bite the bullet

keithrawlins · bite the bullet

i have decided to start my own buisness . i am going to start a box scheme in the local area. and will start advertising at the start of march .i lost my job last year and 200 apps later still no sign of ajob so why not .i will need to get the front field ploughed and ready but there are a few farmers localy who should help me out with that .i have started with herbs to be sold at farmers markets to great some of the capetal i need. i already have a few ordersso heres hopeing. Idea

macconraoi

The very best of luck to you Wink

Camile

Good luck Keith,

Wouldn't it be good to throw in a few eggs and bread in the box too ?

that might bring up an extra few quids. and is more reliable than veg in my view.

That's what I am doing, I'm selling the surplus veg when I have ... but the bulk of the orders is eggs and bread.

Good luck again
Camile

blowin

Go for it with all the enthusiasm that you have and try not to be too badly disillusioned by any of the inevitable setbacks you will come across .
Be aware that any criticism of your price or service level will hurt one hell of a lot more than it might have done when you were working for " the company " , who-ever that was . Some twats will always complain about something -- just accept that , deal with it courteously , and then make sure that you get paid on time if you offer terms . If you are selling bread then get the cash before the customer eats the sandwich in front of your eyes , as it were .
I speak from some experience . Was made redundant after 18 yrs with a major retailer in the uk . Had to deal with all sorts of issues from the boss , the suppliers , the customers and even the commuters who thought I should not smoke in the smoking carriage on the 6.30 AM train up to London or on the 6.30 PM one back from there .
Set up a small gardening business with the redundancy money . The hours turned out to be even longer than that ^ , what with the paperwork and everything else . That wasn't a problem but I was mortified when I lost a £20 a week job to a competitor . It happens . Don't let it get you down . I never made more than a living wage -- a fraction of the salary with "the company" -- but I certainly would not go back to them . They wouldn't take me back anyway but that is a differnt story ! Laughing

Good luck

keithrawlins

thanks guys and gals

macconraoi

wayland

Go for it Keith Very Happy

. We have a stall in Waterford country market. Eggs go for 3.80 euro`s a doz and are sold out by mid morning. Veg also gets top price but root veg dont want to be too clean or they dont get sold. We have also taken a respectable number of orders for goat meat once punters try our free samples. The Turkeys all sold at the market and I could have shifted many more. My OH makes a few flans and cakes and we sell tea and coffee. Nice little earner me thinks. The box idea is great once a round is established. My half acre veg plot and polly tunnels are not yet properly up and running but should be so by the summer. Happy days hopefully. Good luck. Wink

keithrawlins

tomorrow i have a meeting with invest ni to talk about the biusness start up program,so keep your fingers crossed. Idea

quarryman

Good Luck.

keithrawlins

the meeting went well . no grants avalible but alot of infomation and advice. i am signed up for the buisness startup program which covers from market recerch to vat to marketing, at the end they also do me up a three page web site for £50. Razz

this afternoon i went up the a farm near bangor to see a box scheme in action, and got alot of help from the owner, he was great ,gaveme the name of his supplier for the boxes and had a computer program done for the scheme which sorts all his orders there likes and dislikes ,the invoices and recipes, even how much stock he needs for each day so next to no waste. he is getting the guyto do the same program for me as well so a lot lees paperwork there then Razz

i hope to start delivering the first boxes buy the end of apirl so here goes nothing.it doesnt feel like a pipedream any more. Wink

but is starting to get scarey.

quarryman

Having been self employed from most of my working life, I can appreciate just how scary it is to do your own startup.

Just stop from time to time and tell yourself that this is what you want and what you are working for...

Very best of luck.

bref

Best of luck with the new venture, please keep us updated as reading down through the thread was like starting to look at a new programme on telly...cant wait to see what happens next and hope there is a happy ending...(know what I mean?)!!

keithrawlins

tomorrow i start the invest ni buisness start progam,i think its marketing and sales Confused

so i will let my viewers know how it goes.

i have decided to use celery boxes as they are big enough to hold a good selection but not to big to brake the bank to fill,
i have put out quotes to get a good price onthem which should be in tomorrow Razz

.

also i have printed the first posters and leaflets which i will start puting out next week. Wink

good news is that my wee cousin is doing a website for me so that will save me a bit of money, Razz

now i need some advice from the tecies about printers.
i need to print stickers and invoices , is there one that will do the job orshould i get one for each and if so which ones Confused

?

macconraoi

You could print your own labels/stickers yourself.You can download label software on the net i use the one from avanquest.com,as far as printers and cartridges i use an epson printer,i buy ink on ebay in 500ml bottles and fill the cartridges myself.I also reset the chip on the cartridge with a 'zapit' .It costs me about 20 cent to refill the printer.By doing this you are in full control of your labels/stickers.Try these links. http://www.avanquest.com/USA/smal...;gclid=CLqgh63hzZgCFYQH3wodcjrpzg http://www.jrinkjet.co.uk/just-reset-p-2193.html

keithrawlins

thanks for the links they arejust the thing. Razz

last night was about market planing and that kind of thing, i didlearn a good bit andthe lectrer is now going to bea coustomer oncei startup so agood night .

i also found out about taxes andhowto pay less. Twisted Evil

also some things not to do ,like under cut thecomp as you wontbeable to get your prices back up afterwords, instead i should do specil offersinstead asthey aretax deductable .
and we looked at how and were to advertise in a lot of detail.

the next class is on wedensday so i will havemore then Smile

i have got back thequotes for the boxes at 69 pence each for 50-100 so agood price they havesent a coupleof samples which should be here in a day or so ,

thingsarestarting to move forward now Surprised

admin

Suggest you draw Camile's attention to this thread ( when he has got over the trauma of his own cookery demo ) . He prints very attractive / unique labels for his own range of honey & fudge and goodies using just pc and basic printer + some clever and cost-effective techniques . I think his better half is the designer but they work as a team and I am sure would be more than happy to offer advice . Good luck Wink

Camile

how do you know about them nick ?

but indeed I made all ours at home .. but nothing that professional.

I'll send you sampler if you want keith.

Camile

admin

Camile

good of you to have noticed the packaging ..

or did I point it out to you while your mouth was full and dribbling ? Laughing

keithrawlins

wednsdays class was about costing and priceing . from hours worked to insureance and out lay for packageing.

also how much i need to live on ,when i added up how much that was was raely scarey.