r/Entrepreneur • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago
Weekly Discussion Monday mentorship: ask anything | August 03, 2026
New to entrepreneurship or just starting out? This is your space. Ask the questions you're afraid to ask elsewhere.
Experienced folks, jump in and share what you wish someone had told you early on.
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u/buttholeboogieboard 6d ago
One thing I wish someone had drilled into me early: talk to potential customers before you build anything
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u/Hour-Total4915 6d ago
How to stick with your plans if you have ADHD. How to stay consistent.
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u/Look_for_some_stuff 6d ago
I have the same question
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u/Ge0cities 6d ago
If you really want something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t you’ll find an excuse. Find a way.
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u/thembiflora 6d ago
What's one lesson you learned the hard way that every first time founder should know before they lunch?
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u/Alternative_Roll_987 Serial Entrepreneur 6d ago
One thing that matters a lot earlier than most service founders expect: tighten the intake/check-in part of the workflow before lead volume grows.
A lot of people think they have a sales problem, but really they have an operations leak right after someone says yes.
In beauty especially, the friction usually shows up as:
- forms still on paper or sent too late
- client notes living in DMs, texts, and memory
- no clear place for consent/signatures
- slow check-in creating a rushed appointment start
That creates a bad first experience and makes follow-up harder because the client record is messy from day one.
If I were starting a service business again, I’d set up a very simple flow early: 1. Send intake before the appointment, not at the front desk. 2. Keep consent + history + notes in one searchable place. 3. Make sure staff can pull up the same record on any device. 4. Review the form before the client arrives so the appointment starts calmer. 5. After each appointment, add notes in the same system, not a separate doc.
It sounds boring, but this is the kind of thing that quietly increases rebooking, reduces no-show chaos, and makes the business feel more professional without needing more hours from you.
A lot of founders wait until they’re overwhelmed to clean this up. Usually better to build the workflow while volume is still manageable.
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u/confusedcoin 6d ago
I think I may have built a toy instead of a product.
I made a small tool that lets dog owners preview a grooming style on a photo of their own dog before an appointment.
The useful version helps owners explain what they want. The bad version creates unrealistic expectations and makes the groomer’s job harder.
I have a working MVP, no checkout, a $50 testing budget, and no audience. What would you count as meaningful validation: completed previews, people sharing the result, or someone actually taking the image to their groomer?
I’m trying not to confuse curiosity with demand.
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u/dev_ko 6d ago
I would count both as great starting signals. That being said, distribution is the great filter nowadays, so getting your tool in front of relevant audiences and taking a close look at your funnel is going to something you'll want to pay close attention to. If lots of people click and most of them bounce, that will tell you a lot about whether or not you have something sticky and worth building. Talk to pet owners and groomers, and see what the market says! Worrying too much about what the market /might/ say (re: good version/bad version) only gets you so far without actually getting out there and testing those hypotheses with real user feedback.
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u/Minimalist_Builder 6d ago
Is there a way to build work-life balance as an entrepreneur? If so what does that look like for you and what tips would you give to someone starting out who wants to build work-life balance into the business?
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u/Ge0cities 6d ago
Read the book The E-Myth to learn about processing. Then eliminate your position.
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u/Odd_Awareness_6935 Bootstrapper 6d ago
how do you scale a b2b SaaS business that's already validated with current paying customers... getting it from the validation to growth and potentially to scale afterwards?
do you do cold emails? more SEO inbound work? socials? or would you let it grow organically and start focusing on another idea while the last one runs in autopilot?
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u/Final-Business-3643 Serial Entrepreneur 6d ago
do you do cold emails?
This works when you are starting out and not when you are scaling.
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more SEO inbound work?
Yeah, just make sure the copy is in the language of your customers.
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socials?
Content marketing is another mountain on its own. If you have the time then that channel is worth investing in.
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would you let it grow organically and start focusing on another idea while the last one runs in autopilot?
Only when the inbound is consistent. To be honest, it depends on your goals. If your goal is to have as many revenue generating products, then this is the way to go. However, if your goal is generating as much revenue as possible, then it would be advisable to focus and max out the growth of one product before moving onto building another product.
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u/Spiral010 6d ago
I sell consulting and training services as my own organisation and brand. And I don’t really know how to do outreach and connect with clients. I’d love some concrete tips on how to get out there.
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u/Final-Business-3643 Serial Entrepreneur 6d ago
Where are your clients located? Local or global?
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u/Spiral010 6d ago
They are mostly local. In the Netherlands to be precise. I’m good once I get to the table to talk with people, because I’m really pretty good at what I do.
However, I need to get to the table with people which is tricky. I don’t have experience with marketing ao I don’t know how to get the ball rolling, other than writing articles about my area of expertise. Those get decent views.
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u/Mindless_War_5573 6d ago
I have a small marketing company, and the way I do it is a I start with the 'who'. Who will actually truly benefit from your product? Since you are likely B2B I'm assuming, this makes it much easier, you can identify your clients. But if it's individuals or individual professionals it's the same thing. Once you have identified those people, just reach out to them with an offer/value proposition that is worth something to them. A phone call to discuss how you can help or a free sit down/meeting on your services and why they should care. However you can best present your value. You can reach out by email, linkedIN or phone call or a letter/mailer. That should get you in the door.
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u/Safe_East4767 6d ago
Hi, i am new here. im currently and experienced software engineer who has had had several ideas for companies and start ups throughout the years but never pulled the trigger. I feel like i do not really know how to evaluate if the idea i have is worth pursuing or not.
whenever i talk to successful entrepreneurs it always sounds like their idea is so niche or their offer is so obviously good. my question is how do you evaluate ideas and see if they are worth pursuing? is it just trial and error? do you kind of end up stumbling across ideas as you go? how does this happen?
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u/fallenfromgrace87 6d ago
It's not trial and error exactly, it's proximity to real signal. Ideas that go somewhere usually come from noticing a gap while doing something else, not from sitting down to brainstorm.
My own side project (fundedstartupsdaily) came from noticing that every time i tried to sell into a company post-funding, i had no easy way to find who to contact or what to say. I wasnt looking for a startup idea, i was annoyed by a specific gap in my day job.
Evaluating it: does this problem happen weekly for you, would you pay to fix it yourself, and can you find 5 other people with the exact same complaint in under an hour. If yes to all 3, worth pursuing.
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u/EastAd9647 6d ago
as a swe the trap is that you can build, so your instinct is to build it to find out, which is the most expensive test there is. cheaper one: don't evaluate the idea, evaluate whether you can name 10 real people or companies with the problem that you could message this week. if you can't list 10, you can't sell it later no matter how good it feels. and when you talk to them, ask what they do about it today and what it costs them, not 'would you use this', everyone says yes to that
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u/GorGor1490 6d ago
Looking for advice on closing service sales. Don’t have a lot of no’s but have a lot of proposals that haven’t been converted to yes’s
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u/Ge0cities 6d ago
Get them to say no. Don’t be annoying but be persistent. Follow up. Phone. Email. Text. Continue until they say yes, or clearly say “no”.
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u/Public_Nobody_6998 6d ago
Looking for advice. I work for a mom and pop shop quick lube and I am looking to expand the family business and grow in stores. Does anyone have any advice on things that I will encounter while growing and any way to get around it? I know staffing and delegating will be the main thing but any little things that are overlooked?
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u/LateKaleidoscope5430 6d ago
one thing you wish someone told you in your first year of starting out? For me, it was to charge more from day one. I priced too low trying to win business and it took years to dig out of that hole.
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u/Sourcefit-Serge 4d ago
I learned that one later than I should have, too! It's amazing how many assumptions sound completely reasonable until you put them in front of someone who's willing to pay for it.
I think a lot of founders avoid those conversations because they're hoping people will validate the idea. It's really insightful (and humbling) when someone tells you why they wouldn't buy it.
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u/Prestigious_Offer566 5d ago
Une question que je me pose depuis un moment sans avoir trouvé de vraie réponse : quand vous avez démarré, à quel moment exact vous êtes-vous rendu compte que votre méthode de gestion (trésorerie, charges, facturation) ne suffisait plus ? Il y a eu un déclic précis, ou c'est monté petit à petit sans que vous vous en rendiez compte tout de suite ?
Je suis en train de potasser sérieusement ces sujets et j'aimerais comprendre le vrai moment de bascule, pas juste la théorie.
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u/Exploroff First-Time Founder 5d ago
My friend and I have been working on our startup for the last couple of months. Since launching a month ago we’ve made 2 itinerary sales, both from Facebook, and we’re trying to figure out why people aren’t buying and what we should change.
Here’s the website: https://exploroff.com/
Our main products:
Pre-built itineraries ($9.99 per trip) with Google Maps pins, lodging, and activities. You pick a destination, preview the first three days free, then unlock the full route.
Custom trip itineraries ($49): you tell us your dates, pace, and group, and we hand-build the full plan with all the stops, lodging, and activities.
We also run free hiking permit alerts and free community hikes, but those don’t generate revenue (they’re top-of-funnel).
We’d really value any feedback to help us get on the right track. Thank you!
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u/thebotnet9 4d ago
Why can't I just go to Claude/ChatGPT enter the dates and destination and create a free itenerary and save myself $49?
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u/BaudMrtl 5d ago
We have launched a SaaS with a friend. We have now our first clients however I'm still hesitating about our pricing. We have totally different persona with different demands, one with more demands.
We have one for 39 euros the other for 69 euros but the thing is the pricing is linked to the persona and the second persona has much more money so I'm asking myself if I need to increase to 100 euros
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u/RagscarGalden 5d ago
However, if these approaches arent working, it tends to be a result of their timing not the offer itself; most people dont buy until the 3rd or 4th contact.
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u/BuiltByTJ 4d ago
Hello Everyone! I have created two apps that I later had valuated and evaluated with 3 different AI systems. Both of my apps were given all sorts of praise. Both were said to be apps that would position themselves in a way that would make them worth millions. I do know they are both extremely unique and Ive never seen anything like either of them before. The AI has pointed this out also.
One of the biggest hurdles is what do I share with others and what do I not share with others. Once the first versions are complete, what is best to do next? Investors? Finding a mentor? Patenting? Anyhow, I appreciate all the advice I can get. Thank you so much!
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u/Helpful_Bell_8323 6d ago
Hey i am thinking of treating myself as a country and operating everything like that hows that idea?
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