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Business Owners

Joey

Joey

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Messages
7,315
Location
Canada
I have been working on the creation of two seperate businesses in the last year.

Redux In Press - A social media network and (upcoming) website in Canadian-based harm reduction and drug policy activism.

Here is the hub of all my freelance work, original and published articles and guides I'll be making, and some original research I plan on writing up. (Phosphor based life!)

In a communities section I will be linking to Bluelight Forums with the blessing of @Tronica

Attached to, as a part of Redux In Press will be..

StripDown - This business is in sales of at home use, harm reduction products. To start, fentanyl reagent test strips. Bottles of reagents with guides. Purity test kits. These are the main three things I plan to start with. I've got most of what I need to start, set to go in the background. The websites for RIP / StripDown and some final communication between myself and my supply.

With Stripdown I do plan on having a "reports" section where people can anonymously post their results to their area. Anything they test for. Over time I hope to be able to figure out some lab analysis style results ala getyourdrugsteated.com - I may just reach out to them once I'm rolling

My target demographics for sales are to harm reduction efforts across Canada, homeless hubs, safe injection, safe supply, needle exchanges, etc. I want these to be street level common knowledge before I'm focusing too much on retail although some retail is an obvious thing to do to have that end of things moving. Through my own website and head shops or convenience stores is my best route for now.

_-----------------+----


So these projects have been ongoing for quite awhile. I'm always looking into things, applying for programmes (got Staples preferred customer account today), studying what other people are doing. In the heat of my own life, this is the dream I hope to achieve this year and going into the next. RIP and Stripdown will be a go!


Do you own, or have any experience in business management? Let's hear it here.
 
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Joey said:
StripDown - This business is in sales of at home use, harm reduction products. To start, fentanyl reagent test strips. Bottles of reagents with guides. Purity test kits. These are the main three things I plan to start with. I've got most of what I need to start, set to go in the background. The websites for Redpress / StripDown and some final communication between myself and my supply.
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That's really interesting, me and a friend tried to do a similar thing a few years back with Marquis test kits, we were preparing them and offering them for a fraction of the price of Test Kit Plus, DanceSafe, etc. (the prices they charge are atrocious). But we didn't get any interest from the organizations we contacted and, since we didn't really want to run the retail end of things ourselves, eventually we just used whatever we had already made to test drugs for free at raves.

I've always dreamed of being an entrepreneur, but having landed a great job recently, I don't think I'll be trying my hand at it in the immediate future.

Best of luck! I'll be looking forward to checking out Redpress once it's ready.
 
S.J.B. said:
That's really interesting, me and a friend tried to do a similar thing a few years back with Marquis test kits, we were preparing them and offering them for a fraction of the price of Test Kit Plus, DanceSafe, etc. (the prices they charge are atrocious). But we didn't get any interest from the organizations we contacted and, since we didn't really want to run the retail end of things ourselves, eventually we just used whatever we had already made to test drugs for free at raves.

I've always dreamed of being an entrepreneur, but having landed a great job recently, I don't think I'll be trying my hand at it in the immediate future.

Best of luck! I'll be looking forward to checking out Redpress once it's ready.
Click to expand...

Out of all the social media channels I've started this is the one I've been the most active / consistent on thus far. I'm going to be upping the ante pretty soon with the website now registered to rednet.press (not yet under construction) and I'm getting more settled into my other work.
 
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Joey said:
I have been working on the creation of two seperate businesses in the last year.

Redpress Network - A social media network and (upcoming) website in Canadian-based harm reduction and drug policy activism.

Here is the hub of all my freelance work, original and published articles and guides I'll be making, and some original research I plan on writing up. (Phosphor based life!)

In a communities section I will be linking to Bluelight Forums with the blessing of @Tronica

Attached to, as a part of Redpress Network will be..

StripDown - This business is in sales of at home use, harm reduction products. To start, fentanyl reagent test strips. Bottles of reagents with guides. Purity test kits. These are the main three things I plan to start with. I've got most of what I need to start, set to go in the background. The websites for Redpress / StripDown and some final communication between myself and my supply.

With Stripdown I do plan on having a "reports" section where people can anonymously post their results to their area. Anything they test for. Over time I hope to be able to figure out some lab analysis style results ala getyourdrugsteated.com - I may just reach out to them once I'm rolling

My target demographics for sales are to harm reduction efforts across Canada, homeless hubs, safe injection, safe supply, needle exchanges, etc. I want these to be street level common knowledge before I'm focusing too much on retail although some retail is an obvious thing to do to have that end of things moving. Through my own website and head shops or convenience stores is my best route for now.

_-----------------+----


So these projects have been ongoing for quite awhile. I'm always looking into things, applying for programmes (got Staples preferred customer account today), studying what other people are doing. In the heat of my own life, this is the dream I hope to achieve this year and going into the next. Redpress and Stripdown will be a go!


Do you own, or have any experience in business management? Let's hear it here.
Click to expand...

I've got a degree in Business (Marketing). Seems like an interesting idea and I think Canada is more progressive drug-wise than Australia and the US. Not sure about the UK.. I suspect they are decent.

What is your main objective though?
 
AbbeyLee said:
Seems like an interesting idea and I think Canada is more progressive drug-wise than Australia and the US. Not sure about the UK.. I suspect they are decent.
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Oh, Canada is definitely much more progressive on drug policy than the U.K. And I think it would be fair to say that the province of British Columbia is the most progressive jurisdiction in the world when it comes to drug policy.
 
S.J.B. said:
Oh, Canada is definitely much more progressive on drug policy than the U.K. And I think it would be fair to say that the province of British Columbia is the most progressive jurisdiction in the world when it comes to drug policy.
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Oh ok. Well I love Gabor Maté who worked for 10+ years in Vancouver's skid row. Which province is Vancouver in?

Australia is similar to the US but stricter and supply is obviously a lot smaller. Kratom imports were banned in 2020 for god's sake. OTC codeine tablets were banned in 2018. Import of nicotine juice was banned last year I think.

Meanwhile, the alcohol industry has free reign. Our drinking culture has been compared to the US gun culture -- it's so ingrained most people aren't aware of it at all. Sucks for those of us who are trying to recover from alcoholism.
 
AbbeyLee said:
Oh ok. Well I love Gabor Maté who worked for 10+ years in Vancouver's skid row. Which province is Vancouver in?

Australia is similar to the US but stricter and supply is obviously a lot smaller. Kratom imports were banned in 2020 for god's sake. OTC codeine tablets were banned in 2018. Import of nicotine juice was banned last year I think.

Meanwhile, the alcohol industry has free reign. Our drinking culture has been compared to the US gun culture -- it's so ingrained most people aren't aware of it at all. Sucks for those of us who are trying to recover from alcoholism.
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Vancouver's in British Columbia. :)

Australia seems to have a more severe form of paternalism than the other Anglosphere countries, although it is of course not punitive to the extent that the U.S. is (the U.S. is in its own league, globally, on that front). Even video games that depict drug use are banned in Australia!
 
I have quite a lot of experience in business management. Ever since I was a child, I have helped my parents to make and sell furniture. I was taught how to communicate with customers, build a pricing policy and promote our services. The most important lesson I have learned about running a business is to run it legally. Any businessman should have no problems with the law. Later on, I decided to start my own business. I consulted a lawyer, registered a business, and opened a bank account. At https://www.moneyunder30.com/best-business-checking-accounts, I looked at the possible ones and chose the one that suited me best.
 
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Sound like solid models from the outside. You say starting them at street level? How do you plan on doing this?

I've got 10 years in marketing and advertising so would like to hear your approach on this and if I could offer any advice.
 
Throwdown said:
Sound like solid models from the outside. You say starting them at street level? How do you plan on doing this?

I've got 10 years in marketing and advertising so would like to hear your approach on this and if I could offer any advice.
Click to expand...
I'm aiming for social services hospitals, street outreach, safe supply, safe injection, and people like that. I'm coming from a place where I am a professional in harm reduction and peer support myself with some information detailing my background and a written article. Then I'm offering the lowest price point I can reasonably offer with the hope of a bulk, and repeating sale. Then they can be handed out freely, or as cheap as possible.

It's a pretty easy set of people for me to network with because I'm already networking with people like this all the time. I have some good starting connections and some interest generated already. I've been working at a fairly high level in this field for awhile now and don't feel I'll have much of a struggle generating those first sales. I may as well go in with some confidence anyway. Then once the first sales are down, the rest will come more easily as I nail down the process and have proof of sales to generate more sales interest.

Then I have one group who I am working with who is willing lt help me out on the advertising end. I just need to nail down my suppliers 100% and I'll be ready to go. I'm gonna fire off an email now actually. This venture is exciting. I think it's gonna change my life, and possibly many others!
 
Joey said:
I'm aiming for social services hospitals, street outreach, safe supply, safe injection, and people like that. I'm coming from a place where I am a professional in harm reduction and peer support myself with some information detailing my background and a written article. Then I'm offering the lowest price point I can reasonably offer with the hope of a bulk, and repeating sale. Then they can be handed out freely, or as cheap as possible.

It's a pretty easy set of people for me to network with because I'm already networking with people like this all the time. I have some good starting connections and some interest generated already. I've been working at a fairly high level in this field for awhile now and don't feel I'll have much of a struggle generating those first sales. I may as well go in with some confidence anyway. Then once the first sales are down, the rest will come more easily as I nail down the process and have proof of sales to generate more sales interest.

Then I have one group who I am working with who is willing lt help me out on the advertising end. I just need to nail down my suppliers 100% and I'll be ready to go. I'm gonna fire off an email now actually. This venture is exciting. I think it's gonna change my life, and possibly many others!
Click to expand...

That sounds solid mate and as you said networking and connections is key!
 
I think it is an exciting and unique idea for a business. I've never heard of such h thing before. I believe any person taking drugs will highly appreciate it. However, if you're doing business in the meds sphere, you should have a health certification to make it. Otherwise, people will doubt your products. That s very important, and health restriction laws are compelling here in the US. If you plan to continue or start a new business, you could improve it with the help of a proper business evaluation system to succeed. I wish you good luck; let us know how it goes. It's interesting and inspiring for me to see businesses developing
 
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Ive changed my business name to Stripdown & RIP

The RIP stands for Redux In Press which used to be a seperate business handle for my media and policy work.
 
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