Naples FL MONEY? Where's the money in this town? ft.myers, bonita, marco, sw (Lee: 2011, crime)

[167878]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

It's definitely after 5 o'clock.

Unlike one of those long winded never ending pointless conversations, about anything and everything you tend to hear at around 5 o'clock that leave you where you started, only you had to drive in a dozen circles to get there stopping for lunch on the way, you ran into an old friend from high school and got caught up on whats happened the last few decades, wife and kids, works over there, in that grey box with different lettering, get caught up in talking about sports or news or the latest gossip or rumor, then realize your late and make a rain check, get in your car drive forgot to signal for a left turn and didn't realize there was a cop behind you, pulls u over, 'hello officer, is there a problem?' he in forms you that you didnt signal and will be given a ticket for careless driving and speeding for going 57 in a 50 even though everyone else is going 55 and u inform him your running late, but who cares, he's getting paid, get back to work everyone's staring at you as u grace them with your presence, ur informed the big man wants to see you, nice time for a speech about how ur work has been slacking lately even though its not your fault (u see, earlier some things, and other things, and dont forget the alphabet), and there 'll be a dozen people standing in line now since you get fired 'wow this sucks' b/c c'mon, who couldn't do you job? but wait, you realize u're actually retired, and have a hobby tinkering with random useless objects, or silly games with a long list of rules or qualifications and absorbent amounts of time needed to count to 1000000 forwards and backwards again, while doing so you forgot you had a warm cup of tea, that, now, is luke warm, and everyone knows thats no good, so you put it in the nuker, which is pronounced my-krow-wave, theres a long story on how the word was actually formed, something about latin and algebra, or it could have been France, by the way, i think i hear an echo, or maybe i am seeing an echo, but thats not right b/c its only the 11th lap, and there's one more to go, but only if your missing a hand and don't count thumbs as fingers, take the nail polish off your eyelids, brush your teeth for 2 m inutes while train A is going to meet train B at what point when Jesse James rides up with Black Beauty into a sunset, and finally a black screen pops up saying 'to be continued'......The former was true and meaningful.


Reread, slowly perhaps. Don't worry about it. But don't ask Jmmy buffet the time, he'll confuse the little hand withth e big hand and tell you its 12:25.

[kroeran]

sorry for sowing mayhem. I figured out after the fact what the guy was after, but was not able to delete or edit my post.

those "it must be after 5 somewhere" comments are really heart warming.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by kroeran

sorry for sowing mayhem. I figured out after the fact what the guy was after, but was not able to delete or edit my post.

those "it must be after 5 somewhere" comments are really heart warming.

They were meant to make you laugh.

[167878]

Originally Posted by kroeran

sorry for sowing mayhem. I figured out after the fact what the guy was after, but was not able to delete or edit my post.

those "it must be after 5 somewhere" comments are really heart warming.

Don't worry about it, I enjoy deep thought, and was being entirely serious, as you were. Care to add about the main topic?

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by 167878

Yea, SPENT would be the correct terminology...and to further specify, how about spent during the months of Nov.-April ?

When I was up in Arcadia a few weeks back doing the Antique (Junk) row, one of the friendlier owners mentioned the various shops that had opened previous season, but did not survive the summer...they had been warned how much things slow down in the summer, but didn't believe it. I believe Naples is particularly dead in the summer, so you are right to focus on the season. My main exposure to Naples is swinging down to Waterside several times a year, so its pretty limited.

As a general comment, I think you would be "brave" (crazy?) to think about opening a business somewhere where you don't know the local terrain and culture. There are so many factors conspiring against the success of any new business...I see many new businesses in my home town in the North that are just a couple of blocks too far, one way or the other, from a key part of town, or not quite the right decor or type of storefront, and we wager on how long it will take for them to fail.

When a friend tells me they want to get into a particular business they don't know, I tell them to take a low level job with a competitor, learn the inside tricks, then open down the street and do it better, or best, buy out or buy into an existing business where you work, where you know the real numbers, if a win is absolutely necessary. Maybe you already have a string of successes with this sort of thing and can afford to take a roll of the dice. Maybe you are already thinking in that direction.

Of course, I am sure one can make small fortune in the restaurant business in Naples, especially if you start with a large fortune. ; - ) I guess it depends whether you are there to make money or show money you already have, or just need an outlet for your creativity.

One night a few weeks back there was a show on local entrepreneurs. One was a lottery winner who took large part of his money and invested in the Batteries Plus franchises, and another guy who was laid off from the financial industry and started buying up gas stations. I thought to myself, signs of intelligent life.

My neighbour who owns a small shipping company near the airport says calls are down 75% from peak at this point.

If I was sinking serious money into something I wanted to survive, to pass to the next generation, I would think more in terms of a government/university town with a stable economy. I would be more trusting of the Texas government than the Florida government for financial stability. One thing I discovered analysing rental property returns many moon ago...you want to be operating where there are lots of people (customers), and no rich people, because where there are rich people there are bored entrepreneurs opening businesses, just to keep busy, or to show off, and this puts downward pressure on margins.

A rental property in a dirty rural town has huge margins, as a rule...so according to this theory, Naples is likely one of worst places in the Universe to make money.

I am in the business of observing businesses, rather than running or owning them, so maybe none of this is valid. Gosh, its way past 5 o'clock...that wine did go down nice!

as I said earlier, I am stuck on the couch on sick leave...so my thoughts wander

[167878]

Here's the thing, I'm not looking to invest/spend/start money in a brick n mortar shop/business, there're ways around it. I just want to know where the people who have money spend it locally, and on what.
- As were my guesses, hotel resorts, downtown shops, and restaurants. I'd like to hear what anyone has to say.

[tommy-105]

Originally Posted by kroeran

One thing I discovered analysing rental property returns many moon ago...you want to be operating where there are lots of people (customers), and no rich people, because where there are rich people there are bored entrepreneurs opening businesses, just to keep busy, or to show off, and this puts downward pressure on margins.

What an astute observation. I can think of several wealthy former business owners whom I've met that have done just that. I would imagine that it would be hard to compete with someone with that much capital and free time on their hands. Someone needing to put bread on the table might run up against some wealthy retiree that needed a hobby. I'm sure this is common place in Florida retirement towns.

[167878]

Yes, I found Kroeran post quite insightful. Keep it up

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

They were meant to make you laugh.

sorry for being crabby...I am recovering from H1 and trying to milk it for all its worth. ; - )

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by 167878

Unlike one of those long winded never ending pointless conversations, about anything and everything you tend to hear at around 5 o'clock that leave you where you started, only you had to drive in a dozen circles to get there stopping for lunch on the way, you ran into an old friend from high school and got caught up on whats happened the last few decades, wife and kids, works over there, in that grey box with different lettering, get caught up in talking about sports or news or the latest gossip or rumor, then realize your late and make a rain check, get in your car drive forgot to signal for a left turn and didn't realize there was a cop behind you, pulls u over, 'hello officer, is there a problem?' he in forms you that you didnt signal and will be given a ticket for careless driving and speeding for going 57 in a 50 even though everyone else is going 55 and u inform him your running late, but who cares, he's getting paid, get back to work everyone's staring at you as u grace them with your presence, ur informed the big man wants to see you, nice time for a speech about how ur work has been slacking lately even though its not your fault (u see, earlier some things, and other things, and dont forget the alphabet), and there 'll be a dozen people standing in line now since you get fired 'wow this sucks' b/c c'mon, who couldn't do you job? but wait, you realize u're actually retired, and have a hobby tinkering with random useless objects, or silly games with a long list of rules or qualifications and absorbent amounts of time needed to count to 1000000 forwards and backwards again, while doing so you forgot you had a warm cup of tea, that, now, is luke warm, and everyone knows thats no good, so you put it in the nuker, which is pronounced my-krow-wave, theres a long story on how the word was actually formed, something about latin and algebra, or it could have been France, by the way, i think i hear an echo, or maybe i am seeing an echo, but thats not right b/c its only the 11th lap, and there's one more to go, but only if your missing a hand and don't count thumbs as fingers, take the nail polish off your eyelids, brush your teeth for 2 m inutes while train A is going to meet train B at what point when Jesse James rides up with Black Beauty into a sunset, and finally a black screen pops up saying 'to be continued'......The former was true and meaningful.


Reread, slowly perhaps. Don't worry about it. But don't ask Jmmy buffet the time, he'll confuse the little hand withth e big hand and tell you its 12:25.

gosh, you are a strange man...I love that! It would not surprise me to learn that you were a pro writer. Is this just a stream of consciousness download or are you reporting a dream or something..stranger.

reminds me of John D MacDonald prose for some reason.

now I get it...you are researching a book