Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi all! New here at SuN, but really like the site so far.

Currently I work for the local government here, and have now for almost 10 years. But it`s always been on my heart to be an entrepreneur. It`s in my family. Both parents did multiple ventures, ending with a successful cleaning biz. My aunt runs her own screen printing biz which has been quite successful handling only small type orders others won`t do. All around me people are doing their own thing.

For me, I`ve had numerous ideas and did actually start one a while back. I sold aftermarket performance parts for import cars online. In just 4 months, I sold $20k worth of products, but I also got screwed over a couple of times and had difficulty with my supplier not keeping items in stock. Of course then people would call me and curse me out over it. I got messed up by a counterfeit certified check that my bank actually cashed, and after spending my profit, it got caught. So I was then put in the hole pretty quickly and decided I`d stop the business. In hindsight, I just quit. It could have went on, but I quit.

Sadly, I`ve quit a number of opportunities that possibly could have been "the one", before I ever gone far enough to find out. I`ve dabbled in real estate investing, went to school to become a realtor, and had thoughts about a number of other businesses surrounding real estate. I don`t know why real estate has always been sort of a focus, but I guess there`s got a be a reason.

So now, I`m on the road again. This time with one of my original ideas, which surrounds real estate advertising. My idea(s)? A color, print catalog, online website, and possibly video tours of homes. The goal is really to help both the buyer and seller by keeping them from making uneeded trips out to the home and wasting both party`s time. I also plan to allow some local repair businesses and possibly small real estate firms to advertise their services in the catalog.

Other than getting customers, which right now is the time in my opinion while homes are sitting for an average of 9 months nowadays, is distributing the catalogs. My first idea is to deliver them to Wal-Mart stores. I`m sure you`ve seen the free magazine racks near the front doors of your local Wal-mart. Well this is where I`d like to put my magazine. I`ll start in my own city and surrounding communities and work my way further and further as biz picks up.

Of course there`s lots of nuts and bolt still, but you get the jist of my plan. I will work on doing things right this time around and complete. This`ll include having a full biz plan! Which will be needed cuz I`ll be looking to my aunt possibly to help me cover the costs of the first few printings if needed.

One thing I`m needing, are the racks for the magazines, so if you can help there, let me know!

Thanks and God bless.

I saw your other post, fleshing out your idea and wondering if it was a good idea. I`d missed this one, and I`m catching up... :-D

First of all, tons of people think they want to do something then quit. Then they get down on themselves and worry that they may be genetically "quitters." Nah...that`s not true. :-) Life is an adventure, it`s supposed to be fun, and along the way has all sorts of drama, problems, obstacles, frustrations, and so on. Othewise, it wouldn`t be interesting.

The problem is that when you`re broke, you come up with lots of ideas. But when you have security, a decent job, stability and comfort, time passes and you don`t have ideas. (There oughta be a way to have lots of ideas AND money!)

Taking the time and will-power to actually start a business is key. It`s an intellectual decision, not a "feeling." Feelings come and go, but decisions last for some time. From there, it`s a matter of real commitment, focus, discipline, and effort.

I worked in a real estate company last year, but don`t have much work now due to the markets. From what I saw, the entire business is moving in two general directions. The first is to be online. The second is to eliminate brokers as much as possible.

There are thousands of paper magazines, outlets, advertising brochures, and what have you. Every agent has ways to print individual flyers for all their listings.

But there aren`t that many video tours (yet). We also have lots of people moving long ways away from their existing location. They may be moving to Colorado from Ohio. How do they really and truly get a feel for a possible home?

Not only do they care about the rooms, layout, decor, and yard; they also care about the neighborhood, shopping, schools, and general area.

So why not form the business around more of a high-end concept? Instead of offering hum-drum video of regular and ordinary houses, focus on high-end sales. Consider commercial real estate, and then think about making commercials for specific properties.

This would be like the radio ads on shows like Limbaugh or Dumont, with national audiences. They`re selling properties in lake-front or mountain developments. Rather than a course on how to become a realtor, you could start with some schooling in video production, making commercials, and filmography.

From there, you`d approach large-scale sellers. Houses in the $1-million and up range, office buildings, malls, and development tracts. You`d do a 20-minute, high-impact commercial with music and narration, that tours the entire area and buildings.

Your "magazine" would be an online magazine, specifically targeted to investors and upscale home buyers. There`ll always be money, even in economic hard times. The problem is to attract those with the money. And they`re specifically avoiding the ordinary, run-of-the-mill, humdrum, and inexpensive.

Take a look at Yachting Magazine, and consider what you would have. You might have a $3-million property highlighted on the front page, with a classy video showing off what can be done. The video would include narration about zoning, potentials, and local attractions. Maybe there`s room to add an airport to the property, or there`s a boating lake adjacent.

When there`s an economic crash, middle- and lower-income people are affected. Wealthy people are affected, but not in the same ways. You can sell Ford Escorts or you can sell Jaguars, but in tough times it`s the Jaguar buyers who`ll remain buyers...not those who don`t have enough to buy an Escort.

The advantage here is that you`d spend a month making the 20-minute video, but all that work would be valuable. You could charge high rates. If you spend hours making a 5-minute production, you`d also likely end up filming 24/7 on junk. So you make a couple of bucks?

Go for the bang-for-the-buck. Say 1 commercial was worth $100,000 and you took 4 months to make it (covering cold/warm seasons). Even if you sold only the one commercial in a year, you`d make some money. But if you make 1,000 commercials and sell them for $100...how much physical effort would you have spent?

Gerald,

CONGRATULATIONS!  It is a big step to take the leap again, or even for the first time, as an entrepreneur.  There are A LOT of things you must know and/or gather to keep your business moving along and growing.  Glad to hear that all is going well at the moment you have fully thought through obstacles.  Well Done.

Best of Luck.