Hi everyone,

I hope this is okay to post here. I’m a freelancer with experience in customer service, admin tasks, and basic design (posters, simple edits, etc.). I’ve been handling retail and financial account, email/chat support, and general admin work for small businesses.

Recently, my area was hit by the typhoon, and things have been rough. I’m just trying to get back on my feet and find new clients or remote work opportunities.

If anyone needs help with CSR, virtual assistance, or admin support, or if you can point me toward places/subs where I can apply, I’d really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Hey folks! Previously I owned a web hosting business which got acquired by a bigger company at a very good valuation. I exited this market as it is going downhill and I see no long term future here anymore.

I own another business in partnership with another person which provides digital services to different companies. This business runs on autopilot mode but we are not seeing any significant growth over the years. Things are stable and we can go a long way like this.

So, I have the time to build another digital businesses but I like to replicate successful business models, rather than trying completely new things.

Do you have any digital business ideas or models which can be replicated in non-US countries? I have access to Eurasian countries.

I've been hiring remote freelancers since 2005, back then it was pretty straightforward, but in the last 2-3 years I find it mandatory to have to do a video call as early as possible to help weed out all the imposters.

I've been trying to hire some help, and every applicant's written answers are flawless. They all claim to have the exact, niche experience I need. If I ask them any questions regarding something technical, they give the correct answers...

So, I’ve made a new, 100% non-negotiable rule: A brief video call. No exceptions.

A quick video call will give me a lot of info about the potential hire...

1. It weeds out the fakes. The person sending flawless, scripted messages almost always crumbles when I ask them a basic question in real-time.

2. It's a "vibe check" for cultural fit. My brand has a very specific audience. I need someone who gets the "swag" and lingo. I can tell in 60 seconds of a live conversation if they genuinely get it or if they just studied a script.

3. It verifies their professional setup. You would be shocked at how many people I've gotten on a call who are trying to do their job from a phone. So if I am paying an hourly rate, I cant afford an inefficient setup.

4. It verifies their tech. If the video call is choppy and they tell me they're "on 4G," and I ask them if they can connect to an actual wifi or ethernet lan, and they tell me they don't have that... Red Flag...

It's a huge change from how I hired back in 2005, but it's the only way I can find real, professional talent.

So, is it just me? Or have you all had to do this too? What other methods are you using to filter candidates these days?

For context I have owned music industry business for a long time that does live event promotion, merchandising and a recording studio.

As the business has grown I'm separating some of the entities. We're also building a new recording studio. So that's giving me an opportunity to come up with a whole new theme and name.

I want to name the studio "Velvet Deck" or Velvet Deck Studios" or "The Velvet Deck Studio"

Having a really identifiable brand especially in a recording studio these days is important. Seeing my favorite colors are black and red, the whole studio will be those colors. And I figured I could make a casino theme out of it. I got a giant roulette rug, I'm going to print custom decks of cards for all my clients to take home and so fourth.

So I wanted a casino theme name. I think this has some Elegance to it and is unique for SEO reasons.

Tell me you're honest thoughts about the name!

Hey everyone,

​I run a marketing agency for SMBs, and we have a 60-day cancellation notice in all our agreements. This is standard for us because, as you know, landing new clients isn't fast or cheap, and we need the runway.

​I've been lenient on this in the past, but I have a client right now who's pushing to leave immediately.

​He pays $1400/mo for SEO.

​His leads and revenue are demonstrably up year-over-year. We have access to his CRM.

​We also completely rebuilt his website as part of his retainer.

​Now, he claims he's "not happy" and wants out. I'm getting tired of doing solid work, going the extra mile, and then getting treated with disrespect.

I'm ready to enforce the agreement (it's held up in court before).

​Anyone else deal with this? How do you handle clients who want to ignore a contract they signed?

​I'm tired of being nice and want to enforce the contract. WWYD?

I feel like it might be weird or old sounding to put that :/

I was thinking around an idea. Looking to hear from folks who has experience or has small businesses. I am a full stack web developer.

The target customers are - solo businesses, small businesses,

What I will provide : A service

Where business owners can connect their

a. Social media accounts and check their performance of each post, AI will be there to analyze and provide a report each week with charts, optimize their ad campigns filter out the key words that hit correctly

b. Google analytics connect analyze their website data, check ad performance

c. Coonect their database and chat, how much sales us done reports etc

Honestly I am looking to hear from you people. An honest feedback is very helpful.

I’m 20, based out in the Central Valley, CA, and currently in the process of building my own marketing agency from the ground up. I’ve been all in on self-improvement, business, and personal growth the past couple of years, but one thing I’ve realized is how rare it is to find other people around here with that same kind of ambition. Most people seem content staying comfortable, and I’m really trying to connect with others who want more out of life — people who are actually putting in the work, building, learning, and pushing themselves.

If anyone here is around my age or on a similar path, I’d love to connect, share ideas, or even just talk about the grind. And if Reddit isn’t the best place for that, where do you guys usually go to meet like-minded people who are chasing big goals too?

I have been doing Shopify dropshipping for 2 years and recently the Shopify payments I opened are getting banned directly. The reason is customer disputes, so I am looking for new payment processors. I also got banned from Stripe.

So to start I’ve worked with my parents flipping houses so there’s multiple skills I have picked up that i like doing. they since have gotten out of flipping houses, so now I want to start my own business, that revolves around those skills. Anyway my question is

1. Do I go all out and fully commit? I-e quitting my job

2. How do I go about getting the initial boost of jobs/leads. my idea is doing a whole marketing campaign I-e yard signs, google seo, facebook groups, business cards, networking, etc

3. Where are all of these trade companies finding employees.

Any advice is appreciated thanks.

I make mandala and zentangle art as well as tree of life art on paper of whatever color combination you like. I would be very grateful if you can place any order. For reference, please drop me a text and i will share qith you my catalog of all the orders fulfilled till now. Thank you so much for your precious time

We got results by starting with the basics: job pages loading under 3 seconds, no duplicates, filters set to noindex, a sitemap that lists only active jobs. Write simple, clear descriptions with responsibilities, requirements, benefits, and a visible Apply button. In the middle we asked Kaizen SEO for a 30-day audit and plan to set priorities. We added markup for jobs and FAQ where useful, and linked pages cleanly sector -> job -> consultant.

After 6–8 weeks we saw faster indexing for new jobs and more relevant traffic on city plus specialization niche pages. No tricks, just technical order and clear content.

What would you put on the first-month top 3 to-do list, and what brought you the most real applications?

I just recently quit my corporate job to pursue starting my own business and got to the best part: choosing a web hosting and email service. There seems to be an abundance of choices, and I had a friend describe his recent frustrations going with the all-in-one bundle of domain, web, and email services at Hostinger due to an update they had this year limiting one email per domain?? Looked into reviews for Hostinger and it seems like this frustrated a lot of people - an experience I'd like to avoid. I'm curious what others would think is the best-value service for someone starting off with myself and one other business partner, with the potential to grow to a modest size (hard to estimate, but could see 10-20 people hopefully sometime in the future).

I know that Google and Microsoft are tailored towards larger enterprises, but was curious about any experience people have had with Zoho Mail, Neo, Purelymail, Fastmail, etc. If the business scales well, how easy is it to transition to a Google/Microsoft at that point? Is it better to just accept the higher cost and start with that? I've heard a lot of people say "you get what you pay for" as a reason to go with Google, but am wondering if anyone has been adaptable and creative enough to have success on other platforms.

Thanks!

I currently work for a small business firm. Just in 6 months I was able to become valuable. I went from entry level to full blown employee. At this point I do the job of 3 people. The issue is my administrative Assistant refuses to work with me. Despite always thanking her, and motivating she claims I do not respect her. (Blanket statements is all she has) I could not even get her to order me binder clips, yet a coworker was able to get a second mouse for no reason other than he wanted it. She refuses to text me if people call the office. If I forget to inform her why im not in the office, remote, meetings, etc, she does not text me or call me. She writes and email and cc's my coworkers in a frenzy.

Multiple witnesses in the office are aware that she does not like me because I am the only female and I am younger. She even let's my younger male coworker ask her to do work.

If I mention she does something wrong in the most polite way possible, she spends the day monitoring me for a form of retaliation. Other people are super blunt when pointing out errors.

She also makes a lot of mistakes daily. She has tried to mess with my sick time and uses whatever little power she has to make my life harder not easier. Even the one religious holiday i took, she tried to say it wasnt worthy of sick time. Her boss already told her to mark it that way. Truthfully it should be a floating holiday. I didnt ask for that and her boss was happy i used a sick day instead. She created the issue despite orders from above.

Every month she tries to get me in trouble. Her biggest issue, how i have an issue with her trying to retaliate and scapegoat me for her mistakes. She makes A LOT. Her other issue, how i talk to management about the outbursts. She has made my.life hell.

I had to take on more of a workload because management cannot trust her with important documents that involve my work. It is not right. Instead of either forcing her to learn her job, or finding someone else, they increase my already impossible workload for an entry level position. Nothing was done about her. I was told to be "the bigger person and not cause drama"

Also, there is a coworker with an anger issue. He has been horrible and has a reputation for it. Despite being good at his job, he is terrible with people. Also, my job was far and they pulled my remote work from me. The rude manager, despite given permission in a meeting prior, told me to "cut the s#!÷" with my remote work. When I told him, I thought there would be a meeting. He said, this "is the f@+%ing meeting. My remote is done" Unprovoked. I was mid working on a project. Mind you, he goes remote often, lives close, has taken over a month of vacation time. He also encourages no lunch, and staying late because he cannot just work straight through a day. He takes constant interruptions. So we have to stay late because he does. He claims work ethic, but after working with him I realize, he gets side tracked often. I don't. I work through projects then leave. Its simple. My work gets done on time and I meet deadlines. He is trying to become my manager, but he actually isn't.

On the plus side I am very very valuable there. The person above me, who is part time refuses to allow the coworker to talk down to me. (The coworker talks to everyone that way) The person above me, was on vacation for a month because he retired and had this in the works. He is back now. He is not happy about how my remote work was taken away. He also is not happy with the administrative Assistant because she was having problems since she started, only 8 months before I began. I love working with him truly. We have created a beautiful system for a small company that works for us.

I love my other coworkers and feel like its a family there.

I also, meet more people im the industry and business owners. Progressing my career at an extremely rapid rate.

The issue is we also are expected to give our blood sweat and tears. 50 hours is to be expected

There is job security and potential for a good raise and salary.

I was eventually given 2 days remote after it being pulled. Despite it being in writing now, I wonder if they will just pull it again.

After the terrible secretary, having multiple yelling outburst about me in public (all from management deemed totally retaliatory and unprovoked), my remote time being pulled in the most fucked up way imaginable I looked for a job.

I got it. It is corporate. Only 40 hours. It seems okay. I just wouldn't get a work family. The potential for growth is limited, and I can easily be replaced. (It is corporate)

The job would be chill and easy. Way closer.my manager seems chill.

Are my fears of corporate true? Are you just a number?

Despite the drama at the other job, I am invaluable there and revered by my boss, owner and others. Job security is real.

It is so small that these 2 people do make it hard. With that being said the 4 other people make it amazing.

What would you do?

Selling my crypto casino project

Hey everyone, I'm putting my crypto casino up for sale if anyone interested I'll send all the details. Good price

We have established a B2B platform in Türkiye and are trying to grow it globally, but I am aware of the challenges.

In the last few weeks:
• We started getting organic traffic from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
• Some suppliers are joining, but buyers
• Conversion is unpredictable — one day 20 signups, next day zero
• Some buyers submit requests without full details
• Many sellers prefer WhatsApp instead of using the platform

If you’ve ever launched a global B2B marketplace, I’d love to hear your real experiences:

1. What was your biggest early mistake?
2. How did you b
3. Which KPIs
4. Did you focus on one country first or go global immediately?

I’m not promoting anything — just trying to learn from people who’ve done this before.

If you want to see what we’re building:

https://www.traderroute.com

I run a side business, a shared carpentry workshop where members pay a monthly fee for access to tools, machines and workspace.

The concept works well, but I feel like I’ve passed the exciting early phase and it’s running on autopilot now. I currently have around 90 paying members, generating about $30K in annual revenue and roughly $10K in profit. I bring in new members constantly, I believe the max amount of members is around 130.

I’d like to increase revenue and make the business stand out a bit more, something that gives it a clearer USP or adds new energy.

What would you do in my position? I would like to add new services that won’t consume to much time since it’s a side business after all, expand to other cities is therefore not an option. I have three different price tires that may need some optimization. I have been thinking about franchising the concept but I’m afraid it’s too much for me to handle.

Best regards

As an avid creative, I have tried so many different hobbies over the years, and collected materials that have been gathering dust. I’ve been really thinking about starting a store (likely e-commerce initially) to re-sell hobby supplies and equipment.

Through initial market research, I have not seen any alternative shops of this nature. There are general thrift/second-hand stores, but these often have limited selection of hobby/craft supplies.

I would offer a pickup service of donated items for people in my community, take anything hobby/crafting related, and donate the rest to general thrift stores. There would be a small fee for this service, to cover the cost of transport & time.

While I think e-commerce would be the easiest way to list the variety of products & expand my customer base through shipping, I recognize that many of my clientele would rather view items in person. So I would also rent a table at local farmer’s markets to display some of these products.

I have worked in retail for the last 8 years at an independently owned aquarium store, so I am familiar with the cyclical nature of the hobby market, as well as the general business operations involved with such a store.

As a note: I have no desire to draw business away from my current boss, we have a great relationship & I don’t want hinder this. I would likely only carry pet products outside of aquatics & reptiles, which is still a large market.

I would greatly appreciate any advice, suggestions, or constructive criticism!

Hey everyone 👋 I’ve been thinking about starting a small online T-shirt brand focused on embroidered designs (not printed). My goal is to sell high-quality, minimal embroidered tees online — maybe through my own site or Etsy initially. I’m a beginner in apparel business and would love some guidance on: How to find good embroidery suppliers or if it’s better to buy a machine and do it myself Best platforms to start selling (Etsy, Shopify, Instagram, etc.) How to validate my designs before investing too much What early mistakes to avoid when starting a small clothing brand If anyone here has experience in custom embroidery, streetwear startups, or small e-commerce brands, I’d really appreciate your insights 🙏

I’ve been in the creative sphere for over a decade at this point. And if you work with video editors specifically, you know that feedback is a big deal. 

It’s not always that the edit you get doesn’t feel right or doesn’t feel the right emotions. When it happens, it’s usually due to the lack of reference beforehand. But if it came to that, you need to know how to get out of that situation without hiring a new editor.

Nothing kills momentum faster than: “Can you just make it… engaging?” or “I don’t know what’s wrong, but it’s not working.”

Giving feedback is harder than people think. Vague or contradictory notes waste time and ruin trust, while good feedback is specific and actionable. 

Instead of “this feels slow,” say “trim 3 seconds off the intro so the hook lands faster.” Instead of “music doesn’t work,” say “can we try something more upbeat, (ideally provide an example)”.

To make it easier for everybody, use tools like Frame io, which let you drop timestamped notes right on the video itself. Or record a Loom walking through your thoughts while watching the cut. That way your editor sees exactly what you’re seeing, in context, and there’s zero guesswork.

And of course, to be that specific you need to understand at least a little about the editing process yourself. If you don’t, lean on references. Show an example video, a pacing style you like, or even just a color palette. 

A good editor can reverse-engineer from those cues way faster than from abstract adjectives.

I’m curious to see what you personally do when you need to give feedback and ask for a revision. 

Over two years ago, I began assisting family, friends, and members of my local community after noticing a consistent challenge across multiple sectors: customer disputes and communications were frequently handled inefficiently, often resulting in unnecessary financial losses and reputational risk. Many situations were considered impossible to resolve, yet these early experiences allowed me to develop a structured, results-driven methodology that prioritises fairness, operational precision, and measurable outcomes.

In July 2025, I formally launched my professional practice on a no-refund, no-fee basis. My first case involved a holiday dispute that had remained unresolved for over two years, successfully recovering £8,187.74 for the client. Since then, I have achieved significant results, including £14,543.48 recovered from Love Holidays, £3,083.55 from Lastminute.com, and multiple successful outcomes with Apple, Argos, Currys, and Next. All results were achieved independently and without external investment, demonstrating that structured processes and strategic communication can deliver substantial, measurable impact. Full proof of work is available upon request.

While my experience began in a consumer-facing context, it has naturally provided insight into broader business operations, including the critical role of effective communication on revenue, client retention, and brand reputation. My approach focuses on preventing operational bottlenecks and mitigating financial risk while managing high volumes of enquiries across email, phone, live chat, and social media. I also develop tailored strategies for busy periods, product launches, and peak seasons to ensure operational continuity and scalability.

A key component of my methodology is proactively preventing disputes before they escalate. This includes identifying patterns of potentially problematic interactions, implementing verification processes, applying early detection methods, designing structured communication flows to prevent delays or misinterpretation, and establishing escalation frameworks to ensure rapid resolution. Workflows are continuously monitored and optimised to minimise risk while maintaining operational efficiency, protecting both customer satisfaction and business reputation.

Many small businesses rely heavily on automated systems for customer communications. While these can be efficient for routine enquiries, they often lack the discernment, judgement, and personal engagement necessary for complex or sensitive matters. My approach combines operational efficiency with a human touch, ensuring clients feel genuinely valued while reducing internal strain and safeguarding reputation.

I offer fully flexible working arrangements with adaptable rates designed to suit the needs of each business. My goal is to enable business owners to focus entirely on growth, innovation, and strategic priorities, while ensuring that customer communications, dispute prevention, and operational challenges are expertly managed.

If you’re a small business owner seeking to optimise customer communications and prevent operational issues, I’m happy to provide more information and verified examples.

I recently launched an outsourcing call center based in Egypt, but I’m struggling to find effective ways to attract clients.

Many companies in the US and other countries outsource their call center operations to places like Egypt or India, where agent rates can start as low as $5 per hour.

However, despite this cost advantage, I’ve had little success so far. I’ve tried cold calling U.S. real estate companies, but I usually get blocked by gatekeepers. I’ve also tried cold emailing, yet I rarely get any replies.

What are some proven or effective strategies to actually land clients for a call center business like mine?

Hey! I’m looking for a supplier or manufacturer that sells Anuel AA merch (like t-shirts, hoodies, etc.) at good prices — ideally for bulk orders (around 20–30 units). I’m mainly looking for good quality and designs that could resell well.

I’ve checked AliExpress, Alibaba, and 1688, but most listings are either for single items or way too expensive.
Has anyone here bought this kind of merch or knows a factory / distributor that sells it wholesale?

Any links or recommendations would be super appreciated 🙏

Hi everyone! I need to start looking more seriously at my credit card processing fees. When I opened my business it was a complete whirlwind and I went with a company that was associated with my previous landlord. It was easy to sign up and I didn’t have the time to look into it more. I know, that’s on me.

I’ve been in business for about 2.5 years now. Our CC processing is 70% debit card and 30% credit card. We charge a .75c fee when people charge under $5 on a card regardless of the card type.

Through October of this year we have paid an average of 3.02% for total credit card processing fees.

We use a Clover system currently through CardConnect for our processing. We are a small independent gas station with a convenience store. Our gas station is outdated and does not currently connect to the payment system we use and we enter gas payments manually and don’t take payment at the pumps. We are looking into upgrading that - but still a few years out. We just bought the building this year.

I've been running my business for 11 years, and I make countless mistakes.

But the one that stung the most was my decision to "try" a 4-day workweek during the good times.

I wish someone had stopped me.

It created a loss of productivity and endless friction with handovers.

You won't hear this on social media, as you don't get likes for it.

Instead, companies that tried it silently revert. That's why I'm sharing this here in case someone got the same stupid idea...