What business would you start?

Fire extinguisher service , needs to be done yearly for insurance , you can do it on site for the common ones , 

Not sure how you get customers that are not already serviced by another company........

californiamilleghia said:

Fire extinguisher service , needs to be done yearly for insurance , you can do it on site for the common ones , 

Not sure how you get customers that are not already serviced by another company........

I used to only be able to reach the local extinguisher service place by rushing out from work at lunch time, and I'd have to wait days to collect them the same way. So you could make some money by showing up to the last racing events of the season or maybe just being open at time that's convenient for people with jobs.

You could probably undercut the big companies to take the business of penny-pinching small businesses.

A couple of business ideas I've thought of poaching. Or maybe combining. Former classmate of mine who never graduated high school is in heavy equipment buying and selling. He now commutes in a helicopter after being in the business for less than 10 years. My uncle does freight brokerage and just bought a million dollar lake house.

Combine that with my Dads expert knowledge of heavy equipment? 

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

I like the idea but there are some big boys competing with you.  Can you squeeze a spot for you?  

Sell $1-$3,000,000 at a 15% gross profit?  Bring home $250,000?
 

joelrobert said:

I've actually been wondering to start an auto repair shop.  The automotive industry is constantly in demand, and people will always need reliable and skilled mechanics to keep their vehicles running smoothly. Running an auto repair shop can be a rewarding business venture.

That's a stupid idea.  You should start a canoe shop instead! 

In reply to joelrobert :

As a former auto tech I can give you a piece of advice that will help you. 
Pay your techs well. Drop that flat rate crap. If you pay a real hourly wage and not play commission or upsell games you'll attract good techs. Good tech will attract good (read repeat) customers. Good customers will bring in the money to support those good techs. 

In the past and again somewhat recently I've had the urge to import and sell JDM cars. But, I have no connections, no business acumen, and it's a finite resource. I'm sure it's a huge pain to do it, otherwise everybody would be slinging '90s Japanese greatness.

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

I worked for a aggregate and concrete operation. One of the owners went to a RB auction to a used D9 bought it and flipped it for a $30,000 profit later that day, guess we didn't need that badly.

Mobile Tire Service. 

Or really, any service that would normally be limited to an expensive industrial property, but in the back of the box truck. 

Right now, I feel like small business is severely limited by property pricing and leasing. 

RevRico said:

In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

If it wasn't in Baltimore, I'd offer my services cheaper than you'll find any other seasoned senior growers. 

Should be interesting to see when recreational sales and home grows start in July what happens in Maryland. Really hoping PA follows suit and doesn't go with state store recreational sales and no home grow like they've been talking about.

As far as home grow, I'd say probably not much. OK is still "medicinal" only. But you can literally do online consulation, say you have anxiety. Bang, here's your card. I think you're allowed either 6 or 10 plants for home grow. 

The reason I don't think home grow will have a big impact, is it's already so cheap to get it from a licensed dispensary. So you'd REALLY just want to do it as a hobby. I often see 1 oz offered for MUCH better weed, cheaper than what we paid for an ounce in college from 2000-2005. 

As far as my own business? Probably some kind of HVAC and plumbing operation had I gone that way when I was younger.

Now? I wouldn't be interested in the kind of grind it would take to build up my own business, losing my retirement and health benefits, etc. 

Specialty towing and transport.  Ideally I'd have an enclosed rollback and a low loader trailer for bigger stuff. Mostly high end and classic cars, and projects. I did it for a while before I went to the bus company. I enjoyed it and made good money but it wasn't my truck so it limited what I could do. 

Apparently, I would start a farm.

DrBoost said:

In reply to joelrobert :

As a former auto tech I can give you a piece of advice that will help you. 
Pay your techs well. Drop that flat rate crap. If you pay a real hourly wage and not play commission or upsell games you'll attract good techs. Good tech will attract good (read repeat) customers. Good customers will bring in the money to support those good techs. 

This is very true.

My local dealer lost all of my business last week.

After trying an unnecessary upsell on me, I called them on not doing most of the required service that was requested when I brought the truck in but charging me for it anyway.

The service manager gave me b.s. excuses and backed up his lying service tech.

I'm putting a lift in my shop soon. Back to doing all my own work again.

Consider a storage facility. 

When I rented a storage locker for a time, the $/square foot rent worked out the same as the house we were renting.

You're still a landlord but your tenants drop their stuff and leave. You collect the cheques.

When I lived in B.C. I was talking about this with a bodyshop owner I knew. He was thinking about a partnership with some friends on a mini storage facility. 

Their finance guys figured that, if the facility was fully occupied, costs of buying land and construction would be paid off in around 5 years 

In reply to ShawnG :

If you were in Baltimore, the city would lease you a vacant lot for 5 years for the amount of $100 a year to get started...

Start?  I'd buy.  Specifically put feelers out to older business owners.  HVAC, plumbing, electricians, maybe automotive repair.  Seller finance if possible.  

DrBoost said:

In reply to joelrobert :

As a former auto tech I can give you a piece of advice that will help you. 
Pay your techs well. Drop that flat rate crap. If you pay a real hourly wage and not play commission or upsell games you'll attract good techs. Good tech will attract good (read repeat) customers. Good customers will bring in the money to support those good techs. 

I understand there are a lot of people who like to be paid hourly. 
 

But flat rate can work well. One shop I know has about 15 techs who ALL make over $120K per year doing flat rate work.  In a shop that turns $250K per month and where the average ticket is over $800.

There is nothing wrong with flat rate. There is something wrong with how some people USE flat rate.  (Or fail to use it well)
 

I've worked flat rate most of my life, and would never be interested in working hourly.  For me, flat rate rewards me for my many years of experience.  I do a job well, and quicker than most people. Why should I be paid less per hour just because there are a lot of slow and lazy tradesmen?

In reply to Beer Baron :

You've got mail. 

In reply to Crxpilot :

We wanted to buy a wedding venue that was for sale in Texas. We didn't pursure it because we didnt think any bank would give us 4 million bucks lol

yupididit said:

In reply to Crxpilot :

We wanted to buy a wedding venue that was for sale in Texas. We didn't pursure it because we didnt think any bank would give us 4 million bucks lol

I don't know.  Real estate tied to a booming industry?  Add in a good business plan and you've probably got it.  If not a bank, an investor group would love to help get you into one.  You'd probably have to pay them back sooner but, again, it's a booming industry and the venue is collateral if it stopped booming.

In reply to Crxpilot :

I wouldn't even know where to begin to find an investor group. I'm pretty sure a bank would've maybe given the money with a big enough down-payment lol. But, I doubt it would be a down-payment anyone in my income bracket could afford. 

DrBoost said:

As a former auto tech I can give you a piece of advice that will help you. 
Pay your techs well. Drop that flat rate crap. If you pay a real hourly wage and not play commission or upsell games you'll attract good techs. Good tech will attract good (read repeat) customers. Good customers will bring in the money to support those good techs. 

I don't think anybody pays flat rate around here anymore, dealers included. You'd never get anybody

Peabody said:

DrBoost said:

As a former auto tech I can give you a piece of advice that will help you. 
Pay your techs well. Drop that flat rate crap. If you pay a real hourly wage and not play commission or upsell games you'll attract good techs. Good tech will attract good (read repeat) customers. Good customers will bring in the money to support those good techs. 

I don't think anybody pays flat rate around here anymore, dealers included. You'd never get anybody

I'd go back to flat rate in a nanosecond if I was in the right department.

Oh, wait, I own my own shop.  I've been flat rate since 1988 on my own, and 7 years before that in a dealership.

Tallahassee no longer has an engine machine shop.  Im also not sure they have any sort of CNC machining?  May be very wrong on that one.

But something in that realm.

There are enough large diesel truck outfits that the first should be covered.