Tell Me About Your Small Bizness (Wooly's Shark Tank)

[woolybug25]

There seem to be a lot of entrepreneurs floating around here. So tell me about it. I'm a stuffy banker that has only sat back and watched clients pursue opportunities. Never actually having the balls to take part in them myself. Would love one of you jokers to inspire me to do something. Let's get the creative juices flowing, shall we?

- What's your business?
- How did you come up with the idea?
- How did you finance it?
- How did you learn the business?
- How did you find customers?
- Success Stories
- Epic Failures
- Best Practices
- Get fuq'd, Wooly

All comments welcome!

 

[tussin]

I'm a stuffy banker that has only sat back and watched clients pursue opportunities.

What type of banker are you?

 

[woolybug25]

What type of banker are you?

A business banker.

 

[tussin]

A business banker.

Very helpful, thanks.

 

[woolybug25]

Very helpful, thanks.

Ha... why is that helpful?

 

[zelezo vlk]

Ha... why is that helpful?

Sarcasm?

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[Irish Insanity]

Can you teach me how to get in to money laundering?

 

[tussin]

Ha... why is that helpful?

I was being sarcastic. Your answer seemed very evasive, no idea if you meant it in that way.

 

[woolybug25]

Sarcasm?

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I see. I do the banking for small to medium sized businesses. So SBA loans, Working Capital, Equipment Financing, Cash Management, etc.

 

[ACamp1900]

I was being sarcastic. Your answer seemed very evasive, no idea if you meant it in that way.

What he meant was he lives in van down by the river, and the only laundering he is ever involved in is done by his mother.

 

[tussin]

What he meant was he lives in van down by the river, and the only laundering he is ever involved in is done by his mother.

Ha, I only asked because I worked in IB for a few years out of college and also had a good bit of exposure to successful entrepreneurs. Interesting people and definitely inspiring.

 

[woolybug25]

What he meant was he lives in van down by the river, and the only laundering he is ever involved in is done by his mother.

Follow your dreams, Acamp... don't let anyone tell you that you cant...

 

[BobbyMac]

I see. I do the banking for small to medium sized businesses. So SBA loans, Working Capital, Equipment Financing, Cash Management, etc.

I need $5,000,000 for a start up. I actually only need $3.75M but I want a 18ct. gold ping pong table signed by Forrest Gump for the break room.

.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I need $5,000,000 for a start up. I actually only need $3.75M but I want a 18ct. gold ping pong table signed by Forrest Gump for the break room.

.

Are you hiring?

 

[woolybug25]

Ha, I only asked because I worked in IB for a few years out of college and also had a good bit of exposure to successful entrepreneurs. Interesting people and definitely inspiring.

Yeah. Almost all of my clients were once entrepreneurs that simply took a chance. I still haven't been able to figure out what the secret sauce is though. Some just had a great idea, some were really skilled and life forced their hand, some just broke off of their employers, but some just plain out got lucky.

I worked with a guy once that told me;

"Wooly, I never meant this to be a business. My wife got pregnant and I needed a job. So I started working in my garage. Then my garage got too small for my inventory. So I bought my neighbors lot and put up that barn. Then the barn got too small, so I bought the neighboring farm land. Then my dipshit son went out and found a bunch of new business. Now I have this huge company. I have no idea what i'm doing, I don't even have a high school diploma, that's why I pay you."

 

[tussin]

Yeah. Almost all of my clients were once entrepreneurs that simply took a chance. I still haven't been able to figure out what the secret sauce is though. Some just had a great idea, some were really skilled and life forced their hand, some just broke off of their employers, but some just plain out got lucky.

I worked with a guy once that told me;

"Wooly, I never meant this to be a business. My wife got pregnant and I needed a job. So I started working in my garage. Then my garage got too small for my inventory. So I bought my neighbors lot and put up that barn. Then the barn got too small, so I bought the neighboring farm land. Then my dipshit son went out and found a bunch of new business. Now I have this huge company. I have no idea what i'm doing, I don't even have a high school diploma, that's why I pay you."

This is obvious.. but I think almost every successful entrepreneur starts from a place of expertise and passion. I have a few ideas that I think would make good apps, but I'm not a freaking coder and I'd add no value. I think the best advice I've received from a mentor is to find your passion, find a problem, and solve it.

The other really interesting thing he has said is that he doesn't think entrepreneurship is for the totally rational or the conservative. We have good jobs, why take a risk on something that will fail 90+% of the time?

 

[BobbyMac]

Yeah. Almost all of my clients were once entrepreneurs that simply took a chance. I still haven't been able to figure out what the secret sauce is though. Some just had a great idea, some were really skilled and life forced their hand, some just broke off of their employers, but some just plain out got lucky.

I worked with a guy once that told me;

"Wooly, I never meant this to be a business. My wife got pregnant and I needed a job. So I started working in my garage. Then my garage got too small for my inventory. So I bought my neighbors lot and put up that barn. Then the barn got too small, so I bought the neighboring farm land. Then my dipshit son went out and found a bunch of new business. Now I have this huge company. I have no idea what i'm doing, I don't even have a high school diploma, that's why I pay you."

So let me get this straight, He had a GROWING business, got too big and bought some FARMLAND? He came to you for help, you TOKE one look at his operation and decided to help him DISPENSE his product.

Sounds like A&E's new show... Better Cull Wool.

.

 

[Emcee77]

Yeah. Almost all of my clients were once entrepreneurs that simply took a chance. I still haven't been able to figure out what the secret sauce is though. Some just had a great idea, some were really skilled and life forced their hand, some just broke off of their employers, but some just plain out got lucky.

I worked with a guy once that told me;

"Wooly, I never meant this to be a business. My wife got pregnant and I needed a job. So I started working in my garage. Then my garage got too small for my inventory. So I bought my neighbors lot and put up that barn. Then the barn got too small, so I bought the neighboring farm land. Then my dipshit son went out and found a bunch of new business. Now I have this huge company. I have no idea what i'm doing, I don't even have a high school diploma, that's why I pay you."

That's really interesting.

It seems to me there are two types of entrepreneurs: the Mark Cuban type and the Steve Jobs type.

The Mark Cuban type is driven to be a successful businessman, and he doesn't care what he's selling. He looks for the idea that will make money, and once he identifies the opportunity, he jumps on it. His talent is in the identification of the opportunity.

The Steve Jobs type just starts doing something that interests him, and it turns out that people love his product, even if they didn't know they needed or wanted it until they saw it. It's the business version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writer; according to Fitzgerald, a writer doesn't write because he wants to say something; he writes because he has something to say. It seems like wooly's entrepreneur is more this type.

 

[woolybug25]

This is obvious.. but I think almost every successful entrepreneur starts from a place of expertise and passion. I have a few ideas that I think would make good apps, but I'm not a freaking coder and I'd add no value. I think the best advice I've received from a mentor is to find your passion, find a problem, and solve it.

Re: The bolded. See my example above. That guy literally took a simple job and started doing it. There was no expertise, as the job didn't require it. He simply started doing something completely menial and did it to the best of his ability. What he did do though, was your second point. He found a problem and he solved it. Passion (literally, the same thing that got him in trouble by knocking up his wife. ha) is what made it work in his case.

The other really interesting thing he has said is that he doesn't think entrepreneurship is for the totally rational or the conservative. We have good jobs, why take a risk on something that will fail 90+% of the time?

That's for sure. I know a lot of business owners that will listen to sound banking advice, then look me straight in the eye, and tell me that they wont do it. That if they ran their business in a rational and safe manner, it would have never gotten successful in the first place. Is that the special sauce? Just being straight drunk with passion?

On the point of why one would throw their safety net out of the window, I think successful business owners simply have a bigger tolerance for risk. They don't see things in percentages, they look at an opportunity and disregard the 90% failure rate. They do so because instead of looking at it that way, they see that 10% as an opportunity and the 90% as reasoning behind why their competition will fail.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

This thread needs to be renamed "Wooly's Shark Tank" immediately.

 

[zelezo vlk]

This thread needs to be renamed "Wooly's Shark Tank" immediately.

If only a mod was paying attention.

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[tussin]

That's really interesting.

It seems to me there are two types of entrepreneurs: the Mark Cuban type and the Steve Jobs type.

The Mark Cuban type is driven to be a successful businessman, and he doesn't care what he's selling. He looks for the idea that will make money, and once he identifies the opportunity, he jumps on it. His talent is in the identification of the opportunity.

The Steve Jobs type just starts doing something that interests him, and it turns out that people love his product, even if they didn't know they needed or wanted it until they saw it. It seems like wooly's entrepreneur is this type.

Cuban is the ultimate "right place, right time" guy. He's incredibly smart and savvy, but he built what is essentially a college comp. sci. project today and sold it to Yahoo for $5 billion at the peak of the dot com boom, and was smart enough to cash out and diversify his wealth before the bubble burst.

Jobs on the other hand was a transformative business leader and built two of the most admired and creative companies in Apple and Pixar. IMO, he's one of the most important and impactful people of the past 50 years.

 

[wizards8507]

Wooly, you should move to Connecticut and we can start a financial services company. We can get rich giving out usurious student loans to yuppie ivy league kids and their parents.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

If only a mod was paying attention.

Those guys are notoriously lazy. Especially that Whiskeyjerk character.

 

[Bluto]

There seem to be a lot of entrepreneurs floating around here. So tell me about it. I'm a stuffy banker that has only sat back and watched clients pursue opportunities. Never actually having the balls to take part in them myself. Would love one of you jokers to inspire me to do something. Let's get the creative juices flowing, shall we?

- What's your business?
- How did you come up with the idea?
- How did you finance it?
- How did you learn the business?
- How did you find customers?
- Success Stories
- Epic Failures
- Best Practices
- Get fuq'd, Wooly

All comments welcome!

Going to use past tense because I started two businesses that no longer exist

- What was your business?

1. High end landscape maintenance and Construction.
2. Construction Management and Construction Data Management for publically funded habitat restoration projects and consulting arborist services. Did some private residential design/build stuff but not much.

- How did you come up with the idea?

1. I was working at the company and the Boss was retiring and he approached me about buying it.
2. The President of the company I was working for turned me on to the Federal 8 A program and I set up that company to try to gain SBA 8 A certification.

- How did you finance it?

1. SBA Loan. Did a Business Plan and all that kind of stuff then groveled in front of Wooly's Dad.
2. Was profitable from day 1 due to having contracts set up. Out of pocket I guess.

- How did you learn the business?

1. Had been doing this type of work since I was 16 and got a degree in Park and Rec Administration that taught me about developing business/organizational master plans, budgeting, ect..
2. See above. Also obtained a Masters in Landscape Architecture with an emphasis in Ecological Design and Designing Natural Systems. Worked in habitat restoration field for 3 years prior. Certified Arborist for 4 years prior.

- How did you find customers?

1. Referrals from existing clients
2. Pre existing professional contacts. Was mostly a sub contractor to the prime.

- Success Stories

1. Paid for my first year (living expenses included) of grad school in cash.
2. Worked on some of the highest profile habitat restoration projects in the Bay Area.

- Epic Failures

1. Nothing
2. Application to SBA 8 A program was rejected.

- Best Practices

Huh?

- Get fuq'd, Wooly

Like he said

I'm also by default (My wife runs the whole show thank you Jesus) a part owner of a small but successful restaurant.
All comments welcome!

 

[zelezo vlk]

Those guys are notoriously lazy. Especially that Whiskeyjerk character.

Something something whiskey keeps the Irish from running the world something something.

 

[woolybug25]

I'm also by default (My wife runs the whole show thank you Jesus) a part owner of a small but successful restaurant.
All comments welcome!

That's what i'm talking about. Great info, dude.

How's the restaurant going? Where are you located?

I thought about a donut shop before. My town had one when I grew up that was pretty successful. They retired and moved to Florida, now their location is a cafe. We have zero donut shops in my area. My fear was the large capital investment in a business that guarantees me no time off and 4am start times. Plus, I have never made a donut.

 

[tussin]

That's what i'm talking about. Great info, dude.

How's the restaurant going? Where are you located?

I thought about a donut shop before. My town had one when I grew up that was pretty successful. They retired and moved to Florida, now their location is a cafe. We have zero donut shops in my area. My fear was the large capital investment in a business that guarantees me no time off and 4am start times. Plus, I have never made a donut.

I've had a few restaurant ideas as well... but restaurants are tough, tough work. Long hours, and pretty hard to grow unless you go with a franchise model.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I've had a few restaurant ideas as well... but restaurants are tough, tough work. Long hours, and pretty hard to grow unless you go with a franchise model.

Always wanted to own a bar called Rehab. No lie.

 

[woolybug25]

I've had a few restaurant ideas as well... but restaurants are tough, tough work. Long hours, and pretty hard to grow unless you go with a franchise model.

Why is that exactly? I mean, there are a lot of really successful franchisee's that own a bunch of locations. I get that the franchise gives you build out assistance, signage, etc. But the franchisee still pays for those items. They provide access to their food distribution, but the franchisee still pays for it.

Seems like the only thing that a franchise offers after the initial buildout is marketing support. Which itself has a tipping point. A dunkin' donuts can never get more niche without nationally becoming more niche. Seems like it would be easier to market an independent once it had community exposure.

What's the other advantages?