stone, how did you get into importing? I've always been curious how this works since I've seen some products that I believe could sell well in the US that currently don't have importers.

1/14/2010 12:56:52 AM

Bobby's set up was genius in that when a customer would call with a technical question, he could just pretend he was support guy at a call center in Calcutta and part of a much larger corporation, thus giving the customer the illusion and peace of mind that they weren't just dealing with a kid in a dorm room.

1/14/2010 6:14:59 AM

^lol ... except that bobby doesnt exactly sound like a foreigner

1/14/2010 8:26:48 AM

http://startups.com/ is a great question/answer site for people interested in startups

1/14/2010 9:36:34 AM

writing a business plan is muy not fun

i'm using Business Plan Pro Premier and it sounds like it's asking me to repeat the same information over and over, just getting more detailed each time

1/14/2010 2:23:36 PM

finished Business Plan, decided to go self fund 100%, and started a contest on 99designs.com for my first logo

then i'll follow that up with stationary and website design contest, hopefully i'll be ready to go in 2 weeks

1/27/2010 4:23:42 PM

FYI on the business plan, check out the Business Plans Handbook. They have been invaluable to me, as they are published business plans of real, successful businesses across a wide variety of industries.

http://www.amazon.com/Business-Plans-Handbook-Thomson-Gale-Volumes/lm/R36SZ19CGBO6KM

[Edited on January 28, 2010 at 6:05 AM. Reason : .]

1/28/2010 6:04:40 AM

I'm in a LLC partnership, I agree with some of the info on here, but don't take everyone's advice as the word.

I don't have perfect credit, but it's decent...and I can still get a SBA express loan or if I try really hard, a 7(a). Also, the type of company you start, SCorp or LLC, should really be dependent on the circumstances for the business. We have higher liability for our product/services, so we protect our personal investments through an LLC.

Also, GO TO THE SBA/LENDER BEFORE YOU WRITE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN...I wrote a 32 page, detailed business plan, and it turns out I really only needed about 7 pages to apply for the loan. It was a waste of almost a week...

1/28/2010 9:54:25 AM

The business plan is about a lot more than getting a loan. In a healthy business, it should be the vision for the company.

1/28/2010 4:07:07 PM

FYI, in case anyone is interested, bradsdeals has a link to get 50% on all vistaprint items

i just ordered:

premium business cards
brochures
large car door magnet
return address labels
metal business card holder

which qualified for free:
$100 google adwords credit
sticky notes pad

ALL for $50 less than what the regular rate of just brochures is

2/2/2010 5:11:01 PM

I realize this thread is about those who have started their own company.... which I have not. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

2/2/2010 5:23:19 PM

did...did you just post TWW's worst meme in history in the same thread that gave birth to the aforementioned meme??

2/2/2010 5:41:19 PM

what brownie was talking about sounds like an AMWAY GLOBAL pitch. They distribute amway global shit,

You are the distributer and there is no middle man got it
Get a large account aka someone who will buy a lot of your shit go it
100% commission - get people to work below you, and you are the top of the pyramid


WHAT?!!!!!

AM I WRONG OR AMIRITE
WHAT

2/14/2010 1:14:49 AM

[Edited on February 14, 2010 at 1:16 AM. Reason : .]

2/14/2010 1:14:49 AM

[Edited on February 14, 2010 at 1:15 AM. Reason : .]

2/14/2010 1:14:49 AM

lol Vistaprint is terrible, they've botched the same job twice and now ive got $200 credit with them for future fuckups all because they cant seem to print 4 tiny words in my brochure

i think ill use it to buy a business mailing list and then let someone else handle the design/mailings

2/16/2010 7:24:42 PM

http://www.thecrystaldoor.com

i have launched!

3/1/2010 6:00:02 PM

Pro-tip: Even if it's just a redirect to another e-mail address, your e-mail address should be something like contact@mydomainname.com -- definitely not @gmail.com

3/1/2010 6:04:42 PM

^^ site's down. hope that just means you were OVERWHELMED with purchases

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 6:11 PM. Reason : and it's back up. gotta get three nines kna mean]

3/1/2010 6:10:42 PM

^^^, ^
And it's back down. Might want to look into better hosting.

3/1/2010 6:12:28 PM

Quote :

"Error establishing a database connection"

3/1/2010 6:12:50 PM

hmmm damn, ill have to look into that

3/1/2010 6:22:08 PM

Already out of business, eh?

3/1/2010 6:23:55 PM

ill admit i dont know the first thing about web hosting, etc...it was all handled by the designer

ive contacted him to let him know he's really not helping if the first customers i try and get are getting that as a first impression, i talked to like 20 companies today

3/1/2010 6:26:06 PM

i like the website - do you guys specialize in database errors?

3/1/2010 6:57:13 PM

alright jokesters, the site is up now

seems the entire hosting company was down for a bit

3/1/2010 7:57:32 PM

Quote :

"Q: How do you determine who to deliver to? A: The Crystal Door has created it’sits own proprietary method for choosing the best consumers for the widest amount of business types. We do not guarantee delivery to any specific area except for Raleigh’s city limits."

3/1/2010 8:03:52 PM

fixed, thank you sir

3/1/2010 8:07:04 PM

No problem

3/1/2010 8:08:11 PM

Uh, you need to pull that "about" page down asap. If I read that bio of the company founder, I would run the other away immediately. It screams unprofessional, amateur and zero experience.

Have you ever seen the competition you're up against? You might want to check out http://www.valpak.com because they do exactly what you are proposing, but with more control over target audience, less cost, and a massive established network.

Also, how are you going to "hand deliver" these? Many, many neighborhoods have anti-solicitation signs which is going to prevent you from going door to door stuffing packs. And it's a federal offense to put this stuff in someone's mailbox.

Hope this works out for you, but this seems like an idea with very very high risk, high overhead, massive fluctuation, and low return.

3/1/2010 8:09:56 PM

i have already taken that under consideration and i was going to merge the about section with the services section since its a bit redundant

as far as valpak and other competitors, i couldnt find anybody that was cheaper than me month to month (in valpaks case you get 10k for $350 but you have to buy a minimum of 3 months) and i checked with alot of places, almost all of the pickup publications in the area

the mailbox won't be used at all and so far i havent really encountered a majority of no solicitation signs except for very heavy amounts in the lake johnson area

thanks for lookin out tho, always appreciate feedback

3/1/2010 8:19:22 PM

site looks good overall, nice visual design
my immediate suggestion would be to redo the 'benefits' section on the home page section - wording is weak. low price is not a benefit. low price just means it will sting a little bit less when i pay you. focus on what makes you stand out from competitors like valpak. possible benefits: case study with ROI, market targeting, metrics, more qualified leads, etc

3/1/2010 9:15:48 PM

your background sure doesn't make me feel comfortable in this being successful - as noen said i'd remove any mention of you - including the linkedin link

i'd also love to hear about the proprietary method heh

i like the idea that you pay for advertising with no proven background for any return or any guarantee other than your word and some "gps tracking" that could really be anything - also there is no target audience other than the "average person" which throws away this crap as soon as they see it

3/1/2010 9:28:51 PM

Quote :

"Pro-tip: Even if it's just a redirect to another e-mail address, your e-mail address should be something like contact@mydomainname.com -- definitely not @gmail.com"

I concur. Although, gmail is hardly the worst. I had a boss once who WOULD NOT respond to prospective client-businesses that used aol.com addresses

3/1/2010 9:31:11 PM

I'm not seeing any styling, just bare html

3/2/2010 12:01:23 AM

On the plus side:

The GPS tracking idea is pretty damn unique and I can see that giving you a LOT of mileage in selling to clients. The site design is very clean. A little too minimal in terms of content (I would not have "gone live" as it is), but certainly nothing to ashamed of.

Also good to see you did your homework with valpak

Glad you learned your lesson with VistaPrint. They are a terrible, terrible company for reliability. 4by6.com for business cards, and if you need references for commercial printers, let me know.

3/2/2010 1:17:28 PM

^^ same

3/2/2010 2:00:44 PM

Looks like something killed your stylesheet.

3/2/2010 2:09:30 PM

Funny this thread was recently bumped...I'm considering something like this as well as a side venture. Definitely not replacing my day job, but would love to supplement the income.

My problem is that I have the drive, I just am at a loss for an idea. I think I am too focused on "what could I invent" instead of "what is a service I could repack" or a product that could be modified and repacked.

There is one idea I've had to manufacture and I can't find any version of it online, but I have found two patents back in 98-99 that are the same idea. How do you work around a patent that isn't yours?

3/2/2010 2:14:11 PM

Quote :

"I'm not seeing any styling, just bare html "

3/2/2010 2:29:54 PM

^^you contact them for licensing. And the "I have the drive but no idea" puts you in the same boat with everyone else. An idea, an invention, a concept is a recipe for disaster.

You need a solid business plan, a well found knowledge of the market you want to enter, and the assets to ride the rollercoaster and not come out bankrupt.

3/2/2010 3:42:36 PM

Actually, I'm all ideas and no drive. Maybe we should team up.

3/2/2010 5:25:21 PM

i appreciate all the feedback on the site guys, i didnt design it and the kid who did is a recent grad so i couldnt have expected him to proof all of my business related text

maybe i went live a little premature but i do like the minimalist aspect since i need to be able to update it myself and i dont know much at the moment

also i'm banking on the mere fact that my maximum prices are lower than other companies minimums for the same exposure. its simple economics and there's proven research that even in a recession or slow economy the companies that put up the most advertising flourish.

3/2/2010 7:16:42 PM

Quote :

"stone, how did you get into importing? I've always been curious how this works since I've seen some products that I believe could sell well in the US that currently don't have importers."

i got into importing because i was selling building materials all day every day for a large lumber yard. i saw that i was able to sell more ipe decking than most other sales guys based on my customer base using it for all their decking. i did a little research about who we were buying it from, then i did research on who the wholesaler was buying it from, then i asked around until i found the broker the wholesaler was buying from. finally i found the broker in Brazil and Peru who is brokering from the mills in the bush. i asked him if he would sell me full containers and he agreed. then i was in business. i did the same thing about a month later with cedar mills in Canada. the hard part for me is no bank funding and it takes roughly 40K for a container of ipe and 75K for a container of cedar shingles. so i have to talk my customers into paying 50% deposit up front and i have to fund the rest. i believe any business can be profitable if it is not underfunded off the rip. if were not for the products i import being very profitable this business model would have failed in the first 90 days. now the dollar sucks compared to the rio and the Canadian dollar and it drives the total cost of good up which has people looking for more cost prohibitive alternatives.

i did not proof read this so grammar jokes not needed.

3/2/2010 7:31:48 PM

Quote :

"There is one idea I've had to manufacture and I can't find any version of it online, but I have found two patents back in 98-99 that are the same idea. How do you work around a patent that isn't yours?"

i would look into a good patent attorney to do the research for you. my pops patented an item that he sold to the DOD and Navy. It made it into Walmart but never took off. I learned a lot about patent laws with that. i also learned many things have patents but no funding to produce them. i would contact the current patent holders and see if between the two of you there can be some worked out as stated above.

3/2/2010 7:37:20 PM

patents are generally a giant waste of money unless you have a lot of industry knowledge in the area of your patent.

You're looking at $3-5k to get a patent application submitted, with no guarantees it will be approved. If you have a great idea that hinges on a utility patent to prevent competition, you're almost always better off doing an intent to file. That is free and gives you a year to actually apply for the patent, which is generally more than enough time to determine market viability, to secure funding, and to get a company off the ground without the huge overhead of a patent application.

3/2/2010 8:34:29 PM

What about something as simple as starting an eBay store? Where are people finding electronics at such a cheap price that they can turn around and sell them on eBay for even less than you can find on the internet?

3/3/2010 1:32:07 PM

Most of that shit is hot.

3/3/2010 1:41:51 PM

or you can buy large pallets of miscellaneous equipment for like 10,000 and then spend an entire month making auctions to sell it back for 15,000

i know someone who did that

3/3/2010 3:29:25 PM

i had no idea what you guys were talking about with the bare html...now i see it

3/4/2010 8:58:46 AM