Found with a team or alone?

[PippoW]

Hi,

I am running an Affiliate Site about furniture in Germany. Actually I earn enough to pay my bills and save money. But I want to reach the slow lane. So I have to raise my profits!

To raise the profit I have 3 ways:

1. Raise the traffic
2. Cut the costs
3. Raise the margins

The way 1 and 2 are no options. Because I can just raise the traffic with ads, but that's still too expensive. The costs are actually very low. That's also a bad option.

The best idea is to raise the margins. And how? I will produce my own products!

Because:

• I know the market
• I have the know-how
• I know how many furnitures will be sold every month (over my site)
• And the best: I OWN A SITE WITH MUCH TRAFFIC

But running a real business is much harder than a affiliate site. I feel uncertain, how I shall found the company.

Because alone I earn 100% of the profits; have no partner, who can quit; and I have Know-How in Sales, Financing, Furniture and Logistics.

But with a second person we can grow faster, have more money to invest and concentrate on more important tasks.

So, what is your experience?

Found alone or with a second person?

And who is the second person? (Friends, Family, Meetup etc.)

 

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[jpanarra]

I have found businesses with partners... none of them are in business anymore.

Found my current one alone... I'm still standing

so do the math

 

[MoneyPhantom]

Better don't mix up friends/family and business IMO.

Look for a partner if you really need one in terms of things you can't handle on your own (e.g. financing/investiment).
Else: What does a partner do better than an employee? Is it just for the investment? Might it be better to go and lend some money instead?

Just some thoughts. Make sure that you don't just partner up with anyone because of fear to follow the path alone. It's not worth it.

 

[biophase]

So you are going from an affiliate site to an ecommerce site?

 

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[Boo]

In my experience, the vast majority of entrepreneurial teams exist because an original founder was too scared to found by themselves. There are limited circumstances in which I believe that you can justify giving up large amounts of equity to a partner, especially if they aren't bringing huge connections, access to money or skills to the table.

That's all before you even start touching on the extra complexity, free-riding, logistical and emotional pain that having a co-founder brings. Rarely do I ever see teams do well. 1+1 is almost never 2, it's typically 1.5 at best and often less than 1. Perhaps I'm jaded, but I don't think so. You should really only accept a partner if they offer tremendous value.

At the moment you feel 'uncertain' i.e. scared, which is what I mentioned above, you have most of the skills you could need and you want somebody else to do what... simple tasks and put in money? Hire an employee instead, save yourself the equity.

 

[PippoW]

So you are going from an affiliate site to an ecommerce site?

Not exactly.

I will create an own brand for the product.

The affiliate site will stay as an affiliate site

 

[lewj24]

In my experience, the vast majority of entrepreneurial teams exist because an original founder was too scared to found by themselves. There are limited circumstances in which I believe that you can justify giving up large amounts of equity to a partner, especially if they aren't bringing huge connections, access to money or skills to the table.

That's all before you even start touching on the extra complexity, free-riding, logistical and emotional pain that having a co-founder brings. Rarely do I ever see teams do well. 1+1 is almost never 2, it's typically 1.5 at best and often less than 1. Perhaps I'm jaded, but I don't think so. You should really only accept a partner if they offer tremendous value.

At the moment you feel 'uncertain' i.e. scared, which is what I mentioned above, you have most of the skills you could need and you want somebody else to do what... simple tasks and put in money? Hire an employee instead, save yourself the equity.

I agree with all of this.

The only time I've seen where you need a partner is if one has the money and one has the skill or if it's a tech startup (I think it's one guy for business and one guy for tech stuff, could be wrong).

Otherwise it's really a distraction. If there is a slight differ in views all of the sudden it's a debate on whose idea is better so they can decide.

"We should run FB ads. No we should run Google ads."
"We should take out a quarterly dividend. No we should invest it back into the company."
"We should hire an employee. No we should wait until we earn more."
"We should charge $29.95 to make more margin. No we should charge $19.95 to sell more product."

Literally not joking. It can become a huge distraction and headache and slow you down. I think a good partnership is founded on compatible personalities and skill-sets so this doesn't happen. Which is hard to find.

 

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[B. Cole]

Hi,

I am running an Affiliate Site about furniture in Germany. Actually I earn enough to pay my bills and save money. But I want to reach the slow lane. So I have to raise my profits!

To raise the profit I have 3 ways:

1. Raise the traffic
2. Cut the costs
3. Raise the margins

The way 1 and 2 are no options. Because I can just raise the traffic with ads, but that's still too expensive. The costs are actually very low. That's also a bad option.

The best idea is to raise the margins. And how? I will produce my own products!

Because:

• I know the market
• I have the know-how
• I know how many furnitures will be sold every month (over my site)
• And the best: I OWN A SITE WITH MUCH TRAFFIC

But running a real business is much harder than a affiliate site. I feel uncertain, how I shall found the company.

Because alone I earn 100% of the profits; have no partner, who can quit; and I have Know-How in Sales, Financing, Furniture and Logistics.

But with a second person we can grow faster, have more money to invest and concentrate on more important tasks.

So, what is your experience?

Found alone or with a second person?

And who is the second person? (Friends, Family, Meetup etc.)

When you say “I will produce my own products”

How do you mean exactly? Will you source products from others, have your custom pieces made elsewhere or literally manufacture them yourself?

 

[ALC]

Found the Business solo, but surround yourself with great staff.

 

[PippoW]

When you say “I will produce my own products”

How do you mean exactly? Will you source products from others, have your custom pieces made elsewhere or literally manufacture them yourself?

I have a manufacturer, who will produce the products.

 

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