Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Good evening all!  My name is Chris, I`m 28 and at a crossroads in my life.  Continue working hard to help someone else realize THEIR dream, or take control and take action realizing my own.  So here I am.

 

Ok...  The life plan was really an eye opener...  A pretty clear vision on where I am and where I want to go based on the things I truly love to do and how it will fit into my life.

 

From my life plan sprung five (I think) fantastic ideas that would be equally as fulfilling and I aspire to eventually realize them all.  Since I am a very "green" entrepeneur, I am challenged by the decision of which vision to realize first.  I also feel that it is best to start with the lowet risk endeavor.  So I turn to the community of experienced professionals I found here...  I am going to describe the different models I have envisioned, I`d like to know which of these are the lowest "risk" for me to cut my professional teeth on...  ANY advice is appreciated! 

 

1.) content-rich/membership website, industry specific

A website where users can bookmark as their  all-in-one place to access industry refernce material, browse and post ads for buy/sell/trade, networking, teachers advertising classes, students seeking instruction, etc...  Paying memers can post media files, video and a searchable profile that fully represents their individual vision.

note-I have little knowledge of site-building or programming.

 

2.) a traditional brick-and-mortar retail music store with lessons and rehersal space for rent.  There are thousands of young musicians in my community and the closest retail store is over an hour away. 

 

3.) Specialty catering, geared toward the many wineries in my area.  One thing that I have noticed survives recession is wine, and a mobile gourmet would grab their attention.

 

4.) a more traditional brick-and-mortar food vendor, with my own persoal gourmet flair.  In ths venue, I intend to brand myself and my business to stand-out with a gourmet twist on an old fav.

 

5.) develop and license a very low-cost, but essential kitchen item that has gained the approval of many housewives, friends, and family looking to streamline a common task for less than $5

 

My two loves in my life are music and cooking (obviously) so any of these would make me a happy man.  The question is, which of these are most realistic for a newbie like me?

 

-Cheers,

Chris

 

 

 

 

You don`t want this kind of decision to be made in a forum where most answers are "whatever the person is selling - whether it fits or not".  You need to make the best decision for YOU.  You`d have to provide a whole lot more information about yourself and these ventures for ANYONE to give you the SLIGHTEST good advice.

 

It may not sound like much, but I would suggest you go through the business plan process for each of them.  I suspect it will result in your knowing if the price is right to sacrifice love for finance - or vice versa.  But it is impossible to make that call until you know the cost! (smile)  I suspect when you know the cost YOU will know the answer!

 

Good luck,

Ed

1.) content-rich/membership website, industry specific

A website where users can bookmark as their  all-in-one place to access industry refernce material, browse and post ads for buy/sell/trade, networking, teachers advertising classes, students seeking instruction, etc...  Paying memers can post media files, video and a searchable profile that fully represents their individual vision.

note-I have little knowledge of site-building or programming.
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For me personally this would be my number one choice which makes sense, my two passions are business and design. I am a web designer so it would be very low cost for me to get started. And of course all of this would be obvious if you knew me. But from what you told us about you, this is a pretty far stretch from what you are knowledgeable and passionate about, having virtually nothing to do with food or music. You may consider doing something more industry specific to music or food. Having a site all about (music or food), buy sell trade musical instruments or trade recipes, networking for musicians or cooks, offer online classes (cooking, music lessons). Charge to sell or to offer lessons. To have a site like this is not going to be cheap, and to advertise to get it out there and known is gonna be an ongoing expense, but compared to a brick and mortar, its less expensive.

 

2.) a traditional brick-and-mortar retail music store with lessons and rehersal space for rent.  There are thousands of young musicians in my community and the closest retail store is over an hour away.
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Find a need and fill it. If you have the money to make this happen, it could be a successful business. If in fact there is a need for this kind of business in your area, and you are financially able to do this, I`d say you should really consider it. In addition to the normal startup business costs, you will also need to consider costs related specifically to this kind of business. You need a building that will allow you to build out a lessons, rehearsal space. What costs are related to that space? Can you sublease in the building you are in, if you are leasing space yourself, sometimes, this is not allowed, even short time leasing may not be allowed so you will want to know upfront. Will you be selling new instruments and equipment, old instruments and equipment or both?

 

3.) Specialty catering, geared toward the many wineries in my area.  One thing that I have noticed survives recession is wine, and a mobile gourmet would grab their attention.
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I  have heard that one industry that is recession proof is alcohol. So you may be right there! You may be able to start this as a homebased business which would save you the cost of a brick and mortar.

 

4.) a more traditional brick-and-mortar food vendor, with my own persoal gourmet flair.  In ths venue, I intend to brand myself and my business to stand-out with a gourmet twist on an old fav.
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This is also a good idea, but you will have the upfront cost. You may consider starting with the catering and have a goal in mind to expand to this from your catering business.

 

5.) develop and license a very low-cost, but essential kitchen item that has gained the approval of many housewives, friends, and family looking to streamline a common task for less than $5
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This could get very expensive. The costs of prototyping, manufacturing, patents, and marketing. If you really have a good idea and money to get it started go for it, maybe you can find an investor, but if not keep it top secret and as soon as you can get working on it.

You know you dont have to be limited to just one idea, some of these things would probably work very well together. And, as you are getting your business off the ground continue working on the kitchen item idea! Good luck!

The problem is, is that none of your business ideas are "low risk."  As a matter of fact, all businesses have a lot of risk.  And anything related to food has a ton of risk.  Food is one of the riskiest risks of all.

 

A "content rich" membership site is going to be very expensive to build and then there`s the possibility no one will use it.  So that`s certainly a big risk as well, especially since everyone and their cousin is trying to do the same thing.

 

The best way to mitigate risk is through research and becoming an expert in your field.  You listed 5 different businesses, so odds are your not sure what to do because your not an expert in any of those specialized fields.

 

First, figure out exactly what you want to do in terms of running a business.  Then, find a job with a company that is similar to your business idea.  Work at that job for a year or two and learn as much from them as possible.  By then, you will be an expert in that field and ready to start your business...but there will still be lots of risks.