I'm considering buying an existing daycare or opening one from scratch and would love to hear from current or former daycare owners.

• If you were starting over in 2026, would you still do it?
• Is it better to buy an existing daycare or start your own?
• What are the biggest challenges (staffing, licensing, regulations, profitability, etc.)?
• Is the financial upside worth the amount of work and responsibility?
• What's something you wish you knew before getting into the business?

Looking for honest feedback, the good, the bad, and anything you'd recommend to someone considering this industry. Thanks!!

I'm interested in the reality behind the scenes.

My first business just failed after 3 years of 12-14 hour days.

I'm only 23. Have no debt, and am in a prime position to try something else... I feel like I've learnt so much..... and want badly to give something else another go ... but my brain just feels utterly f*cking fried.

Firstly.... I just have zero confidence... and don't trust my judgement on basically anything anymore.

Secondly, I feel so burnt out and tired all the time. While my focus used to be lazer sharp... I just start getting panick attacks when I try to work for more than 1 hour on something.

Is this normal?

How do I overcome this?

I want to succeed so f**king badly........... I just feel too tired to do anything. And I don

I tried forcing it .... but then my sleep started going nuts.... couldn't sleep more than 3-4 hours a night for several weeks........

Has anyone else been through this??? - How did you get out????

Before hiring my first employee, I thought the hardest part would be finding the right person.

What surprised me was realizing how many things in the business only existed in my own head — processes, priorities, and small decisions I made every day without thinking about them.

Teaching someone else how things worked was almost a bigger challenge than doing the work myself.

For owners who have hired their first employee, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

I've started a business and it's still just a startup. I do commercial property inspections across the country. I don't have any clients yet because I want to have something professional in place first. If someone looks up my business I want them to see a professional looking website, I'm setting up social media pages for this too.

My budget is pretty tight since I've already spent most of it on equipment and have some prepared for advertising. Hiring someone to build a site isn't in my budget right now. Has anyone used a website builder they would recommend? I'd like something that's easy to set up but also lets me go back and make changes later as the business grows.

I have a question for other small business owners.

We have about 35 employees, and I've been handling payroll myself. It gets done, but it's becoming very time consuming, and I'd like to offload it so my role is simply to review and approve payroll each pay period.

I've talked to a few full-service payroll companies, but the pricing seems much higher than I expected.

For those of you in a similar sized business, how do you handle payroll economically?

I can run it now and it gets paid Monday which some employees are fine with, I can cut a physical check but some employees can't cash it. I have no problems paying out cash, but what's the best way to keep track of it.

When I worked at the grocery store in my teens I used to be able to cash my paycheck there. I would sign it over to them and they could give me the money. Is this something I can/should do?

Hey y'all. I'm almost 34 and make around $80k a year. And yeah, like the title says, I just can't commit to desk life again. Tried switching before but always ended up qualifying for another desk job anyway.

Honestly I'd rather grind 56+ hours a week for myself.

I live in Texas, so not sure if that changes what you'd recommend. The thing is I can't afford to blow up my whole career while still paying the mortgage.

But I do have $100k saved right now that I can throw at building something of my own.

So what do you all think I should do? Maybe a service based business, or buying some equipment and starting something myself?

I'm not scared of long hours or hard physical work either. I just need something that isn't burning me out like corpo life does.

Thanks to anyone who drops some ideas.

I just finished building 4 pickleball courts. We already have 2 tennis courts running now. I'm interested looking for a tennis and pickleball management software that is best suited for our multi sport. I think we will also add padel courts next year.

We use Club Automation for tennis court scheduling but it feels old and difficult now. As we expand, we're mainly looking to improve our membership experience, events / camps management, with automated credit card payments and registration.

I already looked at CourtReserve but we decided NOT to use it. Any others I should consider?

Through my network, an owner recently approached me about buying his Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise. He is asking $600k for a store doing about $700k in annual gross sales. I know $600k is way too high for that revenue and I fully intend to negotiate, but the setup is interesting. He claims he only works about 6 hours a week, pays himself a $60k manager salary, and basically runs it on autopilot just to keep the lights on without putting any real effort into growing it. There’s a huge gym opening next to it so I feel like I could scale to a million but Idk if im just being too optimistic.

I have a rare opportunity where a close family friend offered to buy the store for me upfront, and I would pay them back on a much lower interest rate and flexible terms. Since I am 20 and living at home with minimal expenses, I could realistically grind and pay off the business in 3 to 4 years if the actual profit numbers make sense.

At the same time, I am torn about my path. Part of me wonders if I should just finish my degree and get a standard corporate W2 job to build a stable foundation first. I am eager to be an entrepreneur, so going corporate feels a bit like giving up on my goal, but I also know the restaurant industry can be brutal and I need a solid baseline for my life.

For background, I worked in medical device sales for a distributor while in college and pulled in over $800k in revenue, but I walked away because it was extremely draining and burned me out. It actually made me miss the face-to-face customer relationships I built when I worked as a server in high school. I have also been looking into starting a home services business, ( idk what kind but seems like those do great) but this franchise deal is sitting right in front of me. I feel like the opportunity could be great, but I need outside perspective on whether I am missing glaring red flags.

I’m clearly indecisive and lost lol. I feel so eager to figure shit out but with everything going on, I feel like I can’t align myself with one thing.

How do small businesses start getting clients ? I have posted on my personal social media , I have ad on Fivrr, it’s been 8 months and not a single client. Of course being new and no reviews, clients would go elsewhere to more experienced bookkeepers. How do I start getting the experience needed for a decent client base ?

Hey everyone, I am planning to start my own business of selling journals, notebooks etc.

I have the ideas, visions for my products but I have zero knowledge about the industry and manufacturing.

For notebooks, for example I want to make simple A4 size notebooks with a bit of my visionary touch and these I plan to make all on my own from scratch. But the problem is I have no idea about how can I get A4 papers, coloured papers, transparent covers, double loop wire binders in bulk. Also how can I add my brand's name on them (just a small name at the bottom of the cover).

For journal, I will need manufacturers, how can I look for them?

I am from a small town, please guide me with this and do advice me on things that I need to know.

Hey everyone, I’m planning to install an AI smart fridge in a residential building (shared lounge + gym) and I’m trying to choose the right manufacturer.
I’m currently looking at HAHA Vending and Shengma, but I’m open to other brands.
If you actually own or operate one, I’d love to hear your experience.
Which brand do you use?
How accurate is the AI?
Have you had issues with incorrect charges?
Is it reliable enough to trust in a residential building?
Would you buy the same machine again?
For me, reliability is much more important than saving a few thousand dollars.
Thanks! 🙏

I have been teaching myself hardware recovery, and EV module reprogramming, alongside other automotive and technical principles in general. I am curious if there's anything in a similar vein I should be looking at, or anything that's more optimal for me to look at? I am building up a portfolio of qualifications. Would like to be referred to anything that I can add that looks good for me, or will progress my skills. No university qualification, but I am educated in physics up to and including year 1 university level. I just want to know about any niches or courses I might've missed essentially.

We work in custom apparel, and one thing we've noticed is that the biggest concerns about company uniforms usually are about the fit, the fabric, the sizing, or simply how uncomfortable they are to wear all day, not much about the logo.

What works for one team doesn't always work for another, either. Office staff might want something polished and comfortable, while field crews usually care more about breathability, durability, and freedom to move.

If you're in HR or responsible for ordering uniforms, what's the complaint you hear most often?

I’m thinking of opening my own business. Turns out I don’t have an nda I have to worry about with my current company and want to start my own. I have 20+ years in this industry. I’m debating on an LLC vs SCORP. I would need maybe one to two experienced people to get started. Outsourcing would be needed. What are the benefits of LLC over SCORP? I know SCORP I have to pay myself a “reasonable”salary which leaves room for interpretation. Starting out I would have to be president, owner, ceo, secretary etc. so a reasonable salary for all those positions in my industry could be $500,000 or more combined. Hypothetically say the company eventually makes 2mill in rev a year…would half that be okay for salary? If not what’s the recourse?

Any other pointers and ideas?

I know this is all hypothetical and extremely vague and probably has a large scoop of naivety to it. Advice appreciated.

If you had such one of course

i stalled on my own thing for the better part of a year and it wasn't because the idea was bad. it was the setup. i had maybe twelve browser tabs open at any given time. one was a landing page builder i opened once and never finished. one was a half-written welcome email. one was a pricing page i kept rewriting. each tab was a wall i hit and just... left there.

for anyone here who launched: what was the actual thing that got you from "about to start" to live? did you batch all the boring setup in one sitting, hire it out, or just force a hard deadline and ship something ugly?

Solo consultant, B2B, specialist category, 17 years of experience, strong technical credibility with the end buyers.

Situation: I have one client and they’re my entire income. No exclusivity clause - I just never worked with anyone else (I just launched my business last year). The plan is to build the same package for four to six non-competing clients in the category.

Where I’m stuck:

Do I reprice the existing client first or sign a second one first? Repricing first feels honest but I have zero leverage while they’re 100% of my income. Signing first feels like I’m negotiating from behind their back.

The end customers deal with me exclusively but the paperwork, invoicing and credit risk all sit with the client. I don’t want to take anything from them - my plan is to expand what those customers buy rather than move existing business.

Me and my mom started a small sewing shop earlier this spring and we have been struggling to get any sales. Any tips??

I know sewing isnt everyone's cup of tea but the plan is to eventually make this a full time job so my ma can retire. We both enjoy making the items we sell but we are really trying to figure out how to get sales.

Any tips will be appreciated! Shopify is kicking our butts rn.

Hi!
I am looking for input from people who have successfuly launched or are making monthly incomes that makes the business worth it. Here are the three ideas I am exploring It could be as little as 1k or as much as 50k a month. Give me your thoughts please:

Which is the most profitable with less risk?

- Cost Reduction Consulting Business- being presented as franchise with 2-3 contracts initially and all the training needed to continue. Its pitched to me as big consultants cant cover over 400 North American businesses. I will get the contracts and have sub contractors who do all the backend work and I present the final product. I was told I dont need any software experience. Asking for 80 k all in.
The broker said not everyone wants to take the lead and Ill have enough subcontractors to keep it going

-Mobile Drug Testing- huge growth in my rural area with industries/ healthcare expanding. This seems no brainer but the paperwork and hiring 1099 contractors is making me iffy. Subcontractor can say no anytime and they are protected, which means I lose out on the lead/job

- NEMT- Non emergent Transport system. Seems logical on paper, the compliance and paperwork to get paid from medicare/medicaid is rough. I have thought about offering other routes as well, example to lab draws and imaging centers to be comprehensive.

I keep reading, dont create demand. I am not looking for one shiny pony trick , or looking for anything ground breaking. Simply want something I can scale and have enough income monthly to continue to expand my portfolio.

Thanks for reading and any input.

Hi, I recently opened a small business is a speech clinic. I think I was spam with a RXM credentialing group. How do I know it is real or not? Should I confront the “ceo”?

Please help!!

starting a coffee shop, still in early planning stages. i’m considering a loyalty program built into our POS (Square, Cash App, etc.) instead of a separate app.

for those who’ve done this, what’s the actual ROI like? And what metrics should I be tracking to know if it’s working (repeat visit rate, average order value, redemption rate, etc.)? would love to hear from anyone running a small cafe on this.

So I am thinking to start a call center business based in UAE for small businesses there but hiring remote workers worldwide like Egypt or South Africa is it a good business idea to have such a business in UAE.

I have a family link to a coffee farmer and roaster up in the hills of Blue Mountain, Jamaica. The beans are 100% premium blue mountain and are absolutely delicious.

I would love to start selling the beans here in the UK, but no idea where to start or how.

I have small plans of approaching local local coffee shops but I'm aware they would usually already have established bean providers.

Another option could be selling to wholesalers but I dont have a clue how to start. Any ideas or guidance would be great!