[bale002]

Originally Posted by tallrick

And with 4.00 a gallon gas comming soon, it may be cheaper to just stay home!

Changes in zoning practices, not necessarily laws, may also be coming in the foreseeable future: sure, quiet, computer-type home businesses are allowed in most communities, but soon people will be forced to carry on light commercial and service businesses and even light manufacturing and garden-type agriculture out of their living rooms, garages, and yards - shared with multiple family members, even multiple families.

Face it, as the ruling classes would have it, the so-called third world is becoming a bit more like the US-Europe-Japan (first world, countries of early industrialization) and the first world more like the third, so that soon we will all be mediocre second class citizens, drugged by the promise of the "ownership" society, in reality the debtorship society, an ancient Egyptian-type socialism.

Good luck!

[gk68]

Your take on the economy sounds like my esteemed old professor who tried to integrate Marx and freud. Really right on.
Therefore, is there any way I could move to a place like Delray Beach (live half the year at her snowbird condo and rent the other half) and open a niche computer business with tutoring to kids about computers and English (I'm a teacher and child psychologist). The main focus would be selling computers without overkill, selling just what the customer needs and setting everything up for them so it demystifies those who fear technology????? Helping older folks send and receive pix from family, etc.
Dumb idea?????

[gk68]

Thanks for your post. Any ideas on my previous post????? Thanks.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by gk68

Therefore, is there any way I could move to a place like Delray Beach (live half the year at her snowbird condo and rent the other half) and open a niche computer business with tutoring to kids about computers and English (I'm a teacher and child psychologist). The main focus would be selling computers without overkill, selling just what the customer needs and setting everything up for them so it demystifies those who fear technology????? Helping older folks send and receive pix from family, etc.
Dumb idea?????

On one side, you have to calculate whether living in a rental six months a year is cost effective. It may be if you are renting from April to September, but most likely you will be renting from October to March when rental rates peak.

The other side of the equation is revenues: will they be enough to cover costs?

I'd suggest try to live six months rent-free during the April-September period (I assume) and see how revenues go. Then, it may prove to be more cost effective to rent all-year round than six months during the high season. On the other hand, however, if you have enough investment cash to rent during the high season (around $1300 a month for a one bedroom), try it out because the customer base may peak during that period.

Delray Beach has a large, relatively young Haitian population, on the one hand, and a large elderly population on the other. These may be your two niche-market targets.

Good luck!

[gk68]

Great advice. Does the Haitian population have disposable income for kids' education extras, like a computer/English tutor? Are there a lot of elementary/secondary/colleges around?
Any idea what a storefront type small store rental in a strip or bigger mall might run??? Thanks for any tips. This is a do-or-die move for me; but I have to do it.

[mquintana]

SW Florida is growing, new stores and restaurants popping up all over...

[firemed]

Originally Posted by mquintana

SW Florida is growing, new stores and restaurants popping up all over...

The job market may look good in 2008, Employment experts say hundreds of jobs will be sprouting up this year in Southwest Florida - if you know where to look. Retail and service are expanding and that means many big retail stores and restaurants will be adding workers after the New Year. I don't think people can live on the wages from the new jobs.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by gk68

Great advice. Does the Haitian population have disposable income for kids' education extras, like a computer/English tutor?

A visible number works very hard and runs successful small businesses like yard and pool maintenance, small shops, etc., that's all I can tell you.

Originally Posted by gk68

:Are there a lot of elementary/secondary/colleges around?

There are elementary and high schools, but no colleges in Delray Beach, though in nearby Boca Raton there is a branch of PBCC and Lynn College, as well as FAU.

Originally Posted by gk68

Any idea what a storefront type small store rental in a strip or bigger mall might run???

I think an island in a mall runs about $8000 a month, a shop in a mall maybe around $25,000, but it really depends on size.

No clue about a small store rental, but should be less than a mall. Anyway, in the past two years I've seen a lot of failed small businesses boarded up in road-side strip malls and even downtown Delray, probably due to high energy and insurance costs, and obviously lack of revenues.

Anyway, talk of a business outside the home defeats the whole point of this side conversation, doesn't it?

Good luck!

[gk68]

how to attract customers from a home/office computer shop???

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by gk68

how to attract customers from a home/office computer shop???

You might want to start a different thread, since this thread is about southwest Florida. You might get more responses from people in that area.