Threads
Owner-business owner threads
Real questions business owners ask in community forums, answered from the same business owner library that powers Ask a Shop Owner. Browse by community.
r/smallbusiness
Owner-business owners asking the questions every small business hits in year one through five.
16 threads
r/entrepreneur
Founders and shop owners on pricing, hiring, and getting out of the daily work.
12 threads
r/sweatystartup
Real-world service and trade businesses: lawn care, cleaning, HVAC, plumbing, and more.
11 threads
r/plumbing
Plumbing shop owners and lead techs on jobs, pricing, and staffing.
9 threads
r/hvac
HVAC contractors on service pricing, install margin, and dispatch.
9 threads
r/contractor
General contractors and specialty trades on bids, deposits, and change orders.
8 threads
r/autorepair
Independent shop owners on tech pay, labor rate, and difficult customers.
9 threads
r/restaurantowners
Restaurant and cafe owners on labor, prime cost, and staying open on Mondays.
9 threads
r/cleaning
Residential and commercial cleaning owners on route density, staffing, and pricing.
9 threads
r/personalfinance
Owner-business owners on paying themselves, retirement, and mixing personal and business money.
10 threads
All threads
r/smallbusiness
How do I know when to hire my first employee?
r/smallbusiness
Customer refuses to pay the final invoice, what do I do?
r/smallbusiness
How much should I pay myself?
r/smallbusiness
Everyone says raise prices. How much and how do I tell customers?
r/smallbusiness
How do I actually fire someone without it turning ugly?
r/smallbusiness
What percent of revenue should marketing be?
r/smallbusiness
Bank offered me a $75k line of credit. Should I take it?
r/smallbusiness
How do I write a job ad that actually gets applicants?
r/smallbusiness
LLC or S-corp, which and when?
r/smallbusiness
Best way to ask for Google reviews?
r/smallbusiness
Should I still answer my own phone at $500k revenue?
r/entrepreneur
How do I stop being the bottleneck in my own business?
r/entrepreneur
My cofounder is not pulling weight. What do I do?
r/entrepreneur
When do I quit my day job for my side business?
r/entrepreneur
First time hiring a manager. What do I look for?
r/entrepreneur
Is a formal business plan worth writing?
r/entrepreneur
Should I take on a partner?
r/entrepreneur
When should I sell my business?
r/sweatystartup
Starting lawn care next spring. What should I know?
r/sweatystartup
How do I price pressure washing?
r/sweatystartup
Cleaning business, when should I hire my first cleaner?
r/sweatystartup
Buy or lease a work truck for a service business?
r/sweatystartup
Should I stay a handyman or specialize?
r/sweatystartup
When do I add a second truck to my service business?
r/plumbing
What should my service call fee be?
r/plumbing
Switching from T&M to flat rate. Where do I start?
r/plumbing
Where do you find good plumbers to hire?
r/plumbing
How should I handle warranty callbacks?
r/hvac
My install margin is too low. How do I fix it?
r/hvac
Are maintenance agreements worth it for a small shop?
r/hvac
How do I quote a full system replacement?
r/hvac
Do spiff programs actually work?
r/contractor
How much deposit should I collect on a remodel?
r/contractor
How do you handle change orders without losing the customer?
r/contractor
Can I fire a customer mid-job?
r/autorepair
Independent shop, what labor rate should I be charging?
r/autorepair
How should I pay my techs? Hourly, flat rate, or hybrid?
r/autorepair
Is buying an alignment machine worth it?
r/autorepair
Independent shop, should I get into tires?
r/restaurantowners
Prime cost is 70 percent. I know it should be 60. Where do I start?
r/restaurantowners
Should I close on Mondays?
r/restaurantowners
How should I set up tip-outs for back of house?
r/restaurantowners
When and how do I raise menu prices?
r/cleaning
Should I go residential or commercial cleaning?
r/cleaning
How do I price residential cleans?
r/cleaning
My cleaner quit with no notice and took a client. What now?
r/cleaning
How do I scale past one crew?
r/personalfinance
Business owner, what retirement account should I open?
r/personalfinance
I keep mixing business and personal money. How do I stop?
r/personalfinance
How much emergency fund does a business owner need?
r/personalfinance
Pay off business debt or invest the cash?
r/personalfinance
Self-employed health insurance, what should I do?
r/smallbusiness
How much cash should a small business keep in reserve?
r/smallbusiness
LLC or S-corp for a service business doing $180k profit?
r/smallbusiness
Lost 8 Google reviews overnight, what happened?
r/smallbusiness
How do I fire a bad customer without a nasty review?
r/smallbusiness
Should I answer the phone after hours?
r/entrepreneur
When is it safe to quit my W-2 for the side business?
r/entrepreneur
What should I charge for consulting?
r/entrepreneur
How to split equity with a cofounder joining year two?
r/entrepreneur
How do I actually stop working IN the business?
r/entrepreneur
Got an unsolicited offer to buy my business, now what?
r/sweatystartup
Starting lawn care next spring, how do I get the first 20 customers?
r/sweatystartup
Residential or commercial cleaning, which is a better business?
r/sweatystartup
Pressure washing side hustle, when does it become full-time?
r/sweatystartup
How many trucks before the owner stops running a route?
r/sweatystartup
Buy a service business or start one from scratch?
r/plumbing
How do I raise labor rates without losing customers?
r/plumbing
Flat rate or hourly? What are you all running?
r/plumbing
Should I add drain cleaning to my service plumbing business?
r/plumbing
How do I hire my first apprentice?
r/plumbing
What should I charge for a sewer camera inspection?
r/hvac
What should my diagnostic fee be?
r/hvac
How do you price and sell maintenance agreements?
r/hvac
Install margins are terrible, what am I doing wrong?
r/hvac
Cannot find experienced HVAC techs, what actually works?
r/hvac
Should we offer financing on installs?
r/contractor
How much deposit should I collect on a $40k job?
r/contractor
How do you handle change orders without pissing off the customer?
r/contractor
Self-perform or sub out framing?
r/contractor
How do you actually price a remodel bid?
r/contractor
Worst year I have had in a decade. Should I quit?
r/autorepair
Flat rate or hourly for techs, which builds a better shop?
r/autorepair
Just got a scathing Yelp review, how do I respond?
r/autorepair
Should my repair shop start selling tires?
r/autorepair
How many ROs per tech per day should I be running?
r/autorepair
Customer wants to bring their own parts, do I do the job?
r/restaurantowners
Prime cost at 67%, how do I get it under 60?
r/restaurantowners
Should I close on Mondays?
r/restaurantowners
Is DoorDash worth it at 30% commission?
r/restaurantowners
How do I cut food waste in a small kitchen?
r/restaurantowners
Cannot find good line cooks, what actually works?
r/cleaning
How do you price a move-out cleaning?
r/cleaning
Why is my crew always driving and never cleaning?
r/cleaning
Cleaner quit in the middle of the day, what do I do?
r/cleaning
How do I win my first commercial cleaning contract?
r/cleaning
Should my cleaners be using bleach in client homes?
r/personalfinance
How do I pay myself as an S-corp owner?
r/personalfinance
SEP IRA or Solo 401(k) for a small business owner?
r/personalfinance
How much house can a business owner actually afford?
r/personalfinance
How do I stop mixing personal and business money?
r/personalfinance
How much do I set aside for quarterly taxes?