BUSINESS INVESTMENT HELP

[Haan]

Hi all,
I need your help or any advice please.

I am 27, i have about 15k saving. Just left my full time job, seeking to do business on my own.
Background: Art/Photograph, Food&Beverage, Hospitality.

I had an online website selling women's sleepwear from silk, i did go to the market etc. I did not make any many sales, hence this business was closed down. I stopped paying for the website.

Opt1: I want to have a small stall selling food in the market, this would give me instant money, flexible timings, however the queue to get to this market is long. I was thinking of the market near Bermondsey station.

Opt2 Or I am looking forward to becoming a distributor, importing seaweed, special kind of seaweed, trying to sell it for Japanese restaurants etc in UK. I dont know how though, do i just look for the restaurant address and send the samples over? then wait for their reply?

Opt3 I am also want to do hydroponics farming, but again so clueless.

What should i do now, i think Opt2 would be the easiest Opt for me?
How can i find a partner?

Thanks alot guys I appreciate your help!

 

[NickGrogan]

None of the above, go and get another job.

You don't know how to do any of these options, or have enough money to make them work.

 

[Mr D]

Presumably the Japanese restaurants using that seaweed will already get it from someone.
Sales role can be a tough one.

Hydroponics is interesting - if you haven't already then spend some time setting up a system and playing with the plants. Multiple ways of increasing yield or reducing time to harvest.

Converting to making money at it is more problematic - it can be done but would suggest stuff that isn't so readily available here. And promote both size and freshness.

Power requirements and uninterrupted power supply / backup power can be pricey. However stuff can be grown virtually anywhere with sufficient power and heat / cooling system.

Traditional farms rely on soil in the ground so limiting the crops possible for a given size. Hydroponics relies on cubic - can grow something small with multiple trays on top of each other in the same room. A 1,000 square foot warehouse for example with high ceiling may fit 10,000 plus square feet of crops.

 

[Socio South West]

You have left your job without any idea what you are going to do and have only £15k available?

I'm inclined to agree with @NickGrogan - get back into work and use your spare time to get a firm plan and the finances sorted out so that when you leave the job you are in a position to be turning money over as soon as possible without spending your savings on day to day living. If hydroponics remains an interest, gather the knowledge and techniques needed to get the business going.

£15k is nothing like enough for options 2 and 3 in your post, and without a good business plan and a good share of the capital you are most unlikely to attract an investor or business partner.

There's probably more to the story.... and sorry I cant raise more enthusiasm for you.

 

[Andy Harris]

Many years ago I was in a similar position (although I knew what I wanted to do). I ended up burning through the savings, as it was tougher than I expected.

I ended up getting a part time job to bring in income. That became a full-time job, and I worked my socks off in my own time, building up the business I wanted. Over time, I moved to part time again, as the income started to come in from my new business ... and then ultimately I could do it full time.

In short, £15K won't go far and so the above may be something for you to consider.

Hope that helps a bit from someone who originally did it wrong!

 

[obscure]

None of the above, go and get another job.

+1 to this.
Giving up work when you have no idea what to do... no idea how to do whatever you eventually choose and not enough money to do it... it simply not a good way to start a business.

Get a job, then start doing research. When you have actually chosen a route and done some research, then resign.

 

[MOIC]

1 & 3

1 as a part time job to cover your living expenses and keep you sane.

3 - Hydroponics is a quickly growing (excuse the pun) business and their are a few products that are new to the market which can be sold instantly via a one page website. No experience required, but as in any business, do your research and have knowledge about the products you want to sell.

Good luck. . . . . . but do something!

 

[Haan]

1 & 3

1 as a part time job to cover your living expenses and keep you sane.

3 - Hydroponics is a quickly growing (excuse the pun) business and their are a few products that are new to the market which can be sold instantly via a one page website. No experience required, but as in any business, do your research and have knowledge about the products you want to sell.

Good luck. . . . . . but do something!

I certainly need to do something

+1 to this.
Giving up work when you have no idea what to do... no idea how to do whatever you eventually choose and not enough money to do it... it simply not a good way to start a business.

Get a job, then start doing research. When you have actually chosen a route and done some research, then resign.

+1 to this.
Giving up work when you have no idea what to do... no idea how to do whatever you eventually choose and not enough money to do it... it simply not a good way to start a business.

Get a job, then start doing research. When you have actually chosen a route and done some research, then resign.

It's more like i have too many ideas, that's the prob.

 

[Haan]

None of the above, go and get another job.

You don't know how to do any of these options, or have enough money to make them work.

In case you think i don't know any of these, i suppose you know? or if you dont know either, which i hope not the case, will you suggest anyone? that i can learn from. I am a very good "learner"!
I am very grateful.

 

[obscure]

I certainly need to do something
It's more like i have too many ideas, that's the prob.

Yes, you need to get a job until such time as you can choose one of your ideas and do some learning as to how to actually succeed.

 

[MikeJ]

what about investing in ****** if you still choose niche to start?

Yes, just throw your money away on a gamble.

 

[NickGrogan]

In case you think i don't know any of these, i suppose you know? or if you dont know either, which i hope not the case, will you suggest anyone? that i can learn from. I am a very good "learner"!
I am very grateful.

Haan, your questions show that you don't know how to do any of these things and you don't have the money/time to learn.

I could suggest all kinds of ideas, but they won't help you. You need to find something that you can actually do, and ideally more money.

 

[Haan]

@NickGrogan I believe what i am missing now is like a "partner", not necessarily business partner though. As all of those 3opts, i started them on my own. I did know how to do at least some of opt1/2, sorry if the Q was not clear enough.
Opt1:
+In the past I traded in central London market for almost a year with my friends, lunch food was going like crazy. We did make some money, but then due to visa issue, it could not go any further.
+Recently i worked for one of the biggest catering company in UK, dealing with chefs+suppliers etc.
+I did cook very well, Pan asia (due to multiple "cook" jobs while at uni)
=> HOW DO I START A FOOD STALL, ON MY OWN. Or it's impossible and i should either look for a partner or hire a part time cook.

Opt2:
+My job is to distribute the seaweed to buyers, like i said it's special kind of seaweed, only Japanese will be familiar with it. According to my research there is only one supplier in whole EU, they sell frozen. Mine is fresh, i believe it'll sell fast due to nutrition value/appearance. A
+There is already a company/farm producing final product, they mainly export to Japan and USA. I do not touch anything in production.
=> Apart from sending samples out and wait for them to get back with orders, I DONT KNOW HOW TO APPROACH BUYERS WITH POTENTIAL ORDERS BETTER

Opt3:
I do love working with plants, much less toxic than humans. Our family do grow vegetables but never hydroponics. This is for me something extremely interesting and futuristic. But for now this opt is least practical.

 

[ethical PR]

Option 1 and 2 you can fit around a full time job - you will need this to support yourself while you grow any business you set up as you don't have the capital to support yourself.

Don't know anything about option 3.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

To make any business work you must first put in the effort to do the homework in detail, research, research, research, find out where you get the products, find out all about competitors, find a weak area they don’t fill and make some cash flow predictions, then come back and ask specific questions relating to what you want


Then make up your mind if you want to go ahead with it

 

[Flankaaa]

I would suggest that you take some more time and rethink your business idea. Just look a little bit more what is needed on the market, what will people or other businesses buy, and it might be that, in the end you will enter into completely different business from ones stated above.