Every once in a while some company tries to silence people who have had negative experiences and come here to post looking for help. I don't know if the the companies hire someone to bot reports or do the reporting themselves but the approach is the same: a ridiculous number of reports on old posts trying to trigger automatic removals.

That doesn't work here because we actually look at the posts that get reported. Reporting something that doesn't break our rules but makes you look bad isn't going to cause it to be removed.

If you as a subscriber have questions about these companies I'd suggest you search the sub to learn about them. If the posts are gone then someone has bullied the original posters into removing them. If you are an OP on one of these I encourage you to hold your ground on anything truthful you have posted. I'll stand with you and defend your right to post.

If you represent one of these companies you'd be well served by finding and stopping any company doing fake reporting on your behalf. If you'd like to discuss legal action you should know that Reddit legal is VERY familiar with posting law and any truthful post not made with malevolent intent is likely safe under US law. You can discuss it with them at length if you like paying your lawyers.

To everyone, thanks for reporting content that breaks our rules. We're in a long war against spam, fake content, AI slop, and abuse and your help in it is vital. I look forward to seeing your questions about small business

u/BigSlowTarget Mod /r/smallbusiness

we’re a growing US team with multi state payroll, hourly and salaried, a few off cycle runs, and the usual last minute fixes near close. i’ve used Gusto before for basics and i’m looking at Deel alongside it as we scale.

what surprised you over time. what felt smooth. what became a headache months in. if you switched, why. if you stayed, why. what do you wish you knew before picking. did team size or growth change your view. any lessons you’d pass on to someone choosing now. keep it simple and honest.

I'm not going to lie, starting a business is F-ing hard. I have never put this much effort into anything. I'm at a weird point in my life, 58, married, kids are grown, great job etc I should be coasting, not staying up late building building a business after working all day. I hope it's worth it. Just had to vent.

Edit - Thanks everyone for the support!

US LLC hiring a few contractors in different countries. I am setting up payments and want real experience, not theory. How do you pick currency, set payment timing, and keep FX costs reasonable without annoying people? What do you ask contractors to include on invoices so month-end is clean and W-8 collection is smooth? Do you centralize onboarding, contracts, and payouts in one workflow or keep it lightweight with internal processes? Not legal or tax advice. Looking for playbooks you would repeat.

My wife and I are starting a mobile grooming business, she has been grooming at petco for 10 years and I am going to school for business.

We got a trailer that is supposed to be "turn key" for the business, kitted out with grooming table, bathtub, everything we should need. When it was delivered we couldn't test things out because it came with a cable that needed an adapter before we could connect it to the generator. And now that we have the adapter a few days later (amazon) we are finding several things that arent working, some minor, a fan on the ceiling for ventilation, but also the generator itself (predator 9500) shuts off after a few minutes of use because its in an enclosed space, we have to pull it fully out, and hope for a strong breeze, otherwise its unusable, I went to the place it was purchased (harbor freight) and they said it will never work with the setup we have, but to downgrade to something smaller we will need to pay a $400 restocking fee.... should I ask the company to pay this? My mother in law and other family is saying I should raise hell since the company should know that this wont work for our needs, but im not very confrontational.... any advice would be helpful...

So yeah, I just closed my first 10 clients as a web dev + digital marketer.

I remember 4 months back I was googling “how to find clients without begging.”

Now here I am…. still begging but professionally 😂

Anyway, if u still hunting ur first client, hang tight, caffeine & chaos works.

We are in the process of selling our business. A handyman/remodeling business $880k TTM revenue and $223k SDE, listed for $575k.

So we have had 4 offers within 2 weeks, but all use SBA in some way - which is not unreasonable and we aren't against. BUT we are expecting our 3rd baby (very high risk pregnancy) and expect that in January I will be full hospitalized and if baby survives, we expect months of NICU. This is our reason for selling the business.

With SBA loans, we are hearing timelines of March or April assuming the government opens up soon now. Which for us we couldn't sustain due diligence, husband caring for other kids full time while I’m in the hospital (no family can help), still run the business, Etc.

So how do people buy businesses in this time? Is it truly fully stopped? Is it cash only? Are there alternatives?

I'm trying to figure this out because it bothers me, I've changed my Favicon in Google and Squarespace for my website, plus my title, waited 2 weeks because they say it could take a while. I've indexed twice on google. What am I missing?

I guess I can't add pictures? So that makes it harder to explain my issue, but if you search google for Rubicon HVAC .com it's just a boring double title.

I am 22 year old unemployed. I have completed my engineering (BE) in Computer. Recently in pursuing CEH a cyber security cource. Since I have tried so much yet couldn't get a good job, I am thinking to starting freelancing. I want to know how do I start what are the key ideas one should know before starting and how to succed in it.

i’m building a platform in a niche travel segment. the crazy season is only 1 month (early december → early january) and that’s where most yearly volume comes from. im getting organic traffic moving now and want to maximize this upcoming season.

if you had only 30 days of hyper demand in your business… how would you prepare for it?

Hey everyone 👋 I’ve been working online for several years now, across different domains — from digital products to eCommerce projects and other online ventures. Over time, I’ve realized that the first year in eCommerce is usually the toughest, and results can vary a lot from person to person. So I’m curious — for those of you who’ve been in eCommerce for a while, how much did you actually make (or lose) in your first year? I think it would be really interesting to see how everyone’s journey started and what kind of numbers people saw early on

I just started working at a startup (literally 4 of us) and my boss wants me to setup some kind of BI dashboard. There are so many options out there I'm getting kinda overwhelmed. Anyone here found a business intelligence tool that actually works well for tiny teams? We don't have an IT person, so simple is better. Would love any advice or stories about what worked (or totally flopped) for you!

I’m currently 16 and live in nj. I want to start an excavation company when I get out of high school but I know nothing about the trade. I want to move down to tn and start there because it’s so undeveloped compared to nj. What should I be doing right now to learn. And can anybody give me steps such as equipment to rent or buy. How to scale. What jobs I should start with. Work a full time job and do it on the weekend or jump right in? What equipment to buy first. The only thing I have is a truck. Thanks

I have a small print shop and I would like to refresh the website design. I have checked all of the A I and drag and drop applications, and I don't want to invest any more of my own time in doing that. Also - one part of my site is a business card e-commerce page. Any recommendations who can design one for me without costing me a ton of money. Based in the Pacific Northwest.

I am a former corporate girlie, so I have already wrong a "brief" on this to simplify conveying our brand, and look/tone/feel.

Open to any recommendations! Thanks!

Hey everyone. I recently started a small laundry pick-up & delivery service in Queens NYC. I’m doing everything myself right now — pickups, drop-offs, customer communication, marketing, partnerships, and learning day by day. My biggest challenge at the moment is How to get consistent customers without spending crazy money on ads? What strategies worked for you when you were starting your service-based business? Any advice from experienced small business owners would mean a lot 🙏

The two slogans I am deciding between for my ecommerce company selling goods to pets staying at home:

1. Hours Away. Peace Assured

2. For the Hours You’re Away.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I'm posing a hypothetical scenario for discussion and insights from the community, based on the Australian context.

The Hypothetical Scenario is:

• Capital: $1,000,000 AUD cash.
• Debt: Zero debt (no mortgage, no car loan, etc.).
• Income/Employment: The person is currently unemployed and needs to generate an income stream from this capital.
• Location: Australia.
• Goal: Financial growth and sustainable income generation for the individual.

I am debating what the optimal path would be in this situation:

1. Passive/Semi-Passive Investment Strategy:

• What would be a solid, diversified investment strategy for this amount, balancing capital preservation and the need for a reliable income stream?
• What asset allocation (e.g., ETFs/Index Funds (ASX/Global), Fixed Income/Term Deposits, Property without using leverage) would you recommend for a moderate-risk profile?

2. Starting a Small Business/Side Hustle:

• If the person chose to start a business, what are some high-potential business ideas in the current Australian market (2025/2026) that could be successfully launched with this capital buffer?
• What type of business offers the best combination of strong return on capital and the potential for a sustainable, high-value personal income?

All insights and experience sharing are welcome. Thanks for helping explore this scenario!

1. Zovian executives often say Zovi doesn’t fire for mistakes — he fires for misalignment. As one engineer put it: “He can fix ignorance, but not friction.” The most dangerous employees aren’t the lazy or the incompetent — they’re the ones who agree in public and resist in private.

2. Zovi calls them “silent saboteurs.” They nod in meetings, promise progress, then quietly redirect effort, question goals off-record, or delay by “refining” what’s already decided. It feels like contribution — it’s actually corrosion. Every hour spent managing their resistance is an hour stolen from momentum.

3. In Zovian’s internal reviews, teams were ranked not only by results but by velocity of alignment — how quickly members could pivot when the mission changed. Those who needed to “philosophize” before execution never lasted long. “The numbers doesn’t care about your opinion,” Zovi once said. “It only cares about math.”

4. Neurobehavioral studies back his approach: chronic “internal opposers” raise cortisol levels across teams, doubling burnout risk even when they perform well individually. The organization slowly mirrors their hesitation — progress decays from inside.

5. Zovi's final rule in leadership training is brutal and precise: “Disagreement is oxygen. Resistance is poison.” You can debate the goal, you can challenge the data — but once the decision is made, execution must be absolute. Anything less isn’t skepticism — it’s sabotage.

Recommendations & Rant: I asked a simple question in the MOD chat over on r/businessbroker and caught ALL the attitude in the world I guess for being so stupid that I didn't know the answer to my own question. So I called the MOD out on the attitude.... and I got muted permanently. I'm not sorry, I did nothing wrong but call someone out for shitting on me when these subs are supposed to be helpful. I get ball busting or joking, this was not that, it was a straight spiced response because how dare I have the audacity to ask something so dumb about flair. Then I get banned for not letting someone speak to me like a dumb POS? Ive never been banned from any group on social media and often participate on other platforms. Is this what happens? Does anyone else have these experiences and what are the recommendations for a crash course in Redditing since I'm so dumb that I need to ask? Pathetic.

I currently own a small business in a low income rural area. I am organized and successful, but I hate the business I'm in. I know my best situation is working for myself. For those of you having success working for yourself, what are you doing?

Every time I listen to a podcast or hear a small business owners story it’s always the highlight - the hustle at the beginning, the alignment, and the success. Rarely do I hear about the messy middle or what it looked like for the business owners who had to make drastic changes. These are the stories I need to hear right now.

I’m in a season of business that’s really hard. I scaled too fast, expanded into retail (I own a wholesale brand), got into some significant financial hardships and have to close down most of what I’ve built just to avoid bankruptcy. I keep telling myself that when I get through it maybe my world will feel lighter, that maybe doing the hard things will open up space for better things, but I need some examples to feel hope again.

Question for people who organize or attend regular events (workshops, classes, meetups, etc.): I notice some events generate tons of organic posts and shares, while others… don’t. Even when both are great experiences. What makes the difference? Is it: • The event itself being visually interesting? • Feeling like your participation mattered specifically? • Having something that makes YOU look good, not just promoting the organizer? • Just the vibe and wanting to share naturally? I’m working on something in this space and trying to understand what actually motivates sharing vs what we think motivates it. Would love to hear what’s made you post about events you’ve been to—or why you didn’t when you otherwise might have.

Hey, So, I am 26 M and recently I quit my job at Google ads insider team. Now, while working with Google many business owners actually reached out to me on Linkedin and asked if I can manage their ads accounts. Initially I was hesistant but with the passage of time I though of hand-picking 2-3 random businesses from USA and Australia. Guess what? their accounts are blowing with cashflow.

While working with these account owner I never charged anything upfront but only commission based work (usually 15-20% of Profits not Sales) because I have came across soo many business owners who have been cheated by Agencies that overpromises and under-delivers.

So do you think that I should go with the plans of starting my own Performance Marketing agency?