Need help for business idea

L

lurcher

Registered User
Messages
64
Hi, i took redundancy last year,i dont regret this & never again want to work in a factory.I would much rather work for myself.The problem is i dont have a business idea,i have looked at a lot of different things ie. franchises,business involving premises & lease,start ups,but for one reason or another i havent been able to progress with any of them.While doing research in to some new start up ideas i discovered someone else had beat me to it & had only just started up that very same business in the same area i was looking to start up in,three times this happened.I have looked at franchises but the one or two that appealed to me & i felt like i may be able to make a go of were already gone in my area.I know the enterprise boards run work shops where you brainstorm & come up with different ideas,i have my name down for this whenever they start the next one,but in the mean time i am really frustrated & feel i am not moving forward with this,i dont want to give up on this,any ideas or pointers will really be appreciated,thanks,Lurcher.
 
do something you like, e.g. if you has a passion for fishing look at something in that area.

No point opening a sandwich shop franchise or a carpet cleaning franchise and find that you hate every moment of your working day, but have no choice as you have invested into it, you might as well go back to the factory...
 
Contemporary,i"m afraid i dont have too many passions,when I left school 20yrs ago I did what my parents told me & got a job,car mortgage & family,thing is its not enough,I want to work for myself,be my own boss,etc.
What you could say i"m passionate about is money,building wealth.

aristotle,i"ve worked mainly in manufacturing & stores as an operator,i"m not sure how i could use this experience in a start up,but you never know,
thanks for replys,Lurcher
 
If you want to start a business I would look at the web route. There are plenty of businesses selling products on the web which means they don't have the big upfront capital costs like if you opened a cafe etc.

You don't need a new idea. You could start off selling\re-selling come other company's products. For example, I recently search the web for an Irish site that sells coffee machines, there are not that many and they are just re-sellers. Thats just one off-the-top of my head example.

Did you do anything in quality control, could you offer courses in that or anything else manufactoring related?

Maybe you need to start with what you are interested in, I know you said you don't have too many passions but maybe think about what are you good at, what do you enjoy? Are you a peoples person, would a sales job suit etc etc.

Maybe you should start my talking to a good career guidance person or someone that will help you find out what you enjoy or want to do? Everybody wants to build wealth but I think you are stuggling with the "what do I want to do" part.
 
aristotle,i dont have any quality control experience & dont want to go back to anything factory or job related,i dont want to be putting up barriers,i just want to be my own boss & yes i am struggling with the "what do i want to do "part,thanks again for feedback,Lurcher.
 
I would go and do a website & Internet marketing course. If you can set up a site that delivers a constant income stream (difficult but not impossible) it will give you great mobility (you can work from anywhere with Internet access). Buy a copy of the four hour work week by Tim ferris for some good ideas and case studies & a crash course on Internet marketing.

Best of luck
 
I don’t mean to sound harsh or condescending but I think you are in a prime position to lose a lot of money.
I’ve been involved in business for years and I come from a manufacturing (and now sales) background. I have been involved in two start-up’s over the last few years. The first one was a complete disaster which ended up costing tens of thousands. The stumbling blocks were my own lack of experience in market research and accountancy. That was despite the fact that I am involved in both areas in a limited way through my day job.
You can have a great product or idea but if people aren’t willing to buy it then you can’t build a business around it.
From my own experience I would suggest that you first get to know your product (be it a physical product or a service), you then get to know your market and lastly you make sure that you have enough money to cover all running costs for at least one year. I’d also suggest that you find a good accountant (not a common thing) and a good solicitor (an even rarer thing) and be willing to spend money with both. You may not need them but have them on hand.

If you identify a business idea that is worthwhile I would suggest looking for a job in that area so that you get to know the market, the existing players in the market and the costs associated with running a business in that sector. If you are not willing to do that, something which, in the context of the things you will have to do when running your own business is quite minor, then I don’t see how you will succeed.
 
I agree with Purple. For example if you wanted to set up a pizza store I would identify a really good pizza outlet and try and get work there for a year. See everything they do and learn from it. If you like the business you can at that stage look to set up on your own and you will have the knowledge on the way the business works. Starting a business from scratch without any knowledge will most likely fail. Franchises in my opinion really only make money for the master franchisee with a lot of upfront costs and conditions.
 
Sounds to me like you need to take a practicle approach to selecting the business type to invest in as opposed to following your dream, as you dont have one.

List all of the profitable business types you can think of, dont leave out any because you dont like them, thats the next job.

I will start your list.

Childcare
Care for the elderly
Car servicing
Kids play areas
Insurance loss assessing
Coffee shop
takeaway
Cleaning

etc
keep doing the list until you cant think of anything else then sit down and imagine your self in all of them and either cross them out as unsuitable or leave them for further investigation.

At the end of this process you should have a few options to spend some time investigating.
 
Purple,Col,Number7 thanks for feedback, going back to education sounds good,but when i was in school i didnt enjoy it,i just did enough to pass my exams.I just want to make good money while working for myself..thanks again Lurcher.
 
Hi lurcher.
You have got some good advice from other AAM'ers. Do work in the area that you think you might like otherwise you are setting yourself up to lose your money.
I started my first business in 1980 and though it was a very good business - i bought so badly - through inexperience, I spent a year selling off the bad decisions. I was lucky that I was able to redeem myself because my location was excellent and I learned quickly.
I have observed a good food shop in Kilkenny that started 2 years ago and is doing exceptionally well - on the corner of Kells Road going out from the city. It might be worth looking at if you are interested in retail and food. They have recently added a butchers dept. Customers coming from all over town to it.Must have car parking outside. No business is easy but if you like what you are doing you will succeed. Location location location is the secret.
Good luck. Browtal
 
Jimbobp,browtal thanks for replies,i"ll mull over all of them,some good common sense feedback,thanks again Lurcher.
 
Hi lurcher
Your situation isnt too bad, at least you have the funds available for a start up, I always had 100s of ideas but unfortunatelly no resources. You have to be open to advertisements, read thru the leaflets and talk to people, looking for something that they need ,but isnt available on the market yet. It is a good idea to keep track of commercial vechicles, write down the web sites and phone num and try to do a little research on line and on the field. Try to pick oryginal ideas,try to improve them or connect them if possible I will strongly agree with Purple, that its worth while to get a job in desired sector to find out how things are set up there. In my opinion theres plenty of proffitable business oportunities in the services sector. They are easier to set up and require lower invesment. Having good marketing campaign and sales strategics in place and most importantly If you belive in your product you should be able to succeed.
 
I don't mean to sound sarcastic but all those posters that are suggesting getting a job in the area for a year to find out how the industry works... hello! Have you noticed there are thousands of people lookign for jobs out there? I would love to see who would give you a job in a certain industry when you have no experience in that industry? If you know about any such place let me know as I know a lot of peple who would kill for a job right now, any job...
 
Try door to door sales, they often take people with no experience
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top