What would you do in my situation?

[Stephen Storey]

Evening guys,

So i have been thinking about setting up a business for as long as i can remember, i have saved for a long time in preparation for setting up a business but still not sure what line of business to go into…

I have around 100k set aside that i would be willing to put into a business if i could commit to the right one.

I work away at the moment on a 3 week on 3 week rotation. My first intentions would be for my wife to quit her job and her to run the business initially and ideally in years to come if successful enough and profitable enough i would quit job and join her in running the business.

I would obviously help out as much as possible during my time at home as well but plan would be for my wife to MD of the company / business during the start up period.

i wont go into too much more detail as this post is simply to get some inspiration on what you guys would be inclined to do if in this situation .

Any help, suggestions or advice is always appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys

 

[Fagin2021]

Evening guys,

So i have been thinking about setting up a business for as long as i can remember, i have saved for a long time in preparation for setting up a business but still not sure what line of business to go into…

I have around 100k set aside that i would be willing to put into a business if i could commit to the right one.

I work away at the moment on a 3 week on 3 week rotation. My first intentions would be for my wife to quit her job and her to run the business initially and ideally in years to come if successful enough and profitable enough i would quit job and join her in running the business.

I would obviously help out as much as possible during my time at home as well but plan would be for my wife to MD of the company / business during the start up period.

i wont go into too much more detail as this post is simply to get some inspiration on what you guys would be inclined to do if in this situation .

Any help, suggestions or advice is always appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys

At the moment please, please don't do anything at all. You and your 100k sound like a sitting duck for any conman with a 'never-to-be-repeated' business opportunity.

 

[pentel]

Spend as much time as you can investigating what sort of business you want to run.

If you are thinking of buying an existing business be very very careful. There are lots of businesses out there which are really jobs in disguise. Investigate everything, don't use sellers solicitors. Take advantage of free initial consultations with several, you will learn a lot.

Ask lots of questions on here. Some responses can seem very blunt and harsh but there is usually good intentions behind them

Everything you plan will take longer and cost more than you expect.

If doing your own thing plan, plan, plan. Start small and be prepared to say that things aren't working. Profits and take 2-3 years to materialise.

Get an accountant on board. Take advantage of free initial consultations with several, you will learn a lot.

be prepared to walk away from opportunities, there will be plenty more coming along.

 

[DoolallyTap]

What more detail is there that you won't go into? Please be so very careful. Ok, so you want to start a business, what sort of business, Sales, Service, Manufacturing? physical or on line. You imply a Ltd company with wife as MD. Is the lady a professional, solicitor, dentist, accountant? Does she have a specific skill? Want to open a shop? want to sell online? Want to manufacture something? No one can offer any sensible opinion without some more basic information.

 

[DoolallyTap]

Just noticed your other posts, you have been think about this for several years and so far got no where. I guess that if something wonderful came up you would probably reject it because something else may be just around the corner. You will keep on looking and possibly never find that nugget.

 

[Mark T Jones]

At the moment please, please don't do anything at all. You and your 100k sound like a sitting duck for any conman with a 'never-to-be-repeated' business opportunity.

Definitely this.

Plus, when you fo decide on a business, treat your £100k exactly as sn investor or lender would - question exactly what it's needed for, and how/when you will get a return on it.

It's a common mistake to treat your own funds as "free money' for the business

 

[MBE2017]

You need to ask yourselves hard questions, do you both want to start a business, will you work well together, how would you resolves arguments, what would you do if your relationship breaks down etc.

Much better address these issues now before they become potentially serious problems in the future. Most importantly, there are thousands of opportunities if you look hard enough, the next couple of years will be tough for everyone, new starters more than most.

If you start, ensure you do not extend credit unless truly necessary with rigorous credit checks, make sure your cash flow stays positive.

 

[MOIC]

2 important questions.

What business would you and your wife have experience and knowledge of running?

Do you want to risk the 100k?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

You did not say how old you are
If your North of the North figure I would be considering the safest place for that money to be
Are you prepared to lose it ?

 

[Frank the Insurance guy]

What is your wife's current job and her skills. Is it something she can do in a new venture?

Better to do something that she is familiar with than something completely new.

As others have mentioned - just because you have £100K, doesn't mean you have to put it into a new venture - plan the budget and see how much you need (use as little of it as possible!)

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I got as far as this:

but still not sure what line of business to go into…

Don't start a business - get a job.

Sorry to sound negative but if you do not know what you want to do, do nothing - your chances of failure are very high!

 

[Shopclicks]

i have saved for a long time in preparation for setting up a business but still not sure what line of business to go into…

Set up a training course that teaches people how to save up £100,000.

 

[MRQ]

Two simple questions first... What is your area of expertise, what is your wife's? The third obvious one (already asked) is what age group are you in? ...And what caused you to 'fall in love' with the notion of running a business? ...What do you imagine you will achieve by that?

And what of scale? What do you imagine 'a business' looks like? What have you learned (from research) about the reality of being 'in business'?

 

[japancool]

Spend it on blackjack and hookers!

 

[MRQ]

Spend it on blackjack and hookers!

Chewy sweets and fishing tackle? ?

 

[WaveJumper]

Spend it on blackjack and hookers!

is it tax deductible

 

[MRQ]

is it tax deductible

The fishing tackle is - if you're making videos about fishing. The chewy sweets, no.

Anyhoo... back to the O/P... what of those questions?

 

[numbersrule]

You are putting the Cart before the Horse.

The vast majority of Businesses start from either a desire or a necessity.

It seems to me that currently you have neither.

As you seem to be in a comfortable position, you could just stick the 100k in a 1 year fixed interest account and make more money than your newly formed business would in it's first year ( probably ).

 

[John P Rogers]

As you seem to be in a comfortable position, you could just stick the 100k in a 1 year fixed interest account and make more money than your newly formed business would in it's first year ( probably ).

Just what I was thinking. What is your attitude to risk? If you have been thinking about it and haven’t yet started a business it might indicate you are risk averse. You could lose the entire amount, or you could invest it fairly safely and guarantee growth.

 

[Joseph K]

Hello Stephen
If I was in your position I wouldn't invest 100k in one go. I would invest a small percentage of it and after earning good profits I would invest the rest of the funds gradually.
I hope that helps.

 

[SillyBill]

Unless your wife has the appetite and skills to run a business, and few do, then I would be thinking of something else personally. It reads that the idea appears to be coming from you for her to be MD when it should be the other way around, MD's need to be self-driven, not foist into something to support a partner's dream. I'm an MD and the only other people I find who understand the half of the pressures of the job are other MDs, not coincidental.

 

[Newchodge]

Unless your wife has the appetite and skills to run a business, and few do,

Hopefully, the OP has only 1 wife. Or were you just being stereotypically sexist?

 

[SillyBill]

Hopefully, the OP has only 1 wife. Or were you just being stereotypically sexist?

The professionally offended will always find offence. I had to read that back to understand if you had a point..and no, I can't see it; then again understanding the nuances of micro aggressions is not something I care to ever indulge in, as we were.

 

[Newchodge]

The professionally offended will always find offence. I had to read that back to understand if you had a point..and no, I can't see it; then again understanding the nuances of micro aggressions is not something I care to ever indulge in, as we were.

One of the roles of moderators is to point out (potentially unintended) discriminatory language.

 

[Shopclicks]

Hopefully, the OP has only 1 wife. Or were you just being stereotypically sexist?

Are we assuming gender?

 

[MRQ]

Bill... grow some mate... You had a point but made it clumsily; bad enough... but at least have a wee bit of grace when somebody points out your foot's in your mouth. Plenty of female entrepreneurs around; besides which... how many businesses are basically held-together by the wife?

You're right; shoehorning your partner into your ambitions is is a bad idea; but not all life partners are wives! ...And yes; I get it that O/P was talking about his wife.

Are we assuming gender?

Wives do tend to be female, on the whole...

 

[Shopclicks]

Wives do tend to be female, on the whole...

What you said!

 

[Kerwin]

If you've been wanting to start a business for years surely you must have some business ideas. I think most business people have so many ideas that they actively have to forget some of them because they just don't have the time (or cashflow) to pursue all of their ideas.

 

[japancool]

Stephen,

So far, you've looked at opening a nursery, a sunbed shop, a soft play shop, selling sportswear and manufacturing a product.

I would stop now, and think about what you really *want* to do. Don't open a business for the sake of opening a business. It has to be something you have the drive to do and commit to.

Running your own business is *hard*. It's not something you can fob off to your wife, unless she wants to do it too.

Whatever you start with, don't do something that requires you to invest large amounts of money to kick it off. Find a way to trial it. Maybe start by selling something online and see if you can make it work, and if it's something you enjoy.

And think about what you will do, and what the consequences will be if it doesn't work. Are you really willing to risk your savings, your mortgage and maybe even your marriage if it fails?

 

[SillyBill]

Bill... grow some mate... You had a point but made it clumsily; bad enough... but at least have a wee bit of grace when somebody points out your foot's in your mouth. Plenty of female entrepreneurs around; besides which... how many businesses are basically held-together by the wife?

You're right; shoehorning your partner into your ambitions is is a bad idea; but not all life partners are wives! ...And yes; I get it that O/P was talking about his wife.



Wives do tend to be female, on the whole...

It was not clumsy at all. I made no slight whatsoever on females as a whole, what on you on about re. female entrepeneurs, your point? I made a specific reference about a wife being roped on the behest of a partner. Same would apply to a husband. I don't care a jot about sex, only people who find offence in everything are the ones obsessed with it.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Start a drive through McDonalds franchise or should I have said investigate them.
Reason is you obviously have no idea of your own, so look at market leaders. not 100% you would succeed but better odds on a large franchise like McDonalds