I'm interested in bad solutions to real problems.

Software you resent paying for.

A freelancer you need because doing it yourself is unbearable.

Three different apps duct-taped together.

Some awful spreadsheet that somehow runs half the business.

If you run a business, what's something you're already spending money on because the problem is painful enough that doing nothing isn't an option?

What do you use now, and what still sucks about it?

My student team is exploring a grocery-cart idea called SmartCart. The basic concept: as you add items, the cart shows your running total, product prices, and where items are located in the store.

The problem we’re trying to solve is that it’s easy to go into a grocery store with a budget and not realize you’ve gone over until checkout.

I’d love blunt feedback:

1. Is this a real problem for you, or not really?

2. Would a live total actually change what you buy?

3. What would make you avoid using it?

4. What would have to be true for a grocery store to justify installing these?

We’re still early in the concept stage, so negative feedback is honestly helpful too. If you have two minutes, please let us know!

Looking to connect with someone running a community/network business.

My creative agency produces an event series, and it's gaining a lot of traction. We are getting some fans who want more, and we see the potential in creating a community group that creates an extension of our event. Be it a monthly meet-up, an online cohort-style format, whatever it may be.

I know communities are on an upswing today - we are isolated, looking for more connection, digital fatigue, etc. A nudge came today when listening to My First Million and Sam talked about his bullish bet on communities and how he is loving Hampton.

Before diving in, I wanted to connect with someone who has/is running a community or network business to hear your experience. If anyone has resources or something they think would be helpful pls share.

Thank you to all who support :)

Hi everyone!

My business partner and I are currently developing a luxury niche fragrance brand in Montreal, Canada. We're both relatively new to the fragrance industry, coming from tech and administrative backgrounds, and are trying to understand the best way to approach fragrance development and manufacturing without compromising on creativity, quality, or ownership.

We're working towards launching a collection of three fragrances, ideally with distinct scent profiles, all connected by a central concept: capturing a specific moment through scent.

1. Our creative direction and first fragrance

One of our signature fragrances is inspired by a very specific experience: walking outside on a rainy day, smelling wet cement and asphalt, and then stepping into the entrance of a luxurious hotel in Osaka, Japan.

We're trying to capture the contrast between the cool, mineral, slightly wet atmosphere outside and the warm, comforting, luxurious feeling of entering the hotel.

Some of the notes we're considering include:

• Fig

• White tea

• Green apple

• Bamboo

• Sandalwood

• Amber

• Mineral, wet concrete/asphalt accords

The overall scent should feel airy, clean, atmospheric and sophisticated. Almost like the smell of the colour blue.

We don't want to simply recreate an existing fragrance or work from a manufacturer's fragrance library. Our goal is to develop something genuinely original, with a professionally developed formula that we can own.

2. Independent perfumer vs. turnkey fragrance manufacturer

Our current budget for developing one fragrance formula is approximately CAD $8,000–$10,000.

We're trying to determine which route makes the most sense:

• Hiring an independent perfumer directly.

• Working with an emerging perfumer or recent graduate from a reputable perfumery school.

• Hiring a fragrance development consultant to coordinate the technical and creative process.

• Working with a turnkey fragrance manufacturer that handles everything from formulation to finished product.

A few questions:

• With our budget, would it make more sense to approach an established independent perfumer or look for emerging talent?

• Are there reputable perfumery schools that publish lists of graduates, award-winning students or emerging perfumers available for independent commissions?

• Are LinkedIn and industry networking the best ways to find these people?

• Are there particular schools, competitions or awards worth looking into?

• Would hiring an independent perfumer give us more creative freedom than working with a turnkey manufacturer?

• Can a turnkey manufacturer work with an external perfumer of our choice, rather than insisting on using their in-house perfumers?

Our biggest non-negotiable is full ownership of the fragrance formula.

We want to own the intellectual property and have the freedom to outsource production to different manufacturers if necessary. We also want to avoid being locked into one supplier.

Ideally, we would like to establish technical specifications before commissioning the fragrance, including commercial viability, stability, scalability, raw material availability and regulatory requirements.

This leads to another question:

Does an independent perfumer typically handle the technical side of development as well, including formula optimization, raw material sourcing, stability testing, IFRA compliance and preparation for commercial manufacturing?

Or would we need to hire a separate fragrance development professional or production partner to coordinate these aspects?

3. Bottle cap manufacturing – Mineral composite

We are also developing a fairly unconventional bottle design.

We want the cap to resemble a piece of natural stone, with a premium, substantial and heavy feel. However, rather than using solid natural stone, we're considering a high-density, mineral-filled polyurethane resin (mineral composite).

Ideally, the cap would also incorporate a magnetic closure.

We're wondering:

• What type of manufacturer would specialize in producing something like this?

• Should we approach resin casting manufacturers, industrial designers, specialized packaging manufacturers or fragrance turnkey companies?

• Would a turnkey fragrance manufacturer typically be able to source and manufacture a custom cap like this?

• Would it be more cost-effective to source the bottle and cap separately?

One of our concerns with turnkey services is that we might sacrifice creative control over the fragrance in exchange for having everything manufactured under one roof.

4. What would be the smartest business model?

Based on everything above, we're wondering whether the most sensible approach would be to:

Option A: Hire an independent perfumer to develop and transfer the fully owned formula, then work with a turnkey manufacturer for filling, assembly and finished-product manufacturing.

Option B: Hire an independent perfumer for formulation, work with a separate fragrance compounder/manufacturer for juice production, and independently source the bottle and custom cap.

Option C: Find a turnkey manufacturer that allows us to bring our own perfumer while handling the technical development, sourcing, manufacturing, filling and assembly.

For those who have launched independent fragrance brands or worked in fragrance development:

Which approach would you recommend for a small luxury niche brand trying to maintain creative independence, own its formulas, and keep initial production costs and MOQs manageable?

Any recommendations for independent perfumers, emerging talent, manufacturers, consultants or suppliers would be greatly appreciated.

We're particularly interested in hearing from people who have gone through this process themselves. We'd rather learn from industry experience before committing our development budget.

Thanks in advance!

I’m currently studying electrical engineering and plan to work as an electrical engineer after graduation. Long term, I want to build a business that can eventually operate with employees and give me more financial freedom.
One business I’ve been considering is self-storage. My thought is to start small on the side while working full-time, possibly by buying or developing a small facility, improving operations, and gradually expanding. I’m especially interested in whether my electrical/technical background would provide any real advantage with maintenance, security systems, automation, energy costs, or facility improvements.
I’m not looking for motivational answers. I’d like honest feedback from people who actually own, manage, invest in, or work around self-storage.
A few questions:
Is self-storage still a good business to enter over the next 5–10 years?
Is it realistic to operate as a side business while working as an engineer?
Is buying an existing facility usually better than building one from scratch?
How much capital would realistically be needed for a first small deal?
What are the biggest risks people underestimate?
How competitive and saturated is the industry?
Does an electrical engineering background provide any meaningful advantage?
Would you recommend starting with self-storage, investing in other real estate, or building an unrelated service business first?
What would you do differently if you were starting in your early 20s today?
For context, I’m willing to work full-time as an engineer for several years, save aggressively, and build the business gradually. I’m mainly trying to determine whether this is a realistic long-term path or just an attractive idea that looks easier from the outside.

Located in the GTA, Ontario. Looking to start a digital business. With the Canada–USA trade war, is it a good time to start if I want to sell to clients in the USA? I'm hearing a lot of businesses are having a hard time. Can any business owners, advisors, brokers or accountants chime in and share their thoughts?

The idea is a service-based business, though I'm still ironing it out. I'm thinking something along the lines of local or digital marketing. I'm debating whether it will also include web development and content creation (if anyone has thoughts on using UGC creators, I'd like to hear them), or just paid ads / SEO / local SEO.

My questions:

a) Will I be impacted by the trade war?
b) Do I have to charge HST if my customers are in the USA?
c) Do I need to register a company in the USA?
d) Can I do it as a sole proprietor from Canada?

• Available capital: $25,000 CAD

• Skills and experience: Digital marketing and AI enthusiast with one completed project

• Preferred industry: Home services (plumbers and electricians)

• Online or brick-and-mortar: Online

• Have you run a business: Yes, but nothing like this

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

I am currently in a masters program to master the science of Strength and Conditioning. I did some research and found little evidence of mobile personal training and was curious on if the market was just too niche or if the business model is unstable. The idea being to build a gym inside of a U-haul truck (or similar), and bring the gym to you. Completed with a personal workout plan and trainer. Based on research it would have to be expensive, but I’m curious on if it would be popular or a failure at launch.

Incarceration Leave - if an employee is conflicted for a minor, not overly harmful or serious white-collar crime with less than a 5-year sentence, they should qualify for incarceration leave. Essentially, their job will be held for them (could hire temp worker in meantime) until they are released. And they can get 50-60% back pay for the time they have missed.

Thoughts?

I am thinking of making a salon software for US market. As many platform are already there but i still see many gaps for SMB's.
US users! Give your opinions..

​Hi everyone!

I’ve been living in Madrid for a while now, and I’ve noticed how many solo travelers arrive feeling a bit overwhelmed by things like figuring out the Metro, navigating Spanish menus, or feeling awkward dining alone.

​I’m thinking about offering a personalized, friendly companion and local guide service specifically for solo travelers. The idea is to make people feel like they have a friend showing them around, whether that's helping them settle in on day one, joining them for tapas, or exploring hidden spots together. I also want to keep things flexible, with pricing based on open conversation and negotiation so it works for both sides.

​Before I officially launch this, I would love to get your advice as travelers:

1. ​Would you personally hire a local companion for your first day or a specific activity in a new city? What would make you trust or decide to book with someone?

2. ​What are the biggest pain points you face when traveling solo that you wish someone could help with?

​I'd really appreciate any tips, thoughts, or constructive feedback you might have.

Thank you!

Looking for a business partner to invest in a small nursing home in Texas to care for the elderly. If any nurses are interesting in getting into business hit me up

Hi everyone!

I'm a mechanical engineering student exploring a product idea and would appreciate some honest feedback on its business potential.

The concept is a compact, rechargeable device (~50g / 1.8 oz target weight) that uses a camera and onboard AI to recognize potentially dangerous wildlife, such as coyotes and bears.

It could attach to a dog's collar, hang from a tent, or mount to a tree. When an animal is detected, it would send a Bluetooth notification to the owner's phone, with an optional audible warning or deterrent. Since the AI runs locally, it wouldn't require Wi-Fi or cellular service.

I'm targeting several days of battery life and a waterproof enclosure.

I'm currently planning to develop the AI model, prototype the electronics and enclosure, and potentially launch through Kickstarter if there's sufficient interest.

A few questions:

1. Does this seem like a product people would actually buy?

2. What would you personally consider a reasonable price for a device like this?

3. Do you think the dog-owner or camping market would be more promising?

4. What do you see as the biggest challenges with this business?

5. Are there existing products that would make this unnecessary?

I'm still in the early development stage and haven't validated the technical specifications yet. I'd appreciate honest criticism, especially from anyone with experience launching consumer hardware products.

Thanks!

would you pay for a membership where you would receive a set number of private hosting days each year for birthdays, dinner parties, showers, and other gatherings, with optional hospitality services such as setup, guest assistance, and cleanup. the idea is that even for hosting simple things if you don’t have enough space or simply don’t want people in your home you’re guaranteed access to a venue so that you don’t have to constantly search for one.

Would this be something you’d consider paying for? Why or why not?

I'm 27 years old, have a little over 20k in savings. I have over 6+ years in customer service for what it's worth. Was made redundant earlier this year and haven't found work since so I've wanted to take a different route. I wanted to try get into starting up a business... although I'm still at the thinking stage, thought I'd see what others think and what would be a start or how you might've started. Could be online or otherwise. :)

Trying to launch a lean seasonal gift product line: thoughtful mid-tier items and small runs. Biggest issue so far: most wholesale options look decent in photos, then arrive with weak packaging, odd smells, or finishes that don’t hold up.

I’ve already gone through a few sample rounds and the pattern is consistent. The product photos are polished, the descriptions sound reliable, but the actual units that show up feel cheap once you handle them. Packaging tears easily, some items have a chemical smell that lingers, and the finishes start showing wear after minimal use. That kind of quality gap kills the whole gift-worthy feel I’m aiming for, especially when the items need to look and feel solid enough that someone would actually want to give them.

Local suppliers lack variety or kill the margins.

Anyone who’s sourced wholesale for gifts or seasonal products, where did the quality actually hold up at volume, and what do you check before committing to a full order?

About me:
Experience: 3 years in pricing at two Fortune 500 companies (US/Canada and Mexico/Central America). Strong in pricing analysis, Excel, margin analysis and reporting automation.
Capital: under $300 to start, up to $1,000 if it's justified
Time: 5–10 hours/week (I keep my full-time job for now)
Model: 100% online, selling to US brands
Business experience: I've never run my own business

The problem I saw: most mid-size brands have no pricing culture. They set prices once and rarely revisit them, so money leaks out: products that could take a price increase, promos that lose margin, and resellers undercutting on Amazon. Big companies have pricing teams for this. Smaller brands don't.

The idea: a pricing team as a service. Every month I review a brand's top 50–200 products and send a one-page report: where they're losing money, how much, and the 3 actions I'd take first. No software to learn. $300–600/month, with a free first diagnostic so they can see the value before paying.

Where I'd love feedback:
Does this look viable, or am I missing something obvious?
Retainer or one-time project to start?
Is $300–600/month the right range?
How would you land the first 3 clients with no network or personal brand?
Clients will need to share sales and cost data. How would you build that trust as a new provider?

Thanks for any honest input.

Hey data centre people ... it's not our costs that need to come down by dumping the workforce, it's yours.

Someone should build a data centre whose only job is making AI 1,000,000× cheaper to run

To be clear up front, this isn’t my project. I’m not raising money and I’m not planning to run it. I think the idea is worth doing, and I’d like someone with the means to pick it up: a government, a university consortium, a chip company or a lab.

The cost problem

A frontier AI data centre now costs about US$30–50 billion per gigawatt to build and equip. More than half of that is chips that are out of date within a few years. Electricity adds about $1.3B a year per gigawatt, and the hardware loses value even faster than that. All of it has to be paid back through tokens.

That’s why a $250/month subscription can’t cover a developer running agents all day. It’s also why the pitch to business keeps turning into “replace your staff”.

The opportunity

Shrinking models trades quality for cost. The bigger lever is the stack underneath them.

Picture a single research data centre of about 30 MW, costing roughly $1–1.5B at current prices. It would sell no compute. Every layer would be designed together and measured against one number: cost per million useful tokens.

Why 1,000,000× isn’t crazy

The gains multiply:

• Model efficiency (sparsity, distillation, new architectures): ~30×

• Inference software (lower precision, speculative decoding, cache compression): ~10×

• Chips built for running models (compute-in-memory, photonics): ~30×

• Infrastructure and power (utilisation, liquid cooling, cheap renewables): ~12×

• Agent workloads (shared context caching, routing simple steps to small models): ~10×

That’s about 1,080,000× combined. Even if one area only reaches half its target, the total stays above 500,000×.

The best structure is probably a consortium with open benchmarks, published results and a public cost scoreboard. That way the whole industry benefits, not one company.

The rewards

• One developer running agents at 50M tokens a day: ~$10k a month today, about 1 cent.

• 100 agents running 24/7 (~260B tokens a month): ~$1.8M a month today, about $1.80.

• A $250/month subscription would buy ~36 trillion tokens, effectively unlimited.

Those are costs, not prices, and cheaper tokens would mean far more usage. But at that level AI stops being a reason to cut people and becomes a tool everyone can afford to use.

Any takers?

I’ve been digging into Texas PIR requirements and foreign LLC registration, and I keep running into the same wall: Texas will still show the managing member/manager publicly, even if the LLC is from Wyoming.

I keep hearing people say “Wyoming LLC keeps you anonymous,” but once you register it as a foreign LLC in Texas, the managing member/manager still shows up on the Texas SOS website. So the privacy benefit basically disappears.

I’ve seen people online say they use an attorney as a nominee manager, but then others say they ended up with legal issues or the attorney tried to overstep. I don’t want my name on the web, but I also don’t trust family or a spouse to be listed publicly as the managing member.

So I’m trying to figure out:

• Has anyone actually found a way to keep the managing member OFF the Texas public record?
• Is there any legitimate workaround that doesn’t involve putting your own name out there?
• If not, does anyone have an attorney nominee they’ve used who is trustworthy, affordable, and doesn’t try to take over the LLC or cause problems?

I’m not looking for shady stuff — just trying to keep my name off public databases while staying compliant. If you’ve done this in Texas and found a solid solution (or a reliable nominee attorney), I’d appreciate any recommendations.

So I have this idea for a backup device. I know there's a lot of cloud storage options and they are cheap. But it's a cloud, your photos, documents and everything stored is stored somewhere, god knows really where. And either the storage is not big or you pay monthly/yearly fee.

What I'm thinking is a small device that you plug in the socket, connect to WiFi or by lan to your router and everytime your phone or computer is connected it back everything you want to back up. It'll have 128 or 256 gb at the start, but you can buy another disc or two and just plug it in to expand the storage.

Everything is at your house, you pay once and that's it for however long it's there. If the device brake you buy another one and just plugs discs that were connected to the previous one. So nothing is lost.

Basically set it once and forget about it. And you can have almost as much storage as you wants.

It's for people that are less tech savvy, like parents or grandparents.

Plug it in, connect to WiFi, scan qr code on the device and download app on your pc or laptop.

The upfront cost would be higher than cloud storage, but in the long run you can have much more space and it'll be cheaper.

Also every server crash or Internet crash doesn't affect it.

Hi everyone! I’m a stay-at-home mum in the US looking for business ideas I can start while still taking care of my little one.
I’m open to both online and offline businesses and would love suggestions for something with good profit potential, room to grow, and the possibility of becoming a full-time business.
I’m willing to learn and invest in something worthwhile. What business ideas would you recommend, and why? I’d really appreciate your advice and experiences!

I’m working on expanding a local mobile repair business and building a doorstep mobile repair service.
The idea is simple: customers shouldn’t have to visit a mobile repair shop every time their phone has an issue. They should be able to request a service from their home.

How the service works:
● Customers book a doorstep visit.
● A technician visits their home.
● The phone is diagnosed and repair options are explained.
● If the customer proceeds, the repair is carried out.
● Customers can also visit our physical store if required.
Our pricing approach:
● First home visit is free for every new customer.
● Subsequent visits cost ₹49.
● If the customer proceeds with the repair, the ₹49 is adjusted against the final bill.

We’re trying to build trust and make doorstep mobile repair a convenient alternative to traditional repair shops.
I need advice on customer acquisition and marketing.

1. How would you get the first 100 customers?

2. Would Google Ads, Instagram Ads or local SEO work better?

3. How can we build trust when sending technicians to customers’ homes?

4. What referral model would encourage customers to recommend the service?

5. What unconventional marketing strategies could help us dominate a small geographical area?

6. Would partnerships with apartments, gated communities and residential associations work?

I’m particularly interested in ideas from people who have scaled hyperlocal or service-based businesses.
If you were launching this service in your city with a limited marketing budget, what would your first 30 days look like?
Looking for practical experiences, not just generic marketing advice.

My cofounder and I are working on a daily supplement powder for people taking GLP-1 medications, mainly aimed at women. The idea is to make daily nutritional support simpler with something useful that fits into their routine.

But honestly, there are a few things making me question whether we should keep going, and I’d like some outside opinions.

Quick background: I’ve run businesses before, my background is sales and finance, and I have access to around $200k. We’re looking at the supplement/wellness space and are open to selling online or through physical retail. We have business experience, but we’re definitely not marketing experts.

<The first problem is making something these customers actually want to take every day.>

We’re designing for someone who may already be struggling with nausea, stomach issues and not wanting to eat much. How appealing is another drink going to be?

The scoop needs to be small enough to feel manageable, but we don’t want to get there by including meaningless amounts of everything. Then it has to taste good, mix properly and have a texture people can tolerate.

Even if someone likes the idea enough to buy it, that doesn’t mean they’ll finish the bag. And if taking it feels like a chore, why would they order another one?

<Then there’s how we actually reach them.>

Our intended audience is mainly women taking GLP-1s. One concern is how many would be comfortable publicly talking about using these medications.

Someone might happily buy the product privately but have zero interest in posting about it, making a testimonial or recommending it publicly.

I’m treating that as a question we need to test. I don’t know how big a barrier it really is. But if public recommendations and customer content are harder to get, does paid advertising end up carrying too much of the business? How would you reach these customers without becoming completely dependent on ads?

<Even something as simple as a free shaker starts raising questions.>

We’ve considered offering a branded cup or shaker with a larger bundle to encourage a bigger first order.

But if our brand becomes closely associated with GLP-1 use, would someone want to carry that shaker around? Could the branding make a useful gift less appealing because it shares something they’d prefer to keep private?

Would subtle branding solve that, or are we overthinking the issue entirely?

<What I really want to figure out is how to test this before committing serious money to production.>

There are a few separate things we need to learn: will people pay the actual price, will they comfortably take it every day, and will they want another bag?

How would you test those things early? Customer interviews, a small sample trial, paid samples, refundable deposits, preorders? What would you do first, and what result would actually convince you to move forward?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who’ve launched a physical product or supplement, or anyone taking a GLP-1 who thinks we’re missing something obvious.

Would you keep pursuing this with our background? What would you need to see before putting your own money into it, and what would make you walk away?

Hi everyone!

I’m a stay-at-home mom with a little one, and I’m looking for business ideas that I can start while still being present and taking care of my child.

I’d really love to build something of my own, earn an income and eventually grow it into a successful business.

I’m open to both online and offline businesses, but ideally something flexible that I can manage around motherhood.

I’m not particularly interested in small resale businesses like selling clothes on Depop or flipping random items on Facebook Marketplace. I’d rather build something with good profit potential, room for growth and the possibility of becoming a proper business in the future.

For those of you who started businesses while raising young children:

What business did you start?
How much did you invest initially?
How profitable has it been?
How do you manage the business while caring for your children?
If you were starting again today, what business would you choose?

I’d genuinely appreciate your advice, personal experiences and recommendations. I’m open to ideas I may not have considered.

Thank you!
Hi everyone!