Start up retail business advice.

beauf

No not legal. There was some talk about making them legal before Xmas by Eamon Ryan I think.

But I think that unlikely to happen. Who knows. Its a shambles. Wasted opportunity.

dartboardio

They are illegal on public roads and highways (this is clearly stated on our website too similar to the other scooter companies) they are legal on private roads and properties.

beauf

Enforcement is minimal. But you might be unlucky.

Chacha97

beauf wrote: »

No not legal. There was some talk about making them legal before Xmas by Eamon Ryan I think.

But I think that unlikely to happen. Who knows. Its a shambles. Wasted opportunity.

I think they'd be brilliant if we didn't have such a claim culture. Think law makers and councils are frightened they'll leave themselves open for claims.

Graham

dartboardio wrote: »

With my current google Ad campaign for example, there has been 124 clicks, with €1200 in sales, and a total of €63 spent on Google ads in 2 days. Now we may increase or decrease that google budget depending on how things go.

So now what I am really looking for is a small start up booster grant, so we can spend more on advertising and stock some more scooters in a unit.

(the handy thing about dropshipping is you can get started more or less right away)

Assuming you're working with a reasonable margin, that's good going.

I'd just keep doing what you're doing for now.

Don't worry about grants (there are none for retail anyway).
Don't hold stock.
Don't think about premises.
Do advertise on Facebook if you're not already. Ignore the boost this post option, go straight to learning Ads Manager.

You already have a benchmark for your customer acquisition cost (ad spend / number sales), try new adverts to see if they perform better/worse. Try facebook, does it perform better/worse?

Are you remarketing (ads targeted at previous site visitors that haven't purchased yet)?

JMR

dartboardio wrote: »

With my current google Ad campaign for example, there has been 124 clicks, with €1200 in sales, and a total of €63 spent on Google ads in 2 days. Now we may increase or decrease that google budget depending on how things go.

So now what I am really looking for is a small start up booster grant, so we can spend more on advertising and stock some more scooters in a unit.

I would urge you to stand back and think rationally about this.
Your original post suggests you are very early days in this venture, with questions asked about whether you should operate as a sole trader or set up a Limited Company etc.

It's great that you have obviously done your initial research into the idea and have built your own website but I would urge you not to think about spending any sort of big money on premises etc for now.
You seem to have sold maybe 3 units so far?
Invest your time in proving the concept, bootstrap the business, do not hold stock yourself for now.
In a few months time, you will have learned a lot about your market and will ne in a much better position to decide on taking it to the next level and whether you need funding.

All the best with it, love to hear stories of people who are genuinely excited about new ventures

dartboardio

JMR wrote: »

I would urge you to stand back and think rationally about this.
Your original post suggests you are very early days in this venture, with questions asked about whether you should operate as a sole trader or set up a Limited Company etc.

It's great that you have obviously done your initial research into the idea and have built your own website but I would urge you not to think about spending any sort of big money on premises etc for now.
You seem to have sold maybe 3 units so far?
Invest your time in proving the concept, bootstrap the business, do not hold stock yourself for now.
In a few months time, you will have learned a lot about your market and will ne in a much better position to decide on taking it to the next level and whether you need funding.

All the best with it, love to hear stories of people who are genuinely excited about new ventures

Yeah I think we will definitely stay online for the moment and try build the brand, focusing more on advertising and keeping our main expenses for google ads, facebook etc then maybe look at how things go down the line, thanks!

BalboBiggins

Tbh you will work 5 times as hard in your own business than you will in most other jobs.

dartboardio

BalboBiggins wrote: »

Tbh you will work 5 times as hard in your own business than you will in most other jobs.

Thats not something that would stop me. I value my freedom and being able to earn money on my own terms

Chacha97

dartboardio wrote: »

Thats not something that would stop me. I value my freedom and being able to earn money on my own terms

I am of the same opinion. Currently researching my own idea in order to develop it and hopefully start something.

Going to first see can I take part in new frontiers phase 1 programme as allows me to keep working and arrive at a go/no go decision of the venture idea.

Meant to add i know its not freedom far from ot but want to create something which benefits others

BalboBiggins

dartboardio wrote: »

Thats not something that would stop me. I value my freedom and being able to earn money on my own terms

That's the thing though, the majority of self employed people are less free than those working in a steady job.

JMR

BalboBiggins wrote: »

That's the thing though, the majority of self employed people are less free than those working in a steady job.

What is your point?
You seem to be encouraging the OP to forget about starting a business as it's too much hard work, when the original question was nothing to do with this.

Starting and running your own business can be extremely rewarding, albeit hard work.

I could understand your response if the OP had asked for advice on whether to pursue starting a business versus staying in permanent employment but he/she didn't

dartboardio

BalboBiggins wrote: »

That's the thing though, the majority of self employed people are less free than those working in a steady job.

Yeah but it's not as time consuming running the online store as it would be if I had an actual shop, like most days are spent researching, adding bits and bobs to the website, keeping an eye on my traffic etc and processing orders, so it's not THAT time consuming, maybe when we get busier yes, but there will be two of us working at it


Besides, that's not the point at all, I'm not afraid of hard work, I'm willing to work endless hours in order to keep that freedom you have while working for yourself, being your own boss etc.

dartboardio

since I have been blagging on about it all morning, here is the actual website

please feel free to give me criticism and feedback, what I should/could add/takeaway to the website, or similar. I am trying to work on the website everyday.

https://e-scooter.ie

I do think we have a good name though, and domain.

jimmii

dartboardio wrote: »

Thats not something that would stop me. I value my freedom and being able to earn money on my own terms

Good luck with the freedom part if you can figure it out I'm sure there's a good few of us who would like to know what it is! Last day I had off was sometime in mid November and my next day will probably be maybe Christmas week.

Doing it yourself is definitely rewarding and its great when you get great feedback from customers. It sounds like you've put a lot more work into this than it appeared at the start so fair play for that.

Your results from ad words so far look really good if you can keep that sort of return then you might just have yourself a business thats a promising start.

dartboardio

based on 264 sessions in the last 2 days , 40% bounce rate, average duration of session 3 minutes. What are these figures like?

dartboardio

jimmii wrote: »

Good luck with the freedom part if you can figure it out I'm sure there's a good few of us who would like to know what it is! Last day I had off was sometime in mid November and my next day will probably be maybe Christmas week.

Doing it yourself is definitely rewarding and its great when you get great feedback from customers. It sounds like you've put a lot more work into this than it appeared at the start so fair play for that.

Your results from ad words so far look really good if you can keep that sort of return then you might just have yourself a business thats a promising start.

Haha thanks a million! I'll just keep doing what I'm doing so and hopefully things will go well from here.

JMR

dartboardio wrote: »

since I have been blagging on about it all morning, here is the actual website

please feel free to give me criticism and feedback, what I should/could add/takeaway to the website, or similar. I am trying to work on the website everyday.

https://e-scooter.ie

I do think we have a good name though, and domain.

Good move, you will get valuable, actionable feedback here.
Some initial thoughts from myself

1. Your contact page refers to a contact form which doesn't exist
2. The use of '9' in your email address (gmail) looks a little unprofessional - can you get a better one?
3. The popup detailing recent purchases is very off putting, maybe the cycle time is too short?
4. Not sure you need to mention this on the home page - "Stock warehouse based in EU". It may be a barrier to your potential customers
5. I would remove the 'Get Directions' link as it is only linked to Waterford, rather than a specific store location
6. Gift card sales has a timeout?
7. In general, not so sure about the colour scheme, feels a bit weak, if that makes sense?
8. The home page needs a bit of work, the video below the banner picture seems to be hanging in a lot of vacant white space

dartboardio

JMR wrote: »

Good move, you will get valuable, actionable feedback here.
Some initial thoughts from myself

1. Your contact page refers to a contact form which doesn't exist
2. The use of '9' in your email address (gmail) looks a little unprofessional - can you get a better one?
3. The popup detailing recent purchases is very off putting, maybe the cycle time is too short?
4. Not sure you need to mention this on the home page - "Stock warehouse based in EU". It may be a barrier to your potential customers
5. I would remove the 'Get Directions' link as it is only linked to Waterford, rather than a specific store location
6. Gift card sales has a timeout?
7. In general, not so sure about the colour scheme, feels a bit weak, if that makes sense?
8. The home page needs a bit of work, the video below the banner picture seems to be hanging in a lot of vacant white space

Thanks! yeah I know, I need to get a new official email hooked up with the actual domain if that makes sense. The recent purchase pop up I can remove too.

All of it needs a bit of work. I am trying to add bits here and there, we are still getting sales but obviously could be getting alot more if the website was stronger.

Graham

Have you looked through some of the 3rd party Shopify themes? Could give the site a pretty instant facelift if that's what you're looking for.

dartboardio

Graham wrote: »

Have you looked through some of the 3rd party Shopify themes? Could give the site a pretty instant facelift if that's what you're looking for.

I've looked through a few themes yes and I'm in the middle of doing up some examples on a few themes I like but haven't really picked one yet, for now I am happy with the theme I have but just looking to make the overall website more appealing

dartboardio

JMR wrote: »

Good move, you will get valuable, actionable feedback here.
Some initial thoughts from myself

1. Your contact page refers to a contact form which doesn't exist
2. The use of '9' in your email address (gmail) looks a little unprofessional - can you get a better one?
3. The popup detailing recent purchases is very off putting, maybe the cycle time is too short?
4. Not sure you need to mention this on the home page - "Stock warehouse based in EU". It may be a barrier to your potential customers
5. I would remove the 'Get Directions' link as it is only linked to Waterford, rather than a specific store location
6. Gift card sales has a timeout?
7. In general, not so sure about the colour scheme, feels a bit weak, if that makes sense?
8. The home page needs a bit of work, the video below the banner picture seems to be hanging in a lot of vacant white space

I have added the contact form, removed the 'our store' part and mentioning about EU warehouse you're right it may put people off!

I see what you mean about the video just hanging around a huge white space on the homepage, I'm wondering where/what to do with it now instead, maybe add the product as a featured product to the homepage with the video beside it or something?

JMR

dartboardio wrote: »

I have added the contact form, removed the 'our store' part and mentioning about EU warehouse you're right it may put people off!

I see what you mean about the video just hanging around a huge white space on the homepage, I'm wondering where/what to do with it now instead, maybe add the product as a featured product to the homepage with the video beside it or something?

Yes, sounds like that might work.
I have also just noticed the raffle / giveaway callout on the homepage. If you're keeping it, the wording needs to be revised, currently ends abruptly mid-sentence.
I would remove it as, to me anyway, it identifies your brand as less than professional and slightly frivolous

dartboardio

JMR wrote: »

Yes, sounds like that might work.
I have also just noticed the raffle / giveaway callout on the homepage. If you're keeping it, the wording needs to be revised, currently ends abruptly mid-sentence.
I would remove it as, to me anyway, it identifies your brand as less than professional and slightly frivolous

Thanks, yeah the raffle/giveaway is more so for building engagement on our socials. We done a competition and the engagement was insane, something like a few hundred followers in a few days, so we might just remove the raffle aspect and leave it as another free competition to win a scooter

gibgodsman

Just had a look at your website and can safely say I would avoid a website like that when buying anything, too many errors and silly issues. Can I ask if you designed it yourself or got a 3rd party to do it?

Chacha97

Yeah I think you need a different theme to stand out. Just looked up an other escooter website in ireland and it is incredibly similar

dartboardio

gibgodsman wrote: »

Just had a look at your website and can safely say I would avoid a website like that when buying anything, too many errors and silly issues. Can I ask if you designed it yourself or got a 3rd party to do it?

Strange as we have had around 7k gross sales so far, can you tell me in detail what would turn you away? Just so I can take a look and fix up things, as I said I'm looking for feedback here so I can take action.

Gonna need more than 'I would avoid it' I'm afraid...

November Golf

dartboardio wrote: »

It is me and my partners idea, should we setup as a limited company? what are the tax rates like?

Just a few point that might be of use to you:

1. A limited company can be good in that it provides limited personal liability if the business fails, however there is a greater administrative burden.

2. A company is a separate legal entity, you need to treat it like a child and act on its behalf: If you fail to meet statutory obligations it can be taken off you (Involuntary Strike-Off or Wind-down).

3. You will be proprietary director if you own more than 15% of the company. In addition to filing the companies tax returns for Corporate Tax and possibly VAT, You will also be registered as self-employed and be required to complete a personal tax return each year. Even if you are paid through the PAYE system, a self assessment will be required.

4. The company will pay 12.5% on its profits, however you will still be personally liability to the Income Tax, PRSI (S - self employment rate) and USC on your salary from the company as well as any dividends you receive from the company.

5. In addition to your tax obligation, you will need to file an annual return with the companies register office and attach the companies financial statements which you will likely need to get an accountant to prepare for you.

dartboardio

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

Just a few point that might be of use to you:

1. A limited company can be good in that it provides limited personal liability if the business fails, however there is a greater administrative burden.

2. A company is a separate legal entity, you need to treat it like a child and act on its behalf: If you fail to meet statutory obligations it can be taken off you (Involuntary Strike-Off or Wind-down).

3. You will be proprietary director if you own more than 15% of the company. In addition to filing the companies tax returns for Corporate Tax and possibly VAT, You will also be registered as self-employed and be required to complete a personal tax return each year. Even if you are paid through the PAYE system, a self assessment will be required.

4. The company will pay 12.5% on its profits, however you will still be personally liability to the Income Tax, PRSI (S - self employment rate) and USC on your salary from the company as well as any dividends you receive from the company.

5. In addition to your tax obligation, you will need to file an annual return with the companies register office and attach the companies financial statements which you will likely need to get an accountant to prepare for you.

Thank you. That information is really handy to know! Do you mind if I ask a few questions about being a sole trader? as that's what I've decided to go with, for the moment, I know I can change it down the line,


I am now registered with revenue for income tax, so in order to pay tax as a self employed person, is that just done in October of each year through a self assessment/Form 11? Do I need to do anything before then?

Is it just my actual profits that are taxed? upto 40%?

(I am aware of VAT but haven't registered for that yet as we have not sold 75k worth of products yet)

And if I was to add my partner as an employee to the company, what sort of figures would be be talking in regards PAYE etc..

Axwell

Some suggested updates on the design etc..

Remove the snow - its tacky and set too frequent and the opacity too high that its actually distracting and off-putting. Should be set to much slower and barely visible if you really want to keep it.

Hero image - Use a darker overlay and change the text to white. The black text on a darkened image is hard to read, more so for anyone with accessibility issues.

Products - put the label under the images, not on top of them. Same issue as above, very hard to read and e-kids crosses the image and gets lost in it. Remove the text-shadow also - it's probably there because you are trying to make the text pop a bt when on top of the product but it would be better to just move it.

Contact Us - mentions a contact form which users are going to expect to be there on the page to fill in so it looks like its missing or you dont have one. Instead its on the little pop up tab which is also called contact us - its confusing. Put the contact form on the contact page.

Scoot and Earn - page is missing, gives a 404 error.

Read More buttons on blogs and features posts is hard to read - its a very light colour against the white background, outlined buttons make it hard to see - if you can do filled buttons would look better.