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    3. Looking for advice: How do I find out what stocks to invest into?

      Ask (advice)
      First of all, I am not asking for advice about what to invest in. TLDR: I just want to ask for advice about how to know what to invest into? Background information and/or irrelevant rambling...

      First of all, I am not asking for advice about what to invest in.

      TLDR: I just want to ask for advice about how to know what to invest into?

      Background information and/or irrelevant rambling below:

      I have minimal experience with stocks, having only invested €2500 into a pension account thanks to it being a gift from my father some years ago. Early this year I got taxed about €200 for unrealized gains of my stocks, mainly one of them (RHM.DE) and it takes up a little more than half of the value of the stocks I have. At that point in time when I got taxed it was up almost 100% compared to when I bought it almost two years ago. It has now fallen quite far again and as a result is up less than 10% and my gains are €180 so basically the massive gains (if I had sold at the right time) got cancelled from the taxes. Although to be fair I don't actually know if that's how the tax system works, but I do know I was unlucky to not just sell it off at that peak. But speaking of luck, I am still up like 60% overall thanks to another lucky stock which is up 150% (ENR.DE) compared to when I bought it.

      Again, I have no sense for economics or financials or investing lol, genuinely just lucky??

      The investing I did was based entirely on Merz changing the direction of German defense policy when he got elected where he said his government will heavily invest in defense. Rheinmetall being a German weapons manufacturer, it only made sense (and it paid off for a while) and the Siemens investment I made was just an afterthought in order to not have all my eggs in one basket. I also have other stocks that are up like 60% 75%, 90%, and then get this: a stock I didn't even buy (it was like a split-off of something else, and given to me automatically?) is up over 800% so I still have an overall value of €4000 from a starting point of about €2500 and €1500 gained in less than two years is, of course, and I cannot emphasize this enough, just purely luck lol

      I might as well have gone to a casino.

      Long story short and reason for posting I'm now wondering what to do with that RHM.DE stock. Because it doesn't seem good anymore and maybe the ~€2100 value is better spent somewhere else? But how do I know?

      23 votes

    9. Independents/freelancers: how do you find new business?

      Ask (survey)
      I struggle with this myself. And after speaking to dozens of independents, they either rely on word of mouth from previous contracts or have the one long term contract and hope it doesn’t end. But...

      I struggle with this myself. And after speaking to dozens of independents, they either rely on word of mouth from previous contracts or have the one long term contract and hope it doesn’t end.

      But that’s not actionable for acquiring new business, it’s kinda like waiting for the rain to fall.

      Then there is the crowd that sells LinkedIn masterclasses where posting everyday just the right AI generated words will generate infinite inbound messages and business opportunities, they promise.

      I don’t believe in the LinkedIn miracle, I think these courses are a scam.

      But I don’t have an alternative either and need to acquire new business to remain financially sustainable.

      I do custom software engineering (custom line of business applications) on my own, and devops + infra with a couple of friends (we each have a specialty and we split the work based on our strengths)

      So, independent tilderinos, how do you find new business and keep your business afloat?

      14 votes

    20. I'm starting a small business: any advice?

      Ask (advice)
      Hi all! I'm starting a (very) small business in the near future, and I am looking for some advice (or just encouragement or reality checks, anything helps). For clarity, I'm in the US and want to...

      Hi all! I'm starting a (very) small business in the near future, and I am looking for some advice (or just encouragement or reality checks, anything helps). For clarity, I'm in the US and want to make/sell products of my own design without screwing myself over through lack of planning.

      More details for those who want them

      I've come up with a primary product idea, and the first prototypes have been made and are being tested by trusted friends in my industry. I work for a company who is willing to buy the finished product from me and market/sell it as a distributor, and there is already precedent for employees having exactly this relationship with my employer, where they make things "off the clock" and sell them to the company for distribution.

      My main concerns are:

      1. Liability - I don't want to get sued and lose my house. I plan to make my business an LLC to help with this.
      2. Privacy - I would rather not have my personal address out there for anyone to find if they decide they don't like my product. I've heard that paying a company to be my registered agent can help with this, but I don't know how easy/safe/expensive this is.
      3. Financial sustainability - I don't want to lock myself into really expensive overhead issues by having other companies handle administrative tasks (like getting my tax ID and filing my LLC application) that are easy enough for me to do myself, however -
      4. Time investment sustainability - I don't want to spend so much time chasing down paperwork issues that I come to hate/not have time for making my products.
      5. Keeping options open - I'm not sure at this stage if I will end up continuing to make these products myself long-term, or if I will eventually try to sell the product design to a third party. I already have a third party in mind, and I think I have a good chance of getting them on board if I choose to. I've assumed that I'll need to patent my product to have even a chance of selling the idea later, but -
      6. Patents - they're expensive! Or so I've heard. Is it really that bad, and do I have to deal with a lawyer? Are there lower cost resources that won't end up stealing my idea or giving me a pittance in exchange for it? I'm new and dumb and exactly the kind of first-timer that I can imagine getting a lump-sum that feels very high, only to find that I undervalued my product. Or, on the other hand, I could over-value the idea to the point that I foolishly turn down a good offer and never get it sold.

      I also plan to make additional products that don't pertain to my industry in the same way, which I might sell on etsy or something. I've done this a bit before, and it went just fine. This is just the first time that I've had the potential to make enough money to matter for tax purposes, and the first time that I'm selling a tool that costs enough and could be distributed widely enough for there to be an increased chance of someone becoming upset if they break something with it and try to sue me or some such nonsense.

      Has anyone here ever tried to start a small business like this? Or interacted with the US patent system?

      Any advice or anecdotes are welcome!

      28 votes

    25. Do you own/run a business? What is it, where is it, how do you get customers?

      Ask
      Businesspeople of Tildes, what do you do? I want to hear about people running and owning businesses, whether they have employees or are freelancers. What do you do? Where are you based? How do you...

      Businesspeople of Tildes, what do you do? I want to hear about people running and owning businesses, whether they have employees or are freelancers.

      What do you do? Where are you based? How do you find your customers? Can you live 100% from your business? What do you like most about it? What would you do differently? What bothers you the most about it? How did you get the idea?

      38 votes