I know the basics of PowerPoint and I can make a decent enough presentation, but you know somehow everything I make ends up looking similar. Title at the top, a few points underneath, maybe a image on the side. Change the colours and it's basically the same deck again.

I've tried those existing templates Office has but most of them either look too corporate or have so many design elements that they do not really work with my content.

I was checking out Gamma recently and liked some of the layouts it generated but which got me wondering if I should use AI for design inspiration and a first cut rather than trying to build everything from scratch myself? but Id also like to get bettter at this w/o spending on a tool every single time. How do u guys approach slide design when you have the content ready but no real idea how to present visually? any res. or ways that helped u?

I have a business that’s relatively new. Currently I have one client that I’ve been with for two years, made a resident portal for them (it’s an HOA). I want to get leads that need websites in general or a niche, whichever would be more ideal. Whether no site or poor site, doesn’t matter. Unsure how to go about it, I’ve done cold calling on leads I verified myself, probably about 50-75 calls, I got to the owner about 20% of the time. Four showed interest and gave me contact info and took mine but didn’t reach out. One scheduled a meet on that call but canceled ahead of time and didn’t call for a reschedule. Did a few cold emails, didn’t work, but didn’t do many so not surprised. Any tips?

Hi good night all, I am Mike, working for around 2 years on an idea called WRELAD. WRELAD.com , Wrelad.com/start is a social marketplace for creators: sell any kind of art, get discovered, and team up with other creators. The idea is one site where independent creators sell comics, books, music, art and animation from a single profile.

Collaborators can agree on revenue splits directly on the site and get paid from the same sale. Buyers can also make purchases without creating an account. The platform includes promotional, editing, design, and publishing tools, all in one place. I really do believe it has a place in the world and the feedback I got from partner businesses / creators is that they see my potential with the features I have in the works.

I just keep coming up with ideas for new features and improvements, especially as trends change, but I haven’t focused on outreach as much as I’d like. So far, the site has about four content creators and around 20 users, though not all of them are active. I do know personally that the creators on the site all have major plans to focus their full content catalogue on my site so I believe they will be major players for me later , especially as they are all from different businesses and have some following but right now everything feels slow.

I do post to linkedin, x and instagram often and aim to be active on socials and I have had some decent feedback some days but not as much as I would like also. Any advice I would appreciate thanks.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to connect with a few business owners who are serious about growing their businesses and getting more paying customers.

I help businesses identify where they’re losing potential customers and build systems to bring in more leads, convert those leads into appointments, and ultimately generate more revenue.

Here’s what I focus on:

Facebook & Instagram Ads: Creating targeted Meta advertising campaigns designed to attract potential customers who are interested in your services.

Lead Generation: Building funnels that turn interested prospects into actual inquiries and booked appointments.

Fixing Revenue Leaks: Identifying problems with your website, booking process, marketing, and customer follow-up that could be costing you business.

Automated Follow-Ups + Google Reviews: Making sure potential customers don’t get forgotten after they inquire and a service is completed

AI-Powered Systems: Using automation, AI agents, and other tools where they actually make sense for your business.

Conversion Optimization: Improving the process that turns website visitors and leads into paying customers.

What makes my approach different?
I don’t believe in throwing money at ads when a business has problems converting the customers it already attracts.
First, we identify what’s broken. Then we fix it. After that, we use targeted advertising to bring in more opportunities and track what’s actually working.

I’m currently looking for a few business owners to work with.
I’m offering a free, personalized business growth audit where I’ll examine your online presence, identify potential missed opportunities, and show you what I’d recommend improving.

If I see an opportunity where I can help, I can also put together a custom demo so you can see what a solution might look like.

No pressure or obligation.

If you own a business, I’d love to hear:
What industry are you in?
What’s your biggest challenge with acquiring customers?
Have you tried Facebook or Instagram ads before? If so, how did they perform?

Feel free to comment below or message me directly. Happy to connect with business owners who are serious about growth.

It made sense when we were five people and watching every dollar. Now that the team is bigger, the noise and constant interruptions are getting hard to ignore. Did you make the move to cubicles at a certain team size? Was the cost worth it?

We used phone calls before, but always had to work around when clients were available. We also tried emailing, but we had to spend a lot of extra time organizing and writing. We even shared Google Drive folders directly, but after seeing the photos, some clients would still ask what stage things were actually at.

I thought with so many tools online now, it would be easy to find software or an AI tool that fit my needs. Turned out I tried a few, and none of them worked very well.

Having no other option, I figured I would try making one myself. After going through quite a few tutorials, I built a custom tool on WorkBuddy. Never expected that someone like me with zero coding skills could actually build it.

First, I set up a skill to check our project knowledge base in Notion. After our team takes job site photos, they upload them to the knowledge base, and it automatically downloads the photos.

Then I set up a second skill to have an AI model analyze these photos, and free deepseek is enough. This step determines the current construction stage, such as how much wall painting is done, whether lights are installed, and which steps are completed, while tagging the photos with the corresponding construction stage.

When I need to report to a client, I can directly send the relevant photos and progress over, without having to dig through photos and organize them myself.

Later, I found that these progress photos could actually be used for promotion too. Rather than just hearing me describe a project, a lot of clients prefer seeing the actual job site details and the final results directly.

So after getting permission from clients, I have the tool reorganize these photos, pick out the in progress and finished shots that are good for showcasing, and then post them to Instagram and TikTok. That way, whenever someone wants to see my work down the road, they can just check out my social media pages.

Hi,

I run a B2B printing company based in the UK, offering prints like flyers, business cards, posters, banners, custom clothing etc.

I’m looking for ways to grow the business to a point where it’s steady and consistent, but I don’t have a huge amount of ideas regarding what channels to focus on, what works, what doesn’t, where to invest etc.

It’d be great to get some opinions on what works within the UK, and any other tips you may have, maybe from running your own business?

Also, as a 20 year old, it’d be great to connect with other business owners within the UK, this would be really helpful and greatly appreciated, comment if so.

Any feedback / advice would be great.

Trying to validate a boring business before I build it. Be brutal.
The idea: I read my metro's public building permit records every week and email residential GCs and remodelers the projects matching their trade — additions, remodels, ADUs, garage conversions, decks. Each entry: address, permit number, scope as filed, valuation, status, and the contractor field exactly as shown (sometimes a company name, sometimes "To Bid," sometimes blank).
Not leads. A permit means someone got permission to build, not that they're shopping. Some jobs are already staffed. No phone numbers, I don't contact homeowners.
$30/month, month to month, cancel anytime. Capped at 3 subscribers per trade.
Second product for subs/suppliers: a monthly sheet of the busiest GCs pulling permits — who, what kind of work, how active. For subs trying to get on a busy builder's list.
The only question that matters: GCs/remodelers — would you prepay $30 for month one right now? Subs — would the GC sheet be worth $30 to you? And what kills it for you?

The backstory:

I want to launch my first online business as a solo builder after building for others for 10 years. I won't advertise it here, but it's a tool that can be helpful for every website on the WWW.

The product is ready (yesterday it got approved by the payment provider, as I live in Georgia and Stripe, Paddle, etc. are not working with its business status).

The X (twitter) and Threads accounts got > 100 and 200 followers in just a few days.
*the tag for both is (at)okarabuilds if somebody gets interested

The issue:

The followers are builders like me. So I've been happy to see the counter growing, but now I think it won't help me with lead generation, as all devs can do what I sell.

My perfect client is a website owner without a "dev" background (small businesses, vibecoded sites, etc.)

I trying cold mails right now, almost sure it will get me a few clients this month, but so far 70 mails sent, few clicks, no platform interaction. testing templates atm

ofc you can say: hey, run ads... and I will! but I want to prove my business can work with just $1 per client now instead of ~$ 50. I want to charge normally, polish the texts, the product, and the communication, and then go bananas on ads.

I guess this dilemma is very common, and somebody has solved it already and can give advice, I'd really appreciate it 🙏

Everyone talks about ads, social media, and getting more leads, but curious what actually worked for people here.

Was it referrals, changing your pricing, improving your service, or something completely different?

Would be interesting to hear what made the biggest difference.

Hi everyone,

I recently launched a direct-to-consumer women's eveningwear brand focusing on structured corset dresses, heavy satin gowns, and special event wear. We prioritized product quality—our pieces feature built-in bust support, double V-shape corset boning, and heavy-weight fabrics. We also stocked inventory in a US warehouse so customers get fast 3-day shipping.

After 3 months live, here are our current metrics:

• Traffic: Running Meta and Google ads bringing in ~300 targeted visitors a day, but the bounce rate is high and conversion is currently stagnant at 0%.
• Pricing: We initially priced items around the $100–$150 mark to build accessibility, but it hasn't moved the needle.
• Influencer/PR: Sent out 15+ PR packages to 10k-follower creators. Less than 6 acknowledged it, and those who posted only shared fleeting IG stories with zero traffic generated. Cold outreach emails also yielded no results.
• Content: Posting 3x a week on IG (GRWMs, voiceovers, behind-the-scenes).

I would love your feedback and advice on my core questions:

1. The Trust Deficit: For a higher-consideration category like eveningwear/gowns, how do you overcome the "new brand distrust" when nobody knows who you are? Is low pricing actually hurting perceived quality?
2. Ad Traffic Leakage: If paid traffic brings in 300 visitors a day with zero add-to-carts or checkouts, is this primarily a landing page/social proof issue, or a targeting failure?
3. Strategy Adjustment: What would you focus on changing heading into month 4—the pricing strategy, landing page design, or ad creative?

Any advice, teardowns, or critiques are deeply appreciated!

Hey everyone!

I've been exploring a business idea and wanted to get some honest feedback before investing too much time into it.

My background is in sales, GTM, and physical-product eCommerce, and I've been looking into the challenges companies face when expanding internationally, particularly between the US and European markets.

One thing that stands out to me is how many moving parts there are before you can even determine whether entering a new market makes financial sense.

I'm considering building a service that helps businesses evaluate the feasibility of entering a specific foreign market before committing significant capital.

The idea would be to provide a comprehensive, actionable assessment covering:

• Market & Product: local demand, competition, pricing, product-market fit, and potential adaptations.
• Taxes & Regulations: applicable tax obligations, import duties, certifications, and regulatory requirements.
• Financial Feasibility: estimated initial investment, operating costs, margins, break-even scenarios, and potential profitability.
• Go-to-Market: distribution channels, logistics, marketplaces, and recommended entry strategies.
• Final Assessment: an evidence-based Go/No-Go recommendation identifying key opportunities, risks, and potential dealbreakers.

Essentially, the goal would be to help answer: "Is this market worth entering, what would it realistically take, and does the financial upside justify the risk?"

But rather than assume companies need this, I'd love to hear from founders who've actually navigated international expansion.

A few questions:

1. How did you evaluate a foreign market before entering it? Did you conduct the research internally or hire external help?
2. What were the biggest challenges, unexpected costs, or mistakes you encountered?
3. Have you ever paid for a market feasibility study or external research? What did you pay, and was it worth it?
4. Would having this information consolidated into a single actionable assessment have changed your decision-making process? Or would you rather handle it internally?
5. I'm particularly interested in eCommerce and physical-product businesses, but experiences from other industries are welcome too.

I'm not selling anything. Just trying to understand whether there's a genuine problem worth solving and how businesses currently approach it.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

Anyone else ever feel scared to put themselves out there?

I’ve been working on building my own app, and I know that making videos about it would probably help me grow and get it in front of more people. The problem is, I get really anxious just thinking about actually posting a video.

It’s not even necessarily strangers on the internet that I’m worried about. It’s the people around me who already know me. Friends, family, acquaintances, or just anyone who might come across my videos and judge me for trying something different.

I think part of me is scared of being seen trying, if that makes sense. Like, what if people think it’s embarrassing, make fun of me, or wonder why I’m suddenly putting myself out there? Even though I know I’m doing something productive and trying to build something of my own, I still care too much about what people might think.

The frustrating part is that I genuinely WANT to make videos and promote what I’ve been working on. I just feel like I’m letting the fear of other people’s opinions hold me back.

For anyone who’s experienced something similar, especially if you’ve started a business, created content, or put yourself out there publicly, how did you get past this? Does it eventually stop feeling so uncomfortable, or do you just learn to do it anyway?

I’d genuinely appreciate hearing your experiences because I feel like this is something I need to get over.

I built nomback.com. Restaurants get their own ordering app for $99 a month with no commission, and anyone who introduces a restaurant owner gets paid $320 if it goes live.

The problem I keep running into is trust. "We pay you $320" sounds like a scam even when it isn't, and I'm not sure the page gets past that.

nomback.com/?utm_source=growmybusiness

Three things I want honest answers on. What did you think it was in the first 5 seconds? What's the first thing that made you suspicious? And if you knew a restaurant owner, what would stop you from signing up?

The first restaurant is live on the App Store if you want to check it's real. I'll reply to everyone and actually change things based on what you say.

I've recently launched a small business website, and I'm realizing that building the website might actually be the easy part. Getting people to find it is a completely different challenge.

I've been trying a few different things, including Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, and working on getting indexed by Google. So far, traffic has been pretty limited.

I'm not looking to spend money on advertising right now, so I've been trying to figure out what actually works for a new business starting from scratch.

For those of you who have launched your own websites, how did you get your first real visitors? Was it social media, Google searches, online communities, or something else?

I'm especially interested in what worked when you had little to no audience and weren't spending money on ads.

I'd appreciate hearing what worked for you and what you wouldn't waste time on again.