Thanks for all the advice that I got from this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/s/LUHc0seP2P

Based on the general trend of the comments on that thread, a lot of people won't be pleased with the direction I took, but I'm very happy with the outcome. I decided to take the advice of u/iwonderthesethings and u/modelformat's (link) because they were more conciliatory.

First off, I told my employee that what they did was correct. I also reminded them to not confront the customer since they seemed quite upset with the complaint. From my previous thread, I mentioned that our Google Review page is full of praises of hospitality; and the fact that someone complained about our employee's 'rudeness' just didn't sit right with us and our employee.

I'm not going to put my entire response here since it's very wordy but TLDR:

• We listed the actions we took after the complaint was lodged, including reviewing all the evidence and re-orienting our employees about the right way to communicate reminders.
• We briefed them about our policies on purchase and occupancy.
• I started with a "we'd like to be frank with you" and told them about multiple times customers have taken advantage of our space. We told the customer that laying these situations for them to know wasn't an attack on them (although it kind of was lol). We told them, "These situations present a real, quantifiable loss for us".
• We apologized about not being explicit about our policies and expectations, but that we will be implementing these more fairly moving forward.
• We then dedicated an entire paragraph defending our employee, telling the customer that our employee recognized them as a frequent visitor, and that our employee has no ill will. We used specific time stamps from the CCTV to explain why our employee wasn't able to greet them or bid them good bye, or why our employee decided to call out one of the customer's friends for not having ordered.
• We apologized and we said we aren't invalidating their experiences, which is why we are going to re-orient our employees about respectful communication. At the same time, I asked for two-way courtesy from them; that they should recognize our employees' responsibilities, which includes protecting our space and sales.

Below is the translated, non-verbatim response of our customer:

First, I wanted to clarify that, yes, I wasn't the one she told needed to place an order but my friend who was staying a couple of minutes before his class. His other friend had already ordered a drink, and he was sitting across him, not occupying much space in the cafe. Second, I honestly don't mind not being greeted all the time since I understand there are circumstances that she would be unable to do so. There were just times that we were the only ones left in the cafe, with her doing nothing, and I was waiting for her to say thank you and greet back with a smile and so I could thank her as well.

I appreciate how you handled this situation and will try to visit again as I really like your products.

We/I don't mind complying with your policy given that there is limited space in the cafe, but I just hoped it was delivered to us in a nicer manner.

I decided to no longer respond.

I didn't have the ability to readily tell them that they have in fact, multiple times, occupied the very few tabled seats with only one of them ordering. Of course I didn't save videos and screenshots of that. It'll be a case of "he-said, she-said" with my business most likely on the losing end especially with the drama of Google Reviews and social media. It also seemed like a perception issue from the customer; a perception of rude communication, or maybe embarrassment on their part. I can't fix entitlement, embarrassment and one's views on the matter no matter how much I explain.

This week, the customer has come back twice already. The customer is accompanied by one of the group members, and it's still only the customer who orders. I can live with that.

My employee also says that the customer seemed much nicer this time around.

I ran my company for 16 years before selling it to a private equity buyer (and stayed on one more year during the transition). The one thing I'd do differently: *start the tax planning years earlier.*

After closing, I learned about how some sellers defer and sometimes reduce the tax on a sale: trusts like CRUTs, GRATs, and SLATs; gifting shares before the value jumps; installment structures. Most only work if they're set up well before a deal is on the table. By the time I heard about them, it was too late to matter.

There's also QSBS (qualified small business stock). If your company qualifies and you hold the stock for five years, up to $15M of gain per shareholder can be tax-free federally, and most states too. But it applies only to C-corps, only to growth after you convert, and many businesses (professional services, consulting, finance, and others) don't qualify (like mine). Either way, you have to look years ahead.

Don't wait for your CPA or attorney to bring it up. Ask them early. The good ones can do a lot with a few years of runway, and very little once you've moved into the deal window.

Not tax or any other type of advice: just what I learned the hard way.

Owners who've sold: what do you wish you'd started earlier? I'm eyes wide-open now : - )

Saw a small business owner mention paying $2,450 a month for family health insurance, with a 17% increase at renewal.

That’s $29,400 a year just in premiums. Before deductibles, copays, or actually using the insurance.

And that’s just for one family. If you’re running a small business and trying to offer coverage to employees too, those costs can add up pretty fast.

Only 46% of businesses with 3–9 employees offered health insurance in 2024, according to KFF. Compare that with 92% of businesses with 50–199 employees. Some businesses offer traditional group plans, others help employees buy individual coverage, and some don’t offer anything because they simply can’t afford it.

I know health insurance premiums are generally tax-deductible for businesses, and self-employed owners may qualify for a deduction too, depending on how the business is set up. But a tax deduction doesn’t exactly make a $2,450 monthly bill easier to pay.

For those of you running businesses with fewer than 10 employees, what are you doing?

I don't know what to do. I'm a café owner and I rent out a small space at some sort of a mixed residential and commercial area. It's been a month since the estate started implementing paid parking, and it has really been affecting our sales. After a while, we've started getting less and less customers. I would understand why they'd implement that if the traffic was really bad in our area or if vehicles actually parked there for too long, but I don't believe this was the case. As it's kind of a private area, public transport vehicles aren't even allowed in there and cars would come and go without parking abuse. Many customers would park in front of our store to just order their coffee for take out and leave. Now, they'd have to pay for parking in front of our store, even if it's just for a few minutes. We used to have a lot of regulars, and now they can't even come back. Even if we didn't make that big of an income, we used to earn enough daily to have our money rolling for whatever the business needed. Right now, our sales have really dipped.

It isn't just our café that has raised this problem. All the business owners around us have complained about this, but the estate company doesn't seem to feel at all.

Also, we live in a small, far-away city, so paid parking isn't the norm for people here. I do think it's quite a hassle too— especially for people just looking to stop by quickly and for younger customers or students who are looking to spend less. Even us tenants have to pay for parking every time we come to our stores.

I was thinking about raising a petition, or filing complaints along with other business owners, but I doubt a big corporation like this one would be shaken at all. Should I work on marketing instead? Help. This is my first ever business, and it's been doing well this whole time until this parking nonsense started. :(

There's a serious security flaw in PHP, the software under most websites, and a fix came out today. Nintendo, government sites in Europe and the HR company BambooHR all took services offline over it. The catch is the fix only covers newer versions. A lot of small business sites on cheap hosting run older versions that get no update at all.

You don't need to be technical for this. Email your web host and ask: "Which PHP version is my site on, and have you applied the PHP2Shell security fix?" If they can't answer clearly, that's your answer.

If you want to check yourself first, I built a free tool that tells you what your site runs: simgen.dev/php-patch-check. No signup, it doesn't store your address.

A few years ago I had a customer who emailed me often about something that she didn't like. This random page confused her. She couldn't do this on the site.

The price was too much. My first instinct was to refund her and quietly let her go, because she bugged me like crazy.

Instead I started fixing the things she pointed out, and almost every fix increased conversion. She stayed with me for years and sent customers my way.

These days the quiet customers keep me up at nigh than the loud ones. The quiet ones just leave and you never learn why. Maybe I got lucky with one person, because most just stay quiet and ghost.

Have you had a tough customer who became a valuable person for your business, or did the painful ones add no value at all?

A month ago, u/Elusive_One generated quite a stir with his tale of shady business partners, unsubstantiated cash sales and asset transfers. In the last installment, he'd observed actual sales and hired an accountant who agreed something was amiss. The last we heard was one of the partners invited him to San Diego to explain the accounting in person.

So... how did the meeting go? Did u/Elusive_One survive to post again? Where's the latest installment? Inquiring minds want to know.

For those who missed it, here are the links to the original posts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1vy45l8/i_own_this_business_and_something_about_the/

https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1wdwzoq/update_cpa_confirmed_my_concerns_are_legitimate/

I own a small LLC registered in Arkansas and primarily do IT consulting from home. I have been using LegalZoom to handle the administrative/compliance side of the business, including registered agent services.

Over the past few years, the costs have continued increasing, and I am starting to question whether the convenience is worth it anymore.

For context, I paid $300 in 2024 for all the various fees, then $450 in 2025, and now I am being charges $650 this year. It's egregious.

My business is relatively straightforward. I work from home, provide consulting services, and do not have a complicated business structure or employees.

I am wondering if I am paying hundreds of dollars annually for services I could reasonably handle myself.

For those of you operating a small LLC:

• Do you handle your annual state filings and compliance requirements yourself, or pay someone to manage them?
• Is there a practical reason to maintain a paid registered agent rather than using an individual who meets the state's requirements?
• Have you switched away from a full-service LLC management provider? Was the process relatively straightforward?
• Would working with a local accountant or attorney for occasional compliance needs make more sense than paying annual subscription fees?

I am not opposed to paying for services that provide actual value, but $650 annually seems excessive for what I believe is a relatively simple LLC.

I would appreciate hearing how other small business owners approach this and whether I'm overlooking any important responsibilities by considering handling more of it myself.

For those of you who quote service jobs (cleaning, handyman, detailing, lawn care): how do you handle the trip charge?

The common setup seems to be hours x an hourly rate, plus a markup on materials, plus a trip fee. The trip fee is the part that varies most.

Do you charge a flat fee, charge by the mile, or build it into your hourly rate? And does it change for jobs that are farther out?

I have been helping with inventory on several of my stores and one of them is confusing me.

I have a manager that recently boosted quantities of products in our system during weekly cycle counts.
They are several high-ticket items in various categories all done in one month.

I have corrected this, but I can’t understand their reasoning for this.

I’m not the financial person in our company, I’m just the day-to-day person. But this is bugging me.

Can anyone help me understand why they would purposely inflate inventory? It would get corrected eventually, but to what end?

EDIT- clarification.
All the increases were done within the past month by the same employee. None of the items were received recently , these are stocked items that don’t move fast, but do in bulk to certain customers.

I'm 36, based in northern Europe, and have been running my own language education business for a few years. I'm at a crossroads and would appreciate advice from entrepreneurs who've faced something similar.

Some background:

I started teaching my mother tongue to expats and eventually turned it into a business. I've developed a structured curriculum, built a website, figured out paid advertising, established a sales process, and built a customer base.

During decent months, the business generates around $6–7k in revenue. I've also landed larger corporate contracts.

So there's clearly demand. But despite all this, I'm still the business. I handle marketing, sales, customer relationships, administration, and most of the teaching.

I'm increasingly questioning whether I've built a business or just created a demanding job for myself.

Problem 1: The business is interfering with my personal life.

Most customers are working professionals who want evening lessons. My girlfriend gets home around 6 PM, which is often exactly when I start teaching, sometimes until 10 PM.

We barely see each other on those evenings, and it's becoming a real problem.

I got into entrepreneurship partly for the freedom, but right now I have less control over my schedule than I would with a regular job. I don't want this to be my lifestyle for the next five years.

Problem 2: I've tried delegating, but customer retention suffered.

The obvious solution is hiring teachers and focusing on growing the business.

I've tried this twice. Both times, I noticed a fairly sharp drop in customer retention. Students purchase packages of 30 teaching hours, and fewer seemed to renew when freelancers were teaching.

I don't have precise data, so I can't conclusively blame the teachers. Maybe students prefer me personally, maybe I hired the wrong people, or maybe my systems aren't good enough.

But if delegating reduces customer lifetime value while increasing delivery costs, the economics of scaling become questionable.

Another complication: I owe around $25k in taxes.

During my earlier years of self-employment, I didn't set aside enough money for taxes and accumulated approximately $25k in personal tax liabilities.

This adds financial pressure. I need reliable income to support myself and pay off the debt, and I don't have unlimited resources to keep experimenting.

The three options I'm considering:

1. Go all-in on scaling the existing business.

Continue hiring teachers, improving retention, building systems, and eventually removing myself from teaching.

Pros: Proven demand, paying customers, established curriculum, and a working customer acquisition process. Potential to grow if I can solve the delegation problem.

Cons: I've already tried twice without great results. I could spend another year trying to scale without making meaningful progress, while my tax debt adds financial pressure.

2. Get a full-time job and run the business on the side.

I'm currently exploring positions such as Account Executive in SaaS, potentially earning $5–7k/month before taxes.

This would provide financial stability while allowing me to experiment with scaling the business.

However, I currently spend 6–8 hours per week on sales calls, mostly during office hours. A full-time job would make that difficult.

I'd essentially need to solve two problems: delegate teaching without hurting retention and maintain sales without being available during the workday.

Pros: Stable income, less financial pressure, and I wouldn't have to abandon something I've spent years building.

Cons: I could end up working two jobs, with a business that might not generate enough profit to justify the additional work once freelancers are paid.

3. Get a full-time job, wind down the business, and eventually start something new.

I've realised that I enjoy entrepreneurship much more than delivering the actual service. I love understanding customers, developing offers, marketing, selling, and building something commercially viable.

Maybe I'd be better off applying those skills to a business model that doesn't depend so heavily on my personal time.

Pros: Financial stability, predictable working hours, more time with my girlfriend, and the opportunity to explore a potentially more scalable business while paying off my debt.

Cons: Walking away from an existing revenue-generating business and starting from scratch, with no guarantee of success.

What makes this difficult:

I genuinely love entrepreneurship. Building something from nothing has been incredibly rewarding.

But I wonder whether I'm confusing persistence with refusing to let go.

I know successful entrepreneurs often have to overcome exactly these kinds of obstacles. At the same time, I don't want to fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy and spend years trying to scale a business that fundamentally conflicts with the lifestyle I want.

I don't want to stop being an entrepreneur. I'm just questioning whether this is the right business to keep building.

I'd appreciate your perspectives:

1. If you've scaled a service business beyond yourself, how did you overcome customers preferring you over freelancers or employees?
2. Has anyone returned to employment after entrepreneurship? Did you regret it, or did it give you the opportunity to build something better later?
3. Is running a service business alongside a full-time job realistic when you're still responsible for sales?
4. Given the financial pressure, would you keep trying to scale or take a stable salary and eventually start over?
5. Finally: What would you do in this situation?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who've faced similar decisions rather than generic advice about never giving up.

Thanks for reading.

A call goes well, the person says they'll decide soon, and then nothing. Nobody wants to send a pushy message, so the lead just goes stale in the spreadsheet.

Do you set a date for the next follow-up before the call ends, or do you wait and see? And when a lead goes quiet for good, how do you tell the difference between a no and a not yet?

After about six years of running an established destination restaurant in western Wisconsin, complete with an ice cream parlor, a pool and dart lounge, and an arcade/golf simulator lounge, I've decided to step away from the restaurant industry. This isn't a business in trouble. It's been very good to me, but my other company is growing rapidly and needs my full attention, so I'm letting the restaurant go. I'd love to see it keep going under someone new, but I'm closing it at the end of the year either way. That's why I've priced it to sell at $95,000. I know that's low. The goal is simply to have a new owner running it by January 1.

The sale includes the restaurant and bar (food, a full bar, and DoorDash delivery), the ice cream parlor, the pool and dart lounge, and the golf simulator. The arcade machines are owned by a third party and run under a split-income contract, so the machines themselves aren't part of the sale, but the arcade income comes with the business. In 2025 the business did over $400,000 in combined sales. That's about $330,000 from the restaurant and bar and about $70,000 from the ice cream parlor, plus arcade and gaming machine income, and it netted about $76,000 in profit. There's over $280,000 in build-out, furniture, and equipment on the books. The restaurant is only open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, with lunch on Saturdays, so there's plenty of room to grow by adding hours, days, or lunch service.

This is a business sale in a leased space. I've sold the building for about $1.7 million, so the new owner will lease from the new landlord. The current lease runs about $3,700 a month, and your rent may go up or down depending on the terms of your new lease.

At this price, a buyer could earn back the purchase in a little over a year. It's a great fit for an owner-operator, or for anyone who wants an established destination spot with a loyal customer base instead of starting from scratch. Serious buyers can review the 2025 P&L, books, and tax returns, along with POS sales history, current lease terms, the equipment list, the arcade revenue-share contract, liquor license transfer details, and staff information, after signing an NDA. If you're interested, send me a DM and we'll talk.

• 1. Providing tech support what you can do is build your knowledge by learning how to fix a common problems like wifi issues setting up computers and helping other navigate apps and websites.
  • 2. Weed gardens what you can do is build strength and stamina through the physical demands of kneeling and bending and repetitive motions.
  • 3. Farmer’s market stand what you can do is learn how to make you your products look awesome and talk to the customers in a way that grabs you attention and makes them want to buy
  • 4. Mowing lawns what you can do is learn how to safely and efficiently operate a lawnmower, understanding the mechanics and maintenance required for a smooth use
  • 5. Organise garages what you can do is learn how to sort and arrange items efficiently , turning a cluttered space to neat and functional area
  • 6. Collect firewood what you can do is develop physical strength and learn how to handle wood safely using proper tools and gloves to prevent injuries like splinters 
  • 7. Cleaning peoples houses what you can do is learn how to manage your time well by completing different cleaning tasks within a set schedule , make sure everything gets done on time

We are a new business (18 mos) and very green to business in general— however business did well. I do have a CPA. I did not inform the CPA monthly of cash flow, only of things she could connect to herself through QBO as we were just too busy & communication with her is horribly difficult. Is there a way to do that now? What should I do? We haven’t paid taxes at all bc she said the first true year is difficult bc its all estimated. Not sure if we are screwed here or what?

My wife operates an independent dental hygiene clinic that is relocating from Etobicoke to Vaughan, Ontario. The clinic has an existing patient base and several years of operating history, but the new location will need to attract patients from the surrounding community.

We're working with a limited small-business marketing budget and want to focus on activities that can realistically generate bookings rather than simply increase social media followers.

If you were in this position, how would you allocate your marketing effort during the six to eight weeks before opening and the first three months afterward?

Would you prioritize Google Business Profile and local SEO, email and text outreach to existing patients, local flyers, short-form videos, paid advertising, referral programs or partnerships with nearby businesses?

If you've done something similar, which channels generated actual customers, and which turned out to be a waste of time or money?

About to launch a small landscaping business and trying to get the boring stuff sorted before things get really busy. Right now everything runs through my personal checking, which I know isn't great. Did you open a business account right away, or wait until there was real money coming in?

I’m an older professional guy with a fairly broad mix of skills. Laboratory admin and research, writing (self published), database work and general web troubleshooting. Lotsa tech skills over the years building websites etc but not a specialist. But I’m capable of fixing stuff.
I’ve recently put together a simple website for a service built around the kind of small jobs that I believe businesses or folk often struggle Getting fixed by mainstream experts. Like a budding writer that’s just found that reviewing or proofing an ebook is harder and more expensive than it looks.
I’m not about the big projects that go to agencies or specialists, but the awkward little stuff that takes time and a typical pro would say no to. I know what those are like and usually end up doing it myself after learning how.
They are not necessarily hard problems, but for some folk it wastes time trying a DIY fix. Anything from Excel issues to book reviews and everything in between. Yeah, I know it’s a shotgun approach, but hey, that’s my skill base.

I built a website myself to run a simple service to accept and track jobs using a domain I already owned, so I’ve managed to get this far without spending anything. The prices I will charge are cheap but fair value (to me at least). Kinda an upmarket Fiverr but with soul….

I’m not looking to build the next empire or become a tech billionaire. I’m at a stage in life where I have time, useful experience, and would quite like to put both to good use, and earn a few extra dollars along the way to pay for beers etc.
My problem is the obvious one. How do I get my service in front of people who might actually need it. I’m not particularly interested in becoming an influencer or spending my days promoting myself on social media cos I’ve totally gone off FB and IG etc.
So, for those of you who have started a small online business on a shoestring, what would you do first to get noticed and find those initial customers?

I’m interested in practical advice from people who’ve been there. And yep, I know it’s an uphill struggle. I built it before I had a proven base hoping they would come. Now with that problem, how can I kick it off. I’m in EU BTW.
Thanks for ANY advice.

Please help me to make a decision.

I am in China, i just quitted my last job as a foreign trade sales representative last month. I worked there for a year and a half, and it was my first job after graduation. To be honest, I was quite happy with my overall salary compared to what other people were making.

The main reason I quit was that I was not happy with the quality of the products we sold. If you know anything about the used construction machinery business in China, you may understand what I mean.

But the bigger problem was that my company did not really care about the customers of its sales team. I often felt guilty about how my customers were treated.

So now I want to try something different. I have three ideas in mind. I know I could try all of them, but I am not sure if I have enough energy to do everything at once.

1. Become an independent agent for overseas buyers

For now, I do not want to help customers find suppliers. I only want to help them check the goods before shipping and follow up with their suppliers to make sure orders are completed on time. This would be for customers who already have their own suppliers.

From my work experience, I found that some suppliers take advantage of customers who are not in a strong position. This can lead to late deliveries or poor-quality products. When the quality is bad, it can also cause many other problems.

The reason I want to do this is that I can fully stand on the customer’s side. I want to build a relationship with my customers where we help each other and both sides benefit.

2. Build my own brand selling only shoes for pets online

I have two small dogs, so this idea comes from my own needs as a pet owner. I believe many people around the world may also need shoes that fit their pets well

3. Continue selling used construction machinery, but work with another company

I could continue selling used construction machinery, but work under another company that would give me more freedom to make my own decisions.

This option has higher profit margins, but I feel like I have some mild PTSD from my previous job. I often had to lie or say things that were not completely true about the products. I am tired of doing that.

Those are 3 options I am facing with now, I know 3 could combine with 1 or 2, because only 3 I could make money faster. 1 or 2 are slower, I need to live with 3.

It has been almost a month since I quit my job, but I still cannot decide what to do. I have not taken the first step toward any of these three ideas. They are all still just ideas in my head.

Recently, I have heard people say too many times that you cannot make good money if you care too much about being honest or doing the right thing. I don’t really agree with this, and I don’t want to accept it.

Maybe I am just too honest and naive to make serious money?

My mind has been a mess lately, and I am struggling to understand what I really could do.

Small print on demand graphic tee brand in India, about three weeks on Amazon.in, no ads.

Last week I put a two week sale on the 10 listings that had the most sessions over the previous 30 days. Regular fit went to 549 rupees, oversized to 699 and terry to 749, down from 799 to 999. I also cut handling time from 4 days to 3.

Five days in, those 10 listings got 17 sessions between them and 0 orders. The whole account got 49 sessions in the same 5 days. The one order I've had since we started listing came on a regular fit tee at the full 799, on a design that wasn't part of the sale at all.

The handling change did almost nothing for the customer. The delivery promise on the discounted listings still reads 8 to 10 days from today.

So now I'm not sure the price was ever the problem. Maybe it's delivery time, maybe it's that one design just fits what people search for. I've got 9 more days on the sale before it ends on its own.

For anyone who sells apparel on Amazon with slow self shipping: did a lower price ever move your numbers, or did faster delivery matter more? And would you keep the sale running or end it now?

I recently interviewed the founder of a Brazilian payments company operating in 10 Latin American countries who is making more than $500K in revenue.

However, if he were choosing where to expand today, he'd pick Bolivia or Costa Rica over Brazil or Mexico.

They happen to have less competition and better margins, he said.

I thought that was interesting, especially since most conversations about international expansion tend to focus on the biggest economies.

For anyone who's been involved in expanding a business abroad, have you experienced something similar? How was your market criteria selection and based on what?

I'm curious how small business owners here manage their Instagram, YouTube, and other social media pages.

Between running the actual business, handling customers, and managing day-to-day work, how do you find time to consistently post content and keep your pages active?

Do you create everything yourself, have someone on your team handle it, or outsource it to someone?

I'm a video editor and graphic designer, and I've been working in this field for over 4 years. I know how much time it can take to create videos, graphics, reels, and other content consistently.

I've been thinking about how I could help small businesses with this side of things, but before anything else, I'd genuinely like to hear how you guys currently handle it and what challenges you face.

Would love to hear your experiences!

I've always found it interesting how much you can manage with a simple spreadsheet when running a business.

I'm guessing some people stick with spreadsheets for years, while others eventually move to different tools as things get more complicated.

Personally, I think there's something to be said for keeping things simple for as long as possible.

I've seen businesses use spreadsheets in very different ways, and it's interesting how everyone finds their own system. Some setups are surprisingly effective!

Hi everyone! Wanted to get the community's thoughts on this. For the last couple years I've always prioritized getting prospective clients on the phone to do my pitch and then I will give my rate. My conversion has been very high as I know I have a reasonably priced great service and am a people person that is easy to connect with. This year has been incredible in terms of business growth and with that I've raised my rates to better cover my time and expenses. The growth has also lead to a packed schedule and being a solo entrepreneur, I often cannot find enough time in the day. I generally spend a minimum of 30 minutes on each call during my pitch (this cannot be reduced by much with what I am selling) and it is really adding up so I started telling prospective clients my fee up front when they reach via IG or email with a link to schedule a call to chat further if they would like. I am not sure if it's just a mismatch of potential clients or the new rate but for a large percentage of the inquiries I am not hearing anything back after the first message. For some I realize this higher rate is not feasible but I am in a great position where I do not need every lead anymore. I guess my thought is that some might have sticker shock and back off whereas if I do my full spiel then give them the rate they might be more inclined when they realize the full value and connect with me. So yeah just wondering what you all think about this. Thanks so much!

Hey everyone,

My partner and I just launched Kastana Tech, a small studio that builds websites, AI-powered video ads, and AI solutions for businesses.

The site has been live for a few weeks and we have no clients yet. We're working on it full-time but on a tight budget, so we want to grow smart instead of burning money.

Questions for you:

1. What worked for you when landing your first 3 clients?
   
2. Which channels are worth it for a new studio (cold outreach, LinkedIn, Upwork, content)?
   
3. What would make you trust a brand-new studio enough to hire it?

Happy to share the site in the comments if anyone wants to give honest feedback. Thanks, I'll reply to every comment.