Starting Again
Discussion
I thought I would do a thread on my efforts to "do something" new, I am lucky in that I can self finance a modest new venture but I dont want to throw cash away so this will be very much on a budget.
I set up a LTD company, its not VAT reg yet and I used my accountant to do it (£150), yes its easy to do but I used them. I own the URL myname.com (as in my real name fbloggs.com) so for speed and easiness I registered FBloggs LTD.
I dont need a large warehouse so I wont be using the old DST one with £1800 a month overheads before I pay myself rent! I have seen some starter units in the old Champion Spark Plugs Site at £90 a week all in which I will check out next week (office and small store).
What will I do ? well so far I have done "work with" 3 companies, one was my old company as a handover which is the main part of my fledgling income and the other with small eCommerce companies that needed a steer (2 days and 4 days). Right now I have nothing solid but a warehouse full of racking, desks and stuff I want to sell most of (I dont need it all).
My friend is a ecommerce consultant who is currently working in hover boards and fake eye brow kits, we could set up a larger consultancy and we have discussed a sharply targeted on line business selling one line at high margin (imagine being a jubilee clip super stockist, every colour, style, size in stock) but marketed via social media (would go Shopify next time not Magento)
So thats where I am today, about to go VAT reg and ordering some business cards from Vista ...... I resisted to put "wars started, virgins converted and rats caught" on my cards but it did cross my mind in the "whats your mesage" field.
Oh and I am discovering new faults in my 2005 Volvo D estate deemed my new company car!
I set up a LTD company, its not VAT reg yet and I used my accountant to do it (£150), yes its easy to do but I used them. I own the URL myname.com (as in my real name fbloggs.com) so for speed and easiness I registered FBloggs LTD.
I dont need a large warehouse so I wont be using the old DST one with £1800 a month overheads before I pay myself rent! I have seen some starter units in the old Champion Spark Plugs Site at £90 a week all in which I will check out next week (office and small store).
What will I do ? well so far I have done "work with" 3 companies, one was my old company as a handover which is the main part of my fledgling income and the other with small eCommerce companies that needed a steer (2 days and 4 days). Right now I have nothing solid but a warehouse full of racking, desks and stuff I want to sell most of (I dont need it all).
My friend is a ecommerce consultant who is currently working in hover boards and fake eye brow kits, we could set up a larger consultancy and we have discussed a sharply targeted on line business selling one line at high margin (imagine being a jubilee clip super stockist, every colour, style, size in stock) but marketed via social media (would go Shopify next time not Magento)
So thats where I am today, about to go VAT reg and ordering some business cards from Vista ...... I resisted to put "wars started, virgins converted and rats caught" on my cards but it did cross my mind in the "whats your mesage" field.
Oh and I am discovering new faults in my 2005 Volvo D estate deemed my new company car!
Jockman said:
DSLiverpool said:
...... I have seen some starter units in the old Champion Spark Plugs Site at £90 a week all in which I will check out next week (office and small store).
Old but solid units. Nightmare to get to and from in rush hour from Arrowe Park direction 
Surprised you went limited rather than simple sole trader to begin with but I'm sure there is a logical reason
Simpo Two said:
DSLiverpool said:
I cant open an account with the manufacturer I desire (in future) without being LTD and VAT reg, having a work address and generally being a "proper" company.
On a serious note, isn't it curious that they will only sell to someone who has a legal means to avoid paying their bills, as opposed to a sole trader they could sue to hell and back.fellatthefirst said:
None of my business really but what was your reason for selling a seemingly profitable business you built up to then not move into something else you had solid plans on? For example i could understand you selling your firm if you knew exactly what you wanted to do next, i.e onto bigger and better things. I'm just curious for your reasoning.
I saw the future and I fell out of love with being an employer, we were doing close to £3m and it was getting more and more competitive against the "sell for nowts" as my business model was heavily service and knowledge based. I just didn't like the business I was in nor the pressure.Being reliant on 3rd parties (eBay, amazon, Seo, google, web co) killed me and when I asked three separate companies about my new website and got three separate differing answers and costs from £20k to £50k to make it sing (no guarantees though) I decided to get shut and start again with a model that suits me better.
Luckily I have my last ever home mortgage free and no debt, I won't have a DBS anytime soon but I will have a Mustang ;-)
My mrs will open the bagel bakery next year and whilst it's early days I am pretty sure £50k a year doing odds and sods is achievable and that will do.
Of course it's very very early days and whilst today has been a "contemplation" day I have still had a few calls and emails from people who I can do "stuff" with - main priority us to sell my CCTV, desks and racking though as it's dead cash.
Thankyou4calling said:
I hope this goes well for you.
You seem to have floated quite a few ideas on here so now you are focussed you can make it fly.
What happened to the bagel business proposal?
You seem to have floated quite a few ideas on here so now you are focussed you can make it fly.
What happened to the bagel business proposal?
DSLiverpool said:
My mrs will open the bagel bakery next year .
Plan changed to actually have a small bakery making them now rather than buying from Manchester.Justayellowbadge said:
Out of interest, does your chum work for an outfit starting with 'O'?
Can't be many about with that product mix!
No, John is a one man band, possibly we will be a three man band with a social media expert joining us (if we go in that direction) - he is in effect a ecommerce marketing manager for hire by the day, week, month etc and his clients change rapidly, he has just finished working on LED light bulbs, has done swimwear recently etc. He just makes sure the web site is efficient, the web company are not taking the piss, the staff are trained and know what to do regularly and the SEO is effective etc. Can't be many about with that product mix!
fellatthefirst said:
My dream is to get my website big and make the majority of our profit from that.
Use a third party (who does not do SEO or sites) to monitor your site performance in depth ALL THE TIME - your webby will be too busy on the latest client demands, you may do it but only half a job, your staff may do it but may also be on FB or just not telling you the truth. (not all webbys I know - I am generalising there are some great web guys out there so dont shout at me webbys)The idea I had with John (my consultant mate) and floated on here about a year ago was to offer a regular site report on a continuous basis from a company that doesnt need your money for SEO or more web design - a truly independent opinion every week / month and as in depth as you can afford or need.
In September Google made some pretty big changes that really influenced some sites positioning, did your webby discuss this with you?
Justayellowbadge said:
Sorry, I meant the client, I have just finished a little bit of work with a company that does beauty products and hoverboards, seemed an unusual combo.
Ah sorry two different companies, the hover board one is named after a infamous taxi competitor (and also the same name as a poster on here Hi Lee) and Naymar has one on his instagram (a great coo) the eyebrows are another Liverpool company. OK so LTD company in place, sole director and my accountant is the reg office, bank visited today, 2 years free, new account, merchant facility for card, debit and credit cards applied for. They ask for intimate details regarding the new business and I had to wing it as I am making it up as I go along.
Before I start "trading" in anger I am doing a few weeks of R&D for my new venture which is very tax efficient and would need to be done anyway its just I am recording it to make a claim.
The lovely cheap office in the Big Padlock Champion spark plug building is out as the address is ACME c/o Big Padlock - no use. Or possibly a PO box - I am caught between thoughts.
Phone will be a landline number forwarded to my mobile and infinitely portable throughout the new venture.
FSB will be joined (its been real value over the last 10 years) and I am looking at BNI networking.
We expect to be exhibiting at business shows from Blackpool to Stoke Q1 2016
Before I start "trading" in anger I am doing a few weeks of R&D for my new venture which is very tax efficient and would need to be done anyway its just I am recording it to make a claim.
The lovely cheap office in the Big Padlock Champion spark plug building is out as the address is ACME c/o Big Padlock - no use. Or possibly a PO box - I am caught between thoughts.
Phone will be a landline number forwarded to my mobile and infinitely portable throughout the new venture.
FSB will be joined (its been real value over the last 10 years) and I am looking at BNI networking.
We expect to be exhibiting at business shows from Blackpool to Stoke Q1 2016
Its so easy to get in a "do nothing" rut. I havent actually done nothing but I could get used to not doing much!
Ok so we have secured a office in a large building in the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool, its big enough for 4 people and a bit of stock, has free car parking, included electricity, it just needs phones. The car park is a bit wild west but the owners have a large gated car park that I can rent a spot in for £30 a month - truly brilliant.
What will we do? three of us will work together initially leveraging contacts, exploring ideas and brainstorming. We have a ecommerce analyst / consultant, a very talented web programmer and me (!) we will probably pore over Terapeak for few weeks looking for the lost diamond in the rough.
We have one paid in client who is a 12 month contract that will cover the building costs entirely so now we just need wages.
If all else fails we can do ecommerce which I prefer not to do as I am sick of it (my 2 associates have not been at the sharp end of ecommerce before).
My preference is to revisit an old business I had called voucherpromotions that did stuff like 2 flights to NYC for £10, free golf rounds when one pays, free spa days and stuff like that real business boosters if used the right way - I stopped doing it when the main channel for the NYC flights (ebay) stopped allowing this type of product on site. But we can do a website and relaunch it I feel.
We move in next week, will do sporadic updates ......
Ok so we have secured a office in a large building in the Baltic Triangle in Liverpool, its big enough for 4 people and a bit of stock, has free car parking, included electricity, it just needs phones. The car park is a bit wild west but the owners have a large gated car park that I can rent a spot in for £30 a month - truly brilliant.
What will we do? three of us will work together initially leveraging contacts, exploring ideas and brainstorming. We have a ecommerce analyst / consultant, a very talented web programmer and me (!) we will probably pore over Terapeak for few weeks looking for the lost diamond in the rough.
We have one paid in client who is a 12 month contract that will cover the building costs entirely so now we just need wages.
If all else fails we can do ecommerce which I prefer not to do as I am sick of it (my 2 associates have not been at the sharp end of ecommerce before).
My preference is to revisit an old business I had called voucherpromotions that did stuff like 2 flights to NYC for £10, free golf rounds when one pays, free spa days and stuff like that real business boosters if used the right way - I stopped doing it when the main channel for the NYC flights (ebay) stopped allowing this type of product on site. But we can do a website and relaunch it I feel.
We move in next week, will do sporadic updates ......
Frimley111R said:
Thanks for the updates. So are you all 'wageless' for now and if so, how long can you stay that way?
Well outside of "the cooperative" the other two guys have a level of default work paying a basic wage, and I am busy looking at how we all pull together to make the whole more than the sum of its pieces.If I hold off on the Veyron I can go a while wageless, in fact I budgeted nothing for a year from when I sold DST and I have 4 months left but its not a concern (I got an unexpected 3 months work over the summer). (however we may be camping in Rhyl this year - lovely)
So we have been here for a week - see the arrow thats where we are however the window office is not ours we are inside of the window office - we aspire to have a window ;o) see the car park on the left? thats a separate gated car park they offer for £30 a month, when the Mustang arrives it will live in that car park!
What does our windowless wonderland look like .....
Its better now with computers and a third desk, we are getting a few pictures but hanker over the window office. The vibe within this place is great, our meeting room is the cafe meeting room so we can have catered meetings in what resembles your mums front room - surreal but its gone down brilliantly with the home made scouse being particularly popular.
So what are we doing? well leveraging our contacts to be honest, between the two (possibly three) of us we have a sort of "we will help you sell more stuff in exchange for a cut" type of operation. This has resulted in a few people who needed help with small issues which we have done for free (carrier deal, eBay issue, sourcing hassle etc) but we have the one landed project for website and marketing for a year where unlike a emarketing company we have pledged to handle all on / offline sales activity for a retainer and a cut of sales - the site goes live end of April.
I am loath to do any ecommerce / sales ourselves but we have been offered a UK distribution on a outdoor cable management system for festivals and fairs etc, this requires modest investment and I am trying to make this a "self funding" company so it needs further thought.
What does our windowless wonderland look like .....
Its better now with computers and a third desk, we are getting a few pictures but hanker over the window office. The vibe within this place is great, our meeting room is the cafe meeting room so we can have catered meetings in what resembles your mums front room - surreal but its gone down brilliantly with the home made scouse being particularly popular.
So what are we doing? well leveraging our contacts to be honest, between the two (possibly three) of us we have a sort of "we will help you sell more stuff in exchange for a cut" type of operation. This has resulted in a few people who needed help with small issues which we have done for free (carrier deal, eBay issue, sourcing hassle etc) but we have the one landed project for website and marketing for a year where unlike a emarketing company we have pledged to handle all on / offline sales activity for a retainer and a cut of sales - the site goes live end of April.
I am loath to do any ecommerce / sales ourselves but we have been offered a UK distribution on a outdoor cable management system for festivals and fairs etc, this requires modest investment and I am trying to make this a "self funding" company so it needs further thought.
I guess I should update this a little even for my own amusement.
We have a window !!
So after many false starts and dead ends we came up with a name, we got clients and we have our own projects and we have the all important window.
We came to the conclusion that we must be a type of web agency / consultancy but so are lots of companies so we needed a USP but more of that later. We needed a name, personally I love the name of a great Manchester agency called Lakestar (then Lakestar McCann then just McCann) and as this is a three way decision we got nowhere for a while until we all agreed on Velostar which is good BUT I traditionally like a number plate matching my company (!) so managed to buy VE15 TAR an convinced my partners it was a better name - luckily they agreed and Velstar was born.
That was in May, now we are just about to send our own site live after many "creative" differences we agreed to combine websites with consultancy as personally I had so many s
tty experiences of commissioning a new website and being thrown the keys and offered a 30 day snagging service and then nowt. Not for us. Our service had to be more than that so we finally agreed that each site would include 90 days business partnership / consultancy / help after "go live" to make sure it was doing whats required and the business as a whole was "working" from logistics to email marketing to order processing we would be available.
Currently we have 7 sites in development admittedly 2 of those are build only for larger agencies that we have done to get cash in and 2 are projects of our own for ecommerce (one is a fully automated no touch drop shipping website that we are very excited about) the other is a vinyl / music site that is a labour of love for the three of us.
We have 2 shared revenue ventures about to materialise in beauty and fashion which we feel will pay all three of us a basic wage on their own so we are keen to get them launched.
All rosy then - not quite - we badly need a PA but we have no money for one (total investment so far is £5k) so I am setting up the VAT, applying for parking permits and rate relief etc its been a LONG TIME since I did this sort of stuff and I hate it but it needs doing.
Where did we get the business from? well two 50 year old blokes have a few contacts over the years and Dan the developer has some good large agency contacts so the secret of getting going has been to leverage our contacts and ask for work. I have also been pleased to help a few PHers out with my contacts for eBay and Amazon data entry services, nothing to do with Velstar but we may add it to our portfolio in future.
The next stage is to launch our own ecommerce, launch the joint ventures and launch our own website with associated marketing and this is the GROWING PAIN CRUNCH - thats a lot for 3 blokes to do (coding and design are done overseas we dont do the main coding in house) and we will need at least two staff at circa £30k each (Liverpool, remember) this is when we either invest ourselves, borrow or get creative - I will update this (if anyones reading) with what happens next after its happened.
Cheers
We have a window !!
So after many false starts and dead ends we came up with a name, we got clients and we have our own projects and we have the all important window.
We came to the conclusion that we must be a type of web agency / consultancy but so are lots of companies so we needed a USP but more of that later. We needed a name, personally I love the name of a great Manchester agency called Lakestar (then Lakestar McCann then just McCann) and as this is a three way decision we got nowhere for a while until we all agreed on Velostar which is good BUT I traditionally like a number plate matching my company (!) so managed to buy VE15 TAR an convinced my partners it was a better name - luckily they agreed and Velstar was born.
That was in May, now we are just about to send our own site live after many "creative" differences we agreed to combine websites with consultancy as personally I had so many s
tty experiences of commissioning a new website and being thrown the keys and offered a 30 day snagging service and then nowt. Not for us. Our service had to be more than that so we finally agreed that each site would include 90 days business partnership / consultancy / help after "go live" to make sure it was doing whats required and the business as a whole was "working" from logistics to email marketing to order processing we would be available. Currently we have 7 sites in development admittedly 2 of those are build only for larger agencies that we have done to get cash in and 2 are projects of our own for ecommerce (one is a fully automated no touch drop shipping website that we are very excited about) the other is a vinyl / music site that is a labour of love for the three of us.
We have 2 shared revenue ventures about to materialise in beauty and fashion which we feel will pay all three of us a basic wage on their own so we are keen to get them launched.
All rosy then - not quite - we badly need a PA but we have no money for one (total investment so far is £5k) so I am setting up the VAT, applying for parking permits and rate relief etc its been a LONG TIME since I did this sort of stuff and I hate it but it needs doing.
Where did we get the business from? well two 50 year old blokes have a few contacts over the years and Dan the developer has some good large agency contacts so the secret of getting going has been to leverage our contacts and ask for work. I have also been pleased to help a few PHers out with my contacts for eBay and Amazon data entry services, nothing to do with Velstar but we may add it to our portfolio in future.
The next stage is to launch our own ecommerce, launch the joint ventures and launch our own website with associated marketing and this is the GROWING PAIN CRUNCH - thats a lot for 3 blokes to do (coding and design are done overseas we dont do the main coding in house) and we will need at least two staff at circa £30k each (Liverpool, remember) this is when we either invest ourselves, borrow or get creative - I will update this (if anyones reading) with what happens next after its happened.
Cheers
Anyone on here made use of a super blogger ? Circa 500k plus ? We have considered this for the cosmetics joint venture.
Personally I am looking forward to promoting the drop ship website, we have no budget to promote it and we are not dependent on it for income it's the sprinkles on the cake not the cake.
Promoting a website when your not sucking every customer through the checkout will be a luxury for me.
Personally I am looking forward to promoting the drop ship website, we have no budget to promote it and we are not dependent on it for income it's the sprinkles on the cake not the cake.
Promoting a website when your not sucking every customer through the checkout will be a luxury for me.
uber said:
This week I witnessed the slaughter of a poor guy via a hosted e-commerce platform which sounds very like spotify. He done 40k in sales in 2 weeks using their branded payment system , they told him to keep going and although they messed up the name they were sending payments (which were received then returned) they promised that their system would update and payment would be made the next day.
Today he was told he is to successful and they put a 60 day hold on his funds INCLUDING the first money they had already sent after days of saying he would be paid the next day.
He asked them to pay his suppliers direct and the fulfilment house so he could keep trading but they said no then told him to find a new payment processor.
All his start up capital went on stock, shipping and ads. He has nothing left, it was horrible to see him crying his eyes out.
Lee "someone" should have warned him to precondition his account prior to launch. Personally I would not use a faceless generic gateway for that sort of take off value. Today he was told he is to successful and they put a 60 day hold on his funds INCLUDING the first money they had already sent after days of saying he would be paid the next day.
He asked them to pay his suppliers direct and the fulfilment house so he could keep trading but they said no then told him to find a new payment processor.
All his start up capital went on stock, shipping and ads. He has nothing left, it was horrible to see him crying his eyes out.
Using say worldpay he could have gone through deep security prior to launching.
This scenario seldom happens now as people ramp up but say a big Magento shop went to shopify doing circa £50k a week I would not advise using the shopify gateway initially.
We have just set up on Amazon and eBay as Velstar, I have done all the PayPal checks but still have a £10k limit and Amazon have stated I can trade TO £15k before they want passports etc.
Let's face it money moving laws are tight and going to get tighter.
PPC - £2k a day - typo ?
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