What r/smallbusiness keeps coming back to
Complaints raised here by more than one person. One-off posts are not included.
149 recurring problems · 641 threads read · read since September 2026 · Reddit
Raised more than once here
Most people first.
- 72How to stop letting accounting stress ruin my life?“My mind is constantly playing with me, making myself work countless hours per day, as I just know I may not get this opportunity again, and as a result of not resting, everything I do is just a big mess.”
- 48How to handle a bad contractor who won't fix poor work“We repeatedly had to follow up ourselves to get updates, find out if samples had shipped, ask what had changed between formulation rounds, get preparation instructions, and figure out what the next step was.”
- 33How to handle unexpected software subscription price hikes and slow support“Our POS company just raised our premium plan and it’s very frustrating”
- 31How to decide whether to invest excess savings or keep them in an HYSA“How do you actually pick a small business savings account for runway?”
- 30Why are contractor and window replacement quotes so absurdly high?“He's now saying he needs to know soon if we are going to do it because he can't pull and then put his engineers back on it later . Or ask for a requote”
- 29How to find reliable contractors who actually show up“I had a burst pipe and had to shut off my main. Called the number on the sticker and they couldn't dispatch anyone for a week.”
- 27how do I get my first client?“The difficult part is earning trust with business owners who do not know us yet.”
- 22How do I know if I can DIY a repair or need a pro?“I'd like some security but am having trouble choosing between hiring security guards directly or contracting a security firm.”
- 20Why is accounting software like QuickBooks so bad?“I literally just spent 2.5 hours of my time trying to troubleshoot a few accounts that Intuit disconnected.”
- 17How to figure out how much to charge for freelance work“I was charging rates that I set when I had zero experience and was desperate for any client I could get.”
- 16How to clean up messy CRM data after importing“Duplicate contacts seem like such a small problem at first, but they can make a CRM surprisingly messy over time...”
- 16Should customer support live inside our CRM?“I currently use Wave Pro as my accounting software for my single member LLC, but I'm looking to switch to something with semi-decent inventory management integration to use for my secondary revenue stream.”
- 16Is it a smart idea to buy a new car right now?“Does having a car increase your chances of getting work. Is it worth all the extra expenses, buying, insurance and upkeep of a car or do i just keep going.”
- 15Why do big companies require so many rigid formalities?“ALL of these clients have come with a tremendous amount of admin work.”
- 15How to balance a corporate career with having kids“I have 3 kids, travel 2 hours a day for work, hardly get to see them - and when I’m home the wife goes to work, I don’t want to live the rest of my life like this, I miss everything important with my children.”
- 14How to get Etsy traffic and sales for a niche store“ive been posting content but it always ends up being like some sort of a assemble a mini cakes w me and then its just a slideshow of all the steps or a video of me making it. I was wondering if anyone had ideas for new content i could make bc right now im trying to go viral to gain more views and then id start selling”
- 12How to pay for large emergency expenses without using credit“Basically I paid 22k for Q1 fed tax and again for Q2. My CPA says "woah sorry we told you those numbers, they are way too low, next to payments need to be 75k each"”
- 11Why are clients suddenly ghosting contracts and sales slowing down?“Within the last couple months both of us started slowing down. Weird things happening too. Like getting ghosted by basically everyone (this just started a few weeks back).”
- 11How to start a business with no industry experience“My main problem is that I don't know what I'm doing or where to start. I don't know much about accounting, ordering supplies (or where to buy from), setting prices, or management.”
- 10How to save money with unpredictable freelance income“One week you’re invoicing five clients and feeling on top of the world, the next you’re refreshing your email every hour waiting for payments to clear while bills pile up like they’re on a timer.”
What this forum worries about more than the rest
How much more often a topic shows up here than across every forum we read.
customer acquisition16.3×business startup16.3×business growth16.3×startup16.3×