Help with a new business
Discussion
Good evening
My wife is currently on a a career break and trying to start a new business so she can leave her job permanently.
She has started to make natural dog biscuits / treats / celebration cakes and is looking to turn it in to an income. The presentation is fairly artisan and we are lucky to live in a fairly affluent area.
I’m trying to help but this is so far out of my comfort zone I don’t have a lot to add. My only thought so far is some sort of subscription service to generate regular income.
She has an Instagram page with some content and is considering a leaflet drop to local houses pointing them to the Instagram page and inviting enquiries via DM.
We don’t need to generate huge income fortunately and would hope to get about £100 a week which we think needs about 50 customers. I am prepared to spend some money to assist with getting this up and running.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
My wife is currently on a a career break and trying to start a new business so she can leave her job permanently.
She has started to make natural dog biscuits / treats / celebration cakes and is looking to turn it in to an income. The presentation is fairly artisan and we are lucky to live in a fairly affluent area.
I’m trying to help but this is so far out of my comfort zone I don’t have a lot to add. My only thought so far is some sort of subscription service to generate regular income.
She has an Instagram page with some content and is considering a leaflet drop to local houses pointing them to the Instagram page and inviting enquiries via DM.
We don’t need to generate huge income fortunately and would hope to get about £100 a week which we think needs about 50 customers. I am prepared to spend some money to assist with getting this up and running.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
The cakes are for dogs too? If not it’s a slightly odd combination that might prove tricky to market as one operation.
I know nothing really about the pet industry but what I do know is that dog grooming (bear with me on this!) is expensive and in short supply. Round where we live, existing ones aren’t taking new customers and whenever a new one opens up it’s fully booked in next to no time. Oh, and when I said “expensive” I meant bloody expensive.
Given the above, I probably wouldn’t be leaflet dropping local houses. Instead I’d be trying to get straight to people willing to spend on their dogs. Perhaps go and chat to a couple of groomers about how they’d feel about a small presentation stand (keep the natural theme by going reclaimed/wood) from which the product can be sold in simple eco friendly looking packaging as an impulse purchase for those collecting their dogs (either as something for the groomers to sell outright or for a bit of commission).
Lower distribution costs too if all you need to do is drop the routine stuff off at a few locations every week or so.
I know nothing really about the pet industry but what I do know is that dog grooming (bear with me on this!) is expensive and in short supply. Round where we live, existing ones aren’t taking new customers and whenever a new one opens up it’s fully booked in next to no time. Oh, and when I said “expensive” I meant bloody expensive.
Given the above, I probably wouldn’t be leaflet dropping local houses. Instead I’d be trying to get straight to people willing to spend on their dogs. Perhaps go and chat to a couple of groomers about how they’d feel about a small presentation stand (keep the natural theme by going reclaimed/wood) from which the product can be sold in simple eco friendly looking packaging as an impulse purchase for those collecting their dogs (either as something for the groomers to sell outright or for a bit of commission).
Lower distribution costs too if all you need to do is drop the routine stuff off at a few locations every week or so.
It may be a good idea to try and get an influencer or two on board with promoting them. (in that particular genre) They have a ready-built audience that is interested in products similar to yours.
The easiest way to do this is to set up a website and offer them a referral link that gives them a percentage of each sale made through it. The higher the % you give them the more uptake you will get. You will need to probably canvas hundreds to get a few replies, youtube, Instagram, Facebook, etc but you will get a massive order uptake when they promote it and then will hold some of those customers if the product is good.
This, IMO, is the best way to get good marketing with no upfront cost other than your time although it can be expensive depending on how much you're giving away to the influencer, and as such very much depends on what kind of margin your working on.
You may find influencers willing to promote it for free in some sort of compilation video of the top products or best upcoming products video at this time of year but you are probably looking at canvasing thousands to get that.
The easiest way to do this is to set up a website and offer them a referral link that gives them a percentage of each sale made through it. The higher the % you give them the more uptake you will get. You will need to probably canvas hundreds to get a few replies, youtube, Instagram, Facebook, etc but you will get a massive order uptake when they promote it and then will hold some of those customers if the product is good.
This, IMO, is the best way to get good marketing with no upfront cost other than your time although it can be expensive depending on how much you're giving away to the influencer, and as such very much depends on what kind of margin your working on.
You may find influencers willing to promote it for free in some sort of compilation video of the top products or best upcoming products video at this time of year but you are probably looking at canvasing thousands to get that.
No offence, but £100/week?
Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
Running a business manufacturing and distribution to 50 people is a LOT of work. Moreso if, and as it sounds, margins are tight.
I really don't want to pee on chips, and I love people starting things up now than the next, but a business takes a lot of devotion, effort, time and personal investment. Is it worth it for such returns? Where does she think she can take it, do the numbers add up?
As I say, I hate to be a negative nelly, but just want to sanity check the thinking here
I'd love this to be the next big thing, and well it may, but Id encourage her to think about cost of goods, scaling, costs of sales and running the business & if it all looks good, great, crack on, but don't fall into the trap of basically making yourself self-employed slave labour in a company that doesn't really wash its face!
There is no minimum wage for self employed income, Id much rather earn £9/hr working for someone else than £3/hr self employed!!! Now of course if you think the market is there and it's scalable and in time can grow, awesome!! But before sinking months of effort into something do some serious diligence first!
Really really wish you all the best and hope you take this as constructive, it's meant to be. Oftentimes small business owners will be encouraged to write a business plan before starting, I think it would worth looking into to check it adds up so you know what you know and also, like you're doing here, know to ask for help on what you don't know
Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
Running a business manufacturing and distribution to 50 people is a LOT of work. Moreso if, and as it sounds, margins are tight.
I really don't want to pee on chips, and I love people starting things up now than the next, but a business takes a lot of devotion, effort, time and personal investment. Is it worth it for such returns? Where does she think she can take it, do the numbers add up?
As I say, I hate to be a negative nelly, but just want to sanity check the thinking here
I'd love this to be the next big thing, and well it may, but Id encourage her to think about cost of goods, scaling, costs of sales and running the business & if it all looks good, great, crack on, but don't fall into the trap of basically making yourself self-employed slave labour in a company that doesn't really wash its face!
There is no minimum wage for self employed income, Id much rather earn £9/hr working for someone else than £3/hr self employed!!! Now of course if you think the market is there and it's scalable and in time can grow, awesome!! But before sinking months of effort into something do some serious diligence first!
Really really wish you all the best and hope you take this as constructive, it's meant to be. Oftentimes small business owners will be encouraged to write a business plan before starting, I think it would worth looking into to check it adds up so you know what you know and also, like you're doing here, know to ask for help on what you don't know
Edited by stuthe
on Wednesday 29th December 10:50
on Wednesday 29th December 10:50If you are starting a commercial operation preparing and selling pet foods there will be environmental standards, hygiene standards, product legal / labelling requirements, dietary requirements, traceability records, etc, etc, you will need to take into consideration.
The pet food industry is very heavily regulated so you need to be up to date with all the latest regulations. Having said that there might be some sort of exemption or relaxing of the requirements for such a small operation.
What you don't want to do is end up being the cause of health issues to somebodies best friend.
It is not quite as simple as just knocking up a few dog biscuits in the kitchen to sell if you are going to do it properly.
The pet food industry is very heavily regulated so you need to be up to date with all the latest regulations. Having said that there might be some sort of exemption or relaxing of the requirements for such a small operation.
What you don't want to do is end up being the cause of health issues to somebodies best friend.
It is not quite as simple as just knocking up a few dog biscuits in the kitchen to sell if you are going to do it properly.
stuthe said:
said: No offence, but £100/week?
Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
I think this is what I'd call a 'pocket money hobby' than a job. The fun is in doing it and running it. Much more stimulating and satisfying than mindlessly cleaning floors. And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't really matter (as long as not too much money is lost).Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
Simpo Two said:
stuthe said:
said: No offence, but £100/week?
Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
I think this is what I'd call a 'pocket money hobby' than a job. The fun is in doing it and running it. Much more stimulating and satisfying than mindlessly cleaning floors. And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't really matter (as long as not too much money is lost).Wouldn't she be better off just taking a cleaning job for a day/week to make the same? No risk, no stress, end of day switch off go home.
My teenage daughter did something similar in Instagram. Cakes and brownies and the like.
Within a month she was getting orders from people outside her immediate circle and had to turn loads down as she didn't have the time. She still gets requests now even though she's stopped as she's away at university.
If you know what you are doing in Instagram then it really can work.
Within a month she was getting orders from people outside her immediate circle and had to turn loads down as she didn't have the time. She still gets requests now even though she's stopped as she's away at university.
If you know what you are doing in Instagram then it really can work.
Facebook / Instagram is a free source of advertising. I see many a birthday cake and cupcake maker fully booked on there (I ordered the other half some cakes and I went through 6 people who were fully booked before I found one). Start off by posting your product in the local buying and selling Facebook groups.
If you are looking to sell locally, I would set up a Facebook page for the business (with all the contact info, prices, photos of the product etc) and just run some low budget Facebook ads set up for a local geographical area (ie the people local to you who could be potential customers). You can focus these down to your target audience (ie pet owners etc).
If the product is good once you’ve got an initial customer base word of mouth will do a pretty good job of acquiring a few new customers if you don’t want to scale up.
Good luck.
If you are looking to sell locally, I would set up a Facebook page for the business (with all the contact info, prices, photos of the product etc) and just run some low budget Facebook ads set up for a local geographical area (ie the people local to you who could be potential customers). You can focus these down to your target audience (ie pet owners etc).
If the product is good once you’ve got an initial customer base word of mouth will do a pretty good job of acquiring a few new customers if you don’t want to scale up.
Good luck.
This is worth a read, it covers the regulatory requirements re starting and registering the business etc.
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/how-to-sta...
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/how-to-sta...
Find out if there is a Dog friendly pub near by and offer them some free treats to give to the dogs in exchange for putting up posters.
If the cakes are for dogs then i am sure you will pickup business from there.
We are a dog friendly pub and the lengths people go to for their dogs sometimes is staggering.
If the cakes are for dogs then i am sure you will pickup business from there.
We are a dog friendly pub and the lengths people go to for their dogs sometimes is staggering.
First and foremost I think your wife should (perhaps this is where you can team up a bit) write down the goals of the business and perhaps give a target of where you want to be in 12 months, I’m aware you’ve already said £100 a week. That should make it feel more tangible.
Definitely look into social media, this is clearly the way forward, get on YouTube and look at Facebook and Instagram marketing tips, I’m sure there are plenty.
Perhaps take some inspiration from anyone who is already doing it well?
Finally I’d say don’t sell them cheap, as people correctly say, it’s no use working for nowt, pocket money or not, nice to have a large pocket and fill it up.
Happy new year and best of luck.
Definitely look into social media, this is clearly the way forward, get on YouTube and look at Facebook and Instagram marketing tips, I’m sure there are plenty.
Perhaps take some inspiration from anyone who is already doing it well?
Finally I’d say don’t sell them cheap, as people correctly say, it’s no use working for nowt, pocket money or not, nice to have a large pocket and fill it up.
Happy new year and best of luck.
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