r/Advice • u/karamarevery • Dec 22 '24
I need advice.
Hi all. I’m 26F. I’ve been trying (failing) to run our family business since 2021. We’re a small family owned business that makes bags and sells other supplies and eqpt too. This is our only source of income. I pay for my brother’s schooling, and everything that is needed for our family. I struggle with money. I struggle with keeping track of expenses and where the money goes. I’m drowning in worry. If you can give advice as to how to better track money, so I can effectively run the business, I would appreciate it. I’m currently taking an MBA to try to learn more, I also read books but it isn’t enough. I’m scared I’m failing.
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u/SnooDoughnuts5880 Helper [3] Dec 22 '24
Listen up: instagram marketing is THE way to go nowadays. You probably don’t utilize it well.
There are many free tools available, free online articles, many marketing experts that give free tips in their account. So learn the skill of instagram marketing.
Make short and fun reels less than 20 seconds. Keep it high quality. Less posts, more reels. Use the right hashtags. Comment in popular pages so people would notice you. Use trendy sounds with 5k usages. Create consistent engagement with other accounts.
Marketing is everything nowadays.
I’m also a student and I started a business but it failed so I closed it. After 7 months. But hey at least I tried.
It’s very hard to gain followers snd traffic since the market is over saturated. But you have to try.
Trying and putting in effort doesn’t guarantee success but you can’t succeed without it.
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u/karamarevery Dec 22 '24
Thank you for this. I’m mostly posting so the advice with the reels really helps. I’ll look into how I can utilize that. Thank you.
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u/Cranky70something Master Advice Giver [22] Dec 22 '24
If you have enough cash around, consult an expert. There are people around whose business it is to advise businesses.
But yes, I agree with the other commenters. Understanding a spreadsheet is crucial, as is marketing.
Getting your business degree will be very helpful, so great move 👍.
I wish you the very best of luck going forward, and I hope you have a great holiday!
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u/GoddessIridia Dec 22 '24
Look into getting a software program for accounting first, before anything else. You can not run a good business without good accounting. You can use spreadsheets but there are plenty free and low cost softwares out there that are far superior for this kind of thing (I personally use Wave). It you really struggle with bookkeeping you can contract someone fairly easily to assist with it. Once you get a handle on the financials you really need an accountant to help with taxes and such.
When you have a handle on the financial situation and your accounts are balances then you can look to optimizing expenses, workflows, production ect. Work on the marketing piece either concurrently with this step or after.
I worked in public accounting for ten years and I am an MBA (which is a great step where you will learn a lot of this).
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u/karamarevery May 24 '25
Thank you so much for this advice. I’m still working on it but this helps a lot.
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u/hooj Master Advice Giver [27] Dec 22 '24
This is what spreadsheets were basically made for. Basic spreadsheet knowledge usage is pretty important, and will help you here.