New here... Please be nice! Business Ideas

[SarahP]

Well I just wrote out a MASSIVE thread and accidentally deleted it so I'm not doing that again..

To cut a long story short. Im 20yrs old, I worked in a kennels/cattery since leaving school but now work on a livery yard as a groom(horses) part time and the kennels on a sat.
I left school with 11 GCSE's from A*-C's and three Alevels- Graphics (C)/Business(C) and Psychology (C).. Il admit I did no work at ALevel so whilst they're not brilliant results they're okay for my input.

I picked those subjects because I enjoyed them and for no other reason (not because I was talented at one or all/not to follow a career)..

Now howver I'm stuck... Iv decided that the whole working with animals route is out of the question as its starting to ruin my hobby(horseriding) as I work with them and the pay with most animal jobs is awful! And having 3 horses of my own I need a fairly decent pay..

Iv always wanted to have my own business and I believe I have the drive,ambition and brains to start one and make it work-I'm not talking about a huge success or chains of businesses, just enough so I can live comfortably!

My problem is a business in what.. Iv ruled out animal businesses as I believe there is little money in horses unless you already have a LOT of money... I need a low cost startup idea. I also am thinking more of offering a service than selling a product simply because I've never considered selling a product/s as a business..
I like horses,cars, promotions,advertising,graphics,photography,the outdoors... None of which I can really translate into a viable business and I'm just an average joe in terms of skills.. Nothing I'm really really good at so cant use that to create a business idea...

Any ideas of feasible businesses? Ways I can come up with a business? Start up tips etc? Please be nice to me

Thankyou in advance!!

 

[smo]

What part of the country are you in?

 

[Psl]

Welcome.

Just pick something that is related to your hobby and explore the possibility of starting a business in that sector.

This maybe a daft question but I will ask it anyway, cause I do ask daft questions But if people walk other peoples dogs, can you exercise/ride other peoples horses when they are too busy to do so?

I understand that horses that are in 'paid for stables' would be taken care of but what about people that own and stable horses themselves, who are sometimes too busy to exercise/ride their horse(s)?

 

[SarahP]

Hey

Im in the south west i think... Gloucestershire?

Psl- not a daft question! I explored that avenue but theres so much competition & a small market around here that its not viable... That was my original plan but its now out!
Iv explored all the possible business ideas related to horses and none are feasible unfortunately plus i think i want to keep my hobby separate to my business..

So i have no clue on how to create a business idea?

 

[Psl]

The people obviously love their horses, so why not start a business that provides the owner with a bespoke oil painting of their horse?

Take some pictures of the horse, let the owner pick the best one, send the jpeg to a Chinese artist, pay $100, get a hand painted picture back, frame it and sell it to the horse owner for £500.
http://china-handart.com/

or
http://www.anythingpaintedoncanvas.com/

 

[gary brown]

Hi Sarah,

My advice is follow your passion you have all the skills you need.

Look at a business area that is making money and people are willing to buy products in, then find a product that fills that need. Sounds easy but sometimes takes a bit of time and hard graft to make it successful.

If you want to pm me and I will send you some businesses you can start from your kitchen table.


Gary

 

[SarahP]

Thanks all..

There are quite a few people who photograph then paint peoples horses and pets & theyre. skilled enough to do it themselves therefore earning a lot more out of it.

I wouldmt know where to start in terms of.finding a product ...
Gary il pm you

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

No direct business ideas, but a couple of ways of finding ideas. I think abandoning your love of animals is a mistake (IMHO), if you have a passion for something it if far easier to make a success of business based on it.

Take a look online at the US market and see what support services are offered for animals out there. The US is the home of the pampered pet so there should be loads of ideas out there. I did something on TV the other day about a mobile dog washing service - it was just a converted van with counters and a kind of a wet area to wash the dogs in.

Try to interview some owners of larger stables. See what services they outsource and what services they wish they could outsource. Dont forget you dont need to invent a totally new type of business.

 

[Faevilangel]

Hi Sarah

Lovely area you live in (slightly biased), I am based in Gloucestershire too.

As with regards to business ideas, do something you have an interest in or you will lose the motivation for it once it gets tough (cashflow, needy clients etc).

One idea of the top of my head is:
- Freelance Horse Groomer / stable person (you charge a hourly rate and go into someones stables when they are short staffed or have an event on etc)

Finding the right business is never easy and you will change your plan numerous times but having a business you have an interest in will give you that incentive to keep going when things get tough.

 

[businessfunding]

It;'s noepad time.

ask yourself 3 questions:

- What am i good at
- What do I enjoy
- What can I do better than is being done?

If you can get an idea that ticks all 3 boxes you are well away - realistically you would hope to tick 2 boxes.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

It;'s noepad time.

ask yourself 3 questions:

- What am i good at
- What do I enjoy
- What can I do better than is being done?

If you can get an idea that ticks all 3 boxes you are well away - realistically you would hope to tick 2 boxes.

And it's usually the first two that people can tick. I think it's fairly difficult to tick the third box

 

[Fred_the_frog]

I'm not talking about a huge success or chains of businesses, just enough so I can live comfortably!

Why don't want to make a huge success of it?

 

[SarahP]

Thankyou all for your advice

I will try brainstorming & writing down those 3 things and see what happens...
Freelance groom.iv really looked in to setting up and researched it etc.
The problem is theres just too many people doing it and only the top riders get the jobs really. Also after working as a groom iv decided i dont really want my business to be horses as they're my hobby...

I did think about doing a lot of promotions work with a view to.opening up a promotions agency but again there are loads around & not loads of customers as far as i can tell..
My other thought was some sort of promotions/advertising service...
Eg. I can promote by being at events,handing out leaflets, i could make leaflets,busines card & websites for businesses etc... Im not sure how to go about seeing if thats a feasible business idea... What do you all think?

Fred_the_frog- I wouldnt mind it becoming successful or expanding I just didnt want to be unrealistic & expect a huge business to come out of something iiv thought up

 

[Small Biz Jessica]

Using your horses and other people's to organise pony trekking holidays? Or some kind of corporate team building events? Horse-back treasure hunts or something. I can imagine the insurance might be quite steep though.

Or could you combine it with some kind of dogminding business? Countryside holidays for dogs, while their owners are on holiday abroad.

 

[SarahP]

Not feasible unfortunately as insurance would be a killer and getting the number of horses needed that were suitable would cost thousands
Thanks for ideas though

 

[10032012]

It;'s noepad time.

ask yourself 3 questions:

- What am i good at
- What do I enjoy
- What can I do better than is being done?

If you can get an idea that ticks all 3 boxes you are well away - realistically you would hope to tick 2 boxes.

Whereas kickstart is spot on... although its a common misconception that your idea has to be entirely new or has to have a (strong) USP.

You may want to try attempting to clone an existing business model of a local business and compete with them on a shoestring budget. If you can setup a website, get yourself on Google Maps (you will be surprised how many non-retail businesses are not) and get out there marketing your services... whether in person or by leaflets you have a good start in learning about running a business.

You still need to think of a business idea... photography and graphic design could be a good potential route. You do not have to be superb. The number of times I have had to get a refund for some so-called experienced designers who has come up short with design works... blimey...

First you need to brush up on your skills.
Secondly you need to work on a portfolio of previous work - this usually means discounts for testimonials etc. (some people swear that creating concepts are ok while others say it must be previous paid work)
Thirdly buy a nice template off the shelf for your website (there are thousands out there that really look superb for showing photos etc)

Focus on marketing.

Warning: As you are not yet superb do not exploit one-off events like weddings etc. - if you aren't up to scratch then you will really upset the people with the loss memories - whereas for a photo shoot its no big deal... they can simply dispute your work if they dont like and go with someone else.

Don't worry about whether the business will turnout long-term or not... its not too vital. You will eventually find that idea and have gained the business experience to have a really good shot at it.

 

[SarahP]

10032012- really good post thankyou do you havr any good sites for a website?

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Whereas kickstart is spot on... although its a common misconception that your idea has to be entirely new or has to have a (strong) USP.

I'm so glad you said that. Way too many people expect you to have unique or amazing business ideas. I was even starting to get tricked into thinking it myself... :redface:

 

[BizPal]

My suggestion would be that in the absence of being able to find something you would love to build a business career around, you need to find something you least hate! You've ruled out a horse-associated business, at least for now and it's probably too early yet to even be considering finding your lifetime business passion. It's the business Holy Grail which most of us here have still to find!

Instead, given your age, you need to be gaining essential day-to-day business experience, whilst still generating a reasonable income. You need to find something that suits your overall talents, skill-sets and personality. Something low-cost/low-risk.

Business is simply a case of solving people's problems for a profit. Evaluate what problems you believe people will pay you for in your local area and go for it. Half the battle of being successful in business is just 'showing up' and not just dreaming about it for ever - as most people do! Then it's a case of being more professional than others and spreading the word of your existence.

The market is big enough for everyone and the biggest differentiating factor will be YOU not a USP!

There are loads of ideas at the site below to get you thinking.

Good luck in your search!

Cheers, David.

 

[James Cloudy]

The business you want to start highly depends upon the location where you want to start business.Animal business is popular in a few countries and also resist in small location

 

[SarahP]

Thankyou everyone for all your advice.. Its all really helpful!
Im going to start making a start on business ideas and things that have been suggested

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Something tells me that khanboy26 is a spammer. Can't be exactly sure, but it's just one of those gut feelings.

 

[SarahP]

Fred_the_frog- I think I agree with you there! Haha...
He needs to get off my thread..

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Fred_the_frog- I think I agree with you there! Haha...
He needs to get off my thread..

Yep- looks like the mods have got rid of him now!

 

[SarahP]

Yay!!

thankyou for the advice so far all...

 

[UrbanRetail]

Although I don't have any ideas for you to explore, I can say I have been in your shoes, not all that long ago and there is light and the end of the tunnel. With enough determination anything is possible. Don't give up and I wish you the best of luck with your chosen venture.

 

[SarahP]

Thankyou Urban Retail... Really positive post

 

[SarahP]

Fred_the_frog-- please could you elaborate on your last point on your notepad...
"what can i do better than is being done?"...
What do you mean by this exactly? In what context?

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Fred_the_frog-- please could you elaborate on your last point on your notepad...
"what can i do better than is being done?"...
What do you mean by this exactly? In what context?

I don't think it was my point, but i'll explain it for you anyway

Basically, you need to think about what you can do and how you can do it better than others.

For example, you might be wanting to run a cafe, and there is already one in the area. If you want to have a chance against the other cafe, you need to do something better so customers will come to you. This could be that you can prepare and cook food quicker than the competitor, or you have a recipe that makes your home made cake better than theirs.

So, if you set up a horse riding school, then you need to think about what you can do better than others- you might have the ability to teach people better than others, or you might just have a better area to use than another riding school in the area.

Get it ?

 

[SarahP]

Oh god i am sooo thick sorry... I thought it was you for some reason!
Yeah i do get it now thankyou however the points were to help me create a business idea so as i dont have one how can i say what id be better at than others? Get me haha.. Think im.being thick

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Oh god i am sooo thick sorry... I thought it was you for some reason!
Yeah i do get it now thankyou however the points were to help me create a business idea so as i dont have one how can i say what id be better at than others? Get me haha.. Think im.being thick

I think it's more to help you choose the right idea, but it could help you think of an idea- you enjoy riding horses, so are there any businesses that you can be better than by doing horse riding (if you get what I mean- like, if it was a riding school then if your skills are better than a competitors then you could start up a riding school)

 

[10032012]

10032012- really good post thankyou do you havr any good sites for a website?

Did you mean hosting or website design templates?

 

[SarahP]

Thanks fred im blaming 3 hours sleep on.these stupid questions haha.
10032012-- I think i mean website design templates?

this is where i get a bit confused as i could design/create a website in terms of colours,pictures,layout etc but i couldnt actually BUILD a website... When i looked into web desugn it looked like I needed a uni degree which I couldnt get but not sure if you can get a different qual,if you need a qual to.design websites.for other people etc.. Any advice would be great?

 

[BustersDogs]

I can understand that you don't want to ruin your hobby - I've made my hobby my job 3 times now, and one of them I did feel I'd 'broken my toy'.

With Business and Psychology, and your kennels experience you could go into work with dogs - start dog walking, and train to be dog trainer maybe. I've got friends who started out working with horses, but either changed to dogs or added dog care to their services so you could be right, there's not a lot of money in horses.

Add in photography, and you could offer that as a service taking photos of horses/dogs etc and if you've already got a customer base you'll find it easier to sell photoshoots, or the photos you take when you're dog walking.

There can be a lot of money in dogs, but you have to set up in the right area - I set up where I live because it's affluent, but some other dog walkers 'commute' in from the surrounding areas because here's where the money/work is. And of course, you have to really like dogs. Because they take over!

 

[SarahP]

I do dog sit once a week for a lady but because i know her... Again theres millions of people offering dog walking/sitting services around here and not enough customers...
Also, after working at the kennels i'm.not sure i love dogs enough..
Hence why I think I might leave animals as a hobby..

Can anyone think.of anything that combines my other likes?

 

[Fred_the_frog]

I can understand that you don't want to ruin your hobby - I've made my hobby my job 3 times now, and one of them I did feel I'd 'broken my toy'.

With Business and Psychology, and your kennels experience you could go into work with dogs - start dog walking, and train to be dog trainer maybe. I've got friends who started out working with horses, but either changed to dogs or added dog care to their services so you could be right, there's not a lot of money in horses.

Add in photography, and you could offer that as a service taking photos of horses/dogs etc and if you've already got a customer base you'll find it easier to sell photoshoots, or the photos you take when you're dog walking.

There can be a lot of money in dogs, but you have to set up in the right area - I set up where I live because it's affluent, but some other dog walkers 'commute' in from the surrounding areas because here's where the money/work is. And of course, you have to really like dogs. Because they take over!

That photography thing is a good idea. It's very hard to get good pictures of dogs without their eyes going green or the picture going blurred. You could start a photography business suited to animals and getting good photos without the green eyes/blurryness, so when people have family photos or something they can include the animal. You could photograph lots of different animals, so long as you can get good pictures! I'm sure you could get come creative shots in the place where the horses live ( I can't remember the name, sorry!) and sell them to the owners

 

[SarahP]

Id love to do the photography idea but i know of at least 3 people who do horse photography in my local area and then about 2 actual businesses who do it.... I cant see me being able to compete umless I can do something different?

 

[SarahP]

They also offsr other animal photography

 

[SarahP]

Anyone else?

 

[Multi-store]

I think you've had some great suggestions in this thread, PSL offered a good piece of advice at the start with the photography idea.

Remember unless your broke, you can try & fail at as many things as you like, as long as you dont spend a fortune on trying. take some pictures, try n sell em, if you cant then all you've lost is a little time (but a good lesson learnt)

Your age & gender are ideal for selling paintings of expensive animals to wealthy, frivolous owners.

I run a small website selling one item, its crap, BUT, its free ( i also work FT importing bespoke packaging from china) but my website generates a few beers a month & literally costs me £0.00. My point is that there is loads of chances to make money without speculating too much, smell what sells and follow you nose!