Mainstream Business Ideas with $10,000?

[Rob]

My friend just received a $10,000 gift from his parents to start his own business. I've been trying to push him towards online smut peddling, but one of the stipulations to the business grant was that he can't do anything illegal or explicit - bummer.

I know $10,000 is not a lot of startup capital, but if you had it and was going to start a mainstream business, what would you do? He's asking me for ideas and I'm fresh out.

[mineistaken]

Find some service provider (having below average rates), build a website, make it rank and resell the service for above average rates. That if you want a "safe" investment. I mention safe because he might not lose his parents gift..

[Colmike9]

If he does things right, he can start drop shipping for well under $1000 depending on how much it is in his area for certain things like incorporating a business, EIN # (usually free), sales tax ID (also usually free but not always), sign up with a good drop shipper (also usually free) and make a website.

eCigs/eHookahs/mods are huge right now, btw.

Just a suggestion

[Sly]

$10k is plenty, but if your buddy has to ask others what he should get into, then he should not be spending that $10k, he's only going to burn through it. Tell him to wait until he knows what he wants to do and then try that.

[mineistaken]

Originally Posted by Sly

$10k is plenty, but if your buddy has to ask others what he should get into, then he should not be spending that $10k, he's only going to burn through it. Tell him to wait until he knows what he wants to do and then try that.

That is one of the reasons I offered an almost "unburnable" tactic.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by mineistaken

That is one of the reasons I offered an almost "unburnable" tactic.

I would recommend your suggestion to anyone that was ready to do some work and has a little knowledge already. This guy doesn't even know what he wants to do, I can't imagine he is that interested in doing work. :-)

[JA$ON]

arbitrage?

[Colmike9]

[woj]

Originally Posted by mineistaken

That is one of the reasons I offered an almost "unburnable" tactic.

that was a good plan if he knows what he is doing... but obviously he doesn't...

so he will fail before he even starts... he will probably burn first $5k on some bullshit wordpress template website.... then the remaining $5k on some bs seo services... a month will pass, he will get no leads, he will give up... and that will be the end of his adventures in online entrepreneurism...

[Sly]

Originally Posted by woj

that was a good plan if he knows what he is doing... but obviously he doesn't...

so he will fail before he even starts... he will probably burn first $5k on some bullshit wordpress template website.... then the remaining $5k on some bs seo services... a month will pass, he will get no leads, he will give up... and that will be the end of his adventures in online entrepreneurism...

I take everything that I said back.

Have him email me.

I have the perfect package for him and oddly enough, it costs exactly $10k!

[C H R I S]

Originally Posted by Colmike7

Love that episode

[Rob]

The guy isn't an idiot and he's not going to "burn through" the cash. The industry he's been in since graduating (we did our undergrad together) has a very high startup costs associated with it. Of course he would love to stay within his industry and where he's comfortable, but $10,000 isn't going to cut it. And as some of you know, when you've been in an industry for so long, you kind of lose sight of other industries and business opportunities out there. He has no idea what type of business opportunities there are where you can start for $10,000 or less. That's why he asked me.

And I would be developing his website and doing most of his SEO gratis - he's a good friend and that's what friends do. He won't have to worry about any of that, I'll do it all for him.

[candyflip]

Within a three mile stretch of one main drag near my house there are 10+ places you can buy a pizza. They've all been around for years. Keep it simple and it's not an expensive business to run.

Food Trucks are popular here. I have a friend who's made a nice living with his truck. He spent less than $10000 getting up and running.

These are business that he'd have to probably put in some real work to get going, but there doable for $10k or less. I've owned and operated a restaurant. I wouldn't do it again, myself.

[Colmike9]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Within a three mile stretch of one main drag near my house there are 10+ places you can buy a pizza. They've all been around for years. Keep it simple and it's not an expensive business to run.

Food Trucks are popular here. I have a friend who's made a nice living with his truck. He spent less than $10000 getting up and running.

These are business that he'd have to probably put in some real work to get going, but there doable for $10k or less. I've owned and operated a restaurant. I wouldn't do it again, myself.

Fried chicken and cheese sandwich trucks are always busy around me. Location is huge and sometimes hard to get a good spot depending where you are, though.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Within a three mile stretch of one main drag near my house there are 10+ places you can buy a pizza. They've all been around for years. Keep it simple and it's not an expensive business to run.

Food Trucks are popular here. I have a friend who's made a nice living with his truck. He spent less than $10000 getting up and running.

These are business that he'd have to probably put in some real work to get going, but there doable for $10k or less. I've owned and operated a restaurant. I wouldn't do it again, myself.

It's funny you mention this because I tossed around the idea of starting a food truck a while back. My mother is Korean and she makes some incredible Korean BBQ dishes I could whip up and sell easily out of a truck. Your friend does quite well with this business model?

[TheSquealer]

the question is better stated as this: "Is 10,000.00 enough to master a skill and business". There is no answer and certainly no answer for him that will come from another. Generally speaking, a cleaning business is easy to start, assuming he's willing to hustle and grind it out. I had a friend who got divorced and lost everything.. he took maybe 1000.00 and bought some cleaning stuff and started hustling offices to clean at night... after that, he started working with contractors to do final cleans for office remodels/tenant improvements and before too long he was hiring people and growing.

But is someone who has no aims, no goals, no passions, no fire under his ass and no direction going to be sure to make something with 10,000? Highly unlikely.

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by Rob

It's funny you mention this because I tossed around the idea of starting a food truck a while back. My mother is Korean and she makes some incredible Korean BBQ dishes I could whip up and sell easily out of a truck. Your friend does quite well with this business model?

Enough to support himself and a few employees. They do grilled cheese sandwiches and have a small menu with some cool combinations. Sandwiches, chips and soda. The key is to keep it simple and stick to it. I had people in my shop every day that ate the same thing. Those are the people you want to keep happy.

Our city has been quite food truck friendly, so that has to play into it as well. I can hit a Food Truck Rodeo of some sort a few nights a week. It could be a fad thing, but if it is he doesn't have much to lose...considering his initial investment.

We're in NY. We don't the weather you have in Florida, so I'd bet you'd have even better luck there.

Keep it simple. Don't fuck with things. You should be ok.

[pornstarlet-net]

Chock Full o Nuts Coffee Franchise? cost 10K

Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee Franchise | Master Franchise Opportunity

[keysync]

It's funny the people that say food.
About 4 months ago I bought a smoker from a guy on fb.
Called some local towns chamber of commerce and got going doing some small festivals.
One town close has a little festival on the first friday of every month.
I set up there and take in around $1200 or so in 4 hours.
I have about $5k invested in the smoker, and your first round of buying spices, thermometers, good knives, huge bowls, etc. etc.
The best night was $1410 selling pulled pork and baby back ribs.
And it's a good time seeing all the happy people tell you how good the food is.
And in 4 hours you close up go home and you don't have to open the shop, go to work, etc until your next event which is usually a week away.
It's definitely work, but I really enjoy it.

[mineistaken]

Originally Posted by keysync

It's funny the people that say food.
About 4 months ago I bought a smoker from a guy on fb.
Called some local towns chamber of commerce and got going doing some small festivals.
One town close has a little festival on the first friday of every month.
I set up there and take in around $1200 or so in 4 hours.
I have about $5k invested in the smoker, and your first round of buying spices, thermometers, good knives, huge bowls, etc. etc.
The best night was $1410 selling pulled pork and baby back ribs.
And it's a good time seeing all the happy people tell you how good the food is.
And in 4 hours you close up go home and you don't have to open the shop, go to work, etc until your next event which is usually a week away.
It's definitely work, but I really enjoy it.

how long does it take to smoke it?

[Sly]

Originally Posted by mineistaken

how long does it take to smoke it?

Really good brisket can be 12-15 hours. It depends who you ask and how they like it. I've had delicious three-hour brisket, I've had delicious 15 hour brisket.

Making a good brisket is not for the faint of heart. It's a lot of work and as you can see, can easily be a lot of hours.

Absolutely fantastic though.

[keysync]

Depends on what you're cooking.
For a friday afternoon event I start cooking at 7 am thursday and do all the pulled pork.
Then friday morning around 8 am I do the ribs and chicken until they're almost done.
I then heat up everything and finish the ribs and chicken while setting up for a sale.
Pulled pork takes 12 to 14 hours at 225 degrees. You cook to temperature instead of time and temp though. Results can vary depending on humidity, temperature outside, etc.
Baby back ribs take 4 to 5 hours. But you can't cook them to temp it's cooked to how they flex. There's alot of science to it.
I cook a thing called chicken bombs that's a butterflied breast with 2 cheeses inside along with 2 small strips of jalapeno pepper then rolled up, wrapped with 2 strips of bacon, smoked and coated in bbq sauce. Those take 3 hours.
Everything I smoke is at 225 degrees ish.

[Rob]

[keysync]

Nah just sharing.
I spent about $5k to get into cooking for events.
Your friend could give it a try.

[johnny_r]

he could just buy a profitable mainstream project that has a working business model and scale it. Good site to search: flippa.com

[sonofsam]

People who don't know what they want to do usually lack the passion to succeed in what they want to do..

and on average, the successful entrepreneurs fail at their first few businesses before they get it right.... so it wouldn't be advisable to spend 10 on that 1 business

He should put that money aside, or invest it in some safe mutual funds and figure out what he is passionate about before jumping into anything

[RandyRandy]

Originally Posted by keysync

Nice size - what is that about 250 gallons? 5k all-in to start with that baby is a very fair deal.

[VikingMan]

You.can start a service based business and spend next to nothing if anything at all. One of my businesses is basically selling advertising to businesses and i focus on new home builders since that part of the economy has been heating up the last few years. Then if you need employees just set up independent contractors and treat them as separate businesses. My investment was next to nothing because all I needed was a phone and an Internet connection as well as a basic website.

It seems like cunts are always looking to invest money in order to start a business. I think a lot of it just comes from not having the drive to start a business. People seem to want some structure and buying a business and investing in a business prvides that structure to people. I think the food truck or food cart idea is great but there still is a possibility of loss if you have to throw out food or the truck its damaged or stolen.

[jimmycooper]

Originally Posted by Rob

It's funny you mention this because I tossed around the idea of starting a food truck a while back. My mother is Korean and she makes some incredible Korean BBQ dishes I could whip up and sell easily out of a truck. Your friend does quite well with this business model?

Korean BBQ is very popular in Manhattan. Here are the two most well known trucks.

Home | Korilla
kimchi taco truck — Kimchi Taco Truck & Kimchi Grill



There's also always a pretty long line during lunch for the Korean taco stand inside the Whole Foods at Colombus Circle.

And here's a fairly entertaining movie which might be worth watching...

#ChefMovie

[georgeyw]

Originally Posted by johnny_r

he could just buy a profitable mainstream project that has a working business model and scale it. Good site to search: flippa.com

Name one good site that has ever been sold on flippa

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Colmike7

If he does things right, he can start drop shipping for well under $1000 depending on how much it is in his area for certain things like incorporating a business, EIN # (usually free), sales tax ID (also usually free but not always), sign up with a good drop shipper (also usually free) and make a website.

eCigs/eHookahs/mods are huge right now, btw.

Just a suggestion

He came over last night and we spent HOURS searching around for legitimate drop shipping companies and honestly, it would be easier finding Big Foot! If you do any kind of Google search, the first 100 pages in the SERPS are all affiliate links (that's a business in itself - drop shipping affiliate because their commissions are insanely high). When we finally found drop shipping companies we thought were legit, we found some honest reviews and they turned out to be astronomical ripoffs.

I had an idea for him to sell shit on eBay and have a drop ship company deliver it, but with the prices not being competitive and eBay's fees being a cunt hair short of a class three felony; we moved on to a different plan. We're not sure what that plan is yet, but we're moving on unless we can find an honest company.

Does anyone know of any legitimate drop shipping companies out there that aren't huge ripoffs? Or do any of you have any solid leads on companies that allow you to become resellers of their products? I may just build him an ecommerce store and have at it using the $10k for marketing.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Rob

He came over last night and we spent HOURS searching around for legitimate drop shipping companies and honestly, it would be easier finding Big Foot!

This is where we circle back to doing something that you already know or really want to do. I've done drop shipping for a few different products and had no problem getting what I wanted. I knew exactly what I needed, I knew what companies had my product, I contacted them, and that was it.

If this is an important friend of yours, I suggest you tread very lightly. If you point him in any direction where he loses that $10k it could destroy your relationship.

[Barry-xlovecam]

Originally Posted by keysync

It's funny the people that say food.
About 4 months ago I bought a smoker from a guy on fb.
Called some local towns chamber of commerce and got going doing some small festivals.
One town close has a little festival on the first friday of every month.
I set up there and take in around $1200 or so in 4 hours.
I have about $5k invested in the smoker, and your first round of buying spices, thermometers, good knives, huge bowls, etc. etc.
The best night was $1410 selling pulled pork and baby back ribs.
And it's a good time seeing all the happy people tell you how good the food is.
And in 4 hours you close up go home and you don't have to open the shop, go to work, etc until your next event which is usually a week away.
It's definitely work, but I really enjoy it.

A friend of mine did similar. He bought a wrecked house trailer and built a food concession trailer out of the chassis that sells pulled pork sandwiches and soft ice cream (like dairy queen). He needed a state health department license to be allowed into fairs or events -- the trailer had to pass a food handlers safety inspection, etc.. He's doing pretty good but it is slow in the winters.

$10,000 isn't much to capitalize a new venture. Start part-time an keep your day job. 90% of business startups fail in the first 5 years ... good luck 10% do make it

[blackmonsters]

Originally Posted by keysync

Depends on what you're cooking.
For a friday afternoon event I start cooking at 7 am thursday and do all the pulled pork.
Then friday morning around 8 am I do the ribs and chicken until they're almost done.
I then heat up everything and finish the ribs and chicken while setting up for a sale.
Pulled pork takes 12 to 14 hours at 225 degrees. You cook to temperature instead of time and temp though. Results can vary depending on humidity, temperature outside, etc.
Baby back ribs take 4 to 5 hours. But you can't cook them to temp it's cooked to how they flex. There's alot of science to it.
I cook a thing called chicken bombs that's a butterflied breast with 2 cheeses inside along with 2 small strips of jalapeno pepper then rolled up, wrapped with 2 strips of bacon, smoked and coated in bbq sauce. Those take 3 hours.
Everything I smoke is at 225 degrees ish.

I want in.
Will work for food.

[Barry-xlovecam]

How much is ebay charging these days? They have awesome traffic. I have bought a few small items shipped direct from China, Hong Kong and Thailand by post in the last month -- there is some real price competition there. The small items clear customs on their package declaration less, than $10 value so far.

Best bet is some new value proposition service. There is money available always for good ideas -- a lot more money than original ideas

[Cam94]

I would start a local business and rank it in google local, takes five months to get five stars and get the calls coming in. Cost would run roughly $2k. I make $500 - $1,000 per day in mine working three to four hours a day.

[Oohh]

Originally Posted by Cam94

I would start a local business and rank it in google local, takes five months to get five stars and get the calls coming in. Cost would run roughly $2k. I make $500 - $1,000 per day in mine working three to four hours a day.

You are doing it good.

[Barry-xlovecam]

Originally Posted by Cam94

I would start a local business and rank it in google local, takes five months to get five stars and get the calls coming in. Cost would run roughly $2k. I make $500 - $1,000 per day in mine working three to four hours a day.

You have to have a good business idea and a good plan to do that

[Cam94]

Originally Posted by Oohh

You are doing it good.

Thank you so much! Takes a lot of patience with Google unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

You have to have a good business idea and a good plan to do that

Thank you! Most people know at least one trade without a hint of seo knowledge thankfully. My next business idea is a striping business. Guys around here are turning down $20,000 for weekend jobs because it's so little money to them. Striping machine with seo is around $9k.

[Barry-xlovecam]

Buy 3 computers and 3 logitec 920 webcams (3-4,000?) and find 6 girls that are sex freaks to work in 2 x 7 hour shifts for your cam studio. (In the house or apartments you rent for this?). Sign up as a studio with a few cam sites and make bank $$$

Pussy sells

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Cam94

I would start a local business and rank it in google local, takes five months to get five stars and get the calls coming in. Cost would run roughly $2k. I make $500 - $1,000 per day in mine working three to four hours a day.

Are you selling the leads or are you farming out jobs? It's a good business, I have a few sites that sell off leads as well. Have not scaled it, but if scaled would be a monster.

Like you said, takes patience and a little hard work but within a year can be a solid business.

[money biz]

buy clad genius with all the options.

[Cam94]

Originally Posted by Sly

Are you selling the leads or are you farming out jobs? It's a good business, I have a few sites that sell off leads as well. Have not scaled it, but if scaled would be a monster.

Like you said, takes patience and a little hard work but within a year can be a solid business.

I agree with you, waiting a year can be frustrating! I take solace knowing most people won't go the distance most IMer's are willing to go. I'm actually doing the work myself. Gets me a little exercise and the cash flow to get into mainstream online ventures. Selling leads is profitable too from what I've seen especially if it's scaled like you say.

[brassmonkey]

im telling you cleaning is the way! jani pro or jani king maybe even marry maides

[DVTimes]

The key to a small business is knowledge.

For instance train to know about car tyres and how to balance them and so on then rent a van, get the gear and do a portable car tyre business.

He may consider using the money to train as a plumber or electrician and then its easy cash.

Silly as it sounds, in the UK a growing business is dog walking. People charge good cash. He would need to get a decent van and insurance. But in the right area its good money.

[DVTimes]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

im telling you cleaning is the way! jani pro or jani king maybe even marry maides

To be honest if your doing such a business franchise would suck.

See what others do, then do it better.

Build up a reputation.

[DVTimes]

One popular business in the UK is car cleaning.

Many garages (as in selling fuel) have closed. As the cost to dig them up is often high, they tend to go unused. So people rent them cheap.

They are used as hand car valeting services.

Often 4 or 5 chaps with sponges and buckets.

On busy roads you can often see a long line of cars going to them.

Its very much location is the key.

[jimmycooper]

Originally Posted by DVTimes

One popular business in the UK is car cleaning.

Many garages (as in selling fuel) have closed. As the cost to dig them up is often high, they tend to go unused. So people rent them cheap.

They are used as hand car valeting services.

Often 4 or 5 chaps with sponges and buckets.

On busy roads you can often see a long line of cars going to them.

Its very much location is the key.

[iDa]

Originally Posted by Cam94

I would start a local business and rank it in google local, takes five months to get five stars and get the calls coming in. Cost would run roughly $2k. I make $500 - $1,000 per day in mine working three to four hours a day.

that sounds good to me, i would like to know what kind of business t=you are running?

[Barry-xlovecam]

Get a license to a practice a licensed occupation then build from there. That is one way to go. When you are a licensed person you can demand a higher price for your time. You can also hire persons or entities to work under your licence and take a cut.

If you don't have an idea -- take that $10K, get some student loans and get a college degree or an advanced degree if you have an AA or Bachelors degree already.