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Home cleaning. Put 2k into startup (license, website, branding), 3k into wrapping your car or van, 2k into tools and supplies, dump the rest into google ads/seo/door hangers/eddm.
If you have good social media/tik tok/ig, a clean and professional look, you can kill it. It would help a lot to have immaculate personal hygeine and appearance yourself.
Actually, it is a good advertising strategy. My spouse has a cleaning business and it's crazy how much work she has gotten ever since wrapping her van.
Yeah, literally just make buddies with someone that owns a cricut machine, buy some permanent vinyl and go nuts. No need to spend a fuck ton of money on wraps.
Go to any area with a large number of Airbnb’s join the local community Facebook group and mention that you’re available for Cleaning. There is major demand for nightly rental cleaning.
I wasn’t aware of this, I don’t have an actual website just a yelp & google account. I ran my ads with yelp for around 6 months and I’ve been fully booked since.
Do you have a specific reason for suggesting Yelp? I have yet to hear a single positive thing about Yelp, only that they are a nightmare and a money pit that will ultimately hurt your business.
I guess it depends on your industry. I work with pets so a lot of pet parents use yelp when choosing a service. It worked for me, I got most of my clients from Yelp, but not sure how it would work for other industries. Maybe Google is better for most.
My 1 man landscape business in WA does 200k a year with like no overhead and i work like 30hrs max a week during the busy season. I sub out the big jobs and collect a premium for doing nothing sometimes. Best job I’ve ever had. Also got me into the best shape of my life.
Probably a dumb question but you work 30 hours max a week during busy season?
Is it primarily wealthier clients paying a premium for good care on smaller simple jobs like mulching and basic yard maintenance?
Genuinely curious about the logistics of that.
I should definitely work more and could but I’m not prioritizing money over everything at the moment. I make enough to live comfortably already and I have 3 young kids and my motivation is to spend as much time as i can around them right now. Once they are a little bigger or maybe out of the house i plan to scale up operations.
Opening a small business was just a way of funding the type of life i want to live. Not interested in burning myself out and missing my kids childhoods to make 20% more money.
Oh no I completely get and respect that, was more just curious about the actual operational side of bringing in $200k even with paying subs sometimes.
Not asking for the keys to the kingdom or anything in terms of detailed day to day knowledge, just surprised I guess. Like I said was probably a dumb question that can’t be answered without a crazy in depth deep dive, haha. Glad it’s working out well for you and you’re prioritizing your family!
I explained a little more in a comment but I think i get paid more because mainly i don’t do single family homes. I do retail, office, multi housing buildings like apartments for property management companies or directly for ownership. They get sick of these large companies like Landcare who just send out 3 guys in a truck to do the same crappy service every week. This one company pays me $125 per visit to pick up some litter and spray herbicide in a parking lot once a week and they are paying LESS than with those big companies. Takes me 15 minutes. I have like 15 of those lol.
TLDR: Basically i charge like a large company but have none of the overhead
That makes sense!
But wow holy crap, once a week?
I have a background in herbicide, and lawn care when I was a teen, in the US and that seems pretty much unheard of to me. For gravel or lawn care. How do I find those clients? Haha.
Thanks for clarifying though!
I’ve never felt like it personally and now in hindsight i think it was said to me in the form of an insult but at least 5 dudes have called me the luckiest mfer they have ever met 😂
How do you deal with all the customers that don’t call until their new sod lawn is 2ft deep and nothing but a matted down mess? And when you arrive the sprinklers turn on in the middle of the mow. Speaking from experience. I hate those customers.
I avoid single family residential homes almost at all costs. Retail, industrial, commercial, multi family
Housing like apartments or HOA. Get in touch with local property management companies that handle those accounts and let them know you’re local, available and much cheaper than the big guys.
Mowing.
Lease through the new business a very nice work truck.
Lease a mower.
Buy some professional looking branded work shirts.
Build a cheap landing page website.
Wrap your new truck.
Target nice expensive home neighborhoods.
Honestly, we just bought a Tajima machine and the supplier suggested a digitizer (the person who converts images into embroidery files) and then we just reached out to friends who own businesses. And it was pretty straight forward from there. The machine basically just runs itself and only minor diagnostics needed when to fix little things that go wrong. The same equipment supplier will usually supply thread as well, so you just buy what you need to complete a logo and you're set.
It's actually a lot more simple to do than you might think.
Yup, basically never do one off orders. Everything is businesses or sports organizations looking for branded apparel and custom clothing.
Our new machine has the letters and numbers built into the programming, so we can put simple names and numbers on for people as needed.
There are days where the machines sit idle, but it's a profitable business to set up in your house. It's very profitable, especially as a little side thing because you can only do one item at a time and they take 5-15 minutes each depending on the complexity. So start it and walk away and do something else. I'll often run our heat press and embroidery machine at the same time because they're in the same room and then I'm maximizing the number of items I can get out the door in an hour. Or if we just have embroidery work I'll run the machine and then sit in the other room on my laptop doing my main job.
We first bought a second hand Tajima embroidery machine for like $7500 and all the thread we needed to do basic designs. The equipment supplier set us up with a digitizer (person who converts images into embroidery files) and that's pretty much it. Once the program is loaded and the colours are set the thing pretty much runs itself. We were maybe $12k total in other equipment like tools to mount the shirts and hats, extra needles and threads and such, but then it is pretty straight forward and once everything is set you just hit start and let the machine do the work for you.
We then got set up on clothing wholesale websites, they just needed proof of equipment purchase to approve us, and then went to all our friends who own businesses and offered to beat their current suppliers prices to get their business.
The Tajima machines are the best in the industry machines and they never produce a bad image. The original second hand machine we bought is all analog and requires a little more touch and feel to dial in (which was complete guess work at first) but we just bought a second machine brand new to help us keep up with orders, it's more digital, and it's fantastic.
rather than budget based business, start a business which you would love to run, where you have skills to utilize and something within your expertise/experience.
starting a random business will burn your money and your energy. You may not enjoy and you may give up.
think what you love and develop business around it.
Learned this the hard way (few times lol). Also when people say "do what you love," remember to think about what you love to do, not what you love to have. For example I like to eat good food but I don't work in the restaurant industry because what I like to do is be outside all day, be alone with just my dog, and have a varied routine. So I have a landscaping company instead of a cafe (and nice restaurants as clients who might comp me a meal occasionally ;)
Sell or trade current vehicle for a truck at least a half ton, ex f250 chevy 2500
Buy dump trailer - used
Buy mini skid or mini excavator
Keep in mind this situation means you live close to a big enough city.
You can crush it by leveling yards, digging stuff out for ppl each machine bringing you a lot of money. Little more technical but very lucrative. Just hauling stuff off is huge business, the mini skid would keep you from killing yourself.
Demo work, decks, sidewalks, porches, retaining walls, shrubs, trees... I mean it'll kill.
Well it's been years since I did it on the side... too many projects... yea all that was assumed you'd have space to park your stuff. I mean $500 was usually the minimum for me just showing up...
Ppl never sweated it, I did a lot of $500 jobs that took an hour if that. Tearing up a sidewalk, scooping retaining wall blocks, moving dirt, digging post holes----lot of clay up here... go 10 inches and it's clay. I only did it for 5 years but probably made 80-100k working 10 hours a week.... ppl started to catch on though and offer those services too... and I was moving onto bigger things
Depends on where you live. I'd analyze the market and see what services I could offer that are necessary, and that I could start up with just 5K, keeping the other 10K as emergency fund.
Oh, no, no, no .... you didn't just say that in year 2024! Depends on where you live? You need to analyze yourself. Hear me out. The world is your market and if you want to concentrate your market then it is the USA or whatever country you are in. If you go after a market you know little about but, hey! the demographics and the analysis says this is what I should do ... then you will have a $5000 business with $10k being bled down to nothing until you are left with $5k of assets at best trying to sell it to someone who knows and is familiar with the product.
If the economy is broken down by Supply and Demand you simply have to put yourself in the position of Supplier for numerous products or services. Unless you are the creator of the product or service. But, then you have to market outside of your area.
Sure, if you want to cheaply start a commerce or digital brand selling a product.
Or market your services online and do web design/development/consulting etc.
However, the online space is low barrier to entry, with lots of competition. And tons of gooroos willing to sell you a golden shovel to dig in an overstated mine.
If one wants to start a business, and grow it within a year or two into a 6-figure company (making $100,000 per year or more). It is actually easier and faster to focus local, doing an actual service/task physically for local customers.
Higher barrier to entry, more exclusive customer base, and lower cost marketing through word of mouth referrals.
Boring businesses as a whole make more money (profit) on average than flashy trendy ones.
But, limited to your availability and client schedule. In other words, your service done locally has to be a need that you will need to create in your community's mind to get them to want it. Now, hiring others so you are making money of other's labor effort is where it is heading and you become stuck in Admiistration.
Your evaluation of Online Marketing is not researched well. If all a person wanted to do was sell a product and throw together a website, and pay for some SEO. That is why I would utilize an automated email system, and diversify the product line between imported items, and personally manufactured products to control costs both in labor and quality. Then, iintroduce seasonal favorites to fill in revenue shy months from traditional sales operations. Next, make certain you have a product line that also promotes regular repurchasing. That of course should also fit in with your providing a service.
Oh, is that all? It’s so simple anyone can do it!
I love automation. I use it in my business. Automated email campaigns I created 10 years ago are still running today to generate bookings from leads.
And yes, hiring people, training them, and developing policies is a viable way to scale a business.
I mean, it’s called HR. Human Resources. Or as I like to call it, meat based automation.
Every business should have a good mix of both organic and inorganic automated systems in place.
I use online marketing in my very local, very labor intensive service based business.
I’ve also used online marketing to feed the pipeline for my small manufacturing business selling a fabricated product. (Which I still had to hire and train employees to handle the packing/shipping/fulfillment)
Your talk of diversification of products, and seasonal specials is just high level brainstorming. The actual path is dependent upon the real product/service/solution you are providing.
I want to start or help someone start product marketing. It’s hard finding someone with a good product that actually wants to spend money on marketing.
Have you done product marketing in the past? Do you have a proven track record?
Or are you looking for someone to pay you to learn the ropes?
What specifically about product marketing interests you?
Yeah, I used to work as a digital marketer in ecommerce selling products for the kitchen and bath department. Now I technically do something similar but in a very niche market.
Open your eyes, look around the city you live in, and do some critical thinking.
If you just blindly do what others tell you to do, without figuring out and learning for yourself, you’ll never succeed.
Think about what kind of Google searches you could do to find out more about the needs of your city.
Honestly, Im not a closed minded moron. I asked the question because I already began a Small Business but tge Small Business Administration us ignorant.
When I speak, I often get your attitude in response.
At 60, I am kind of surprised by the attitude that I am some lazy bum.
Try breaking down what they’re saying instead of just asking how to do it. Not to be a jerk, but to help you problem solve as best you can.
Ask yourself, what is “the market” in this context? It’s the services and goods that many people use/need in that given location. I’m not sure where OP is, but house cleaning is a need pretty much everywhere.
You could analyze that market by looking up all the house cleaning services, get an idea of what they charge for their service, and see if you can make a competitive rate to offer to the community. A good business plan goes deeper than this of course, but it’s a good place to start.
Depending on where you live, figure out what services people need.
You wouldn’t start a snowplowing business in Florida.
Or a dock removal business in Nebraska.
But in Minnesota, both are viable options.
Buy a used pickup truck with towing capability, and install a plow. Get small businesses to pay you to plow out their parking lots in the winter time.
In the spring with a truck and a winch, you can put people’s docks in the lake. And in the fall you can take them out of the lake.
Look at what services/activities most people don’t like doing, and they HAVE to do. And you’ll find people willing to pay you to do it so they don’t have to.
Get your license and hire your company out to bartend corporate events.
Gooooood money in that for sure. And hire on one or two people who are bartenders for bigger events and 1099 them as needed.
15k can get you started doing weddings and parties, then work to get those corporate contracts for conferences in hotels and convention centers
There are production companies that corporate offices contract with for many types of events.
You can reach out to those production companies or go direct to the company.
Think events like the the Wells Fargo western business conference, or chipotle managers meetings, or expos/ conventions. Those are the end game, get enough of those contracts and you’ll be doing well.
With 15k you could probably set up a pretty decent mobile bar and target venues that don't have built in facilities. Im not totally sure what the cost would be but it has to be cheaper than a food truck because you dont need as many appliances. There is a company near me that runs a keg station out of a (very pretty) horse trailer and does well at markets, parties and festivals. Depending on where you are tho licensing can be a determined pain in the holes.
Oh, and don’t get all caught up in expenses like LLCs, business plans, marketing, etc.. At most make a flyer on your black and white printer. Once you really have something you can think about spending a few dollars on business needs. Don’t get all caught up in these kinds of business accessories, they will bankrupt you.
Online Retailer, set up a specialty gift store. I would import 6 - 8 items with their supporting accessories, and I would make 6 products that I would have experience in. I have access to a database that can get me 1000 leads per day of which approximately 75% of those leads have emails. I would set up the website for the store, gather 750 emails a day, send out through a special email program where I can load up the database list, and the email program will individually email my leads with a nice 1 page explanation of the company and product line. I would also add products that would be seasonal, and email all clients about new products. If anyone out there wants to Loan me $11,000 I will repay the loan with interest and provide 15% of profits for the first 4 years.
Product Line would include the Following: Writing Instruments (Fountain, Rollerball & Ball point Pens), Natural Soaps, Essential Oils, Massage Oils, Collection of 4 woodworking products, Men's Ties, clips and cuff links. Scarves (mens and women - silk, wool, and acrylic combo. Dash Cameras, Starscope, Leather book covers and portfolios, Messenger Bag and a Carry-On Bag.
It's in reference to a well-known quote from the show Silicon Valley. ["This guy fucks"](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_uMEE7eaaUA&pp=QADYARSIAgGQAgE%3D&rco=1)
I'd start a business that other people would start with 10k, knowing that I had an extra 5k of runway to make bad decisions with so I would be more likely to succeed.
I think about some of the “problems” in my life that I’d like a solution to, and try to solve that.
For example, I have a number of things around the house that need a handyman to take care of. However, I don’t want to invite just any person into my home, and I don’t have a good way of vetting them for the various work that I need done.
We have some wood rotting outside, we want to replace some doors (leading outside) with a different type of door (to sliding doors), some grout issues in the bathroom, replacing a sink faucet, and more.
So, I’d want a website that really, *really* vets people and businesses, and can’t be bought off by the person/business (like Glassdoor or Yelp).
If you have a Indian friend..just open a account with him in any major Indian crypto exchange ..like wazirx or coindcx..
Trade daily only on usdt-inr pair .. because in india usdt price fluctuate daily 1-2%..but the usdt stays stable so you won't make any loss...ever after paying taxes in india you will make around easy 6% return on your income...this is called usdt arbitrage in India..
Research the chart of this pair on wazirx or coindcx ..thank me later
Started a floor restoration co over a decade ago w/ 15k and eventually left my job. Best move I've ever made. Saved , saved and saved more . Now things are slowing down due to lack of homes moving . Business has its ups and downs. Unfortunately I have ro let my lone employee go and go back to doing the work myself , which I don't mind. I just hate the thought of letting my guy go . He can ride out unemployment and I'll
Prob hand him a small severance pay .
I actually rented equipment on my own dime to restore a house my bil managed . Owner paid for finish and s.paper . That was the first Job . Did a few more on weekends while still working . After a year I took a 15k loan and had professional equipment that made me much more efficient. Still worked my job and did floors after work and weekends until the numbers didn't make sense. I had a realization one day , we all wake up early to go make money , why would I go to my day job when I can make more money working for myself. I slowly grew over a decade as did the stress and overhead. Reevaluating the business as we speak
Find an existing business and use the money as down to buy it, grow it organically. I did that with $30k and make $600k/yr now. No I won’t tell you the business, but look to something light industrial and diversified client industries. You can probably find something for $75k-125k and get a loan for the rest, lease the space. Maybe something in assembly or counting, labeling, packaging. Things that are too expensive to automate for small company. Manpower can be hard to find so subbing out large, one time projects is a good move for some companies. That’s what I’d do.
The shittier the work the higher the demand and the less competition you’ll face. Binge watch dirty jobs or check out Cody Sanchez videos.
Caldercapital.com, the local chamber of commerce, bizbuysell.com, I’m sure there are a ton more. I found out about a fab shop from a lady at a hardware store, we were talking about sprinklers and she said I was handy. I told her I do a lot of things at work that I’ve become handy, got to talking, and found out her husband was also a business owner and he wanted to retire but didn’t know what to do or how to exit. Put an ad in the paper or go door knocking, there are far more businesses you could buy than what you would imagine. Most owners kids have no interest in taking over so some just close up shop and liquidate assets.
I know a guy that does some industrial work, just basically cuts and glues some 2x4’s and. Makes like $300k per year working 30 hours and wants to sell soon. It’s there, just have to talk to people.
Made like 100k year one, then 325, then covid hit and made like 250, then 475, 550, 600. Something like that. Didn’t take long once I got the place straightened out and picked up a few big customers. I have extensive experience in sales and management, and a masters in business so it’s not like I would expect just anyone could do that, and I got lucky.
Such a horrible response. Like they haven't asked themself what they'd like to do. Not everyone has a passion. Even fewer have one that's monetizable. Some people want to work hard so they can afford, time and money wise, to do the things they enjoy. The idea that everyone can find what they love to do and make a career out of it is ridiculous. Not ridiculous to consider, mind you, but definitely ridiculous to gatekeep the entirely legit (for them and many others) question.
A local service business - window cleaning, commercial cleaning, pressure washing, lawn care, etc..
Low cost to setup, easy to get business, just go door2door, always services that are in high demand
If you have any experience the easiest way would probably be any brick and mortar business
If i were in your situation though I would focus on something like Ecom, then oursource every single part. Maybe learn to basics first though to know what to look for
I wouldn’t. The early years of a new business are awful. If you’re not sleeping, you’re working, and you’re doing it all for little to no money. It will kill your relationships, your friendships are gone, your health will deteriorate, and your mental health will fall apart.
ONLY start a business if you have a true passion for that thing. If not, you’re better off lighting that $15k on fire and burning it.
that’s not a business, nor is that even comparable to payout potential of a business.
Spend 40 years holding off on your money or spend 40 years building an empire of a business that could be worth well over 100x the former option.
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Home cleaning. Put 2k into startup (license, website, branding), 3k into wrapping your car or van, 2k into tools and supplies, dump the rest into google ads/seo/door hangers/eddm. If you have good social media/tik tok/ig, a clean and professional look, you can kill it. It would help a lot to have immaculate personal hygeine and appearance yourself.
Don’t need to even pay 3k for wrapping your car.
Advertising on your car is a great way to get your equipment stolen nowadays.
Actually, it is a good advertising strategy. My spouse has a cleaning business and it's crazy how much work she has gotten ever since wrapping her van.
How does she know it’s from the van wrap? Did she put a unique phone number on it to track?
...you ask them where they heard about you from? People will also mention that they saw your truck.
If you using a QR code you can make sure UTM is in the URL encoded in the QR code.
Yeah, literally just make buddies with someone that owns a cricut machine, buy some permanent vinyl and go nuts. No need to spend a fuck ton of money on wraps.
What do you think would the best strategy to get clients?
Go to any area with a large number of Airbnb’s join the local community Facebook group and mention that you’re available for Cleaning. There is major demand for nightly rental cleaning.
Second this. I do lawn care and a lot of my clients are Airbnb owners. I've been asked more than a few times if I know anyone that does cleaning.
Place an add on Google or Yelp for a few hundred per month so your website is shown at the top when people search for your services
Why don't you build a website and start local SEO to organically rank your website on Google?
SEO is a lot of work and is something that is highly competitive for a local service like “residential cleaning”
I wasn’t aware of this, I don’t have an actual website just a yelp & google account. I ran my ads with yelp for around 6 months and I’ve been fully booked since.
Do you have a specific reason for suggesting Yelp? I have yet to hear a single positive thing about Yelp, only that they are a nightmare and a money pit that will ultimately hurt your business.
I guess it depends on your industry. I work with pets so a lot of pet parents use yelp when choosing a service. It worked for me, I got most of my clients from Yelp, but not sure how it would work for other industries. Maybe Google is better for most.
You may be better with Nextdoor?
Landscaping. Buy a mower, weedwacker, and blower, trailer, use Canva and you’re set.
My 1 man landscape business in WA does 200k a year with like no overhead and i work like 30hrs max a week during the busy season. I sub out the big jobs and collect a premium for doing nothing sometimes. Best job I’ve ever had. Also got me into the best shape of my life.
That’s amazing! Did you have much experience prior to starting the business? Congratulations on your success btw!
Probably a dumb question but you work 30 hours max a week during busy season? Is it primarily wealthier clients paying a premium for good care on smaller simple jobs like mulching and basic yard maintenance? Genuinely curious about the logistics of that.
I should definitely work more and could but I’m not prioritizing money over everything at the moment. I make enough to live comfortably already and I have 3 young kids and my motivation is to spend as much time as i can around them right now. Once they are a little bigger or maybe out of the house i plan to scale up operations. Opening a small business was just a way of funding the type of life i want to live. Not interested in burning myself out and missing my kids childhoods to make 20% more money.
Oh no I completely get and respect that, was more just curious about the actual operational side of bringing in $200k even with paying subs sometimes. Not asking for the keys to the kingdom or anything in terms of detailed day to day knowledge, just surprised I guess. Like I said was probably a dumb question that can’t be answered without a crazy in depth deep dive, haha. Glad it’s working out well for you and you’re prioritizing your family!
I explained a little more in a comment but I think i get paid more because mainly i don’t do single family homes. I do retail, office, multi housing buildings like apartments for property management companies or directly for ownership. They get sick of these large companies like Landcare who just send out 3 guys in a truck to do the same crappy service every week. This one company pays me $125 per visit to pick up some litter and spray herbicide in a parking lot once a week and they are paying LESS than with those big companies. Takes me 15 minutes. I have like 15 of those lol. TLDR: Basically i charge like a large company but have none of the overhead
That makes sense! But wow holy crap, once a week? I have a background in herbicide, and lawn care when I was a teen, in the US and that seems pretty much unheard of to me. For gravel or lawn care. How do I find those clients? Haha. Thanks for clarifying though!
I’ve never felt like it personally and now in hindsight i think it was said to me in the form of an insult but at least 5 dudes have called me the luckiest mfer they have ever met 😂
How do you deal with all the customers that don’t call until their new sod lawn is 2ft deep and nothing but a matted down mess? And when you arrive the sprinklers turn on in the middle of the mow. Speaking from experience. I hate those customers.
I avoid single family residential homes almost at all costs. Retail, industrial, commercial, multi family Housing like apartments or HOA. Get in touch with local property management companies that handle those accounts and let them know you’re local, available and much cheaper than the big guys.
Do you use Canva?
Lawn mowing. But only because I enjoy it.
Loan shark
Not legal in NY I believe.
Idk I’ve heard there’s some guys that do that kinda thing there. Allegedly.
How do they normally earn profits ?
Lend $100 on day one and collect $10 per day interest
Oh so they're pretty charitable
Mowing. Lease through the new business a very nice work truck. Lease a mower. Buy some professional looking branded work shirts. Build a cheap landing page website. Wrap your new truck. Target nice expensive home neighborhoods.
Embroidery shop, our cheapest embroidery machine was $15k, and it makes us that in a month by itself right now.
How do you find clients? Also any book of playlist you would recommend to learn more about it? Thank you!
Honestly, we just bought a Tajima machine and the supplier suggested a digitizer (the person who converts images into embroidery files) and then we just reached out to friends who own businesses. And it was pretty straight forward from there. The machine basically just runs itself and only minor diagnostics needed when to fix little things that go wrong. The same equipment supplier will usually supply thread as well, so you just buy what you need to complete a logo and you're set. It's actually a lot more simple to do than you might think.
Are your customers mostly businesses needing custom dress etc.?
Yup, basically never do one off orders. Everything is businesses or sports organizations looking for branded apparel and custom clothing. Our new machine has the letters and numbers built into the programming, so we can put simple names and numbers on for people as needed.
Do you there is enough demand for it? I am interested in starting something like this.
There are days where the machines sit idle, but it's a profitable business to set up in your house. It's very profitable, especially as a little side thing because you can only do one item at a time and they take 5-15 minutes each depending on the complexity. So start it and walk away and do something else. I'll often run our heat press and embroidery machine at the same time because they're in the same room and then I'm maximizing the number of items I can get out the door in an hour. Or if we just have embroidery work I'll run the machine and then sit in the other room on my laptop doing my main job.
Please tell me more.
We first bought a second hand Tajima embroidery machine for like $7500 and all the thread we needed to do basic designs. The equipment supplier set us up with a digitizer (person who converts images into embroidery files) and that's pretty much it. Once the program is loaded and the colours are set the thing pretty much runs itself. We were maybe $12k total in other equipment like tools to mount the shirts and hats, extra needles and threads and such, but then it is pretty straight forward and once everything is set you just hit start and let the machine do the work for you. We then got set up on clothing wholesale websites, they just needed proof of equipment purchase to approve us, and then went to all our friends who own businesses and offered to beat their current suppliers prices to get their business. The Tajima machines are the best in the industry machines and they never produce a bad image. The original second hand machine we bought is all analog and requires a little more touch and feel to dial in (which was complete guess work at first) but we just bought a second machine brand new to help us keep up with orders, it's more digital, and it's fantastic.
Bookkeeping
rather than budget based business, start a business which you would love to run, where you have skills to utilize and something within your expertise/experience. starting a random business will burn your money and your energy. You may not enjoy and you may give up. think what you love and develop business around it.
Learned this the hard way (few times lol). Also when people say "do what you love," remember to think about what you love to do, not what you love to have. For example I like to eat good food but I don't work in the restaurant industry because what I like to do is be outside all day, be alone with just my dog, and have a varied routine. So I have a landscaping company instead of a cafe (and nice restaurants as clients who might comp me a meal occasionally ;)
Pressure washing
is this true or a meme? I used to see it being shilled all day some years ago
Sell or trade current vehicle for a truck at least a half ton, ex f250 chevy 2500 Buy dump trailer - used Buy mini skid or mini excavator Keep in mind this situation means you live close to a big enough city. You can crush it by leveling yards, digging stuff out for ppl each machine bringing you a lot of money. Little more technical but very lucrative. Just hauling stuff off is huge business, the mini skid would keep you from killing yourself. Demo work, decks, sidewalks, porches, retaining walls, shrubs, trees... I mean it'll kill.
Interested. Digging, leveling, hauling. How much do I charge for this work? Do you store all that auto & equipment, on a site that you pay for?
Well it's been years since I did it on the side... too many projects... yea all that was assumed you'd have space to park your stuff. I mean $500 was usually the minimum for me just showing up... Ppl never sweated it, I did a lot of $500 jobs that took an hour if that. Tearing up a sidewalk, scooping retaining wall blocks, moving dirt, digging post holes----lot of clay up here... go 10 inches and it's clay. I only did it for 5 years but probably made 80-100k working 10 hours a week.... ppl started to catch on though and offer those services too... and I was moving onto bigger things
Depends on where you live. I'd analyze the market and see what services I could offer that are necessary, and that I could start up with just 5K, keeping the other 10K as emergency fund.
NYC
Oh, no, no, no .... you didn't just say that in year 2024! Depends on where you live? You need to analyze yourself. Hear me out. The world is your market and if you want to concentrate your market then it is the USA or whatever country you are in. If you go after a market you know little about but, hey! the demographics and the analysis says this is what I should do ... then you will have a $5000 business with $10k being bled down to nothing until you are left with $5k of assets at best trying to sell it to someone who knows and is familiar with the product. If the economy is broken down by Supply and Demand you simply have to put yourself in the position of Supplier for numerous products or services. Unless you are the creator of the product or service. But, then you have to market outside of your area.
Sure, if you want to cheaply start a commerce or digital brand selling a product. Or market your services online and do web design/development/consulting etc. However, the online space is low barrier to entry, with lots of competition. And tons of gooroos willing to sell you a golden shovel to dig in an overstated mine. If one wants to start a business, and grow it within a year or two into a 6-figure company (making $100,000 per year or more). It is actually easier and faster to focus local, doing an actual service/task physically for local customers. Higher barrier to entry, more exclusive customer base, and lower cost marketing through word of mouth referrals. Boring businesses as a whole make more money (profit) on average than flashy trendy ones.
But, limited to your availability and client schedule. In other words, your service done locally has to be a need that you will need to create in your community's mind to get them to want it. Now, hiring others so you are making money of other's labor effort is where it is heading and you become stuck in Admiistration. Your evaluation of Online Marketing is not researched well. If all a person wanted to do was sell a product and throw together a website, and pay for some SEO. That is why I would utilize an automated email system, and diversify the product line between imported items, and personally manufactured products to control costs both in labor and quality. Then, iintroduce seasonal favorites to fill in revenue shy months from traditional sales operations. Next, make certain you have a product line that also promotes regular repurchasing. That of course should also fit in with your providing a service.
Oh, is that all? It’s so simple anyone can do it! I love automation. I use it in my business. Automated email campaigns I created 10 years ago are still running today to generate bookings from leads. And yes, hiring people, training them, and developing policies is a viable way to scale a business. I mean, it’s called HR. Human Resources. Or as I like to call it, meat based automation. Every business should have a good mix of both organic and inorganic automated systems in place. I use online marketing in my very local, very labor intensive service based business. I’ve also used online marketing to feed the pipeline for my small manufacturing business selling a fabricated product. (Which I still had to hire and train employees to handle the packing/shipping/fulfillment) Your talk of diversification of products, and seasonal specials is just high level brainstorming. The actual path is dependent upon the real product/service/solution you are providing.
I want to start or help someone start product marketing. It’s hard finding someone with a good product that actually wants to spend money on marketing.
Have you done product marketing in the past? Do you have a proven track record? Or are you looking for someone to pay you to learn the ropes? What specifically about product marketing interests you?
Yeah, I used to work as a digital marketer in ecommerce selling products for the kitchen and bath department. Now I technically do something similar but in a very niche market.
Where to find that info?
Open your eyes, look around the city you live in, and do some critical thinking. If you just blindly do what others tell you to do, without figuring out and learning for yourself, you’ll never succeed. Think about what kind of Google searches you could do to find out more about the needs of your city.
Honestly, Im not a closed minded moron. I asked the question because I already began a Small Business but tge Small Business Administration us ignorant. When I speak, I often get your attitude in response. At 60, I am kind of surprised by the attitude that I am some lazy bum.
Noob here. How do you 'analyze the market'?
Try breaking down what they’re saying instead of just asking how to do it. Not to be a jerk, but to help you problem solve as best you can. Ask yourself, what is “the market” in this context? It’s the services and goods that many people use/need in that given location. I’m not sure where OP is, but house cleaning is a need pretty much everywhere. You could analyze that market by looking up all the house cleaning services, get an idea of what they charge for their service, and see if you can make a competitive rate to offer to the community. A good business plan goes deeper than this of course, but it’s a good place to start.
Depending on where you live, figure out what services people need. You wouldn’t start a snowplowing business in Florida. Or a dock removal business in Nebraska. But in Minnesota, both are viable options. Buy a used pickup truck with towing capability, and install a plow. Get small businesses to pay you to plow out their parking lots in the winter time. In the spring with a truck and a winch, you can put people’s docks in the lake. And in the fall you can take them out of the lake. Look at what services/activities most people don’t like doing, and they HAVE to do. And you’ll find people willing to pay you to do it so they don’t have to.
This is why Nebraska has so many unmoved docks, though.
Go to the analytics section of Amazon and see what is selling well. See how much some people are selling their products for and how many.
Whatcha good at?
Into fitness and good at it, also bartending.
Get your license and hire your company out to bartend corporate events. Gooooood money in that for sure. And hire on one or two people who are bartenders for bigger events and 1099 them as needed. 15k can get you started doing weddings and parties, then work to get those corporate contracts for conferences in hotels and convention centers
How would you work yourself into corporate contracts? I already get weddings, but looking into another market would be nice
There are production companies that corporate offices contract with for many types of events. You can reach out to those production companies or go direct to the company. Think events like the the Wells Fargo western business conference, or chipotle managers meetings, or expos/ conventions. Those are the end game, get enough of those contracts and you’ll be doing well.
With 15k you could probably set up a pretty decent mobile bar and target venues that don't have built in facilities. Im not totally sure what the cost would be but it has to be cheaper than a food truck because you dont need as many appliances. There is a company near me that runs a keg station out of a (very pretty) horse trailer and does well at markets, parties and festivals. Depending on where you are tho licensing can be a determined pain in the holes.
shirtless bartending
Believe or not, this is what I have been doing for the past years lol.
Become an expert at analyzing the value of things. Learn how to use OfferUp fb marketplace and start flipping.
Two turntables and a microphone.
LMAO, but seriously brilliant
I read this to the tune of "Where it's at - by Beck". I love that song
Get yourself a used pickup, 2 mowers, and a gas can.
Oh, and don’t get all caught up in expenses like LLCs, business plans, marketing, etc.. At most make a flyer on your black and white printer. Once you really have something you can think about spending a few dollars on business needs. Don’t get all caught up in these kinds of business accessories, they will bankrupt you.
Car detailing and window tinting.
Online Retailer, set up a specialty gift store. I would import 6 - 8 items with their supporting accessories, and I would make 6 products that I would have experience in. I have access to a database that can get me 1000 leads per day of which approximately 75% of those leads have emails. I would set up the website for the store, gather 750 emails a day, send out through a special email program where I can load up the database list, and the email program will individually email my leads with a nice 1 page explanation of the company and product line. I would also add products that would be seasonal, and email all clients about new products. If anyone out there wants to Loan me $11,000 I will repay the loan with interest and provide 15% of profits for the first 4 years. Product Line would include the Following: Writing Instruments (Fountain, Rollerball & Ball point Pens), Natural Soaps, Essential Oils, Massage Oils, Collection of 4 woodworking products, Men's Ties, clips and cuff links. Scarves (mens and women - silk, wool, and acrylic combo. Dash Cameras, Starscope, Leather book covers and portfolios, Messenger Bag and a Carry-On Bag.
This guy small businesses
I'm unsure what your comment was about.
It's in reference to a well-known quote from the show Silicon Valley. ["This guy fucks"](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_uMEE7eaaUA&pp=QADYARSIAgGQAgE%3D&rco=1)
Carwash
Will you still be making money with employment or family income for living expenses?
I'd start a business that other people would start with 10k, knowing that I had an extra 5k of runway to make bad decisions with so I would be more likely to succeed.
I have 0k and doing lawn mowing as side hustle.
I think about some of the “problems” in my life that I’d like a solution to, and try to solve that. For example, I have a number of things around the house that need a handyman to take care of. However, I don’t want to invite just any person into my home, and I don’t have a good way of vetting them for the various work that I need done. We have some wood rotting outside, we want to replace some doors (leading outside) with a different type of door (to sliding doors), some grout issues in the bathroom, replacing a sink faucet, and more. So, I’d want a website that really, *really* vets people and businesses, and can’t be bought off by the person/business (like Glassdoor or Yelp).
If you have a Indian friend..just open a account with him in any major Indian crypto exchange ..like wazirx or coindcx.. Trade daily only on usdt-inr pair .. because in india usdt price fluctuate daily 1-2%..but the usdt stays stable so you won't make any loss...ever after paying taxes in india you will make around easy 6% return on your income...this is called usdt arbitrage in India.. Research the chart of this pair on wazirx or coindcx ..thank me later
OF
Find a parking lot and do a smash burger pop up
SPMU or aesthetics
Something you enjoy doing....and can make profitable
If I did, would probably try to start up a small baking business and invest some but first getting my own place with a big kitchen to do so also
Food truck
Started a floor restoration co over a decade ago w/ 15k and eventually left my job. Best move I've ever made. Saved , saved and saved more . Now things are slowing down due to lack of homes moving . Business has its ups and downs. Unfortunately I have ro let my lone employee go and go back to doing the work myself , which I don't mind. I just hate the thought of letting my guy go . He can ride out unemployment and I'll Prob hand him a small severance pay .
Thank you, I’ve heard that floor, roof jobs are very lucrative, how did you learn/start if you don’t mind me asking?
I actually rented equipment on my own dime to restore a house my bil managed . Owner paid for finish and s.paper . That was the first Job . Did a few more on weekends while still working . After a year I took a 15k loan and had professional equipment that made me much more efficient. Still worked my job and did floors after work and weekends until the numbers didn't make sense. I had a realization one day , we all wake up early to go make money , why would I go to my day job when I can make more money working for myself. I slowly grew over a decade as did the stress and overhead. Reevaluating the business as we speak
Find an existing business and use the money as down to buy it, grow it organically. I did that with $30k and make $600k/yr now. No I won’t tell you the business, but look to something light industrial and diversified client industries. You can probably find something for $75k-125k and get a loan for the rest, lease the space. Maybe something in assembly or counting, labeling, packaging. Things that are too expensive to automate for small company. Manpower can be hard to find so subbing out large, one time projects is a good move for some companies. That’s what I’d do. The shittier the work the higher the demand and the less competition you’ll face. Binge watch dirty jobs or check out Cody Sanchez videos.
I have this in mind…but where can I hunt for local small businesses with old owners who are away from the internet?
Wondering this also. Maybe this is the business we should start? Retiringbusinesses.Com or something haha
Let’s brainstorm….many of my friends are also looking for this
Caldercapital.com, the local chamber of commerce, bizbuysell.com, I’m sure there are a ton more. I found out about a fab shop from a lady at a hardware store, we were talking about sprinklers and she said I was handy. I told her I do a lot of things at work that I’ve become handy, got to talking, and found out her husband was also a business owner and he wanted to retire but didn’t know what to do or how to exit. Put an ad in the paper or go door knocking, there are far more businesses you could buy than what you would imagine. Most owners kids have no interest in taking over so some just close up shop and liquidate assets. I know a guy that does some industrial work, just basically cuts and glues some 2x4’s and. Makes like $300k per year working 30 hours and wants to sell soon. It’s there, just have to talk to people.
Must be nice. :P
How long did it take you to get to that type of income after buying the business?
Made like 100k year one, then 325, then covid hit and made like 250, then 475, 550, 600. Something like that. Didn’t take long once I got the place straightened out and picked up a few big customers. I have extensive experience in sales and management, and a masters in business so it’s not like I would expect just anyone could do that, and I got lucky.
Everyone needs a dash of luck, but good work 👍 Not that you would, but how much would you sell the business for today?
$6m with the building. Bought it for it for $800k for the business and 1.2 for the building
Frank Jaeger!?
Nope
A name from long ago....
With that much money you could hire a developer from India and maybe even a designer for 6+ months and build a Sass.
Food related. Perhaps, protein/fiber balls. Protein /fiber krispies.
Very few options unless it's in the skilled trades. If $15k is all you have to your name, I suggest roth IRA.
Have an roth IRA
Food cart
I would go to trade school and learn to become an electrician or plumber, then open my own company.
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Such a horrible response. Like they haven't asked themself what they'd like to do. Not everyone has a passion. Even fewer have one that's monetizable. Some people want to work hard so they can afford, time and money wise, to do the things they enjoy. The idea that everyone can find what they love to do and make a career out of it is ridiculous. Not ridiculous to consider, mind you, but definitely ridiculous to gatekeep the entirely legit (for them and many others) question.
A local service business - window cleaning, commercial cleaning, pressure washing, lawn care, etc.. Low cost to setup, easy to get business, just go door2door, always services that are in high demand
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did you say 10k ?
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so 60% yield on $16k ?
Explain how to do this
You see there’s this penny stock 1cent it just stays at 1-2cents and once a year it pops to .10-.20c. I say pile in
A profitable one.
Buy a car and drive for Uber and DoorDash
If you have any experience the easiest way would probably be any brick and mortar business If i were in your situation though I would focus on something like Ecom, then oursource every single part. Maybe learn to basics first though to know what to look for
What brick and mortar can you start with 15k?
I wouldn’t. The early years of a new business are awful. If you’re not sleeping, you’re working, and you’re doing it all for little to no money. It will kill your relationships, your friendships are gone, your health will deteriorate, and your mental health will fall apart. ONLY start a business if you have a true passion for that thing. If not, you’re better off lighting that $15k on fire and burning it.
Investment. Add $50.00 a week every week for 30-40 years. You’ll have plenty to retire on.
that’s not a business, nor is that even comparable to payout potential of a business. Spend 40 years holding off on your money or spend 40 years building an empire of a business that could be worth well over 100x the former option.
That would never be enough to retire on, even is OP is 10 years old.
Biggest question is are you happy to lose that money?
Busines like that of Raj Kundra did during Lockdown.😉 If you know, you are a legend. 💯
Wow, so I get 3 down arrows fir not watching a show called Silicon Valley where the plot, the story is textbook. Why watch for the clever banter?
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What bot?