Start up Dilemma.. Now What?
Discussion
Okay ill try answer your questions, Can I sell?..... Yes I can sell, worked various telesales positions in the past selling anything from gas and electric to SEO and generating Life insurance leads. My USP right now as I am targeting locally at the minute is that I am local to there business should they need me they no where I am, I am very competitively priced and thirdly should they wish to discuss anything face to face this can be done. Some people do not like being sold to over the phone I totally get that hence for starting and gaining my first few clients I am starting locally. Admin/ Bookkeeping this is where I may struggle slightly I can keep up with general admin work and general bookkeeping balance sheets etc (EX girlfriend was training to be a accountant) but I may sometimes ask family members for a little help which I am sure they would be happy to help If I asked nicely 
Credit Control, I presume you mean chasing money from unpaid clients etc? Well because I am a small one man band operating from home I am currently only taking paypal payment. If this isnt what you mean I am all ears!
Credit Control, I presume you mean chasing money from unpaid clients etc? Well because I am a small one man band operating from home I am currently only taking paypal payment. If this isnt what you mean I am all ears! 
There would be several post's a day not one post, I can schedule posts to be posted at certain times throughout the day so lets say I made 8 posts on a monday for a client, I could have these 8 posts set up and ready to go on the sunday so when the time came I could concentrate on other parts of SM. Same for other days off the week.
Page tidy up could obviously be argued a one time thing yes but once every week/month whatever It is always a good idea for any business to have a general tidy up, could be as simple as pintrests to going through past posts/ write ups etc. The page layout and design is going to be the first thing someone see's if they are finding you through SM it needs to be at its best.
Page tidy up could obviously be argued a one time thing yes but once every week/month whatever It is always a good idea for any business to have a general tidy up, could be as simple as pintrests to going through past posts/ write ups etc. The page layout and design is going to be the first thing someone see's if they are finding you through SM it needs to be at its best.
Okay well thank you Hoofy defiantly making me think a lot more again about my pricing structure and what to include! By keeping the page at the best it can be I dont mean creating a brand new logo every month I mean making sure the right information is where it is, should you have a offer for example... Bridal shop " 15% off wedding dresses this week only" For that week you dont want to just send that post out and let it fall down the page it would need to be pinned etc.
Now ill tell you where I am at and as more experienced people please give me an honest answer
Basically where im at with this is I am 21 this year constantly thinking of new ideas/ ways I can become my own boss. Ever since being young this is the dream. Now am I pissing in the wind with this idea in terms of making my riches from SM Marketing and being my own boss? This is something that excites me and I am determined not to just throw the towel in. Ive got a little under 2 weeks left and I am doing everything I can to get it together. Now as I said am I pissing in the wind? Coming from people with some more life/business experience?
Now ill tell you where I am at and as more experienced people please give me an honest answer
Basically where im at with this is I am 21 this year constantly thinking of new ideas/ ways I can become my own boss. Ever since being young this is the dream. Now am I pissing in the wind with this idea in terms of making my riches from SM Marketing and being my own boss? This is something that excites me and I am determined not to just throw the towel in. Ive got a little under 2 weeks left and I am doing everything I can to get it together. Now as I said am I pissing in the wind? Coming from people with some more life/business experience?
Picking the clients I go through my own research on the clients im pitching right now too defiantly trying to be slightly picky if its possible. I just basically research a local company who im going to pitch to, have a look through there SM and have a look whats missing and what can be done. Sales Call I go through how important SM is currently for advertising, ask them a few basic questions regarding the SM, let them know who I am and what im offering ask do they have any questions, would they be happy with going ahead should the price be right, if YES then I tell the price, have made up some documents I send out with more information and then I will call them back regarding starting work and payment If they are happy too. Ive wrote a script just last night going to try it out soon.
Before jumping in with both feet I think you need to do some sums.
What is your break even number of clients? and probably add 20-30% to that figure.
How many posts per day per client?
I think that you will soon run out of time, if you had 30 clients, with 8 posts per day, that's 240 posts you'd have to make every day.. 50 clients that's 400 posts per day.
Maybe I've taken worse case scenario numbers, but I think you definitely need to do the maths on this, before thinking that it will just scale up.
What is your break even number of clients? and probably add 20-30% to that figure.
How many posts per day per client?
I think that you will soon run out of time, if you had 30 clients, with 8 posts per day, that's 240 posts you'd have to make every day.. 50 clients that's 400 posts per day.
Maybe I've taken worse case scenario numbers, but I think you definitely need to do the maths on this, before thinking that it will just scale up.
Okay so taking 5 clients at £100 p/week would be on average lets say 5/8 posts a day so working on that with 5 clients that is 200 post's per week which would all be scheduled when im working on the business for a few hours so they would update throughout the week. I would need to publish 5 articles/ blog posts so there is another few hours work on top. Breaking even right now isnt really the issue with 1 client a week I would break even as I am running this from home right now so expenses are relatively low taking into account phone bills etc. Obviously I wouldnt be able to take on more than 5/6 clients whilst doing this part time as I just would not have the time to keep up with the workload and put 100% effort into each client. With 5/6 clients that is £5/600 a week which I could comfortably then pursue this venture full time. There is alot of IF and WHEN's regarding gaining clients that why right now I am just testing the water and doing this in my spare hours. Yes I wont have much spare time for myself after working full time and pursing this but if that is what it takes to make this work then I am going to put the hours in.
Also guys if you don't mind me asking, how do I go about registering the business and how does the tax work whilst working full time? Will I be taxed extra from my full time income "Wage" or just the profits I make from this side venture? I have tried looking into it and it is totally baffling me how to go about this, same with licenses with this sort of business.
Eric'll be along in a mo and scare the bejesus out of you 
You'll be liable for tax on any self employed profit you make on top of your PAYE salary. For now, just keep a note of money earned and expenses paid including mileage visiting prospects/clients. You'll need to formalise things in a few (3) months by which time you'll know if it's a goer or not.
You'll be liable for tax on any self employed profit you make on top of your PAYE salary. For now, just keep a note of money earned and expenses paid including mileage visiting prospects/clients. You'll need to formalise things in a few (3) months by which time you'll know if it's a goer or not.
I notice you differentiate between SM posts (short) and articles/blog posts (long). I wouldn't include these as part of your £100/week service as:
1) they take longer to write a decent article
2) you'd be writing about an industry you probably have little knowledge of so would have to do a decent bit of research to not embarrass your client - you've seen those s
te articles written by journos in big name newspapers which come across as knowledgeable but because of your own knowledge are a crock of ste and/or lies; it takes me a good few hours to write an article on a subject I'm well-informed of!
3) you could charge £100 per article if it's decent enough and you take 5 hours to do the research
As for business registration:
1) you take it as side income. You will need to add it to your annual income; annual return needs to be filled; may need an accountant
2) you set up a limited company (google "limited company registration"); has its own ball aches and very likely needs an accountant if you're asking such questions (you can do it yourself (I do) but if you're completely fresh faced to this, you are in for a world of mental anguish).
1) they take longer to write a decent article
2) you'd be writing about an industry you probably have little knowledge of so would have to do a decent bit of research to not embarrass your client - you've seen those s
te articles written by journos in big name newspapers which come across as knowledgeable but because of your own knowledge are a crock of ste and/or lies; it takes me a good few hours to write an article on a subject I'm well-informed of!3) you could charge £100 per article if it's decent enough and you take 5 hours to do the research
As for business registration:
1) you take it as side income. You will need to add it to your annual income; annual return needs to be filled; may need an accountant
2) you set up a limited company (google "limited company registration"); has its own ball aches and very likely needs an accountant if you're asking such questions (you can do it yourself (I do) but if you're completely fresh faced to this, you are in for a world of mental anguish).
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