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Message |
    
Miloandbono
Registered Member
Username: Miloandbono
Post Number: 319
Registered: 08-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 02:39 pm: | 
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Gldn - That sounds like quite a project! I'd love to see it - miloandbono@yahoo.com
-sam |
Gldndog
Registered Member
Username: Gldndog
Post Number: 575
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 11:10 am: |
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Ph,
I went through Trafford Publishing.
I set up the pages and they made it print ready.
As for marketing, I think this will be slow. |
Public_heel
Moderator
Username: Public_heel
Post Number: 10957
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 28, 2009 - 07:23 pm: |
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Congratulations, Gldn! Did you self-publish, or is someone else doing it? How do you plan to market it? |
Gldndog
Registered Member
Username: Gldndog
Post Number: 574
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, December 28, 2009 - 06:30 pm: |
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My children's book is ready! It has been published. I am ready to market it! (i missed the Christmas opportunity )
I ordered 156 copies.
The process took nearly 2 years.
I will mail 11wallers a copy if interested.
Email me: theadventuresofwallythepenguin@gmail.com |
Public_heel
Moderator
Username: Public_heel
Post Number: 2937
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 07:32 pm: |
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I thought a schloss was a castle. I guess they might use the same word for both... |
Tychobrahe
Registered Member
Username: Tychobrahe
Post Number: 2874
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 07:23 pm: |
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a lock, a sausage, a head????? |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 74
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2003 - 10:57 am: |
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MM,
Thanks for the extremely informative and sobering post. I'm going through the steps you outlined now. I do have one advantage, my nephew has a bulding that is all set up for the type of thing I want to do. He is going to let me use it at a very low cost or maybe free. This should cut the overhead down quite a bit. Thanks again for all the great info..Do I owe you consulting fee? (>: |
Mm
Registered Member
Username: Mm
Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, November 14, 2003 - 01:04 pm: |
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JFH -- Super and I have spoken by phone and exchanged emails. We have not met in person. We have discussed it and I expect we will. |
Jfh
Registered Member
Username: Jfh
Post Number: 38
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 05:51 pm: |
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mm: just read your profile and discovered you were in Sacramento. Ever met super ? |
Mm
Registered Member
Username: Mm
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 01:07 pm: |
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Super pretty well captured what I intended with respect to a conservative financial projection.
If you are unsure how to project revenues, there is another way to make informed decisions.
Step 1: carefully investigate fixed and variable costs.
Step 2: project the amount of sales needed to break even --
units sold times (price less variable cost) equals fixed costs.
Be sure to include some waste costs for unsold or deeply discounted product that becomes too old. Also include some serious start-up costs for samples, grand openings, and initial advertising.
Step 3: carefully evaluate whether the units required to break even, and then to create the profits you need, are realistic at the prices in your calculations. Do some serious comparison shopping. Ask friends whether they would pay the prices and how often. Be sure you are asking friends who will give honest answers and not just tell you what you wish to hear. Discount their answers because friendship fails when faced with a family budget and established shopping patterns -- and because your perception of fantastic sausage and theirs may differ. Then evaluate whether the people you ask are sufficiently representative of your likely target market area.
I do not mean to discourage you. I do mean to cause you to set expectations that have an equal chance of being exceeded as not met. To do that, however, you need to excise unfounded optimism and focus on reality.
It almost is a truism that large numbers of businesses fail because the owner(s) attempted to extract too much money for personal expenses too soon. Be sure you have some reserves to last well beyond startup.
My wife and I, to a lesser extent, provide accounting services to small businesses. Our happiest long-term clients are the ones that set reasonable expectations and avoid initial excess optimism. Some of the unhappiest are those who relied on optimism; reality was cruel to them.
Remember Murphy -- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong."
Then remember that Murphy was an optimist because he omitted "... and it will do so at the worst possible time."
All that said, good luck and best wishes. There is something satisfying about being able to tell a boss (aka customer) to go to when he or she is grossly out-of-line because that boss is one of thousands rather than one of one.
One last depressing thought -- taxes. Here in CA, the approximate marginal tax on business profits usually is around 45%. That is the sum of federal income tax at 25%, CA income tax at 9.3% and self-employment tax of 15.3% less some offsetting deductions in computing federal tax for part of the other taxes. The average tax can be that high or higher if you or your spouse has other income. Be sure you pay, or set aside the money to pay, the taxes.
True anecdote: I have a (pretty bright) attorney client that set aside nothing in his first successful year; he spent it and lived according to his expectations. Then, he and his wife came to see us for the tax calculations. In year two, the combination of taxes due for year two plus taxes past due for year one, plus penalties and interest were more than 100% of year two profit. About 12 years later, he remains pretty successful, but his relationship with his wife never has recovered after the way they had to live in that second and third year.
To be sure, I can relate many happy client experiences as well; several are self-made millionaires (although usually I am one of a very few that know that). Unfortunately, the unhappy experiences are harder to forget and, therefore, we work harder to avoid repeats. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 63
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - 12:27 pm: |
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Thanks Pnew,
I know there is one company.."Aidells" located in San Francisco. They have been around for awhile and have done very well. Interestingly enough, the owner is a former biochemist. |
Pnew122
Registered Member
Username: Pnew122
Post Number: 18
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - 11:56 am: |
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Tree Sloth
One thing you could do is type in "sausage" at a serch engine site (use many), go to the various pages, and see if they have a counter at the bottom. At least that would give you an idea of how many hits, not necessarily customers they have.
Paul
PS-Here is a my search engine link
http://www.searchengineguide.com/searchengines.html |
Bahamasdreamin
Registered Member
Username: Bahamasdreamin
Post Number: 20
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 03:30 pm: |
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Tree Sloth,
Well sort of. I own 30% of a pub and grill operation. But this is more of an investment than a business. At least from my prospective.
I have nothing to do with day to day operations. What services I perform are to provide cash when neccessary (which has only been my initial investment but may soon expand to a 2nd location), and to give sage advice to my partner who is 20 years my junior but certainly knows more about the business than I do.
I do own and manage rental property actively and I give assistance to my wife, (when I'm forced to), in her decorating business.
But in the past I've owned or co-owned a trucking company, another restaurant, a video game business and a telecommunications contracting firm.
I confess to making vastly more money as an engineering consultant than any of the other occupations/businesses. Which has humbled me to some extent. But probably not enough to keep me from trying something new. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 57
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 02:37 pm: |
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Thanks for the advice Bahamas. You are in the restaurant business right? |
Bahamasdreamin
Registered Member
Username: Bahamasdreamin
Post Number: 19
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 02:29 pm: |
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Tree Sloth,
Well congratulations on at least trying a new business. And it appears that you have a passing knowledge of your intended products. That's a good start.
Now keeping in mind that about 60% of new/small businesses fail in the first year, here are some of the pratfalls. (yes, they're from observation and also several personal experiences)
Most new businesses fail because of under-capitolization. You've got to have enough money to give yourself a fighting chance to form a clientele.
Think of this business at least as first as having only one employee...that would be you. A great advantage there is that you don't HAVE to pay yourself. Other folks kind of expect it no matter how sympathetic they may be to your plight.
Developing that business plan that's been discussed here briefly is imperative. Try to get a realistic view of who your competition would be and who/how many your customers would be. Ask yourself if you have enough of a population base to support your store. Also is your area affluent enough that folks will shop in a gourmet store.
Find out who your suppliers are going to be and what their prices are like. Write up what your rent, utilities, insurance and other fixed overhead expenses be.
If you don't like the answers from some of the above, see what you could modify in your original idea to still make money.
Good luck and there's always more to learn. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 56
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 02:21 pm: |
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HE He..sure Gap, turkey, chicken, lamb varieties. |
Gap
Registered Member
Username: Gap
Post Number: 22
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 02:02 pm: |
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Healthy sausage? |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 54
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 01:27 pm: |
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Super,
"I'd say that if you think you CAN'T estimate your projected revenues and expenses without starting up the business first, then perhaps you are cruising for a financial bruising of the first magnitude."
I will estimate but there are no guarantee's that I'll be correct. How often do business projections which are calculated before the business has started come to fruition?
"Add in the factor that people can get imported sausage at the deli counter and a pretty high standard has to be met to attract a regular, loyal clientele to a sausage store"
Not around here. They can get the cured stuff, but not the fresh kind.
"Your "business plan" is more a declaration of desire than a demonstration of feasibility."
That wasn't the complete plan. I'm still working on the details.
Thanks for your input Super. This business is something I have to do. |
Super
Moderator
Username: Super
Post Number: 119
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 01:08 pm: |
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The guy in Sacramento has bunch of certificates on the walll from European Sausage-making schools and prizes he won at the State Fair. I think ther ARE people who'll pay for good, trqditional European-style sausage, but they are knowledgable will onl pay if the product fits their idea of what they remember from the "old country". Add in the factor that people can get imported sausage at the deli counter and a pretty high standard has to be met to attract a regular, loyal clientele to a sausage store.
mm was probably trying to tell you to work out a realistic budget and be sure you have the cash to endure the perils of a business startup. I'd say that if you think you CAN'T estimate your projected revenues and expenses without starting up the business first, then perhaps you are cruising for a financial bruising of the first magnitude. Size up the competition, check out the rents, investigate costs, do what market surveying you can, etc, etc. Having a "vision" was OK for internet startups in the bubble, but in retrospect it woulda been better if those guys hadda had a solid, conservative budget and plan instead. Your "business plan" is more a declaration of desire than a demonstration of feasibility. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 48
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 08:10 am: |
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Super..HMM
"I assume the reason for their continued commercial viability is unrelated to their location next to a veterinary hospital."
Maybe i'll open mine next to a horse racing track. |
Super
Moderator
Username: Super
Post Number: 118
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 06:06 am: |
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There's a specialty sausage shop here in Sacramento that seems to have endured if not prospered for years. I assume the reason for their continued commercial viability is unrelated to their location next to a veterinary hospital. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 47
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 10:52 pm: |
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Thanks for the advice MM.
"do a very conservative projection of revenues and expenditures."
I assume you mean after the business gets going. How can I project revenues before I actually open the door and see how many customers are coming in?
I'm prepared for the 12 hour days. When I work for someone else they expect me to work more than eight hours, and with the commute it's almost twelve hours anyway. I'd rather do it for myself.
This is my first business amd I have a LOT to learn. Reasonable lease terms, number of people to hire ect. ect. ect. |
Mm
Registered Member
Username: Mm
Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 08:35 pm: |
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Tree_Sloth, two suggestions:
1. do a very conservative projection of revenues and expenditures. Do this on a month by month spreadsheet. Then, assume you are optimistic and decide if you can live with the result. Be sure you understand self-employment taxes.
2. Remember the good thing and the really great thing about being self-employed.
The good thing: You get to work half days.
The really great thing: It does not matter which 12 hours. |
Tree_sloth
Registered Member
Username: Tree_sloth
Post Number: 45
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 12:50 pm: |
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I lasted all of four day in my new job. The commute was brutal, and I discoverd I had lost all interrest in working quietly for eight hours a day at the lab bench. Science is basically a dead end street for someone without a phD. I am starting my own business.It's someting I've wanted to do for awhile I've come up with a partial business plan. It's a risky venture, but one I'm ready to take. It's low tech, but I think there is a real opportunity. Here is a small portion of the business plan I've written...OK, go ahead, tell me I'm crazy (:
Business Plan
Joe’s Gourmet Links Sausage Company, Bakery,
And Specialty store
1. Summary: Joe’s Gourmet Links Sausage Company has been formed to provide consumers with a high quality healthy product. The business will focus on the niche market of consumers who are looking for unique sausage products and other specialty food items. The company will prepare sausage from recipes that were developed by the sole proprietor. Our goal is to offer consumers an exotic delicious healthy alternative to the commercially produced sausage products currently available. Joe’s Gourmet sausage links will be sold direct, wholesale, via catalogs, and via the inter net on our web page. In addition, we will specialize in distinct and low carbohydrate breads. We will bake traditional European Style bread along with specialty breads that have been developed by the owner. We will also bake low carbohydrate breads to take advantage of low carbohydrate diets that have evolved as a result of the obsession with the Atkens diet. There is no competition for low carbohydrate breads in the location of the business.
The company will be owned and managed by Joseph Parisi. Mr. Parisi’s experience includes three years working in his fathers successful sausage business, located in Machias, Maine. |
