If You Could Start Your Own Business............

[vibes]

I make GREAT soup. I'd start my own soup company

 

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[bigscoop]

I make GREAT soup. I'd start my own soup company

Be the perfect gig if you ever ended up in the soup lines. In light of the economy today, that's really thinking ahead!

 

[joecoin]

I've been in business since 1987.
First electronic repair, tv's vcr's stereos. Then got into photocopier and then computer repair. Long hours , little money. Had 12 employees at one point. Am now down to 5 , thank God. Employees will suck the life right out of you. I hope to sell out soon and get into online sales of coins, antiques and collectibles.

TELL me about it!!! I've only done 3 years of it and I've realize it's hard to keep people on task. You get people paid from 'work at home' jobs (CAD work), and they deliver work that they claim 40 hours on, and it would take me only 1 long hard day of doing...

I've also learned that the underhanded way of doing things is to get angel investors and live of them for a while (draw up a business plan and have the millionaires pay your salary.... all the while trying to stretch it by telling them "any day now, we'll be in the black". Beleive me, this is more common than you think.....

And of course, their's always the 'Big Con'. Meaning, you spend a little money on developing a product, lease a building, make your books look good, and immediately start trying to find a big cap company to buy your IP (Intellecual property) from you. And then you still stay on as a VP directing research and development for a couple years... I call them 'angel farmers'. I've had recent experience with this as a friend of mine turned me on to a friend of his that wanted me to work for free. I looked at the product and immediately knew it wouldn't fly. But, they developed it anyway, spend a LOT of money on advertising, and got a selling spree happen... Their books looked very good. So, a big cap company bought them out, and I'm guessing, from the very crappy product, the CEO probably got at least 10 million, despite his investment of only 200 grand.

If... IF, you were honest (I had this discussion with someone the other day), if you choose to be an honest businessman, it's very hard to make money. I drove a company doing research and development for electronic products for the last 3 years... It paid only a little more than what I would get from doing it for a corporation... But, I worked 3 times as hard. it simply wasn't worth it. The only advantage was being able to go to work in my underwear. I now have that company on the side and only accept work that I know will be easy to deal with (customers that are easy to deal with, versus nit-wits that make it twice as hard).
And I'm working full time for a buddy I knew along time ago that got his angel investment ( a startup). It works out o.k. for me because every now and then, I can do a quick job on the weekend for about 8 hours, and get at least a grand for doing it.

...I will add that electronics debugging is something that I've always respected and loved to do (and labor of love, if you will). But, it's hard to make money on it. I knew a guy that cornered the market on banking software... apparently, banking software was writin in old code that no-body knows today... and it's not alway easy just to simply move to a newer system... He passed away a couple years ago, but he was getting 20 grand for a couple weeks of work, working on their software.... (I dont' remember what he told me that software was). But, in all, simple debugging electronics won't get you big bucks either because at one point, a big company will decide "Hey, let's just buy another one".... The big find, is to find something (and sell yourself) with something that is NOT easily replaced.

That's kinda funny, I was just thinking earlier today about an article I read around 10 years ago in some entrepreneur magazine. There was a woman who got an angel to fund her startup. She was going to put together a catalog, print off hundreds of thousands of them and all the items in the catalog would be drop shipped. She would never touch any of the merchandise, it all came out of Asia. Her business plan called for huge losses for five years, but her salary was going to be close to $100,000 per year. I just could not for the life of me figure out how you could get away with that? And the magazine was touting her as some kind of business genius.

As far as making money, what I do can make one comfortable, but it is becoming a pain. As a technician at heart, I find I am getting more and more fed up with any paperwork, especially non-productive government bureaucratic BS.

 

[lookindown]

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

 

[gord]

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

How brief is your bikini going to be?

 

[AU24K]

Having read restaurant Food inspections daily in my area, and knowing my abilities to correct discrepancies, I feel that a company that caters to rectification of discrepancies would be a viable endeavor. I could perform all rectification corrections but would not be involved with "cleaning." My "company" would provide mechanical and maintenance services to rectify discrepancies regarding mechanical and building maintenance.
I truly believe that I could be an asset to the food service businesses/restaurants in my area.

http://www.accessnorthga.com/access/community/food-inspections/


Best,
Scott

 

[bigscoop]

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

Well, what the heck, I'm in! I'll run the hose, you wear the bikini and do the washing.
No kidding, I bet people would actually pay to see it.

 

[AU24K]

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

Would you supply bleach for eyes that saw you in a bikini?

Best,
Scott

 

[RGINN]

If I could lower myself to that level, the best business I could start would be my own religious movement. There is money to be made off of God, folks. Send me your dollar and I'll pray for you. If you don't send me your dollar Jesus will call me home. Disgusting, but it is a tried and true business strategy that has worked and reaped large dividends. I do believe there are some interesting ideas presented here so far.

 

[mikeofaustin]

I've been in business since 1987.
First electronic repair, tv's vcr's stereos. Then got into photocopier and then computer repair. Long hours , little money. Had 12 employees at one point. Am now down to 5 , thank God. Employees will suck the life right out of you. I hope to sell out soon and get into online sales of coins, antiques and collectibles.

TELL me about it!!! I've only done 3 years of it and I've realize it's hard to keep people on task. You get people paid from 'work at home' jobs (CAD work), and they deliver work that they claim 40 hours on, and it would take me only 1 long hard day of doing...

I've also learned that the underhanded way of doing things is to get angel investors and live of them for a while (draw up a business plan and have the millionaires pay your salary.... all the while trying to stretch it by telling them "any day now, we'll be in the black". Beleive me, this is more common than you think.....

And of course, their's always the 'Big Con'. Meaning, you spend a little money on developing a product, lease a building, make your books look good, and immediately start trying to find a big cap company to buy your IP (Intellecual property) from you. And then you still stay on as a VP directing research and development for a couple years... I call them 'angel farmers'. I've had recent experience with this as a friend of mine turned me on to a friend of his that wanted me to work for free. I looked at the product and immediately knew it wouldn't fly. But, they developed it anyway, spend a LOT of money on advertising, and got a selling spree happen... Their books looked very good. So, a big cap company bought them out, and I'm guessing, from the very crappy product, the CEO probably got at least 10 million, despite his investment of only 200 grand.

If... IF, you were honest (I had this discussion with someone the other day), if you choose to be an honest businessman, it's very hard to make money. I drove a company doing research and development for electronic products for the last 3 years... It paid only a little more than what I would get from doing it for a corporation... But, I worked 3 times as hard. it simply wasn't worth it. The only advantage was being able to go to work in my underwear. I now have that company on the side and only accept work that I know will be easy to deal with (customers that are easy to deal with, versus nit-wits that make it twice as hard).
And I'm working full time for a buddy I knew along time ago that got his angel investment ( a startup). It works out o.k. for me because every now and then, I can do a quick job on the weekend for about 8 hours, and get at least a grand for doing it.

...I will add that electronics debugging is something that I've always respected and loved to do (and labor of love, if you will). But, it's hard to make money on it. I knew a guy that cornered the market on banking software... apparently, banking software was writin in old code that no-body knows today... and it's not alway easy just to simply move to a newer system... He passed away a couple years ago, but he was getting 20 grand for a couple weeks of work, working on their software.... (I dont' remember what he told me that software was). But, in all, simple debugging electronics won't get you big bucks either because at one point, a big company will decide "Hey, let's just buy another one".... The big find, is to find something (and sell yourself) with something that is NOT easily replaced.

That's kinda funny, I was just thinking earlier today about an article I read around 10 years ago in some entrepreneur magazine. There was a woman who got an angel to fund her startup. She was going to put together a catalog, print off hundreds of thousands of them and all the items in the catalog would be drop shipped. She would never touch any of the merchandise, it all came out of Asia. Her business plan called for huge losses for five years, but her salary was going to be close to $100,000 per year. I just could not for the life of me figure out how you could get away with that? And the magazine was touting her as some kind of business genius.

As far as making money, what I do can make one comfortable, but it is becoming a pain. As a technician at heart, I find I am getting more and more fed up with any paperwork, especially non-productive government bureaucratic BS.

Yep, dropshipping is another venue. If you think about it, Asia MGS's make 1000 of one items at .2 of retail cost, and you could essentially sell it locally on amazon or google stores for x1 of the price. But, the thing is, you have to order 1k of them first. I can't remember the web site, but you'd be suprised when you see the products advertised on that site, and you, youself say "Hey, I thougth that was made in america".
edit: a trade secret that I probably should not say, but I will... Engineering cost in Asia cost about the same as it does in america... But, it's the individual hand work/assembly/manual labor that is the cheapest. that's where america can't compete. That's actually why all 'manufacturing' is going overseas... manual labor is about 10 cents on the dollar... that's why all manufacturing (our jobs) goes overseas these day, and all the profit that is gained by such a discount goes straight into the top 1 percent.

 

[Tuberale]

Learned how to grow truffles in 1986. Started selling same in 1996, and owned the business until being diagnosed with MRSA in 2007.

There's a reason my screen name is Tuberale.

 

[kenley]

Packerbacker
Strange you should mention that. There is a catfish pond about four miles from my house. the guy raised them for a commercial packer until about six yrs ago. The packing business folded rather quick (no notice) after being in operation over 15yrs. I am sure the farm guy was left with a big inventory.
My thought was to let people catch fish by the pound and clean em for an extra fee. The cat fish dinner is a good twist.

 

[kenley]

About 5 miles from me is a HUGE building, a former tile plant. Been vacant for over 25 years. If I had the money, I would put in an INDOOR 50 yrd pistol range, rent out space to retailers and myself sell re-loading equipment.

 

[lookindown]

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

Would you supply bleach for eyes that saw you in a bikini?

Best,
Scott

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

Well, what the heck, I'm in! I'll run the hose, you wear the bikini and do the washing.
No kidding, I bet people would actually pay to see it.

Bikini car wash....I dont think I have to explain.

How brief is your bikini going to be?

Maybe I do need to explain.

 

[Produce Guy]

Papa Johns Pizza,I love them and there's not enough of them around here.

 

[naturegirl]

I've been watching this thread, and because I'm considering my own business. I make molds for the lost-wax casting process, and I make an hourly wage from someone else and I make peanuts! On my own I could make a lot more, be the first man paid, not the next,, but yeah, I would be an independent mold-maker, and wax chaser!

 

[AU24K]

I've been watching this thread, and because I'm considering my own business. I make molds for the lost-wax casting process, and I make an hourly wage from someone else and I make peanuts! On my own I could make a lot more, be the first man paid, not the next,, but yeah, I would be an independent mold-maker, and wax chaser!

Would this be for jewelry?
In high school I had an advanced jewelry and silversmith class and we learned about lost wax casting. It's amazing that I still remember 90% of the process including the "de-bubbler!"

Best Wishes,
Scott

 

[naturegirl]

I've been watching this thread, and because I'm considering my own business. I make molds for the lost-wax casting process, and I make an hourly wage from someone else and I make peanuts! On my own I could make a lot more, be the first man paid, not the next,, but yeah, I would be an independent mold-maker, and wax chaser!

Would this be for jewelry?
In high school I had an advanced jewelry and silversmith class and we learned about lost wax casting. It's amazing that I still remember 90% of the process including the "de-bubbler!"

Best Wishes,
Scott

No Scott, it's for fine art bronzes, I've never seen the jewelry process, but heard some about it. Most molds I've made are from just bigger than jewelry, to 12' tall. China and the economy is killing the bronze art industry in the US. a lot of artists are switching to "cold cast bronze" but it's still plastic.....I've got a few years of labor left in me, and I would like to stick to the best quality, which is bronze....can't America still have the highest quality? I don't want to sell out to plastic yet, I'm hoping there are enough artists who feel the same way..

 

[AU24K]

I've been watching this thread, and because I'm considering my own business. I make molds for the lost-wax casting process, and I make an hourly wage from someone else and I make peanuts! On my own I could make a lot more, be the first man paid, not the next,, but yeah, I would be an independent mold-maker, and wax chaser!

Would this be for jewelry?
In high school I had an advanced jewelry and silversmith class and we learned about lost wax casting. It's amazing that I still remember 90% of the process including the "de-bubbler!"

Best Wishes,
Scott

No Scott, it's for fine art bronzes, I've never seen the jewelry process, but heard some about it. Most molds I've made are from just bigger than jewelry, to 12' tall. China and the economy is killing the bronze art industry in the US. a lot of artists are switching to "cold cast bronze" but it's still plastic.....I've got a few years of labor left in me, and I would like to stick to the best quality, which is bronze....can't America still have the highest quality? I don't want to sell out to plastic yet, I'm hoping there are enough artists who feel the same way..

I would guess some of the same processes and principles are used for example sprues, etc? Is it a vacuum process? Seems a bit on the large size for centrifugal casting.

Best,
Scott