The steps required to get your business set up properly so that you don’t pull your hair out depends on a couple of factors.

Which US state does the business operate in?

How many department managers do you employ?

Does the business utilize financial or managerial accounting? (If you aren’t sure the answer is most likely financial)

Yeah you’re the ahole. Just because someone is a jerk doesn’t mean you’re supposed to be one too. In this case you don’t even know if they were being a jerk or if they’re just uneducated. If they don’t provide the ID and it’s a requirement for the sale, then don’t sell the item ask them to leave the store be polite don’t ever take it too far you did. If that was one of your employees you would fire them, so fire yourself and get away from the counter for a while.

Margins. Does it increase or decrease your margins?

That’s difficult. It would need to be extremely industry dependent. That product would need someone with quite the diverse experience and background across the industries., sounds like me… lol

You have to build a value and trust. Every competitor deals with the same issue. Let’s get some more information first. What is the industry? Are you established yet? How long? If not, where you at in the process?

I can with 100% certainty say that everyone else in business encounters the same problems you are finding. The answer however, always comes from within. To clarify, nobody can tell you what your business is capable of developing in terms of products and services. Only your team of individuals can answer that. The question then is how to tap into your company’s abilities and knowledge to get the answer to come out within outstanding resulting product or service. Also, and I’ll just do it once, but do it over and over again. What you’re looking for is assistance in design facilitation. If you want to get some more information on what exactly I’m talking about, shoot me a DM and I’ll help you out.

There’s quite a large number of US based clothing manufacturers. There’s also a large difference between each of them. You had to do your research and find the one that fits you and that wants to do business with you.

There’s quite a bit of questions that need to be answered in order to get you in the right direction. Shoot me a DM and we’ll take it from there.

Sounds like somebody’s got a case of cold feet!

It takes a man with a certain type of metal to go head first into something that has an obvious amount of enormous risk. You have to be kind of crazy, my kind of people!
Though, yeah because you don’t have the same enthusiasm he does doesn’t mean you need to jump ship just yet. Every budding business needs one person to have the enthusiasm that he has. But it also needs is someone who’s more reserved and not as risky to keep them in check. Your role is super valuable not just because your skill set but because of your cautious attitude. It’s obvious he’s the driver, you merely just need to be the support with a reserved and cautious mind. If you want to quit his full-time job, and good for him. Just ask him if he has enough reserves to push through quite a few number of months till things get off the ground. Ask him, how long will it be for things to get off the ground, and add a few more months to that to make sure he’s okay financially. You, on the other hand, keep your full-time job till it gets close to that time frame. Someone’s got to be the rock in the relationship… 😎👍

You’re looking at the wrong sources for funding. That’s your first problem. Your second problem is yet to be told, I would need to review your business plan see if it has all the elements that are required to actually get consideration.

My first question is how much of your own funds do you have available to put towards the business?

It’s on Kickstarter for a reason. It’s not a proven product. Thus, it has its inherent risks involved. So you want to know if it’s something worth it? You need to go take a look at the market for that product. Is there even a market for that product have they done any case studies? Have they done surveys? Do they have pre-orders for the product, how many? Do your due diligence my man.

Have you ever heard of a get rich quick scheme or something that’s too good to be true? 100% return on 30 days then residual.? Huh? Yeah, steer clear. You already said it, fake traffic. Most of that is scams and you’re getting false information with their earnings. You need to vet your investments. Ask for a modified income statement showing the profit and offer a NDA final disclosure agreement in exchange for the user database list to review. If you see a bunch of names that don’t make sense, then you got your answer…

Ah, indeed. It appears you are learning something! In business, everything is an investment. If you look at something as an expense, then you’re running your business the wrong way.

As far as roi on marketing. You’ve got many different categories reaching many different types of audiences. You have to use a historical approach. Obviously, as long as you’re making more than you spent, then you’re doing okay. The goal, from that point, then is just to keep increasing that margin!

Also, don’t reinvent the wheel. Just recognize when you need to put snow chains on those Wheels and when you need to set them through a car wash and get that side wall shimmering and shining.

Production company right? Keyword: Company. (business). Businesses don’t make money on free. Also, never associate yourself with the word cheap. Instead, use the word: Discounted.

People are going to hire you based on the value of your product. Going to need to showcase that first with your own podcasts. Now, how do you increase your subscriber base? Well, there’s a myriad of tricks to do that. Google is your best friend. However, I know a great consultant that specializes in that industry. If you want my, …ermm … I mean, HIS information, then shoot me a DM. 😎

Not going to happen. You’re asking for an unsecured loan and you don’t have residence status yet. That’s a super high risk loan because nothing is stopping you from taking the asset and disappearing and there’s no way for them to recoup it. You’re going to need to save up some money or find a partner to join you as a co-owner in the business.

Not touching this one with a 10-ft pole!

I did your survey. Enjoy the answers. Kudos for not asking for contact information, then I’d have to hand you the ban stick.

FYI, THE LIZARDMAN CONSTANT IS 4%!

Just for general information to everyone else. He’s in the reef keeping industry. He wants a grant. He needs to go to the NOAA and apply for a crcp grant. Crcp is the coral reef conservation program. They award grants based upon competitions that are offered periodically throughout the year. Need to have three different types of government accounts to set up your business entity and designation. Then you have to follow through and find a competition that aligns with you and your efforts. The amount of the grant depends on the crcp offered at the time.

If anyone else is looking for help in this area, feel free to send me a chat request and I’ll walk you through it.

What industry is the business in? Can you tell us a little bit more about it?