Starting the long climb...

[Fiendkun]

Greetings, all!

My name is James and I'm going to start on the road to setting up a business.

I've had a few ideas in the past as to how I may start my own business, but I realised that I hadn't the necessary experience, time, or capital to make many of them work.

I've finally settled on an idea that I hope allows me to progress at a steady pace with great expansion potential, within a field I am confident I am comfortable. I hope to recieve advice, support, and the benefit of the experience and knowledge that the members here may give the time to offer.

I'm 23, and I've been in employment almost constantly since leaving school. I started volunteering at a skateboard shop, then I started a job with collectibles company Forbidden Planet, working in sales and warehouse over a period of 4 years. I moved on from there to work for an independant competitor in central London for a few months, but the commute affected my performance. After that I proceeded to work for Yo! Sushi in Bluewater Shopping Centre, and left there after a few years to move to Brighton, where I took up employment with an independant sushi restaurant.

My partner is dependant on me with anxiety issues, and in the past has required close support. This has been on occasion disruptive in the eyes of my employer, so we took the option to concentrate on her health and live on Income Support.

In the past year her condition has greatly imroved, so she has decided to go to college to study media, aiming for a profession in video games, PR, and language, particularly in Japan. Unfortunately with our limited funds we can only afford for her to receive higher education, so I am using the available time to refine my aspirations.

I've had many an idea for business or invention, but often my plans lacked experience or, to be frank, realism. I lack the funds or the means by which to gain them.

But just recently I have had the epiphany I needed, and now I intend to focus an increased portion of my time to making it work, at a pace that will suit the needs of myself and my partner. We really need to make a better life for ourselves if we hope to provide for ourselves and our children when we decide we are ready to have them, and that for sure won't be until we know we are able to provide for them.

So, I intend to research what licences I require, which people in which companies I will need in my address book, how much capital will be necessary, and what sort of profit I can project in regards to my idea.

 

[horsey1]

Hi

Not sure I agree with your point of view

Regards

Wayne

 

[petermcc]

Welcome to the forums, and the very best of luck with your new business.

Regards

Peter

 

[saxondale]

your idea?

 

[UK Solicitors]

Hi James

Very good luck with your business ideas - and enjoy the forums!

Brian

 

[Fiendkun]

Hello everyone, thanks for replying. I am mindful that some may not hold particular confidence in my idea or my 'employment path' thus far, but I will take all constructive criticism with an open mind.

Idea in focus, I've strarted a thread on the general business board, asking the particulars on the statutes surrounding a vending-machine based business. It stemmed around a business involving a store, which of course with my resources is incredibly difficult, but a discussion with my partner brought it around to the idea of a vending machine.

Without trying to say too much, if you'll forgive me, I've tapped into a massively growing trend in modern popular media and I hope to reach my target customers at their convenience. I'm aiming for both the subscription and impulse-buying sectors, and considering the nature of the product, opportunity to generate sales from both demographics are equally high.

Location of vending machines is a key factor in realising maximum sales potential, and there is also great promise for expanding business further online.

Unfortunately, due to my personal circumstance, growth will have to be gradual, although I have worked both advertising space and buy-back-to-re-sale into the business model.

All I need are the right paths.

 

[oldeagleeye]

While I commend your spirit OP I really do suggest that you think again when it comes to the vending business for the following reasons.

1) It is extremely difficult to get good sites unless you have a product with a USP ( unique selling point) and these are few far between. Whats' more when you do have a very good product the professionals like forum member Vending Revolution will have got in before you and professionals they are who are able to negociate with suppliers so that there is a reasonable margin for both the site owner and the facilitator. I am afraid you wouldn't be able to compete with that expertise.

2) You would find it very difficult to make a living with a vending round alone.. It could for example take you over 2 years to recoup the investment in one machine - after which you may earn perhaps £20 a month per machine - if your lucky.

I recently owned a large pub for example which had condoms machines in both the ladies and gents. They are one of the few vending machines the rif raf will not bother breaking into because they know there will be little money. In fact ours used to take about a fiver a year each.

3) You would never get finance for this sort of venture because it is difficult to prove demand and where you can the returns are quite low.

The bottom line then is vending is OK if say you had a spare £20,000 to invest. In that case you might earn a useful £500 a month to top up your income. It is hardly however a living wage.

And finally on a personal note and I have to say this as you yourself brought it into the public domain. If your partner is well enough to go to college and you are fit yourself shouldn't you be working instead of claiming benefits.

In fact the only way that you are ever going to start your own business is getting out there and not sitting at home thinking up ideas that have no chance whatsoever of being viable.

 

[Tej]

Your writing is excellent.. perhaps you could get yourself some copywriting work till such time as your business takes off! ( if indeed it works)

I am a bit sceptical about your opening post. The time scales don't add up. You are only 23 years old now.

I would agree with oldeagleeye.

just my 2 cents

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Hiya James I wish you every success - Gina

 

[Fiendkun]

I'll take the time to respond to queries individually.

While I commend your spirit OP I really do suggest that you think again when it comes to the vending business for the following reasons.

1) It is extremely difficult to get good sites unless you have a product with a USP ( unique selling point) and these are few far between. Whats' more when you do have a very good product the professionals like forum member Vending Revolution will have got in before you and professionals they are who are able to negociate with suppliers so that there is a reasonable margin for both the site owner and the facilitator. I am afraid you wouldn't be able to compete with that expertise.

Thanks for the heads-up. I do realise that vending companies here have a lot of experience and are certainly competitors to reckon with. However, I have indeed chosen a product with a unique selling point, which it is unbelievable in that it has not been yet been attempted in the vending sector, thus far only having been sold in specialist stores. Furthermore, the items I intend to vend have but one distributor.

2) You would find it very difficult to make a living with a vending round alone.. It could for example take you over 2 years to recoup the investment in one machine - after which you may earn perhaps £20 a month per machine - if your lucky.

Setting the company's sales straight off is certainly one of the hardest parts of the vending business. However the product I want to vend is simply the edge of a much larger business iceberg that I intend to work for me online. The machines will display a web address where customers may set up standing orders or select from a much, much wider range of related product.

3) You would never get finance for this sort of venture because it is difficult to prove demand and where you can the returns are quite low...

I will try my hardest put the benefit of honed research and prior experience into a quite convincing proposal. Demand for the type of product I'm venturing into has a very stable history, and a lot of recent attention in the media. As for finance, I realise I'm in one of the hardest positions for an individual to be in when starting a business, but I'm hoping to consult organisations specifically-designated to advising and aiding people such as myself. All I can do is work as hard as I can for what want to acheive.

And finally on a personal note and I have to say this as you yourself brought it into the public domain. If your partner is well enough to go to college and you are fit yourself shouldn't you be working instead of claiming benefits.

In fact the only way that you are ever going to start your own business is getting out there and not sitting at home thinking up ideas that have no chance whatsoever of being viable.

It has to be said that the road to at least getting into a part-time college access course has been extremely difficult. Our circumstance previously was thus;

- my partner was physically unable to undertake employment when we met. I was working between 40-60 hours a week. She had been suffereing from panic attacks and anxiety for many years up to this point. Unfortunately her need for support meant she would often have to accompany me to work, maybe turning up as we were closing down. It's really quite complicated, but of course my managers were far from happy with her disrupting the running of the business. In order to help her recover, we decided to move to a coastal town. I turned down a supervisory role at a new branch of the company I was working for so that we could be somewhere that would hopefully improve her health.

Initially, in our new home town I did take on employment. I worked whatever days I could, but unfortuantely being away from her for too long didn't do her health any good at all, and the management were even less accepting of her needs as my previous employers. I couldn't juggle the neccessity to work with the neccessity to accompany my partner, and the wages of an individual working such limited hours wasn't enough to sustain a home.

So, we had to take the option of concentrating on improving her state of mind and wellbeing and live on income support. Accessing programmes like Pathways to Work - which monitored her potential for employent over 6 months - and later on CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy - was a lengthy and difficult process.

Although not nearly ready to face the stress and responsibilities of full-time work, we have been working gradually towards getting used to more time independantly, and taking on small responsibilities, such as volunteer work in a field she is comfortable in and dog walking.

Now she is ready to take on further education, having previously been quite unable to do so effectively in her state of the past many years. The course she is applying for offers her 14 hours a week, which is enough for her to be comfortable with. At 25 herself, there isn't much time left for her to get into education without it having to cost us more money than we could possibly afford. I'm glad she has made so much progress in the past year and is finally able in herself to take on some responsibility, on her own. She has chosen a path for herself and I am proud of that. The fact that we invested the past year in improving her health will make success in the future much more likely for both of us.

As for myself, I am used to working. I like to work. I've worked ever since I left school. In fact it has been quite frustrating for me to accept benefits. I have never claimed JSA between jobs, and besides that I know that the amount of money we recieve in benefits is much, much lower than the earning potential of the pair of us combined. There isn't much freedom in benefit money. You can't just spend it on what you want. You have a very, very limited choice of places to live, and there's a very well-defined ceiling to your income. Before I was on benefits, I had taken two trips to Japan in the space of three years. Nowadays we have no hope of affording a holiday, there simply isn't enough money. When you're earning under your own steam there isn't a limit to what you can accomplish.

I'm looking forward to finally getting out there and working on an idea. No one can say for sure that my idea has 'no chance' of success; I mean, that's entirely the opposite of the spirit of this community, right? I've come here to hopefully increase my chances of success. Besides, I've had quite a few plans before, but this one seems the easiest to accomplish, and it leads nicely into one of my other ideas.

For a note, two of my inspirations are Simon Woodroffe, who took an idea from abroad, introduced it to the masses, and made a success of it; and Duncan Bannatyne, who started off with an ice cream van because he realised the potential for profit, and used that as the first rung of his ladder.

I am a bit sceptical about your opening post. The time scales don't add up. You are only 23 years old now.

Thanks for your compliment regarding my writing!

Hmmm. I don't see the point in misleading people about my age, but I'll compile a brief timeline.

July 02 - Leave school
Aug 02 - 16th birthday (youngest in my class!)
Sep 02 - Job with Sleepeezee beds/Courts showrooms as driver's mate with co-owner of the skateboard shop I was volunteering at
Nov 02 - FP opens in home town, start employment weekdays over Xmas, weekends thereafter
2004 - Commence working at FP warehouse weekdays, retaining position at store on Saturdays, working six days a week, open ISA
Oct 06 - Leave FP for a competitor in the city
Feb 07 - Leave competitor
Mar 07 - Start at Yo Sushi
Aug 08 - Leave Yo to move hometown
Sep 08 - Start at sushi restaurant in new hometown
Jan 09 - Leave sushi restaurant, concentrate on partner
Feb 09 - present - Made significant progress in health, preparing to enrol partner in college Sep 10[/b]

I think that works out. Personally, I'd love to go into higher education, but we can only afford the time and money for one of us to go, besides it's imperitive that my partner does it on her own. I study business, language, and the finer points of my business at home.

 

[oldeagleeye]

QUOTE. I will try my hardest put the benefit of honed research and prior experience into a quite convincing proposal. Demand for the type of product I'm venturing into has a very stable history, and a lot of recent attention in the media. As for finance, I realise I'm in one of the hardest positions for an individual to be in when starting a business, but I'm hoping to consult organisations specifically-designated to advising and aiding people such as myself. All I can do is work as hard as I can for what want to achieve.

Tej is right about the quality of your writing but I am afraid to say that phrases like 'honed research' don't mean didly squat in the real business world. As for organizations specifically-designated to advising and aiding people such as myself. Gordon Brown & Alistair Darling have instructed the banks time and time again to start lending to business and they don't give a toss - if you forgive my less flowery language.

Make no mistake then. Apart from the Princes Trust and a few Regional Enterprise regeneration projects there is no funding for start-ups. It's all government hype and companies trying to sell training and the like.

Going back to your somewhat lengthy explanation about your private life I personally feel that rather than gain sympathy you have done yourself no favours at all. There are millions of people out their caring for family and they work too. There are millions of people unemployed through no fault of their own.

You however OP chose to live on income support and not only that. You even chose the nice coastal town of Brighton to live in. I am sure there are a lot of carers out there who can only dream of a day out at Brighton. Sorry OP. Just as many teenage girls now deliberately get pregnant as a lifestyle decision yours don't sit too well with me.

And finally. Yes members of this forum do set out to give positive advice and support. We are not here to pander to wannabe's however that are great on theory but lack common sense.

Common sense in your case dictates that you can afford a dog lead and you have time on your hands. Setting up a dog walking service then is a viable business option.

When there is no funding out there and a substantial capital investment in vending machines and stock would be required is not a viable business option with or without the support of an on-line shop. End of story.

Talking of which I just had a thought. If you want to earn a quick £1,000 how about writing an article for the Sun or News of the World.

You could call it " Living for Free in Brighton on the Costa de Dole. Sun- sea & fresh air . Your rent & rates paid and £100 quid to spend each week.

Can't beat it - can you.

 

[Fiendkun]

Well, I'm sorry I couldn't win you over.

However, you shan't put me off, and I'll be mindful to let you know specifically how I get on with my endeavours.

As for our choice of location, a coastal town was by far the best place to help anxiety. Living in Kent as before was not only stressful due to the demands of family and certain locals of which we had less than favourable ties with (you can't help making enemies where you've lived your whole life), but an open space where you don't feel boxed in has been extremely beneficial to us. Facilities and resources for care have proven to be much more accessible here, too.

It hasn't been exactly easy living in this town. As mentioned before, getting somewhere to live isn't easy. We've had to move within Brighton and Hove numerous times. We've had no time to enjoy ourselves in 12 months, and most of the time the weather is impassable.

Research is far better than no research, it must be said.

I do intend to approach the Princes Trust, yes, and I feel I must add that I am ever hesitant to readily accept what sensationalist red-top newspapers present to me as 'news' or 'fact'.

To retort 'can't beat it, can you?' Oh yes, I believe you can. Having to live your entire life out of a single room and having to share a run-down single-glazed victorian building with noisy, inconsiderate neighbours, having to walk all the way across town to pick up a hand-me-down microwave isn't my preferred way of living. Never ever being able to afford a nice holiday isn't the way I am content with living. I don't want to have to make the choice between a sofa and a bed, to have to make the choice between a freezer or a washing machine because you don't have the space/money for both, and that's even when you have saved up the money available to make aforementioned decision. I don't want to only be able to see my family once every 3 months or more. There is far better to be had and I will work for it. Very hard. I will do as much relevant research and preparation as is necessary to acheive my goal. There is never no way, I have found that there are always opportunities and possibilities. Besides, you seem ready and willing to discourage me without even knowing what it is I intend to sell.

However, I can tell you are extremely bitter and sceptical. Why one would want to spurn the ambition of people who actually display the ambition, will, and ingenuity to succeed is beyond me. Furthermore to be in the situation we are in now is by necessity, not by choice. If I were not with my current partner, it would be most likely that I would still be in work, as a suprvisor or higher with my previous employer, as I was offered just before we left for Brighton. Financially, there were far better prospects back in Kent. Indeed, it would have been far more viable for me to start my own business if I had remained in their employ. It was for my partner that I had to leave work, and reluctantly at that. As I have previously mentioned, I shall be quite mindful to keep you in particular posted regarding my progress.

I was willing to accept that I will face challenges and difficulties on my endeavour, and the challenge of prejudice concerning my current situation was one I would have been a fool not to anticipate. The prospect of proving some people wrong is as great an incentive as the financial security I hope to acheive.

I would be enlightened to know how you have paved your road to success.

 

[oldeagleeye]

Couple of points OP.

First of all I am no way bitter about anything. I just tell it as it is because this is a business forum and not a bloody agony aunt's columm. Which leads to my second point.

The way I got on in business was to keep my personal problems to myself and get on with it like most people. You should try it. It might win you a bit more respect than all this bleeding heart business and I do mean all. Most of your posts have been about the 'hardship' you have suffered.

Frankly I think that your girlfriend must be embarrased that you think yourself such a martyr. Get on with it man and to help you if you really want a USP in the vending game I enclose the folowing photo as a suggestion.

 

[Alex@Iansprint]

I enjoyed reading your introduction OP. I wish you the best of luck in any future ventures!

 

[Fiendkun]

Iansprint - thanks for the welcome!

Eagleeye - I get your point. From this point I shall focus on business issues, unless of course asked my position on other issues.