c/detroit-biz-owners

TIL my regular cash flow spreadsheet was hiding a slow bleed of $400 a month in small fees

I've been paying $25 a month for a booking software I barely use and $15 for a domain I forgot about. Took me 3 hours last Sunday to cancel everything and switch to a free option for scheduling. Any other Detroit owners find surprise costs eating into their margins after they had to replace a broken POS system?

2 comments

bettyk53•2d ago

Shoutout to the landlord who let me take over a vacant corner spot in Hamtramck

I finally opened my little cafe three weeks ago after hunting for space for 8 months. What I keep noticing is how many people here mess up their lease negotiations by not asking about utilities separately. My buddy signed a deal and got hit with a $600 water bill his first month because the landlord lumped it in as a flat fee. I asked for itemized bills from the previous tenant and saved myself a headache. How do you all handle utility costs in your lease agreements?

2 comments

finley_bennett28•2d ago

Found a cheap way to get commercial insurance for my pressure washing rig

I called around to five different agencies for liability insurance on my truck setup and got quotes from $400 to $800 a month. Then a friend who runs a landscaping biz told me to try a specialty broker for power washing in Dearborn. Ended up paying $280 a month with better coverage. Anyone else find a broker that actually worked for their biz?

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kevin_carr•2d ago

That time a landlord told me to ditch my pizza shop lease when times got hard

Back in 2021 my landlord Mr. Davis said I should break my lease on a pizza spot in Hamtramck because I was losing $300 a month. I thought he was crazy, like why would a landlord let you walk away from rent money? Turns out he knew the block was dying and wanted a chance to find a new tenant who could actually make it work. I took his advice, moved my operation to a food truck, and now I'm actually in the black. Has anyone else had a landlord give you solid business advice that saved your tail?

2 comments

tessa_kelly•3d ago

Had a chat with a old school butcher at Eastern Market who made me rethink my whole approach to pricing

So I was grabbing some pork shoulders at Eastern Market yesterday, and this guy who's been running his stall for 40+ years just straight up told me I was crazy for charging by the pound on my smoked meats. He said I should be charging by the time it takes, not the weight. It hit different because he broke it down with actual numbers, like how a 10 hour smoke is worth way more than the meat cost. Has anyone else switched up their pricing model based on something another biz owner said?

2 comments

calebm46•4d ago

Frustrated with city permitting until I found the secret backdoor

I spent a year losing time to junk food orders and lazy lunches that cost my shop $400 a month easily. Three months ago I signed up with a local meal prep service off 8 Mile, $8 per meal and they drop off twice a week. My crew works faster, I save money, and nobody naps after 2pm anymore. What are you guys doing for lunch that doesn't kill your bottom line?

3 comments

ericp67•4d ago

Chatted with a landlord near Eastern Market who made me rethink commercial leases

Ngl, I always thought commercial leases were pretty standard. But this guy who owns like 4 buildings over off Gratiot told me he's been burned twice by hidden clauses. One had a maintenance clause that basically made him pay for structural repairs the landlord should have covered. Cost him $12k. He said always have a lawyer who does commercial real estate look at it, not just any lawyer. Now I'm second guessing the lease I'm about to sign for my shop. Anybody else run into nightmare lease stuff?

2 comments

the_elizabeth•6d ago

Put $800 into a storefront air conditioner that barely cooled the place down

I run a small retail shop in Hamtramck and last summer I got desperate when the heat hit. Found a used commercial AC unit on Facebook Marketplace for $800, seemed like a steal. Guy said it worked fine, just needed a minor refrigerant top-up. Hired a local HVAC guy for another $200 to install it and check it out. Turned it on during a 90 degree day and it barely dropped the temp 5 degrees after two hours. HVAC guy told me the compressor was shot and it'd cost more to fix than the unit was worth. Ended up renting a portable unit for the rest of the summer and saving for a proper system. Has anyone else gotten burned buying used equipment for their shop?

2 comments

elizabeth438•8d ago

My POS system crashed during lunch rush last Tuesday

I run a small sandwich shop in Hamtramck and my old Square terminal just gave out right at noon. Line was out the door and I had to write orders on napkins for about 45 minutes. I was scrambling to call my buddy who runs a food truck and he told me to download a free app on my phone to take payments. It worked okay but I lost about $80 in sales because people got impatient and left. That whole experience made me realize I need a backup system for busy days. Has anyone else here had a register fail on them mid-shift and what do you keep as a spare?

2 comments

martinez.anna•8d ago

Warning: was running my shop on the wrong payment processor for 2 years

I got a call from a customer last month complaining our card reader double-charged them. When I looked into my merchant account statement, I realized I was paying 3.5% per swipe when Square only charges 2.6%. That extra 0.9% on like $40k in monthly sales added up to $360 a month I was just burning. Has anyone else found cheaper processing through a local credit union instead of the big names?

2 comments

emerycarr•9d ago

Shoutout to the old school tactic I found in a filing cabinet from 1998

I was digging through old records from the previous owner of my shop on Gratiot and found a handwritten list of customer nicknames and their usual orders. Started using it to greet people by name and pull up their usual part before they even asked. Sales went up about 15% in the first month just from that little personal touch. Anyone else find some weird gem left behind by a previous owner that actually worked?

3 comments

the_william•9d ago

Rant: Dropped $400 on those 'pro' window cleaning squeegees and they left streaks

I run a small pressure washing and window cleaning gig here in Detroit. Bought a set of Unger squeegees and a brass channel for $400 from a supply shop on Michigan Ave. First job on a 3 story office building and the rubber was leaving lines everywhere. Wasted half a day redoing windows I already did. Has anyone else tried those Ettore brass channels instead?

2 comments

barbara_taylor83•12d ago

Overheard a guy at Great Lakes Coffee complaining about rent hikes

I was waiting for my order and this guy next to me was on the phone saying his landlord jacked his commercial lease 18% this year, no warning. It got me thinking about how many small biz owners in Detroit are just one rent increase away from closing. Anyone else dealing with lease renewals that are way higher than expected?

2 comments

piper_dixon45•12d ago

Was dead set against hiring a bookkeeper until my quarterly tax bill hit $4,200

Three years ago I was doing all my own books for my plumbing crew in Detroit. Thought I was saving money by handling it myself. Then last quarter I missed a deduction on some pipe supplies and owed way more than I planned. My buddy Mike who runs a roofing crew kept telling me to hire someone, I finally listened last month. Anyone else fight the urge to do everything yourself and regret it later?

2 comments

the_charles•13d ago

Stop overpaying for commercial trash pickup in Detroit - here's what I found

I just switched my sandwich shop from Waste Management to a smaller hauler called Green Valley Disposal and saved $240 a month. Turns out most of us are locked into contracts with these big companies that tack on fuel surcharges and environmental fees nobody reads. Ask around at your local Chamber of Commerce meeting - I got the tip from the guy who runs the bike shop on Gratiot. Anybody else find a better deal by going local?

2 comments

ramirez.sage•16d ago

Spent 4 hours chasing a phantom drain in my shop's basement

Turned out a raccoon had chewed through the PVC pipe under the floor, and I only found it because I noticed the water bill was $200 higher than normal. Anyone else deal with critters messing up their plumbing?

2 comments

gavins43•16d ago

Hot take: paying for those business listing services is mostly a scam

I used to pay $99 a month to some company that claimed they'd get my BBQ popup listed on every directory in Detroit. Found out last week from a friend who runs a web dev shop that most of those listings never get indexed by Google anyway. He showed me his own audit where only 3 out of 18 listings from one of those services showed up in search results. I cancelled my subscription right after that. Has anyone else actually checked if their paid listings are working?

2 comments

skyler_anderson65•17d ago

Just found out my shop's been overpaying 12% on waste disposal for 2 years

Was going through old invoices last week and noticed a competitor down the street pays way less for the same hauler. Called around and found a smaller scrapping company that'll do our metal and cardboard for $90 a month instead of $140. Anyone else find savings buried in their regular bills?

2 comments

emma768•17d ago

Old cash register gave out during lunch rush yesterday

Our 1980s NCR register finally died right at noon yesterday. Had to dig out the backup receipt book and do everything by hand for 45 minutes while the line wrapped around the counter. Any other shop owners here still running old equipment that's on its last legs?

2 comments

patricia_wells•18d ago

That one chat with a baker on Gratiot Avenue changed how I price my pastries

She told me she adds 30% to every ingredient cost and still gets customers lining up at 6 AM so why was I underselling myself for 2 years, has anyone else had a stranger give them a pricing reality check?

2 comments

the_jenny•21d ago

My uncle swore by that cheesy 90s CRM and I laughed at him

Last year my uncle Stan, who runs a small auto shop in Hamtramck, told me to use GoldMine CRM for my landscaping business. I thought he was stuck in 1998 and ignored him for 6 months. Finally tried it after dropping $300 on a flashy new app that crashed twice a week. Now I owe him a steak dinner because that old system still works perfectly for tracking my repeat clients.

2 comments

alice242•25d ago

Just ran the numbers on my parking lot lease downtown

Found out my landlord is charging me $8 per space per day while the city ramp across the street gets $15. I pulled the city's public contract from the city website last night and compared. Anyone else getting hosed on parking deals in their lease without realizing it?

2 comments

hannah_williams•25d ago

Thought QR code menus were a fad for restaurants but they actually saved my crew time

Honestly, I was that guy rolling my eyes when places started switching to those scan-to-order things. Figured it was just another tech gimmick that would die off in a year. But after watching my guys waste 20 minutes per lunch break waiting for a server at a packed diner near 7 Mile, I gave in. That was 8 months ago and we've cut our mid-shift downtime by almost 15%. The real kicker was when the owner showed me their sales data - they actually saw an 18% bump in ticket averages because people add drinks easier. Has anyone else found a tool they hated at first that ended up making a real difference in how you run things?

2 comments

reese86•27d ago

Took a walk down Michigan Ave last weekend and counted 12 empty storefronts

I was grabbing lunch at that new taco spot near the old train station, and I got curious about how many places were just sitting empty. Between Trumbull and 18th, I counted 12 spaces with faded signs still up and papers in the windows. It kind of bummed me out because three of those used to be solid businesses I'd visit regularly. Have any of you seen landlords dropping rent rates lately to fill spots in that corridor?

2 comments

jake191•27d ago

Tried running Facebook ads for my shop on Gratiot and got zero sales after spending $150

I own a small vintage clothing store near Eastern Market, and I ran a two week Facebook ad campaign targeting people within 5 miles. I spent $150 and got a bunch of likes and shares, but not a single person walked in with a coupon from the ad. I guess the algorithm just doesn't work for brick and mortar places around here. Has anyone else had better luck with Instagram or flyers in the neighborhood?

3 comments