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- Jun 25, 2014
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Hey,
Introduction
Well, I heard people say this forum is MJ's house, so I guess that makes this thread kinda like a room. A small one, after all, I am just starting out.
Welcome to my room then, maybe you clicked this thread because you are a nice person and wanted to help me (thanks, btw <3), maybe you liked the title (no...there is no copy there), and maybe you clicked just cause...then saw my profile pic (i know, it is awesome), and decided to stay.
To the first, I will be more than happy to hear what you have to say, especially if you have experience in my area. To the second...I liked the title too! To the third, man, i love that bear.
Background
So I am 18, brazilian, born into a upper-class family. I am currently studying Economics in Portugal. Now, I know a lot of you are against college education, so I will explain why I decided to go to college: I figured college would not take up too much of my time, it is not expensive, and if I get too much business, I can quit at any time. However, college in Portugal, has not provided me with this, so next semester I will be transferring to Brazil, where I can focus more on business, and less on studying.
I have always wanted to have money, power, freedom, all of that. I like it. I love it. So I have always searched for ways to make money somehow. So for example, now I run a little scheme bringing tobacco from cheaper countries and re-selling in Europe. However, due to the law, this isn't scalable. So I knew I had to create a business, and that is when I had the idea:
The Journey
So, I discovered this website similar to flippa, but way smaller and way more trust worthier and bought a e-commerce store that was based in Australia. The product? Tea. WHy did he sell it? Competition was fierced in Australia, in his city alone, there were other 5 e-commerce stores like his. So I thought: "Hm, there was none of this in Brazil or Portugal, maybe I can make this work". Bought stock, website, social media accounts from him for about $1000. Our average product was between 20-30 euros, with a 60% margin on each unit and 30-40% margin on the whole operation. Seemed good right? Except that I did not foresee the crisis in Brazil, underestimated the effort necessary, and overestimated my abilities. Big punch on my ego. I got a few sales between May-August, about 10. Pretty bummed out right? Not really, I wasn't putting the work required, so I wasn't getting the results I wanted. Come September, I sold half of the company to a friend of mine, now...he doesn't do much without me telling him to, but having him motivatives the F*ck out of me. 5 sales in september, 8 in october. This is getting good! Then, BAM! Stock shortage. What do we do? Let's take Pre-orders, it will be like 10 days. We end up having to wait a month and paying 350 euros in taxes. Worse of all, disappointing our costumers(yes, we apologized). So, we had 4 sales in November and 1 in December. We held a meeting in December to decide the future of the company since both of us are moving out. We decide to go with another supplier from now on due to their location(Europe). Basically, we want to raise the most capital possible so we can stop asking our parents for money and start doing business with our own money.We have realized this business is a stepping stone, and doesn't have much more "milk" to give, but it has indeed been a learning experience. We have to sell 11 teas to cover costs for this semester, and the rest is basically our "investment money" for our future venture.
The Problems
As I know your time is valuable, I have separated this text in sections, if you just want to hear about my business journey, please skip to Journey (i won't kill you, i promise), if you would like to get a bit of background...here goes:
Introduction
Well, I heard people say this forum is MJ's house, so I guess that makes this thread kinda like a room. A small one, after all, I am just starting out.
Welcome to my room then, maybe you clicked this thread because you are a nice person and wanted to help me (thanks, btw <3), maybe you liked the title (no...there is no copy there), and maybe you clicked just cause...then saw my profile pic (i know, it is awesome), and decided to stay.
To the first, I will be more than happy to hear what you have to say, especially if you have experience in my area. To the second...I liked the title too! To the third, man, i love that bear.
Background
So I am 18, brazilian, born into a upper-class family. I am currently studying Economics in Portugal. Now, I know a lot of you are against college education, so I will explain why I decided to go to college: I figured college would not take up too much of my time, it is not expensive, and if I get too much business, I can quit at any time. However, college in Portugal, has not provided me with this, so next semester I will be transferring to Brazil, where I can focus more on business, and less on studying.
I have always wanted to have money, power, freedom, all of that. I like it. I love it. So I have always searched for ways to make money somehow. So for example, now I run a little scheme bringing tobacco from cheaper countries and re-selling in Europe. However, due to the law, this isn't scalable. So I knew I had to create a business, and that is when I had the idea:
The Journey
So, I discovered this website similar to flippa, but way smaller and way more trust worthier and bought a e-commerce store that was based in Australia. The product? Tea. WHy did he sell it? Competition was fierced in Australia, in his city alone, there were other 5 e-commerce stores like his. So I thought: "Hm, there was none of this in Brazil or Portugal, maybe I can make this work". Bought stock, website, social media accounts from him for about $1000. Our average product was between 20-30 euros, with a 60% margin on each unit and 30-40% margin on the whole operation. Seemed good right? Except that I did not foresee the crisis in Brazil, underestimated the effort necessary, and overestimated my abilities. Big punch on my ego. I got a few sales between May-August, about 10. Pretty bummed out right? Not really, I wasn't putting the work required, so I wasn't getting the results I wanted. Come September, I sold half of the company to a friend of mine, now...he doesn't do much without me telling him to, but having him motivatives the F*ck out of me. 5 sales in september, 8 in october. This is getting good! Then, BAM! Stock shortage. What do we do? Let's take Pre-orders, it will be like 10 days. We end up having to wait a month and paying 350 euros in taxes. Worse of all, disappointing our costumers(yes, we apologized). So, we had 4 sales in November and 1 in December. We held a meeting in December to decide the future of the company since both of us are moving out. We decide to go with another supplier from now on due to their location(Europe). Basically, we want to raise the most capital possible so we can stop asking our parents for money and start doing business with our own money.We have realized this business is a stepping stone, and doesn't have much more "milk" to give, but it has indeed been a learning experience. We have to sell 11 teas to cover costs for this semester, and the rest is basically our "investment money" for our future venture.
The Problems
- I don't know what to do anymore, I have and update instagram, facebook, e-mail, everything, I am always trying to find new ways to market the company, but I cant find anymore, it is obviously my fault, because there clearly more ways, I just have to find them
- It kind annoys me that I am not where I thought I would be. BUT, it is my fault, 2015 was spent too much in wasteful manner, however, I have taken certain precautions (such as realizing it), to make sure 2016 is a bit different.
- I don't know if it is normal to have so much free time, people say that free time is good, but I feel running a business should be demanding, so I am always searching for ways to improve the business and myself.
- Since my business is so small, I wonder if I should take a job at a startup, since I have the backup of my family, I don't have to worry about getting a job to pay the bills, and can just learn about the startup culture and a specific industry, because the only industry I am familiar is the education one...and that's because I have been in it for the past 15 years of my life.
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