Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all.
I`m a 53 year old Michigan guy who was just laid-off again - from Chrysler this time-Ford 2 years ago.  I need a business idea that works- I don`t think at 53 I can find another job in this economy- I have to stay in Southeast Michigan-elderly parents to care for and this is home.

I have a 13 year old son with a form of Autism-Asperger`s it is called and don`t think he will be able to finish high school or work for a main-stream company.  I`d like a business that we could both do.  ***Experts and others- please share your best idea`s- I have thought about a small business for a few years and nothing seems to have potential for success that I have thought of myself.  Thanks!!!

What did you do for Chrysler and Ford, is there something you learned there that you could branch out on? Do you want to provide a service or good? 

Thanks for your reply.  I was a Meetings and Event Planner- business is getting smaller here and the number of people needed to operate business here is shrinking fast.  I`m thinking of something completely different- that would have a market outside as well as in Michigan- an E-bay seller?...it has been done I`m afraid.  Tons of people are starting handyman and lawn-care businesses.  Many are fully retired with pensions, IRA,s, health care, etc.  I have no backing.

mark

I was going to approach this from the perspective of what skills you`ve accrued over a lifetime of working in the auto industry, but what caught my attention was your son and the Asperger`s.

I used to work for a woman who was one of the mentors in my business life. Donna was a marketing VP who focused entirely on getting things done. She had little interest in appearances (odd, for someone in marketing!), and so she gave me a chance to accomplish many good things.

Donna`s son also has troubles, and needs more than ordinary care. At first Donna rose to the position of President in a corporate world. She then left and started her own business, developing fitness centers. That became highly successful, but required a lot of travel.

She left that, went to work for a company that builds health centers, then left that. I don`t know all the reasons, but I just recently got a promotional email announcing her next venture, a new business.

Again, I haven`t spoken with her in years, but it`s my belief that as we get older and she considers the welfare of her son, she`s joined together her business acumen with an idea, and produced something that looks brilliant!

Maybe this will help you to find an inspiration along the same lines. :-)

Note that a not-for-profit organization is a legal designation. It means that AFTER all expenses, costs, and salaries have been accounted for, there should be no remaining profit. To that end, if you were the managing director or some other executive, you would draw a salary.

Thank you-Stan and CraigL. I appreciate it.

Here`s another idea I`ve had, but never followed up on: financial data entry.

Consider the massive number of receipts we`re given each day, along with all the record-keeping involved in personal finance. Or it could be home business financials on top of personal finance.

What seems to happen is you go to your accountant and they ask you to put all this into some useful form. Maybe it`s Quicken, maybe some other program. But one way or another, unless you`re one of those people who has all their Christmas shopping done in September, you have massive amounts of paper.

The business would be that you`d do the weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly data entry into something basic, like Excel. You`d swing by your clients, doing your rounds, and they`d give you a shoebox or manilla envelope full of receipts.

You`d have no particular interest in organizing the stuff or doing the taxes. All you`d do would be go through the receipts, enter them in a pattern, the email the spreadsheet to the person.

I`m guessing this might work out to something along the lines of what....$15/hr.?

People who aren`t organized in math and finance, like me, totally NEVER do this kind of stuff! Then at the end of the year or quarter, it`s a nightmare of trying to get everything figured out. If it were in a plain old spreadsheet, it would solve a big problem---item one for a new business. :-)

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Natalie Berrett
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