General business start-up ideas

[ojames123]

Hello everybody, I’ll try and keep this short.

Me and 2 friends have been saying for the past coming up to three years that we will start a business together, nothing has happened so far. I don’t want this to be a thing where we say this for years and then never actually do it. We have had plenty of ideas over this time but only two ideas to me seems achievable and feasible; starting a recruitment company or a freight forwarding broker.

The majority of my experience is electrical/electronic engineering and some sales due to network marketing, one friends experience is instrumentation engineering and my other friend has majority of his experience in sales roles (mainly car sales).

Can anyone give any advice to some feasible business/start-up ideas? Any questions please ask. It could be services, websites, e-commerce, products etc. I am open to all ideas.

I’ve always had entrepreneurial endeavours since growing up and will drive myself mad if I don’t at least try starting some sort of business with a long term duration in mind, while working my 9-5. All my previous endeavours have been quick, just to make some extra money, riding trends. But I want to do something with a long term goal in mind and seeing as my two friends views are the same and they are hard workers, I want to go into business with them.

Ok so this wasn’t so short, anyway, any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Graham Tyers]

Open the Yellow pages ( so to speak ) and jab your finger at random on a business that interests you.

Copy them, but do it better.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Open the Yellow pages ( so to speak ) and jab your finger at random on a business that interests you.

Copy them, but do it better.

It’s as good a reference as any

OP. Literally everything you see being done is A business idea/opportunity- the success or otherwise will come down to how you do it.

My starting questions would be:

What are you good at?
What do you enjoy?
What can you do differently/better than is currently being done?

 

[Darren_Ssc]

I'm guessing that your 2 friends will be a drag on anything you eventually decide to do?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Go to Smiths and buy the franchise magazine, make enquires with a number of franchises you like the look of

Then with the information gleamed make your own plans and start up on your own, then send a nice letter to the franchise companies thanking them for giving you great idea's

 

[Mr D]

A method that has worked for me is figure out what you like / enjoy.
Start with that.

Pointless doing something you do not enjoy.

I sell online, meeting the goals I have set and the type of stuff I enjoy.

A friend of mine is a mechanic specialising in engines - he takes them apart, grinds out or replaces bits and puts them back together. About 20 to 40 cars or trucks a year.
He loves a great engine.

 

[ojames123]

So I would say I am good at organising, communicating with people, selling things and quite good at fixing electronic problems and fixing vehicles (not very hard problems regarding vehicle fixing to be honest, but I do enjoy it).

I enjoy djing, everything and anything to do with fast cars and bikes, the thrill of selling things, extreme sports, socialising and get a lot of satisfaction out of fixing things car and electronic related. I’m also quite interested in marketing in the terms of advertising, quite an interesting topic.

Two other ideas (more personal ideas) I have had were buying CAT N cars from Copart (non structural), repairing and selling on, this would be more of a enjoyment thing as I’m not sure that it would be very profitable. The second idea was actually buying a already made shopify store in a market I liked and learn about marketing and go from there.

I will look at Franchises and the yellow pages too.

Thanks everyone

 

[mattk]

I would suggest you start a business in an industry you understand. None of you have any experience in recruitment or freight forwarding, but if you enter those marketing you will be competing against established companies with many years of experience and knowledge.

You say your experience is in electrical/electronic engineering - look for issues or inefficiencies in that market and come up with a solution which solves them. Use your sales skills to sell that solution to companies who are experiencing those problems and hey presto! you have a business.

 

[Prime81]

This is the question I have been trying to answer myself for over 10 years and still don't know what to do. I work on the 'bank' for a hospital that might be closing but cannot think of anything decent to do for myself. I have to conclude I don't have the right type of business brain to think of and operate my own business. Good luck with your venture.

 

[Nochexman]

So I would say I am good at ... fixing electronic problems and fixing vehicles (not very hard problems regarding vehicle fixing to be honest, but I do enjoy it).

I enjoy djing, everything and anything to do with fast cars and bikes, ... extreme sports, ... and get a lot of satisfaction out of fixing things car and electronic related. ...

Two other ideas (more personal ideas) I have had were buying CAT N cars from Copart (non structural), repairing and selling on ...

Looking at all these ideas, identify any problems and work out a solution. Then you might have the start of a business.