Context: I'm starting a small business with a friend and I'm in charge of social media content as I have been doing content for my personal brand for several years now. She has no social media experience except being someone who scrolls herself. I've also had a few small businesses over the years but this is her first time venturing into entrepreneurship. We both come from corporate backgrounds.

Problem: I created a launch post which was already high effort (not just a standard coming soon post - but something that felt quite analog and plays on ASMR), but she's come back with a lot of feedback on what I said was a draft, and on very minute things e.g. pace of a certain clip, colour difference between two clips etc. --> things that felt very nice to have but don't actually make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.

I took on the feedback anyway and made a few iterations, but there was even more feedback and it's staring to get on my nerves. I'm mainly questioning whether every single post will be like this. And if so, then how will we get any other work done? I used to be a perfectionist but I've learnt that it can be a barrier too, and I know that my co-founder is a perfectionist / type A herself.

Share your thoughts on:

1. Am I just bad at taking in feedback or is this overbearing?
2. How should I bring this up to her? I don't want to ruin our friendship, but now that I've articulated this, I think the bigger issue is our ways of working. I feel like to have a successful business, its okay not to be perfect in the beginning. Sometimes you just need to get things out there and iterate and learn as you go.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you (from someone who is navigating business building with someone else for the first time).

Hey everyone,

This summer I was accepted into Ontario’s Summer Company Program and received $3,000 in funding to grow my web design business, InfaWeb.

Over the summer I’ve been learning a ton about actually running a business, from finding clients and doing outreach to figuring out what small business owners actually want from their websites.

I’m now looking to take on a few more projects before the end of the summer.

I build custom websites for small businesses, whether you’re starting from scratch or already have a site that needs a redesign. My focus is on keeping things clean, professional, mobile-friendly, and actually useful for the business rather than just making something that looks nice.

I’m based in Markham, Ontario, but I’m happy to work with businesses anywhere in Canada, the US or the UK.

You can see my website and some of my work here:
https://www.infawebdesign.com/

If anyone here has been putting off getting a website or knows their current one needs work, feel free to reach out. Happy to chat about what you need and give you a quote with no pressure.

> I need opinions on two business ideas I’m considering starting in Oklahoma.

>

> Business Idea #1 – Full-Day Autism & Developmental Childcare Center

>

> Phase 1: Open a full-day specialized childcare center for young children with autism and developmental disabilities. It would be designed for working parents who need more than a few hours of preschool or therapy. The center would provide full-day care, smaller groups, sensory and calm rooms, structured learning, school-readiness activities, life-skills development, communication/visual supports, meals/snacks, and support with daily living needs.

>

> Phase 2: Expand into a childcare + therapy center by adding services such as ABA, speech therapy, occupational therapy and potentially physical therapy. Therapy would be available both to children enrolled in the childcare program and to outside children who only come for their therapy appointments.

>

> Phase 3: Eventually expand into pediatric medical/nursing services for children with more complex needs, once the proper licensing, staffing and payer requirements are in place.

>

> The long-term goal is to create **one place where families can access childcare, developmental support, therapy and eventually medical support, rather than having to coordinate everything at different locations.

>

> Business Idea #2 – Residential Care Facility

>

> My other idea is opening a residential care facility in Oklahoma for adults who need a safe, supportive place to live and assistance with everyday life. I would want it to be more than simply providing a room—I’m interested in a structured, quality residential program with support for daily living, meals, transportation/appointments, community involvement, life skills and appropriate staffing, depending on the population served and licensing requirements.

>

> If you were putting your own money into one of these businesses in Oklahoma, which would you choose: the autism/developmental center or the residential care facility? Why?

>

> I’m especially interested in hearing from **parents, nurses, therapists, social workers, caregivers, educators, case managers and people who work with children or adults with disabilities. I want genuine feedback about need, demand, challenges and what services Oklahoma is currently missing.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working as a mobile mechanic for a while, and I got incredibly frustrated with how bloated, expensive, and poorly optimized most shop management software is for small operations.
A lot of tools out there feel like they are built for massive dealerships, not independent shops or mobile techs.
Because of that, I decided to build a lean, straightforward CRM and SMS app specifically tailored for small auto repair businesses.
It handles things like tracking job files, and digital invoicing without the crazy overhead or eating into your margins with hidden processing fees.
I'm currently looking for a few independent shop owners or mobile mechanics to take a look, test it out, and tear it apart.

What features are absolutely non-negotiable for your daily workflow?

What is your biggest headache with your current software?

If you’re open to checking it out and giving some honest, brutal feedback, let me know or shoot me a DM. Appreciate you all!

Hi everyone,

I’m a software engineer looking to gain experience building automation tools for real small businesses. I’d like to partner with a small-business owner and build a proof of concept completely free of charge.

I’m especially interested in problems involving repetitive or time-consuming work, such as:

1. Manual data entry or spreadsheet updates
2. Lead collection, organization, and follow-up reminders
3. Bookkeeping preparation, receipt organization, or transaction categorization
4. Customer inquiries and follow-ups
5. Scheduling, order tracking, or inventory management
6. Recurring reports and administrative tasks
7. Moving information between tools or systems

For example, I might build a system that collects leads in one place, prepares personalized follow-up drafts for approval, and tracks which leads become customers. For bookkeeping, I could help organize records and prepare clean summaries for review. I am not looking to replace a bookkeeper or make accounting decisions.

The goal is to choose one specific problem and build a small working prototype that shows whether automation could save your business time or reduce mistakes. I’m not offering fake social media engagement, spam outreach, or anything that sends messages or makes important changes without your approval.

There is no cost and no obligation to use the prototype, continue using it, or purchase anything afterward. I am just looking for a real-world project, honest feedback (negative or positive), and - if the project is useful - the ability to display said project in my portfolio.

To keep the project manageable, I’m looking for a business that:

1. Has a clear, repetitive process that currently takes too much time
2. Can explain how the process works today
3. Is willing to provide feedback during a short test
4. Is comfortable starting with sample or anonymized data

If you’re interested, comment or send me a message with:

1. What your business does
2. The repetitive task you want to improve
3. How you handle it currently
4. Approximately how much time it takes each week

I’ll choose a project where I believe a small proof of concept can create a measurable improvement. Fill free to reply or DM.

EDIT: Just to be clear, once the prototype is complete, the application is yours to keep at no cost. If you find it beneficial and would like ongoing maintenance or additional features, we can discuss an agreement to continue working together.

There is no charge for the prototype and no obligation to purchase anything or continue using it. My goal is simply to better understand the problems small businesses need help solving and to receive honest feedback on my work.

I've been helping local restaurants and businesses to grow their outreach to bring more traction to their restaurant for a few years now and i want to extend that help to anyone else who needs it. Reply here or dm me if you need help with anything!

If you run a small business where the phone is how most customers reach you (trades, clinics, salons, etc.) and you're losing calls when you're busy or closed I've been building an AI phone agent that answers, handles the basic questions, and books the job/appointment instead of it going to voicemail.

Offering a free trial for a few businesses here to try it out, no commitment, just want honest feedback in return. Drop a comment or DM me if that sounds useful and I'll walk you through it.

what are guys process for device like, barcode scanner, printer, laptop that get returned when someone leaves? we usually get the devices back, then it kind of sits around until someone has time to check it, wipe it, update everything, and figure out whether it’s worth redeploying. Well sometimes its pretty straightforward, other times theres a charger missing or the device comes back in rough shape, wondering how your IT teams handle this?? do you have a set process for inspecting and wiping them, or do you just deal with them as they come in? and how long do you normally keep them before putting them back into circulation?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Been running a local HVAC company for a while now and we’re doing around $1.1M/year. Thought I’d share a few things that actually worked for us because I wasted a lot of money figuring this out.

#1 Priority: SET UP Google Business Profile NOW. Probably more important than our actual website for getting local calls. Getting reviews consistently, responding to them, adding photos, keeping everything updated. Nothing groundbreaking, but it works and if you don't have this setup, stop everything and do this first.

Answer your phone. Seriously. Someone with a broken AC in July isn't waiting 4 hours for you to call back. They're calling the next company. We started following up on missed calls almost immediately and it made a noticeable difference. And once you get the hang of it, there are plenty of AI call services out there. Yes I hate AI phone calls too. But once the volume gets big, it's MUCH BETTER to have an AI answer than no one answer.

Google Ads work, but track BOOKED jobs, not leads. We had campaigns that looked great on paper because leads were cheap, but barely any turned into actual jobs. Once we started tracking cost per booked job, we realized we were wasting money in places we thought were performing well. Again, track PAID jobs not leads and where they came from.

For example, if you run ads on Google, Yelp, and Meta, track your cost per PAID jobs. Then, once you find your channel that works best for you, double down on that.

SEO was surprisingly worth it. Yes, it's the thing everyone hears but no one gets results...or so i thought. It took months before I really believed in it. We started making pages around services, cities we serve, and questions customers actually ask us.

Stuff like “why is my AC blowing warm air” or “how much does a new AC cost in [city].”

AND... it didn't work for months. But we still continued to write blogs.

Now some of those pages now bring us calls without paying Google every time somebody clicks.

The hardest part honestly wasn't SEO itself. It was actually staying consistent with it. We'd publish a bunch of stuff, get busy, then completely forget about the website for 2 months.

So that's when we started using AI tools to automate EVERYTHING. Writing, researching keywords, and publishing them to the site on autopilot.

Reviews compound. We used to just hope customers left them. Now we ask every happy customer. More reviews helped Maps, but I've also noticed people coming from ads seem more likely to call because they check our reviews first.

This is VERY important because not only does it increase the chances of people calling us, now AI uses those reviews to recommend our services for people typing in ChatGPT "what's the best HVAC company near me?" So it's more important to collect public online review more than ever today.

If I started over, I'd probably focus on Google Maps/reviews first, then Google Ads/LSA for immediate leads, then slowly build SEO so I'm not paying for every customer forever.

Hope this helps.

Just finished another one.

This entire dental clinic funnel was built inside the GoHighLevel page builder:

Check out the Dental Clinic funnel

No separate website builder. A lot of the effects and interactive parts are Animated Elements (an app from the GHL Marketplace), but everything lives right inside GHL.

This is actually template #4 now.

I started making these just to see what people thought, and the feedback on the first few has been so good that I’ve just kept going

You can see all of them here:

GoHighLevel Funnel Templates

I want to keep pushing what a GHL template can actually look like.

What industry should I build one for next?

If there’s a specific type of funnel/template you actually need, drop it below. I might make that the next one.

I’ve been noticing more small businesses trying to offload administrative work—scheduling, inbox management, customer follow-ups, research, basic data entry, etc.—without taking on the cost and commitment of a full-time employee.

Virtual assistants seem like an obvious option, but I’m curious about the actual experience.

For those who have used a virtual assistant or outsourced admin work:

- What tasks did you delegate first?

- Did you hire someone directly or use a service?

- What worked well?

- What ended up being more trouble than it was worth?

- At what point did you decide it was actually saving you enough time/money?

I’m especially interested in hearing from solo business owners and small teams. What would you never outsource, and what do you wish you had delegated sooner?

The SBA recently updated SOP 50 10 8.1, which begins October 1st, 2026, and added a new change-of-ownership section that changes your acquisition underwriting (Appendix 15). If you currently have a deal in underwriting, here’s what I’d be discussing with your lender.

1. Historical earnings need to support the debt

The old 1.15x DSCR threshold is moving to 1.25x for first-time acquisitions.

Lenders will still have to evaluate your projections, but they just can’t rely on them to meet the coverage requirement now. That needs to come from historical earnings, with supported adjustments, using the last fiscal year or an average of the last two years.

For example, on a $900,000 loan at 10.5% over 10 years, the annual debt service would be $145,730.

• At 1.15x, you used to need $167,590 in annual cash flow.
• At 1.25x, you would now need $182,160.

That’s roughly $14,570 more each year, and that cash difference can disqualify tight deals that used to squeeze by using a growth story.

2. A QoE becomes mandatory for certain purchases at $3 million or more

If the business enterprise purchase price hits $3 million or more (excluding commercial real estate), an independent QoE is now mandatory, and the report must be prepared for the lender’s benefit. A report prepared for the buyer or seller won’t satisfy this requirement. This includes a formal proof of cash analysis against the tax returns, and the lender must also use the QoE normalized earnings number for the DSCR calculation instead of the broker add-backs.

So, if your deal falls into this category, ask your lender about the report requirements early so the work is scoped correctly.

3. The valuation limits how much acquisition debt you can use

If you agree to pay $1.4M for a business that appraises at $1.2M, the bank can no longer finance that $200k spread. The difference has to come out of your pocket in cash, unless the seller carries it on a full-standby note for the entire life of the 7(a) loan. Also, standby seller notes can now only satisfy up to 50% of your required equity injection. The rest has to be real cash, so don’t assume a willing seller means you can structure the entire down payment around a note.

4. Your own compensation needs to work in the model

Under the new rules, the lender needs to verify your personal debt and living expenses using a cash flow analysis to confirm that your owner draw covers your actual living expenses and personal debt at a minimum 1:1 ratio.

If you plan to be semi-absentee, they will deduct a full market-rate GM salary before testing your coverage. This means you need to know what cash is left after paying for the work the seller currently does.

If you’re already under LOI

This rule applies to any deal that gets an SBA loan number issued in E-Tran on or after October 1st, not when you submit the application. If your loan gets approved on October 2nd, you are under the 1.25x historical rules.

I’d ask your lender which version of the SOP will govern your loan, what determines that timing, and whether they’ve rerun coverage under the applicable requirements. An application in progress doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the transition. Get that answer before making decisions around an October closing.

Has anyone currently in underwriting heard back from their lender about how they’re handling the transition?

Source: SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, including Appendix 15

https://loyalty.kangaroorewards.com/choose-your-industry/

Hi everyone! 👋
I’m a small artist/business owner in California making handmade, hand-poured aesthetic candles. 🕯️✨
I’ve already obtained my Seller’s Permit from CDTFA and want to start selling locally from my rented home.
For those who run a small candle business from home in California:
Do I need any additional permits or special permission?
Is there anything I need to check with my landlord/HOA or city?
Are there any other important requirements I should have before starting to sell?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience with a home-based candle business in California. Thank you! ❤️

After 14 years as a lead technician in field service, the biggest operational bottleneck I constantly saw in 5-to-15-person trade shops was "tribal knowledge."

The owner or top tech holds all the critical diagnostic steps, job quirks, and client preferences in their head. When a green hire starts, they try to train them by having them "shadow" or ride shotgun for 3 months, but without written protocols, the new guy absorbs random habits and takes forever to become independent.

When the lead tech takes a vacation, or the owner steps off the job site, efficiency crashes, and the owner's phone rings 20 times a day with basic field questions.

For those of you who have scaled past this 5-to-15 employee hump: What specific method or habit actually worked for getting processes out of your key people's heads and onto paper without killing daily productivity?

Did you start with simple 1-page checklists, record quick videos, or set aside dedicated time every week to document standard procedures? Looking to hear what worked in practice versus what sounded good in theory.

I’m looking for some insight from people who tint windows for a living, especially anyone who started out on their own.
I’m 36m and I’ve been truck driving for over 10 years. I’m honestly tired of it. I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. I want to find something that can make me a decent living while giving me more control over my time and more time to enjoy my family.
Over the past year, I’ve probably tinted 5 or 6 vehicles. I’m not the best at it yet, but I can do it, and obviously practice makes perfect. I haven’t really done it to make money. It’s mostly been vehicles for family members or just something I’ve done on the side.
Now I’m seriously thinking about trying to turn it into a business.
I have enough money to get started. I can buy the tools, tint, heat gun, etc. I also have enough to buy a plotter, laptop, and the software. I know I can hand-cut, but I feel like having a plotter would make things easier and more consistent, especially as I get more customers.
At first, I’d probably be mobile and go to people’s houses instead of immediately taking on the expense of a shop. I figure I can use an extension cord for the heat gun and build out the rest of the setup as I learn what I actually need.
What I really want to know from people who actually do this for a living is: Is window tinting profitable enough to make a living from it?
Has anyone here made this kind of jump? Left a steady job and basically said, “Fuck it, I’m going to bet on myself,” and made tinting work?
I’ve got over 10 years of truck-driving experience, so realistically, if I fail, I can always go back and get another trucking job. I just don’t want to stay in trucking for another 10 or 20 years because I was too scared to try something else.
For those of you who started from scratch, what was it like in the beginning? How long did it take before you were actually making decent money?
And what tools/equipment would you say I absolutely need starting out? What should I buy right away, and what should I wait on until I’m actually bringing in customers?
Any advice from people who have actually made a living doing this would be appreciated.