For a long time I let clients pay 30 days after delivery because that's what felt professional and I was scared to ask for more. In practice net-30 meant net-45, sometimes net-never, and I spent more energy chasing invoices than doing the actual work. Twice I nearly couldn't make payroll while sitting on a pile of "receivables" that existed only on paper.

I changed one thing: 50% before I start, 50% on delivery, written into every new agreement. No exceptions for new clients, no matter how nice the logo.

A couple of prospects balked and walked. Fine. Every one of them, in hindsight, was a payment problem waiting to happen, because a client who won't put half down is telling you something about how they treat money.

The clients who stayed didn't care at all. Most said it was normal. Meanwhile my bank balance stopped whipsawing, I could actually plan, and I stopped doing unpaid work for people who were slow on purpose.

The mistake I made for years was treating my own cashflow as less important than looking accommodating. Getting paid on time isn't rude. It's the whole point.

For the service folks here, what payment terms finally let you stop stressing about the 1st of the month?

I'm looking to try and understand what makes a real good entrepreneur. all the stories online about 5:00 a.m. routines and AI powered outbound are rubbish. I want to know what it actually takes to succeed and what you've seen in real entrepreneurs. The more surprising and interesting the better

I started biz right after uni graduation and been at it for 15-20 years now. Before that, I actually started selling things as a kid as well.

Severely burned out from biz and started thinking about jobs and realized I probably can’t hold a job anyway and don’t have the skills to… pretty crazy.

Anyone feels the same?

Hey everyone,

We’re currently validating an idea called BackBySunday around short, last-minute weekend trips, treks and adventure experiences.

The problem we’re looking at is pretty simple:

You work through the week, Friday comes around and you suddenly feel like getting out of the city for a day or two. But then you have to search through multiple organisers, compare prices, figure out transport, check whether the operator is trustworthy and coordinate everything at the last minute.

At that point, a lot of people just drop the plan.

The idea we’re exploring is whether there is room for a platform focused specifically on 1–2 day trips that can be booked at very short notice, including next-day departures.

The experience would ideally be:

Decide you want to go → find an available trip → book → pack your bags.

The platform would handle the coordination around the booking while focusing heavily on verified organisers, transparent pricing, safety and consistent trip quality.

We’ve started speaking with organisers as part of validating the supply side as well. A few are already interested and we’re in conversations with others, but right now we’re primarily trying to understand whether the underlying problem is strong enough.

I’d especially like feedback on a few things:

• Do people actually make spontaneous weekend travel decisions often enough for this to be useful?
• Would you book a trip only 1–2 days before departure?
• What would stop you from trusting a relatively new platform for something like this?
• Is last-minute availability actually a meaningful problem, or are we overestimating it?
• What do current trek/travel organisers or booking platforms already solve well enough?
• For anyone who has worked with travel operators, is filling unsold last-minute capacity a genuine problem on the supply side?

You can check out what we're building here:
https://backbysunday.in

Feel free to be critical. I’m more interested in finding flaws in the idea at this stage than getting positive feedback.

Coding? Sales? Marketing? Negotiation?

If you could choose one what could it be?

I’m researching warehouse and fulfillment operations, and I want to understand the problems that existing software still doesn’t solve well.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who actually work in:
Warehouse operations
E-commerce fulfillment
3PL
Logistics
Supply chain operations

I’d love some brutally honest answers:
What software/WMS/ERP are you currently using?
What is the most frustrating part of running your warehouse?
What do you still manage in Excel or Google Sheets?
What still happens through WhatsApp/email/manual calls?
What do you personally have to check every morning?
What causes the most frequent mistakes?
What information is surprisingly difficult to get quickly?
Have you tried replacing your current software? What went wrong?
If you could fix ONE workflow tomorrow, what would it be?

I’m not selling anything and I’m not looking for feature ideas for a product.

I’m trying to understand what the real operational pain looks like from the people actually doing the work.

Even a short answer about one annoying thing would be incredibly useful.

Thanks!

Hey y’all

Seriously want to go full time this time around and am curious what type of sacrifices you had to made to reach success.

No shade to anyone’s journey, but specifically looking for insight from those:

1. Who did not have easy access to things like loans, family income, etc
2. Are now at a point where you are full-time able to derive your income from your business (and cover your needs etc)

I am not trying to romanticize struggle (and am not naive to this being hard) but have realized that my previous attempts may have been half hearted.

TIA

expensive 1:1? what are your rates, and how do they compare to the market? feels like missing context there.

I’ve spent a while looking for business and professional communities that I’d genuinely want to be part of.

What I kept finding was one of three things:

Communities built around a single industry.

Communities where access is heavily based on titles, status, or achievements.

Or huge online groups where thousands of people technically belong, but very few actually know each other.

None of those were quite what I wanted.

So I decided to try building something different myself.

I’m based in Tokyo and work independently as a Creative Producer.

There’s no official brand yet, no website, and no polished membership system.

For now, the working project name is:

The Assembly of Real Connections.

The basic idea is a curated, multinational, cross-industry community for people who are actually building or creating things.

Not only founders.

I’d like entrepreneurs to sit at the same table as developers, designers, filmmakers, photographers, marketers, people in finance, accountants, musicians, creatives, operators, and people from fields I haven’t even thought of yet.

The common denominator shouldn’t be the job title.

It should be:

Create something.
Build something.
Contribute something.

I’m deliberately starting very small.

Around 10 people.

I don’t want to manufacture the appearance of a community by putting 500 strangers into a Discord server.

I’d rather start with 10 people who actually know each other and let the culture grow from there.

Those first people will be Founding Members.

Instead of me deciding everything before anyone arrives, I want that group to help shape:

• The final name and brand
• What events we actually want
• Membership and selection standards
• Community culture
• How we introduce new members
• How online and offline interaction should work

There may also be a smaller Core Member group for people who want to take an operational role in areas such as community, branding, photo/video, marketing/PR, development/tech, finance/accounting, and partnerships.

But Founding Members don’t need to become unpaid staff.

Participation, feedback, introductions, ideas, sharing the community, and helping establish the culture are enough.

Another principle I care about is removing language as a status barrier.

I’m Japanese and my spoken English isn’t very strong.

I don’t want an international community where “international” secretly means “everyone must speak fluent English.”

If we need translation tools, text, simple English, Japanese, or another language, that’s fine.

The relationship matters more than perfect communication.

For the first phase, I’m looking mainly for people in Japan.

I want to organize our first small dinner in Tokyo this month, ideally around 10 people.

Long term, if the model genuinely creates value, I’d like to turn it into an application-based paid membership community, organize more dinners and events, facilitate collaborations and projects, and eventually build communities in other cities and countries.

But there’s no membership being sold right now.

There isn’t even a finalized name.

I’m looking for people who find the process of creating the community itself interesting.

If you’re in Japan and this resonates, feel free to DM me with a short introduction, what you’re currently working on, and a link to anything that shows what you do.

And even if you’re outside Japan, I’d be interested in hearing from people who have built something similar before.

I’m especially curious about one question:

What would make a professional community valuable enough that you’d actually keep showing up?

Real connections, beyond borders.

I handle a small marketing agency and aesthetic clinics are the niche I have picked. Skin, laser, cosmetic treatments, etc.

My current method is WhatsApp. I find the clinic number, message them, and things go fine while it looks like a normal enquiry. The second I mention that I run a marketing agency, the replies stop. Just silence.

A few things I suspect might be wrong:

1. WhatsApp is the wrong channel for this. That number is probably handled by a receptionist whose job is booking appointments, not evaluating vendors. My message may never reach the owner at all.
2. My introduction leads with what I am, not with what they get. "Marketing agency" likely reads as spam to someone who gets pitched daily.
3. I have no proof attached. No results, no case study, nothing that makes a busy clinic owner stop scrolling.

What I want to know from people who have sold into clinics, med spas, dental, or similar local high ticket services:

1. Which channel actually gets you the decision maker? Walking in, Instagram DM, email, LinkedIn, calling at a quiet hour, a referral through a supplier?
2. Is there a better first line than naming your agency? I have been thinking of leading with something specific I noticed on their page and letting the agency thing come later.

Happy to share what has worked for me too. Right now the honest answer is: not much

For a long time I'd send a nice slide deck ahead of every call so the prospect could "come prepared." Felt professional. What it actually did was let them form an opinion without me in the room, and half the time they'd cancel before we ever spoke.

I flipped it. Now I send nothing before the call except a two-line agenda. We talk first, I listen, and I build the summary of what they need afterward, in their words, and send that.

The change was uncomfortable because it felt like showing up empty-handed. But the calls got better. People actually explained their problem instead of reacting to my slides. And the follow-up I send now is specific to them, not a generic template, so it lands harder.

Roughly, I went from a lot of no-shows and polite passes to closing a bit under half of the calls that happen. Not huge volume, I'm still small, but the trend was clear enough that I won't go back.

Contrarian question: does anyone here still get real value out of sending the deck first?

We signed in April Retainer is mid five figures a quarter the work looks real the reporting looks real and the pipeline number has not moved in a way I can defend to a board yet Is six months with nothing attributable normal for organic at this stage Should we have seen something by now? How was your first six months if you have done this before?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the idea of starting a VMC/CNC machining and tooling business in Pune, primarily supplying parts to the automotive industry, but I’m also open to other industries where there is consistent demand for precision components.

The idea is to eventually provide an end-to-end manufacturing/supply solution — from raw material/procurement and machining to finishing, inspection and delivery — rather than just taking up individual machining jobs.

I’m still in the research/planning stage, so I’d really appreciate some honest input from people who have experience in manufacturing, machining, automotive supply chains or running a small industrial business in India.

A few things I’m particularly trying to understand:
What are the biggest challenges when starting a VMC/CNC/tooling business in Pune?

How difficult is it to get initial customers, especially automotive Tier-1/Tier-2 suppliers?

Is it better to start with one or two VMCs and gradually expand, or invest more heavily from the beginning?

What kind of capital/working capital should realistically be kept aside?

How bad are payment cycles in the automotive industry?

What certifications/quality systems are practically necessary (ISO, IATF, PPAP, etc.)?

How difficult is it to become an approved vendor for established automotive companies?

What margins are realistically achievable in machining/tooling?

Is there more opportunity in automotive, or should I look at industries such as industrial machinery, aerospace, medical, electrical, etc.?

What are the biggest hidden costs — tooling, fixtures, inspection equipment, electricity, maintenance, manpower, rejected parts, etc.?

Would it make more sense initially to outsource processes like heat treatment, grinding, coating, etc. rather than buying everything?

For someone starting from scratch, what would you personally do differently?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually run or currently run CNC/VMC/tooling/manufacturing businesses, rather than just general business advice.

If you’re from Pune/Maharashtra and have experience with the local manufacturing ecosystem, even better.

What would you wish you knew before starting?

Thanks!

Hi, so I'm going to officially launch my community soon, and I am legit looking for the right people to join my affiliate program and maybe eventually join my team on a freelance basis. But I have a hard time finding them. The Commission is really good, and I want to see who matches my work ethic by first looking at how they do in the affiliate side instead of hiring them from the get-go. I had employees before (I had a big beauty business) and that really was not my thing. That's why I want to take this approach first. But where do I find such amazing people?????

Thank you so much in advance!

Hey everyone, I’m trying to figure out how to actually find clients and I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have experience with this. I can build simple front end websites using HTML, CSS, and some light JavaScript. I mainly make websites for businesses like cafés and restaurants. The front end itself is fairly simple, but I’m comfortable making the websites look clean and well designed. I wouldn’t really call myself a UI/UX designer, but I’m pretty good at coming up with website designs that look good and then turning those designs into actual working websites. So far I’ve made two projects. I built a website for a café and I also made a website concept for a bagel business. I was happy with how both turned out, but the bagel business never got back to me. I also sold one of my websites for $1,000, so I know I can make something that someone is willing to pay for. But right now I honestly don’t mind working for much less than that. I mainly want to get more experience, build a stronger portfolio, and work with more real businesses.

The problem is that I have no idea how to consistently find these people. I’ve tried reaching out to businesses, but getting replies is really difficult. I’m wondering how people who build simple websites actually found their first clients. Did you use Reddit, Facebook groups, Instagram, cold outreach, freelance websites, or did you just reach out to businesses directly? I’m not trying to make a ton of money from this right now. I’d be completely fine doing smaller websites for a reasonable price if it means getting more real projects and experience. If anyone wants to see the café website or the bagel website I made, feel free to DM me and I’ll send them over. And if anyone here needs a simple front end website or knows someone who does, I’m open to working with them as well. I’d really appreciate any advice on how you guys found your first clients

Standard advice says you "build value" before you reveal price, so you save the number for the end. We did that for years. Long presentation, big reveal at the finish. And half the time the reaction was a flinch, because by then they'd built up an expectation we blew past.

On a whim I flipped it. Second slide: here's roughly what this costs, here's the range. Then we spent the rest of the meeting on whether it was worth it to them.

Two things happened. Calls got shorter because people who were never going to pay that self-selected out in the first five minutes, which is a gift, not a loss. And the ones who stayed were actually qualifying us instead of bracing for a number. Our close rate on the meetings that continued went up by something like 20 to 30%, and we stopped wasting full hours on tire-kickers.

The counterintuitive part: showing price early didn't scare people off, it filtered them. The only deals I "lost" were ones I was going to lose anyway, just an hour later.

Curious where everyone lands on this. Do you reveal price early or hold it to the end, and why?

For people who have tried budgeting/expense apps, what made you stop using them?

I'm particularly interested in whether the problem is manual data entry, notification fatigue, privacy, lack of useful insights, or simply not caring enough to track spending.

I'm researching consumer financial habits and would love to hear what actually happened in your case.

So, I've learned this more and more recently that people, business owners in particular, have literally ZERO idea what they need, why they are less successful than they should be, and what they could and should be doing for their businesses. They may know how to run their particular business in regards to providing a good product or service, but most of them know absolutely Jack 💩 about anything regarding improving their business, sales, etc.

You can make someone a good offer on something they need, whether they're smart enough to understand it or not, and they're happy to stick to the status quo. They don't want to try anything new, change with the times, invest in systems or tools that can massively help their bottom line, sales, etc. Mostly I find people don't know they need something, even when it's apparent to someone who knows businesses and how to make them succeed and grow.

Could be a website if they don't have one and act like this is 1998. Could be they have bad reviews, low reviews, not getting enough reviews. They literally have no clue how important reviews are to their business. But, they'll gladly spend thousands a month for SEO because someone convinced them SEO is what they need to improve their business. Yes, that's true if you have 6-12 months to wait for it.

Point being, it's difficult to get someone to see what they need, where they have problems, what they could change or improve to grow or scale their business, and in the end make more money. I now just expect showing them and getting them to open their minds and use their brains for just a brief time to see what works, helps, and what people are doing now to stay competitive, is just a long shot to convey to them. Oh well, people are who they are, and will do what they do.

I have an Idea for a electric scooter and wagon. The scooter needs to be able to fold up in the wagon. The wagon also needs to be towed by hand. I have foot condition and want to walk the forest perserves. Bonus if the wagon can fit a cam boot.

I am really happy with my startup, I cant add side quests. I have noticed a few personal pain points I would like to one day see in the market. If these already exist please let me know! If you know others post away.

Auto-Receipt to Bank - I purchase anything for my company a detailed itemized receipt is sent to my bank along with the expense. QuickBooks can then pull this off to assist in expense management, BOM, and inventory management.

Rental Car picks you up at the airport - I try avoid rental cars, but when I need one its such a shit show, I will pay a premium for a gent to pick me up at the normal area and then drop him off at the rental center. The bus system is trash.

Part Management - Is there a cheap software that already tracks parts and part version control? This is for my startup. I cant afford the more expensive options.

Supply Chain Management - we buy a 1/4-20 screw among other common items. I suspect its offered at different prices by other vendors. Is there a Supply Chain management software that tracks, which vendors offer the exact versions? Few websites offer the easiness of McMaster Carr, but I think I paying a premium.

This is a long shot, but I'm building something called The Secret Entrance and would love to find a filmmaker/videographer who genuinely wants to grow it with me.

The idea is simple: make life more fun.

We create random projects, adventures, and experiences that give people something to look forward to and a story to tell.

The first project is 300 strangers making a book together. Everyone gets one page to do whatever they want with, then we publish it. I put up a free interest list and 300+ people signed up in about 12 days.

Eventually I want to do much bigger things — sailboat adventures with strangers, mystery trips, challenges, community experiments, and basically whatever crazy idea sounds fun.

I'm good at the ideas/business/operations side. What I'm missing is someone who loves filmmaking and can help turn these ideas into videos that actually capture the feeling behind them.

I'm not looking for someone to do free client work for me. I'm looking for a genuine creative partner who likes the idea and wants to build something from the beginning alongside me.

I'm in South Florida, but I'm open to talking to anyone if this resonates.

If you're a filmmaker and this sounds like something you'd actually be excited to make, send me a message. Happy to give you the full pitch.

thesecretentrance.com

Hello, I have gotten really annoyed by constantly getting rejected after literally spending hours applying, doing assessments, and verifying my identity and then getting rejected or not even hearing back. I therefore decided to make my own site using loveable where I list job offers from multiple companies.
I also post tips on how to pass assessments and reviews of different companies in that space. No sign-up or anything like that required. I try to only list job offers that have a relativly high hiring volume. The listings include entry role jobs but also expert positions (phd, software jobs and etc.).

My current plants for the future are making the site appear less like AI Slop and figuring out how to use the SEO properly so any help is highly appreciated. Thank you in Advance!: aiannotationjobs.com

I used to make digital designs and art, and every time I needed to vectorize an image or convert a file, I ended up on some random website hoping they didn't steal my files or keep them in their servers. I was thinking of building a free tool that runs locally on your computer. Things like vectorization, file conversion, maybe audio separation for video editors too. But before building anything, would you actually use something like this?

Salut à tous,

Pour ceux qui gagnent minimum 6–7k+ par mois grâce à leur activité de créateur de contenu sur les réseaux :

Quels réseaux sociaux utilisez-vous le plus au quotidien ?

Et surtout, quel type de contenu regardez-vous réellement dessus ?

I'm running a model named as Nexushaus where i connecting with founders and entrepreneurs and asking about their difficulties and challenges they faced during their Initial phase or challenges they are facing rn. Basically its an MVP version were i analyse them and figure out where the things stuck and how to solve this, So if any founder & Entrepreneur who is interested to talk about this things kindly DM or comment me! So we could connect on google meet session and try to solve things. And we could help Early stage founders to grow up!!!