My new idea for the beach.

[Catobra]

French Creek Hunter-interesting idea. As a lot of people have said here, there is a lot to think about before jumping in, but I'd say it is worth a look. So far, I believe that LM has it on point though (except for, "I've seen dumber ideas earn people decent side income." Not very nice, LM : ) Unless it is a pretty simple WOW invention, like Terry's Slinky or Hoola Hoop, starting and MAKING MONEY at a new venture takes A LOT of planning. If you are willing to put in the time and effort to do the research, renting metal detectors could possibly pan out AT THE RIGHT LOCATION. Take everyone's advice here seriously, write up a business plan, consult local small business owners for advice and then see if it really is a viable idea. Score.org could be a valuable resource for you. Best of luck to you!


Terry-"Then when you make millions, Obama can take your money, saying, 'You didn't build that!' " Good one! Poor guy, he really has no clue, does he?

 

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[Keppy]

All i can say is get your self a attorney....Or some one with business experience to help you out ....Get some low end detectors....... And go to it...........This is the wrong place to ask...... You will get most telling you all the bad things that can happen... and all the pit falls you MIGHT encounter.....And after you hear all them talk you will be discouraged before you start................ If every one worried about all that instead of the good side.. You know $$$$... There would be no one working for them selves.........

 

[TerryC]

Terry-"Then when you make millions, Obama can take your money, saying, 'You didn't build that!' " Good one! Poor guy, he really has no clue, does he?

(EDIT: assuming you are talking about the poster and not Obama. Sorry) He has the right idea, he just has to package it so everybody "has to have it!" Maybe not today, but may work tomorrow. Many BIGGIES came from failer. Look at Gates?! He dropped out of college. In his dad's eyes, he failed. Well, his opperating system is on 98% of the world's computers. Can you imagine what would happen if HE wanted to pull the plug?? TTC

 

[French Creek hunter]

Well,I've always wanted to not work for someone else but work for myself. But I never really liked sitting on the computer or phone all day making sales. I would like to start doing eBay sales during my high school years raising money for college and possibly a rental house at some point. I kind of thought of rent and pawn. You can either rent what ever is in the store or buy it. But the meaning of pawn isn't good for my thought,I guess it would be sell or rent.. I always wanted to either work at a coin store,pawn shop,antique place. Or work at home. I could make enough I believe to keep me happy with gas for my car since my parents tend to pay for car fix ups. I may get into the rental business but I hate the people who let who ever just take over their rental properties and have the renters damage the place and do nothing about it,like my grandparents,lol. Maybe one day I will get my grandparents 4 rental properties and all of my grandfathers tools. Which would be nice because I could support my rental idea with selling his tools or using them as more rental options. I thought maybe here in WV I could possibly go ahead and rent detectors and just meet up with people and give them a quick lesson and hand them the detector.
Water damage is what I've worried about most because some people believe that since it came from someone else that it has to be indestructable and that they can dive 20ft under water and the metal detector will be fine.. I guess I should sit here real quick and come up with 10 rules they have to read over before they go out.. Maybe on my next post I'll list them for you. I may come up with a more solid plan if I could get the money to make this happen,but I have to go to college first and get my business degree.. Maybe do a report on the Virginia beach Myrtle Beach areas and check out rentals there for a small business.

FIRST CAME UP WITH THAT IDEA BOUT 10 YRS AGO - and have mentioned to a few people on different forums over the yrs
I think a couple of dealers tried it for a while out of a van - if youre a dealer - you already have a salesman license and tax # - hopefully
youre better off buying like Garrett 150's or 250's - if youre not a dealer - you might want to go thru Kellyco and see if you can buy a bunch and get a few of those free ones for spending so much - water hunting is hard - so i would not even offer one - but would have 1 or 2 on hand if someone did lose a ring - you could rent your services to find it instead of the machine - guy or guys that I think tried this - did 1/2 day full day rentals - hourly thing is a pain
you do like $20 for 1/2 - $40 for full - they have to pay with valid credit card and you tell them # will be held and charged if machine is lost or stolen
or broken
I would get some cheap scoops or digging tools - once again if you go thru Kellyco - you could get some freebee ones possibly
if you want to work out a cash accepted thing - people would have to still leave credit card # or license with you
if youre at a big beach like South Beach Fla. you could make some money at it Im sure if you promote it just right and use your head - dont go over board
take it slow - like maybe 4 machines - you dont have to get any big boy machines - these people are going for fresh drops - and with higher tech machines - you will have to answer more questions - more headaches - keep it simple - now if you want to have a better one or one of your own hidden for the occasional - actual TH'er that is on vacay and did not bring his machine - you could do that and charge $25 1/2 $50 for full day
Good Luck

 

[LM]

(except for, "I've seen dumber ideas earn people decent side income." Not very nice, LM : )

It wasn't meant as a swipe, although I can definitely now see how I worded it poorly.

I think the idea is fine, but I don't think it's possesses the scale that you think it does, although who knows? Maybe it really takes fire.
The point being, this is the sort of thing you should probably start small and cheap, then scale up hard and fast if the idea takes, rather than going into it with a huge capital overhead in machines, storefronts, etc before even knowing whether enough people want to rent metal detectors to cover the cost of batteries, nevermind a dedicated retail operation.

 

[russ]

worth a try, as the saying goes nothing ventured nothing gained ,give it a trial run,even give some lessons first for the beginners,could become a detecting school. good luck mate.