new business ideas?

[ruthxxx]

Hi

Probably a bit cheeky to ask but my husband has been made redundant and has been trying to come up with an idea for something he can try. He has explored maintaining building fronts, car washing, food van etc but doesnt seem much call after researching it locally

He has about 5k spare cash to plough into something but doesnt know what to try, he is willing to try anything with a market for it

Any suggestions most welcome please

 

[Scousejock]

Without knowing the area and the local market this is impossible to say as it depends on what other businesses are already in the area and if there is any gaps in the market. 5k is not a lot of money to set up a new business so this in itself will restrict what he can do.

Not sure if this is any help but I recently had to get a drainage company in to clear the drains of a property I rent out (because the tenant had been flushing hundreds of wet wipes down the loo) I was surprised at how much they charged and the person told me he is backed up with work. He worked within a franchise. Not sure if there would be a demand in your area but worth having a look.

 

[gregs2769]

where are you based - there are plenty of opportunities to work for your self with out investing any money

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Blocked drains? "backed up with work"

I see what you did there!

 

[ruthxxx]

thanks both

We are in leicestershire, really grateful!

 

[ruthxxx]

yes i got the pun too!!

bit specialist I would have thought though?

 

[wilwong1971]

Hi;

What are your husbands skills and maybe interests? Starting something where he might enjoy and having some experience is a bonus.

 

[Scousejock]

lol pun totally intended I bet his work isnt as back up as my drains were tho. £400+ to get it sorted. Equipment used = Rubber gloves, drainage rods high pressured hose and lots of black bags to put the thousands of wet wipes in. It did take him most of the day to sort it but then there was more wet wipes in the drains than asda & tecos stock in all their stores combined.

Blocked drains? "backed up with work"

I see what you did there!

 

[DancingWithPoodles]

Sell womens milk. I was going to open this business at the beginning of the year but am too busy at the moemnt so if you want you can do it.

 

[ruthxxx]

what do you mean, baby milk?

 

[ruthxxx]

His interest is golf, he has been general manager of a hardware merchants for 25 ys but wants a complete change

He is very active and fit

 

[Deleted member 120503]

Golfing Holidays to the Chinese.

Dan

 

[ruthxxx]

Gregs2769 what were you thinking of please?

 

[businessopportunityseeker]

I'm looking for someone with time on their hands to discuss business ideas and share contacts. If your interested send me a p.m.

 

[Danny Shaw]

If I knew nothing about internet marketing and had 5000 to start a business I would do a little research and import low cost products from China to sell on local stalls and markets. Here in Nottingham we have a handmade trade fair every so often and would of loved to have one of the jewellery or crystal stalls.

Another thing that I find interesting is iPhone/iPad apps. If you could out source the development of a cool one the sky is the limit.

 

[Tweek]

Noone is going to outright hand you a business idea. If they do, why aren't they doing it themselves and profiting from it?

Find out what he enjoys, look for businesses that fit his hobbies because he'll have a greater interest in doing a 12 hour day in a golf business because he enjoys golf than selling toilet roll.

Best of luck!

 

[Deleted member 120503]

No one is going to outright hand you a business idea. If they do, why aren't they doing it themselves and profiting from it?

How did you come to this conclusion?

Landscape Gardening is a business idea for example. Plenty of people do it. Some successful some not.

Whether Ruths' hubby wishes to do it is down to him.

I agree with your second bit though, complete waste of a life to do something you don't like.

Dan

 

[Tweek]

How did you come to this conclusion?

Landscape Gardening is a business idea for example. Plenty of people do it. Some successful some not.

Whether Ruths' hubby wishes to do it is down to him.

I agree with your second bit though, complete waste of a life to do something you don't like.

Dan

I may of misread the question assuming she was looking for a profitable niche which noone is going to hand out for free.

 

[Deleted member 120503]

Okay. I misread things all the time.

Dan

 

His interest is golf, he has been general manager of a hardware merchants for 25 ys but wants a complete change

He is very active and fit

He may be fed up with the hardware business now.

But as its where his major knowledge is ,I would suggest he won't be quite so fed up with it when the pennies all go in his pocket.

So online selling could be an avenue.

Earl

 

[movietub]

He may be fed up with the hardware business now.

But as its where his major knowledge is ,I would suggest he won't be quite so fed up with it when the pennies all go in his pocket.

So online selling could be an avenue.

Earl

I agree that whilst passion (in this case for golf) can go a long way in business, nothing will give you a sounder footing than industry knowledge.

Your husband does not have to concentrate on the fact he is still in the hardware industry of course. His passion can be business itself, regardless of what you're selling. The nails, hammers and screwdrivers, if sold online, are just units. They could as easily be golf clubs.

I sell fish keeping gear on-line as I have a strong knowledge of the aquatics industry - I hate fish keeping these days though. But I still love the business itself. I love being in business.

I have diversified a lot since starting up as well, and now smaller divisions of the company are involved in some very exciting things - less profitable though.

I say just start, hit the ground running. Obviously starting with an industry you have 25years knowledge of is quite an advantage!

 

[peterbirganza]

Hi

Probably a bit cheeky to ask but my husband has been made redundant and has been trying to come up with an idea for something he can try. He has explored maintaining building fronts, car washing, food van etc but doesnt seem much call after researching it locally

He has about 5k spare cash to plough into something but doesnt know what to try, he is willing to try anything with a market for it

Any suggestions most welcome please

Hi,
I think you must consult with any organization that is dealing in consultation field. There are lots of firms that can provide you best business ideas. I know some consultancy firms and the good ones in which of them are "businessadvice.com" and "wholesalepages.co.uk". It will be good for you to consult with them.

 

[WebTrust]

Why do people always recommend online selling? 99% of ecommerce stores vanish within 12 months, and look up 90% on companys house and they are loosing money.

 

[movietub]

Why do people always recommend online selling? 99% of ecommerce stores vanish within 12 months, and look up 90% on companys house and they are loosing money.

That's an interesting view from a user named 'WebTrust'. You seem to not trust it at all

Whilst I actually agree that most people want to sell online because they believe 'that's where all the money is now'days...' irrespective of whether they personally have any chance of success, I very much doubt that 99% fail!?

It's also reasonable to say that it's easier to sell online at the moment. It's not as easy for a zero capital start-up as it was a few years ago, customers know what to look for in a trust-worthy, stock holding, established online seller these days. But it's still easier than the high street. The reason is simple and can't really be argued against - the growth of online buying is increasing faster than any other market-place. The recession is(was) annoying of course, but online shopping has continued to accelerate faster than the economy has ever receded.

Therefore if you take 2 identical simpletons with a crap product to sell and £10k start-up cash, then I would expect the simpleton selling online to outperform the simpleton selling on the high street. Or at least fail to a lesser degree. I'm talking about money made/lost here.

The overall failure rate per business online is probably higher, as the risks are much lower and anyone can have a punt. I think that's a good thing personally. It costs so little to give it a go. You may as well recommend someone does on the off chance they find they are a natural. I suggest selling online because ambitious people can't hurt themselves too much by trying their hand online. Trying your hand on the high street is very different, you have to sign up for 12 months lease on a unit before the first customer gets the opportunity to tell you your products are crap and your prices are a joke

 

[SCentral]

I run a franchise operation that can be started for under £1k.

If you'd like some details drop me a pm with your number.

 

[jhardy2008]

You need to make a proper business plan.

Best of Luck

 

[workingnomad]

The only option with 5K is an online business, look at affiliate marketing, I started 6 years ago with less than 5K and still going!

 

[tonyrobbinssales]

Try to look at search engines like Yahoo, Bing and Google to see if anyone is already doing something similar. If you find some likely sites, check them out by looking at them.

 

[lexius]

I would generally agree with most of the comments here, 5k is a good amount to start up an online business. Coming up with the right idea is really the key, someone once said, the key to a good idea is coming up with lots of ideas.

I would suggest just making a continuous list of ideas. dont worry about the quality, often a bad ideas can prompt a good idea. I have tried things like gong through the yellow pages looking at types of busineses, sometimes these prompt me to have ideas that relate to experince i have.

Its much more likely that you will find a niche idea where you husband has skills/experience, that why others have mentioned hardware and golf. I would suggest listing more skills and intrests and seeing if any of these can be mixed (which would making a more unique business) obviously golf and hardware dont mix to well.
maybe you also have some skills that could be utilised?

Other options could be to look for someone who has a business / business idea and wants a partner. sometime starting/running a business can be a lot of work.

Franchises are a good option if you can find something you like and works, Im no expert but im not sure how far 5k goes into finding a good franchise.

 

[gregs2769]

Gregs2769 what were you thinking of please?

Hi - sorry didn;t see your note, I have sent a PM

 

[jane exelby]

Bit different to what everyone is saying but.........We live in an area that is unbelievably short of chimney sweeps- had to book 2 months in advance, they are busy all year round and the job is much easier than it used to be.Also - very low set up, no official qualifications and lots of money to be made. With the increase in wood burning stoves I can imagine that sweeps will get nothing but busier.
He must choose something that he likes though..

 

[Mitch3473]

£5,000 would set yourself up proffesionally in a home cleaning service business....cars,ovens,carpets,windows,pressure washing,pet grooming etc etc.

 

[BizPal]

Like many replies here, I would always advise that he tries to find something he is really passionate about and can't wait to get out of bed in a morning to get working! However, unfortunately it seems very few people are successful at combining their passion with a profitable business, therefore if this eventually proves to be the case, I would suggest you focus on identifying what business can be operated the fewest number of hours for the highest return. This then leaves more time and money to enjoy your passion!

 

[James Greg]

Well 5k is not a very small amount and he should be able to thought of something by now. I say if its investing then it should be something that really interests him so it would become the future business. If its just about trying your luck then I say invest in stocks if you have some sense about the stock market.

 

[ruthxxx]

Do you think mobile car valeting on industrial estates is worth a go. Its the only thing I can reallt think of at the moment and he is still stumped!

Stocks wont work as he wants to do something active but thanks

 

[jane exelby]

Hi Ruth
This is a good idea. We have a friend who started this when made redundant and it went really well. He gave up when offered his job back but only because he prefers it.
You surely have to make sure that there is not much competition and try to do as many as possible in each car park to maximise working time. In my surgery car park they do 10 but charge for 8 - this means that WE all push to keep 10 and make sure that anyone who drops out is quickly replaced - schemes like this work well.
Good luck

 

[the Chocolate]

Hi Ruth
This is a good idea. We have a friend who started this when made redundant and it went really well. He gave up when offered his job back but only because he prefers it.
You surely have to make sure that there is not much competition and try to do as many as possible in each car park to maximise working time. In my surgery car park they do 10 but charge for 8 - this means that WE all push to keep 10 and make sure that anyone who drops out is quickly replaced - schemes like this work well.
Good luck

Good advice.

 

[ruthxxx]

Excellent, thanks for the tips

 

[BizPal]

If you go down the car wash/valetting route, before starting, just work backwards from how much he needs to earn each week and try to establish whether, after deductions for the costs involved, the number of clients required seems reasonable and the numbers of hours required each day to do the work is available!

Make sure you allow for the start-up period as you start from zero and build up your client base. Ensure you commit to x hours per week and x amount per week attracting new clients, whether leaflet drops, cold calls, classified ads etc. If he does a really great job (which will be key for long term success) new customer acquisition time/costs can be reduced as he benefits from repeat business and referrals. I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Scousejock]

Do you think mobile car valeting on industrial estates is worth a go. Its the only thing I can reallt think of at the moment and he is still stumped!

Stocks wont work as he wants to do something active but thanks

This can be a good business but it depends on the demand and competition in your area.