Comments on: The Lemonade Stand - Get Back to the Basics. http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/ Taking your startup to the next level Sun, 01 Aug 2010 07:36:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Why I Drive 13 Year Old Car and Other Wonderful Stories | steve-olson.com http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1691 Why I Drive 13 Year Old Car and Other Wonderful Stories | steve-olson.com Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:10:04 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1691 [...] Lemonade Stand - Get Back to the Basics - This is a helpful business post from Andy Liu, reminding us that good business is basic and simple. Good businesses are easy to get. [...] [...] Lemonade Stand - Get Back to the Basics - This is a helpful business post from Andy Liu, reminding us that good business is basic and simple. Good businesses are easy to get. [...]

]]> By: jtGraphic http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1666 jtGraphic Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:31:09 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1666 When I first started my business, it was a local IT consulting firm. If I condense our story, essentially, we started off by doing anything for money that involved tech. We would fix computers, cell phones, web pages, etc. etc. As our reputation grew, the demand for each facet grew and quickly outgrew what two people could do. Eventually my business partner had a melt down and I had to buy him out, so I was alone doing all of the work. Full time tech support/help desk, full time website and database design, and full time SEO and marketer. On top of all that, somewhere along people started coming to us for accounting and business advice. We also do a fair amount of affiliate marketing as well. Right now it's my wife, another employee, and myself. The other employee is strictly a web developer, and my wife is strictly an office manager. There is way too much demand across too many niches (and we charge differently for each niche too, which complicates billing). I'm handling everything else. I'm interested in SEO, Internet Marketing, and Website Design, but profit a great deal from the other areas. This year, what we're planning to do is: play the demand curve and increase all of our prices across all of our services to the same level - $125 an hour (for customers going forward). That will help keep my wife's stress level down with billing. After we simplify our income streams, we will begin to identify profit/loss centers and cut the fat. 2009 will surely be an interesting year. When I first started my business, it was a local IT consulting firm. If I condense our story, essentially, we started off by doing anything for money that involved tech. We would fix computers, cell phones, web pages, etc. etc. As our reputation grew, the demand for each facet grew and quickly outgrew what two people could do. Eventually my business partner had a melt down and I had to buy him out, so I was alone doing all of the work. Full time tech support/help desk, full time website and database design, and full time SEO and marketer. On top of all that, somewhere along people started coming to us for accounting and business advice. We also do a fair amount of affiliate marketing as well. Right now it’s my wife, another employee, and myself. The other employee is strictly a web developer, and my wife is strictly an office manager. There is way too much demand across too many niches (and we charge differently for each niche too, which complicates billing). I’m handling everything else. I’m interested in SEO, Internet Marketing, and Website Design, but profit a great deal from the other areas. This year, what we’re planning to do is: play the demand curve and increase all of our prices across all of our services to the same level - $125 an hour (for customers going forward). That will help keep my wife’s stress level down with billing. After we simplify our income streams, we will begin to identify profit/loss centers and cut the fat. 2009 will surely be an interesting year.

]]> By: PatrickC http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1649 PatrickC Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:27:19 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1649 Sometimes it's hard to stay consistent when you don't immediately see positive results, and after working in the industry where I experienced overly-complex systems and procedures, keeping a business simple has always been one of my key values. Great post. Sometimes it’s hard to stay consistent when you don’t immediately see positive results, and after working in the industry where I experienced overly-complex systems and procedures, keeping a business simple has always been one of my key values.

Great post.

]]> By: HOBO(nickname) http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1601 HOBO(nickname) Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:39:00 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1601 What is recession ? Yet to earn money to know what is recession. What is recession ?
Yet to earn money to know what is recession.

]]> By: Article Spinning http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1597 Article Spinning Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:27:32 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1597 Very interesting story about Sara there, Andy. Yes, you are right, recession or no recession, she would surely have made more money if she hadn't listened to her dad and lowered your inventory. That's a fact of this so-called recession - do more instead of doing less, but find ways to spend less in doing more, :) Thanks for sharing, Andy. Loved it! Very interesting story about Sara there, Andy. Yes, you are right, recession or no recession, she would surely have made more money if she hadn’t listened to her dad and lowered your inventory. That’s a fact of this so-called recession - do more instead of doing less, but find ways to spend less in doing more, :) Thanks for sharing, Andy. Loved it!

]]> By: Andy http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1595 Andy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:36:02 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1595 we're also working on this too, please post back how you plan on doing it! we’re also working on this too, please post back how you plan on doing it!

]]> By: Andy http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1594 Andy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:35:27 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1594 i love the creativity! thanks gert! i love the creativity! thanks gert!

]]> By: Andy http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1593 Andy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:34:50 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1593 thanks for the comment!! goals for the sake of goals are just hollow words - like you said, you need an action plan or fundamentals to accomplish those goals. thanks for the comment!! goals for the sake of goals are just hollow words - like you said, you need an action plan or fundamentals to accomplish those goals.

]]> By: Andy http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1592 Andy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:33:29 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1592 great idea... also, invest when no one else is... great idea… also, invest when no one else is…

]]> By: Andy http://www.inspiredstartup.com/the-lemonade-stand-get-back-to-the-basics/comment-page-1/#comment-1591 Andy Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:32:39 +0000 http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=103#comment-1591 test, experiment, then scale the ideas that work. thanks for the post. test, experiment, then scale the ideas that work. thanks for the post.

]]>