grown to hate custom orders, and big item market prepping is exhausting! i like writing crochet patterns and plan to continue that path, but i do realllly miss the markets. i want to get back into them but before i do that i feel like i need to realign on product offerings and what would actually sell. i know i wont clear out inventory at every market, but a lot of what ive made in the past are things i would want, but not necessarily what others would want.

as a new mom i’d love to try to tap into the baby space and i know it’s impossible to resist cute baby items. also knowing that younger girls were drawn to my items i want to keep fostering that area. i also love digital design like stickers & vinyl, silly baby onesies, and small accessories. but i feel like my brain has a bigger appetite than maybe one business should be? i just love to be creative and want to share that but dont want to bite off more than i can chew in a way that would be off putting or confusing to consumers.

given all of this - what kind of products do you see at craft fairs that you actually are interested in buying? is it only the small impulse things that really get you, or are the bigger more expensive items still a draw? and if a shop offered multiple different items like what i mentioned would you be turned off by it or still open to buying as long as the quality and uniqueness were there? sorry this is a lot but my postpartum brain is a mess. i feel like i need my business back to feel like myself again.

TLDR: wanting to start back up my small business after pregnancy & maternity leave but having a product and identity crisis. looking for insight on what people actually want to buy at craft shows. focus is crochet & vinyl based products but skilled with digital design. hoping to appeal to the baby crowd & preteen/tween girls since that’s where my success has been. thank you <3

I’m starting out my own online company and trying to get social media traction seems harder than I thought. Granted I’ve only been trying for a week, and have gotten one person with a decent following to promote once my product gets sent to them. But do I just stay on this track or do yall have any tips and tricks?

Also is it weird to follow people until I have at least a decent little following? Like 200-300?