Business in style Habr. Start
Hi, habrasoobschestvu.
After reading this post I decided to insert my five kopecks into the My Business section. Not so much because of the invite, but because of the desire to share their own, maybe someone useful thoughts on the theme of "their business." Further many letters.
')
My knowledge in this direction, though not comprehensive, is far from theoretical. Since 2004 I have been working in "my" business. Now I own two companies that I created from scratch. The service of targeted delivery, which distributes printed materials (newspapers, receipts, advertisements) in mailboxes (not electronic, but real), with a total number of employees of more than 150 people (www.chelpost.ru) and Chelyabinsk factory "Steklopaket", which produces double-glazed windows for translucent structures (windows, facades, partitions, etc.). The total income per month that I receive as dividends from these companies amounts to five digits in American money. I hope it will soon be a six-figure. I agree, business is not related to the IT field, but in my opinion, conducting business is subject to the same rules, regardless of the scope of its activities.
I’ll clarify right away that everything that is written here is not a ready-made recipe for how to organize your business in three days without investing money and not getting up from the sofa. I will not give advice on how to look for investors, recruit staff, look for customers, etc. This makes no sense. Algorithm does not exist. Each project is unique as the fate of man and that Russian is good ... Well, in general, you understand. I want to sketch a list of topics that you need to think about at the stage of thinking and planning your business.
So. The easiest and least risky way to organize your business is to “squeeze clients”. What it is? Suppose you work in a company and are engaged in, say, selling glass. You know all your buyers and suppliers, you know the sales of glass, the seasonality of demand, you are personally acquainted with the managers of glass factories and employees of the supply department of buyers. Every day you sell them glass carriages, and once you come up with a bright idea: to save (borrow) money, buy glass and sell it to the same customers, but on behalf of your company, putting the difference in your wallet. It is still easier if you work as a programmer, designer, or other specialist in the IT industry. Here you do not even need to look for money to purchase goods. But another difficulty arises, you have to complete the project entirely, which is not always possible, since in large companies, as a rule, several people work on the project, and you will have to agree with them. However, the advantages of this option are obvious. You can work in parallel for yourself and at the place of work, increasing income and reducing risks. With the right approach, such joint activities can last long enough, and your business will have time to firmly stand on its feet and bring a steady income.
The above option, however, is not always possible for obvious reasons. It remains an option to start from scratch. It is up to you to quit your job immediately, or in parallel with your work for hire. In the first case, you will achieve more results, since there will be no backup option, in the second case, you will not be left without funds if the project does not work (and it certainly will not work if you choose the second option). In any case, it is necessary to start with what you understand, try to first raise your project before investing in others. Save a lot of money.
Now I will say a banal thing that many people ignore for some reason, starting to work, and then get upset that they are burning through, faster than they manage to do something. At the first stage of development of the company it is necessary to negate the fixed costs. There should be no costs that are not directly related to the process of making money. No representation and administrative expenses. No secretaries, you will not have so many calls in the first days that you yourself will not have time to answer them. And make your own coffee. There are no offices in class A business centers. If an office is so necessary (Exactly needed? Fax can be delivered at home.), Remove the cheapest, or even an apartment on the first floor in a residential building (this does not apply to businesses whose success depends on dust in the eyes of the client - jewelry stores, financial pyramids, etc.). No salary. All employees are on the deal. How many earned - received so much. Where to find anyone? I do not know. Search everywhere. Students, part-time work, etc. Ideally, try to do without the staff at all. Give work on a subcontract (freelancers, contractors, etc.), naturally leaving yourself a financial delta. In general, your goal in the first time (as well as in the second and third) is to get as much money as possible by spending as little as possible. That is the purpose of the business. Expenses for a chic office and a pretty secretary are expenses from profits. No profit - no costs. Many for some reason forget about it. Ideally, try not to invest your money at all. Pay to the supplier after receiving payment from the buyer, employees after performing work, etc. Be sure to work at first only on a prepaid basis. If the client does not pay with a large firm, she will be upset, if she does not pay with a small one, she can go bankrupt. Do not think that this is impossible. It is possible, we are still working this way. If a customer is afraid to make a prepayment (“we work with you for the first time and are not sure about the quality of your work or goods”), offer him a partial prepayment, but the amount of this prepayment should cover ALL YOUR EXPENSES FOR THE EXECUTION OF THIS ORDER (materials, salaries ... ). In a pinch, you will not earn anything, but you will not lose either.
Many young firms that are just entering the market try to appear large and famous. This is logical, a small child also wants to appear as an adult and imitates them in everything. But I think it's stupid in business. Counterparties are not idiots and can always check the date of registration of your company. Those who need only promoted brands as partners are still not your customers, but the rest is better to honestly say that we are a start-up company, but our experts are very good, have worked before ... (here you can mention a few well-known companies in your industry ), and therefore it is very pleasant and beneficial to work with us because and because of this ...
This implies another obvious rule. Never agree on unprofitable or non-profit projects in order to “hook” the customer “for the future”. Now we’ll make an order for ourselves at a loss, we’ll catch the client, and then we’ll start earning money on it. Do not start, if not immediately started. Many large wealthy companies pay their employees for finding such companies that would do their work for a nominal fee for a never-coming prospect. In many ways, therefore, these firms are large and rich.
If you decide to start a joint business with a friend or investor, agree on everything "ashore". Do not think that agree, when will what to share. The agreement should be as specific and understandable to both parties (better written). For example: the distribution of net profit between me and a friend will be 50% to 50% or 30% to 70% (in this case, it is necessary to prescribe how this net profit will be calculated, since the parties may invest in this term different concepts). It is not necessary to agree that the parties will receive a percentage of the profits, proportional to their contribution to the development and / or activity of the company. You will then argue about who invested how much, especially if investments are expressed not only in monetary terms, but also in property and spent working time.
And further. As soon as you decide to start your business, forget who you were in the “past life”. Suppose you were a good programmer and would like to continue moving in your favorite direction, but you are tired of working for “uncle”. Become a freelancer. The day you decide to start your business will be the day you write your last line of code. You will have to do business. Search for customers, negotiate with suppliers, optimize taxes ... Business is not a job from 9.00 to 18.00 with a lunch break. Business is a lifestyle. There will be no time free from business. Even on the nature of barbecue you will mentally return to current projects or promising contracts, considering the details. You will have to read books (I especially recommend Alexander Derevitsky, and Alex Levitas, their books are full on the Internet) about sales, marketing, business processes, tax schemes ... You can get rid of business only by getting rid of it. Can it be easier to work for hire?
After reading this post I decided to insert my five kopecks into the My Business section. Not so much because of the invite, but because of the desire to share their own, maybe someone useful thoughts on the theme of "their business." Further many letters.
')
My knowledge in this direction, though not comprehensive, is far from theoretical. Since 2004 I have been working in "my" business. Now I own two companies that I created from scratch. The service of targeted delivery, which distributes printed materials (newspapers, receipts, advertisements) in mailboxes (not electronic, but real), with a total number of employees of more than 150 people (www.chelpost.ru) and Chelyabinsk factory "Steklopaket", which produces double-glazed windows for translucent structures (windows, facades, partitions, etc.). The total income per month that I receive as dividends from these companies amounts to five digits in American money. I hope it will soon be a six-figure. I agree, business is not related to the IT field, but in my opinion, conducting business is subject to the same rules, regardless of the scope of its activities.
I’ll clarify right away that everything that is written here is not a ready-made recipe for how to organize your business in three days without investing money and not getting up from the sofa. I will not give advice on how to look for investors, recruit staff, look for customers, etc. This makes no sense. Algorithm does not exist. Each project is unique as the fate of man and that Russian is good ... Well, in general, you understand. I want to sketch a list of topics that you need to think about at the stage of thinking and planning your business.
So. The easiest and least risky way to organize your business is to “squeeze clients”. What it is? Suppose you work in a company and are engaged in, say, selling glass. You know all your buyers and suppliers, you know the sales of glass, the seasonality of demand, you are personally acquainted with the managers of glass factories and employees of the supply department of buyers. Every day you sell them glass carriages, and once you come up with a bright idea: to save (borrow) money, buy glass and sell it to the same customers, but on behalf of your company, putting the difference in your wallet. It is still easier if you work as a programmer, designer, or other specialist in the IT industry. Here you do not even need to look for money to purchase goods. But another difficulty arises, you have to complete the project entirely, which is not always possible, since in large companies, as a rule, several people work on the project, and you will have to agree with them. However, the advantages of this option are obvious. You can work in parallel for yourself and at the place of work, increasing income and reducing risks. With the right approach, such joint activities can last long enough, and your business will have time to firmly stand on its feet and bring a steady income.
The above option, however, is not always possible for obvious reasons. It remains an option to start from scratch. It is up to you to quit your job immediately, or in parallel with your work for hire. In the first case, you will achieve more results, since there will be no backup option, in the second case, you will not be left without funds if the project does not work (and it certainly will not work if you choose the second option). In any case, it is necessary to start with what you understand, try to first raise your project before investing in others. Save a lot of money.
Now I will say a banal thing that many people ignore for some reason, starting to work, and then get upset that they are burning through, faster than they manage to do something. At the first stage of development of the company it is necessary to negate the fixed costs. There should be no costs that are not directly related to the process of making money. No representation and administrative expenses. No secretaries, you will not have so many calls in the first days that you yourself will not have time to answer them. And make your own coffee. There are no offices in class A business centers. If an office is so necessary (Exactly needed? Fax can be delivered at home.), Remove the cheapest, or even an apartment on the first floor in a residential building (this does not apply to businesses whose success depends on dust in the eyes of the client - jewelry stores, financial pyramids, etc.). No salary. All employees are on the deal. How many earned - received so much. Where to find anyone? I do not know. Search everywhere. Students, part-time work, etc. Ideally, try to do without the staff at all. Give work on a subcontract (freelancers, contractors, etc.), naturally leaving yourself a financial delta. In general, your goal in the first time (as well as in the second and third) is to get as much money as possible by spending as little as possible. That is the purpose of the business. Expenses for a chic office and a pretty secretary are expenses from profits. No profit - no costs. Many for some reason forget about it. Ideally, try not to invest your money at all. Pay to the supplier after receiving payment from the buyer, employees after performing work, etc. Be sure to work at first only on a prepaid basis. If the client does not pay with a large firm, she will be upset, if she does not pay with a small one, she can go bankrupt. Do not think that this is impossible. It is possible, we are still working this way. If a customer is afraid to make a prepayment (“we work with you for the first time and are not sure about the quality of your work or goods”), offer him a partial prepayment, but the amount of this prepayment should cover ALL YOUR EXPENSES FOR THE EXECUTION OF THIS ORDER (materials, salaries ... ). In a pinch, you will not earn anything, but you will not lose either.
Many young firms that are just entering the market try to appear large and famous. This is logical, a small child also wants to appear as an adult and imitates them in everything. But I think it's stupid in business. Counterparties are not idiots and can always check the date of registration of your company. Those who need only promoted brands as partners are still not your customers, but the rest is better to honestly say that we are a start-up company, but our experts are very good, have worked before ... (here you can mention a few well-known companies in your industry ), and therefore it is very pleasant and beneficial to work with us because and because of this ...
This implies another obvious rule. Never agree on unprofitable or non-profit projects in order to “hook” the customer “for the future”. Now we’ll make an order for ourselves at a loss, we’ll catch the client, and then we’ll start earning money on it. Do not start, if not immediately started. Many large wealthy companies pay their employees for finding such companies that would do their work for a nominal fee for a never-coming prospect. In many ways, therefore, these firms are large and rich.
If you decide to start a joint business with a friend or investor, agree on everything "ashore". Do not think that agree, when will what to share. The agreement should be as specific and understandable to both parties (better written). For example: the distribution of net profit between me and a friend will be 50% to 50% or 30% to 70% (in this case, it is necessary to prescribe how this net profit will be calculated, since the parties may invest in this term different concepts). It is not necessary to agree that the parties will receive a percentage of the profits, proportional to their contribution to the development and / or activity of the company. You will then argue about who invested how much, especially if investments are expressed not only in monetary terms, but also in property and spent working time.
And further. As soon as you decide to start your business, forget who you were in the “past life”. Suppose you were a good programmer and would like to continue moving in your favorite direction, but you are tired of working for “uncle”. Become a freelancer. The day you decide to start your business will be the day you write your last line of code. You will have to do business. Search for customers, negotiate with suppliers, optimize taxes ... Business is not a job from 9.00 to 18.00 with a lunch break. Business is a lifestyle. There will be no time free from business. Even on the nature of barbecue you will mentally return to current projects or promising contracts, considering the details. You will have to read books (I especially recommend Alexander Derevitsky, and Alex Levitas, their books are full on the Internet) about sales, marketing, business processes, tax schemes ... You can get rid of business only by getting rid of it. Can it be easier to work for hire?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/72314/
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