Own Business Thread

[Yosuke]

Hello my fellow sherfriends,


I am a long time lurker here (+10years), but this is my first thread on the board.
Currently, I am working as a sales manager in Switzerland, but this kind of work is just not my thing. Thus, I have decided to be my own boss and open a shop in south east Asia.
It has been a long process, but I am optimistic that the opening will be within this year.


I will have the opportunity to collaborate with two colleagues and basically make my dream come true.
Long story, short since the area where we will be located has tons of fruits and healthy superfoods available we have decided to open up a juice bar.
I am aware that this journey will be tough as nails and competitive, but my questions are.

What is your opinion on (cold pressed) juices? What are your favourites and would you actually pay for something, which guarantees you a much more healthy lifestyle?
Also, to those who already have their own business. Would you do it again? Regrets? What would you do better?

Sorry for the long text and my English, it is not my first language.


Thanks guys!

 

[Buff]

I did a food business for 3 years... My advice is don't trust anyone or anything, and always have a back up plan and do your accounts properly.

I had too much too young... I call that time my Rick James period because I had cash to burn, access to women, and a habit... Losing it all was predictable but it still hurt me badly and deeply for a long time - really rocked my confidence in all areas of life to fail as badly and fall as far as I did, not to mention the many people I disappointed along the way... Starting to get my head around the idea of getting back on it though... Once you've been the boss it's hard going back to doing what you were doing before.. Fair to say in have regrets about the way I handled my business and myself at the time. It a just went to my head.

 

[koolinkunming]

Open a sari-sari store in Philippines or somewhere in Asia and specialize in some products that are wanted but not readily available to the locals. I'm thinking of doing that myself with the wife.

In the meantime we are in the fish business, buying from a supplier then selling at a market. It's pretty good cash too.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Differentiate yourself from your competition in the area.

Find related goods to your primary product line (juice) that you can sell at high margins if possible.

Identify your target market. It sounds to me (I could be wrong) that if you are selling superfoods and healthy juice in southeast Asia, that you are targeting tourists from the Western world and expats, or is it the local residents?

What can you mark up and how can you sell the people you are targeting on these increased prices?

A case of someone we all know doing not-too-well in the juice business is Rich Franklin, but from what I can tell, he had massive overhead from high-value real estate space alone, more than could be justified by his business, before any of the other concerns came into play.

 

[Buff]

Also... For juices, try and get yourself a couple of angles... "The morning glow" with ginger and carrot for example, "strong man" with spinach... You get my idea... Get yourself some nice branded cups, and even if it works out for you try and bottle your own and sell it to local bars and so on... And if you do have a good run, get yourself branded mini-gazebos and get yourself out to whatever festivals are in your area/budget because that's whereby he serious money is at.

Oh, and get some girls with big titties working for you. Titties>face when it comes to dudes forking over small amounts of cash for something.

 

[ironwolf]

Juice bars are cool but as somebody who is in Southeast Asia right now, I can tell you there are a few juice bars on every block and juices are served in every single restaraunt. In fact, I can Nothing of a more saturated market.

Juice bar in se Asia...seems cool
But maybe you should make a trip here and do some market research.

I apologize and don't want to sound like a dick but a fruit juice bar in se Asia is literally the worst idea I can think of.

 

[Yosuke]

Thank you very much for all your feedback. Its highly appreciated!
I will trys to answer or add to the topic once I get home today.

I did my Bachelor in Malaysia and actually am japanese myself, so i understand Asian culture.
From what i know, there are tons of Juice bars in south east asia, but most of them fail in delivering quality goods.

The idea of having a Juice bar is nothing Special, but i believe that it can be done better. Way better.
That is where my partners and I see our chances.

Again, thanks for all your Feedback!!

 

[highkicknomore]

I have my own clothing line I run with my brother - zombie and villain designs. Been running it for more than 2 years. Some days are tough but overall, I love the grind.

Best advice I can give you is to network like crazy. Let everyone know about your company. Don't spam, just let them know once and see if they're interested. By networking, we've collaborated with pretty well known guys in our industry. I have flyers and buttons in my car just in case I pass by a shop that fits our demographic. Earlier today, I stopped by a comic book shop. I didn't want to do it as I was tired and afraid the owner might reject me. Still did it though as I know I have to hustle like crazy to make our company stronger. The shop owner was really cool and loved our designs. He decided to carry our buttons and put it by the register. Then he wanted to carry our tees. He said he's expanding his shirt section. I was stoked. It takes a lot of energy for me to approach shops as I have to carry our custom made bloody button containers and people look at me like I'm crazy. Then some owners won't give me a chance and just say no without looking at the designs. I understand it's part of the game and I move on to the next shop.

Running a business is a lot of work so make sure you love what you're doing. I'd have quit a long time ago if I just did it for money. I do it because I love the challenge of creating a new designs and talking to fellow geeks at comic cons.

 

[highkicknomore]

Oh yeah, I have no regrets with the decisions I've made running my company. I've made plenty of mistakes but I learn from it. We always push ourselves to take risks instead of playing it safe because we learn and grow faster from it.

 

[Rhett Henley MD]

Be sure to have your expectations between yourself and your partners clearly defined before starting the venture (i.e., a well drafted partnership agreement, buy/sell agreement, etc...).

Entering into a business relationship with friends is like a marriage, you expect nothing but the best going in but a smart person plans for contingencies and has an exit strategy in place for when things go south.

 

[mushishi]

So you took the wizard up on his offer, huh?

 

[genecop]

Have enjoyed being in my own B for 28 years...yes if it's healthy I would try it..but it better taste great and be cold..good luck.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

There is a very successful franchise in the SW that I passed on getting involved with early on (to my regret) called Nektar.
Check it out.

edit: its spelled Nekter (thanks to my homie Loiosh).

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Be sure to have your expectations between yourself and your partners clearly defined before starting the venture (i.e., a well drafted partnership agreement, buy/sell agreement, etc...).

Entering into a business relationship with friends is like a marriage, you expect nothing but the best going in but a smart person plans for contingencies and has an exit strategy in place for when things go south.

this is important.

who will be CEO, CFO, etc.
what are the individual responsibilities.
you don't want to run into any "but I thought you were going to...." situations. Bad for moral.

 

[Loiosh]

There is a very successful franchise in the SW that I passed on getting involved with early on (to my regret) called Nektar.
Check it out.

I bet the cafeteria sucked.