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We've all heard the stories. My neighbor's son started a lawn mowing business with almost nothing and made a profit. Or a successful dog walking business. Or a successful you name it.
If you were to start a business on almost nothing (couple hundred or thousand dollars), what would you go with? What stories do you hear most often? So I guess what you've heard or what interests you.
I've often thought about a dog grooming business. Not a huge startup cost and I like dogs. Obviously, you'd have your tough customers, but I figure that's any business - minus the biting.
I started an accounting firm with basically quickbooks, $69 registration fee to the IRS, $50 for the state business filing, and $75 down payment on tax prep software, and a degree, after working for another accounting firm for 7 years. the 1st year sucked, I had to have multiple part time jobs to pay my bills. Year 2 was better with only one part time job during to offseason to pay my bills, year 3 was good, year 4 was better, year 5 I realized that I still hated accounting and sold my business for enough money to pay my taxes, move 300 miles, and take 9 months off.
When I was in a bind a few years ago I started a flyer delivery company, hanging flyers on people's door for 10 cents a piece, get 3 or 4 companies to buy in, put the flyers all in one baggie, and hang them out. The average person can hang about 40 houses in an hour, so you can make $12 an hour. My goal was always to get 5 companies per house which took me about 3 months. After I got a steady stream of customers I hired the flyer hanging out to college kids and paid them $9 an hour netting me about $5 an hour on average for each of them. Never really made great money but made enough to pay my bills and get by until I could find a better full time gig.
I was interestsed doing a Film Video business, but now days everyone can buy a HD camera and do it themself. Film business is dead.
I know a couple of people that work in film, their main business is filming commercials, and they design whole marketing packages for small business owners which is what attracts people to their companies and gets them the business to do what they love to do. I also know a couple that do the filming but get most of their business editing other people's films, they make a living and enjoy what they do.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by svendrell
We've all heard the stories. My neighbor's son started a lawn mowing business with almost nothing and made a profit. Or a successful dog walking business. Or a successful you name it.
If you were to start a business on almost nothing (couple hundred or thousand dollars), what would you go with? What stories do you hear most often? So I guess what you've heard or what interests you.
I've often thought about a dog grooming business. Not a huge startup cost and I like dogs. Obviously, you'd have your tough customers, but I figure that's any business - minus the biting.
I have a relative doing that. She never made enough to buy a house or decent car, but now barely paying the rent since she is limited to a few dogs a day. Carpal tunnel and tendonitis in the hands have been the result of years spent grooming dogs.
I have seen more success in people buying items at garage sales/flea markets and re-selling on E-Bay.
A good friend of mine started cleaning houses 3 years ago, she paid $20 for the state DBA, put up a website from go daddy for about $100, and spent $100 for 200 flyers which she distributed in the nicer area of town. She also cut a deal with one of the large coupon companies where she took a 70% discount on her fee (once customers got their 55% off deal and the company took their piece) but still made as much as she was making for the company she had previously worked for. Within 2 months she was making enough to pay her bills as a single mom with 2 kids and within 6 months she bought a new car. About a year ago she got married to a nice guy and sold her business last month as she is pregnant with twins. She walked away with enough that she can afford to take a few months off totally to take care of the kids, and decide later what she wants to do next.
I met a this gentleman about 20 years ago. He was an immigrant with limited English and education. He couldn't find a good paying job with limited education and English so he bought an office cleaning franchise for several thousand dollars (don't remember the actual amount but under $10K). It was simple. He knows how to clean. Years of hard work, he continue to get more and more clients. His cleaning business now earns well over 6 figure income for him. Now, with that money, he expended to other opportunities. He's very well off now.
I met another immigrant 3 years ago. He started selling insurance since the days of AL Williams. Struggle for decades. Over the years, people told him he should just go get a job because selling insurance isn't for him. But he never gave up. Now he earns 7 figure income and have offices and agents all over USA.
I know a woman who was working as a nurse. She got into an accident when she was 30 yo, and settled for a decent amount of money (approximately 50-60K). She bought 2 taxi medallions in NYC when they were selling for 10K apiece, and 2 taxis. She hired cabbies for 3 shifts/day who each paid her a fixed amount every week, and anything they made above that they kept for themselves. Thus, they generated their own income, so she didn't have to pay them anything.
She made so much money from it that she bought more medallions and taxis until she had a fleet of 8 taxis.
She could have retired from nursing by her mid-30s. But she continued working as a nurse until she had put in enough time for her to get a full pension. She then retired at 44, and has been making in the mid-to-high six-figures from her taxi cab business ever since.
Last edited by Sage 80; 03-09-2016 at 12:14 PM..
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