Need a business idea
 

I decided to start a new thread to get away from the grant thing. I am working on getting a loan from a program this county has instead. Of course we may not qualify, so I need to try to do it without the added funds. As I was writing this I just got an e-mail from the lady running the program and the news was optimistic, so maybe it will work out.

To assist anyone who might be more creative when it comes to ideas, I am going to list all the businesses that we can legally have on our lot. We are zoned C-2, so we can have anything in C-1 along with the ones in C-2.

C-1

(a) Any permissive use of the RA District, except residential uses.

(b) Automobile parking lot or storage or parking garage.

(c) Bank or financial institution.

(d) Dressmaking, tailoring, shoe repairing, repair of household appliances and bicycles, catering and bakery with sale of bakery products on the premises and other uses of a similar character.

(e) Mortuary.

(f) Office or office building.

(g) Personal service uses including barber shop, beauty parlor, photographic or art studio, messenger, taxicab, newspaper or telegraphic branch service station, laundry or dry cleaning receiving station, restaurant, and other uses of a similar character.

(h) Private school.

(i) Retail store, in connection with which there shall be no slaughtering of animals or poultry nor commercial fish cleaning and processing on the premises.

(j) Self-service laundry or cleaning establishment.

(k) Theater, not including drive-in theater. (Ord. 711103-112. Passed 5-1-73.)

(l) Private club, fraternity, sorority or lodge, excepting when the chief activity of which is a service customarily carried on as a business.
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C-2

(a) Any permissive use of the C-1 District.

(b) Automobile or trailer display and sales room.

(c) Bowling alley or billiard parlor.

(d) Business or commercial school.

(e) Cleaning, dyeing, laundry, printing, or manufacture of envelopes, painting, plumbing, tinsmithing, tire sales and service, upholstering and other general service or repair establishment of similar character. Not more than ten percent (10%) of the lot or tract occupied by such establishment shall be used for the open and unenclosed storage of materials or equipment.

(f) Dancing or music academy.

(g) Display and sales room.

(h) Farm implements, sale and repair.

(i) Farm store or feed store, including accessory storage of liquid or solid fertilizer.

(j) Frozen food locker.

(k) Hotel.

(l) Laboratory; research, experimental or testing.

(m) Motel.

(n) Public garage and automobile repair shop, or parking lot.

(o) Radio or television broadcasting station or studio.

(p) Tavern or bar.

(q) Veterinarian, animal hospital, or kennel.

(r) Used car, trailer or boat sales or storage lot.

As you can see we have the ability to do a lot of things here. We need something that would require very little start up costs and be able to make use of one room of the house. I could use the third floor for storage or possible making of an item at times. That leaves a lot of the listed items out, but I know there are many people on here who have good ideas. I am not very good at coming up with an idea, but I am good at making an idea work once I have been given one. So I'm all ears if you have something you think I could do in my house. The mortuary is out, but most of the rest can be considered. ;) Thanks.

Nomad

Is there anything on this list that pops out where you have said in the past, "man, I wish our town had _________!"?

Storage units. After the initial outlay, they simply make money.

This would concern me a lot more than what kind of business I could start.

What alleviates "pain" (inconvenience) that currently does not exist? Car wash? Laundromat? Dog grooming etc.

According to the zoning laws here, I am in violation because I use the first floor of my house as a residence. That is just one of the flaws in making a blanket zone instead of on an individual basis. I'm sure it was written so people couldn't use the commercial buildings downtown to live on the ground floor, but it makes no sense in my single family house. The last house I owned was zoned residential, but there was a house with a store front attached next to it that was commercial. There was a similar property across the street up the block. That zoning made sense. The one here doesn't. It was done in the 70's, so who knows what the guy was thinking?

Nomad

Good ideas, but not feasible in my parlor. The laundromat would be good because I see the Mexicans lugging laundry baskets for many blocks to do their laundry. Unfortunately I don't think it would work in my house. There is no competition for the baked goods and fudge idea which is why I thought about it. Also it can easily be done in the parlor. If I don't come up with something soon, I may have to just forget it. The loans only go up to a maximum of $15,000, so not much in the way of equipment can be purchased for any kind of larger business. And the loans have to be paid back in 5 years, so I'd rather not borrow the maximum in case the business fails and I have to pay out of my regular monthly income.

Nomad

Nomad...you are sitting on a wonderful opportunity with the zoned property.

If I were in your shoes, I'd totally forget borrowing a dime from anyone, and just start the business on a super small scale.

The last business I started...I had $93 to my name. The bank wouldn't open a business account because I didn't have $100 in cash to open it. I owned no equipment of any type, no clients or customers, and had no future income of any sort. And really, I had no special skills in that field; in fact, I didn't even understand some of the basic terminology when I started.

I just went out and started knocking on doors, giving a business card and a 15 second spiel to whoever would listen. Was it easy? No, but I made a go of it for 17 years. I'd still be in that line of work had I not had to give it up due to health reasons.

So, if you are asking me, I'd go buy a box of business cards, and declare yourself a business.

Start that pastry shop today, even if you have to buy a used bowl, spoon, mixer, and a toaster oven...and nothing more. What could 36 cinnamon rolls cost to make? $30? $40?

FWIW, I like the pastry idea over the fudge. But, if it needs to be, start it up as 'Nomad's Pastry and Fudge Shop'. Make items to order, and offer free delivery to businesses that order at least $100 in cinnamon rolls, or whatever works for you.

If I were wanting to do that, I'd look into bringing cinnamon rolls to the factory(s) in your area one day a week, like every Friday, between 7am and 10am and selling them in the break room at $2 each. Or, I'd try a farmers market. A local woman is selling cinnamon twists for a $1 each, and she sells out every week. She makes 20 on a sheet, and has 10 sheet pans of them...at a small FM...that is $200 in revenue, not including the other pastries she sells.

The business is out there, and people will dig deep in their wallets for great food, if it is clean.

And, if it all fails, instead of having a $15,000 loan hanging over your head, you'll only be out a used toaster oven and a box of business cards.

You make good points. I was in sales many years ago and I was good at expanding the line in my accounts, but I was no good at cold calling. When we were flea marketing the wife and I had people rolling in the aisles laughing and sold a ton of stuff. But if I had to go out an convince someone to buy something I couldn't do it.

The town we just moved from has a farmers market and they promote it every week in the paper. They also take the food card, so anyone can buy even if you don't have cash. The boss went out looking for the one they have here yesterday and she finally located it. There were three tiny tables and nobody around. If I hadn't seen a small line deep in the paper I wouldn't have known about it. But the other town is 2-3 times the size of this one, so I guess it makes sense. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I need to decide soon.

Nomad

:clap: Hear Hear Clovis! :clap: VERY good advice - Nomad, you don't need to $15,000 to start a business (my signature links will prove that to you). Whatever you end up doing, don't be afraid of failure before you even try. Seriously, that's what stops so many people from starting small businesses. Those who aren't afraid to at least try it out, usually will come out ahead - even if it's a different line of business then they started doing. :)
Something I do in one room of our house is teach music lessons...Go with what your skills are.

LOL I would teach music, but I don't know how. It's good that you can do that. I wish I had some skill I could put to use. My skills are in woodworking, but I only made Shaker Style pieces and that is a limited market. Plus I got rid of much of my equipment and would need to buy more to get started. I think I would have more luck with a lower priced item that people can eat. No matter what the economy, people always manage to eat and buy sweets. I only said the program will loan up to $15,000, I would never borrow that much. If I got everything I need including a double oven, display case(s), accessories, signage and advertising I could do it for about $8,500. Still a lot of money, but I think if I'm going to do it, I need to do it right and have what I need to make the products and the proper display case(s) to give the impression of a real business. I don't want people to come in and think I'm getting a cupcake from the kitchen cupboard for them. The room needs to look like a real shop I think. I've had a number of businesses in the past but never anything retail out of my house.

Nomad

What's wrong with capitalizing on the "cozy""home-style" kitchen or parlor? Name it something like "Parlor Bakery" and capitalize on providing an environment that isn't like other bakeries. I think it's great if it looks like their order is coming fresh out of your kitchen and straight to them.

You also need to look at the internet for sales on some things such as the fudge. Have your own website, which is not expensive.

I have had a retail website for 5 years. It is now doing more than it ever did on eBay or on etsy, which were both good for cash flow until my own site traffic was built to an adequate point.

Think outside the box. Use your skills to make something that can be marketed and shipped. Create a market.

Have you looked at your local/state codes to see what you have to do if you use your home kitchen for a commercial bakery? Some states have really stringent requirements. The kitchen requirements and upgrades alone may cost more than the 15K you can borrow.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

We will be under the Ohio Cottage Food Laws which will allow me to sell the baked goods and not be considered a licensed bakery. I wasn't sure about fudge, so I contacted the State and they said it was okay. However, under those laws you can't sell outside of Ohio which pretty much eliminates the web site. I've not had much luck so far with web sites of my own. I tried hot sauces a few years ago and greeting cards using my daughter's art and neither one paid for the site. My daughter and I do okay on Zazzle because it doesn't cost me anything to put on her art or my pictures. I made and sold soy jar candles on Ebay for a while, but there was a lot of competition and I had to keep the price so low that I didn't make enough to be worthwhile. I sold soap on Ebay that I got from a person I knew who made it. The quality was outstanding and I was making a couple bucks a bar, but again the competition. I didn't sell them fast enough to get the volume needed to overcome the Ebay and Pay Pal fees. I've tried a lot of things and usually have some success, but never to any great degree. And it hasn't been from lack of trying. I bought some fishing gear wholesale to sell on Ebay and found out even though my prices were as low as anyone's, I didn't do well there either. Sold one reel. I'll be listing the stuff as a lot soon just to get my money back. Sooner or later I'll either find something that will work or I'll just eventually die.

Nomad

Italian ices.

The wife makes shaved ice for the family, but I'm not sure it would be good in our parlor. I can see little darlings dropping them on the floor and making a huge mess. I think something that can be sold year round and not eaten on the premises might be better. But that is a good idea in a better location and in this kind of weather. I had a commercial Hawaiian Ice machine but sold it last year. Our Ninja does great but it wouldn't hold up to extended use every day.

Nomad

Sell Light bulbs and fixtures to commercial accounts. Seriously, I did that out of my house for several years. I did maintain an inventory, but you wouldn't need to, just drop ship from the supplier/manufacturer. After I built it up I sold it to one of my competitors. I sold all types of light bulbs and commercial fixtures but I focused on the long life bulbs as well as the different colored flourescent bulbs. Commercial companies don't change light bulbs as they go out, every three years or so they'll replace all the bulbs in one building or one floor in a building.

It can be a very lucrative field, but theres lots of competition too.

See the post above about my cold calling ability. I can't do it.

Nomad

The boss told me this morning that she wants to drop the baked goods idea and only do fudge. She has experience doing it, so that counts for something. It would be less costly to start, but it does cut down on customers I think. With a wide variety of baked goods along with fudge I think the percentage of people buying who walk in the door would be much higher. Then again, if you walk into a fudge shop, I guess you're looking for fudge. We will give free samples to everyone and for every pound you buy, you get a half pound free. Now I have to wait to meet with the business loan lady. According to everything I've read, we should qualify. I think we will be able to start up the fudge business for about 50-60% of what the bakery idea would have been. It should be interesting to see how this all works out. I'd like to open in September, but who knows?

Nomad

I would think about healthy foods, vitamins, and supplements. This would go right along with junk foods.:coffee:

Maybe we could hand out a free vitamin with each sale.

Nomad

I think the giving away a half pound with every pound bought will bite you in the butt. If you want to do some eort of promotion then how about a punch card after 12 lbs they get a half free. Unless you are really going to mark up your prices your going to lose money the other way.

The company we will be dealing with has been in business for 47 years and the testimonials from other sellers seems to bear out that the 1/2 pound thing does generate a substantial amount of sales. From what I've seen, most sellers give away half of whatever size they are selling. I think we will set the price at $11.99 a pound. Based on research of other people who sell fudge in this area, it is right in line. This is the same fudge my wife used to make at the Hallmark store she worked in about 17-18 years ago. It is absolutely the best I've ever had.

Nomad

The only questions I have: How many stand-alone fudge shops have you seen? How many successful ones?


Very few... maybe there's a reason. I don't think you'll be able to make it work with only fudge unless you are in a very high foot traffic area or a shopping center of some type.

I think the bakery (and fudge) will be a better deal than just fudge. Fudge is too niche and too narrow to bring in the traffic you will need.

The more diverse a business is, the better they do. Look at all your fast food places. How many of them started out with just burgers, fries and a drink? How many items do they now have on menus? They all now have beef burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets or strips, salads, ice cream products. They no longer have just fries, but also have tater tots, onion rings, etc.....

I think if you concentrate just on fudge in a stand-alone business, you will be shooting yourself in the foot.

For example... I would be more likely to stop in and buy a couple bagels, donuts, coffee each day than I would fudge. Fudge is one of those things that people will not buy as frequently as they buy bakery items.

I completely agree with your suggestion. I have done the same thing, and now am looking into a "Cottage Food License" to expand into baking.

Just remember... "You" didn't build that business... Just ask Obama. :stirpot:

I just finished watching the BBC series "Cranford," and it came to mind as I was reading this thread.

One of the older women in the show, realizing she was in dire financial straits, opened a cozy tea room in her parlor.

Tea and fudge and pastries?

I wish you all the best in your venture, no matter what you choose. I'm excited for you!

We understand that fudge is an impulse buy item. Nobody gets up in the morning and says, "gee I think I need to go buy some fudge". We may forgo the retail space in our home and just make the fudge to sell elsewhere. I don't post every idea as I think of them, but our idea besides going to Farmer's Markets and some indoor craft events when the cold weather comes is to locate a store in a well traveled area and try to rent space from them. That concept worked very well at the Hallmark store the wife worked in. There is also the possibility of a kiosk in a mall for the two months before Christmas. It would be possible to make enough during that time to allow for slow sales the rest of the year. Again, this is just a supplement to our Social Security. If I wanted to work hard all year, I'd go back to my previous profession and make a real income. We are retired and only want something part time or part of the year. The cost to do a bakery is higher than the fudge idea. There could very well be a lot of waste from left over baked items, but the fudge can be reworked with no loss of quality. We can't have a retail space with what can be made in a common household oven. It would have to be a double oven at the very least and we don't have a place for one of those. A large bakery display case would also be needed and they are very expensive. I should be able to do the fudge for under $7000 including everything as well as outside display and tent, the bakery would be closer to $9000. The boss says fudge or nothing at this point. Since she is the maker of whatever we decide to do and I'm the sales person, I must defer to her.

Nomad

New here. Hope I'm not presuming. But...

1. Please, please don't spend $8K starting out. Totally unnecessary for a fudge business. Used food prep equipment is not hard to find. You can get inexpensive cases & other equipment at sharply reduced prices from places that have gone out of business. Check Craigslist, local business brokers, or even the windows of similar businesses that have shut down.

2. About not being able to cold call. A pattern I see in your posts is that there are a lot of things you say you can't do. Cold calling is hard. I hate it, though have been successful with it. But I'll do it to support my family if it's something I believe in. One way I overcome my distaste is to think about all the other ways I could be earning a living (things I've hated in the past). Then it seems fine.

3. For yourself, consider submitting your Zazzle photos to stock photography places. Might require some cropping to stay competitive.

I don't mean to sound mean, but, from reading this whole post, from the money to the boss saying it's fudge or nothing, I'd have to go with nothing at this point. You don't like to do cold-calling, not that I blame you, but seems like you should keep looking and step in a toe instead of half a body at this time. I have started out small, learned to diversify (had to or go out of biz) and am starting to make some nice money. Hubby is retired too. Don't forget all the holidays coming up, things are ticking up, slow at first and it's gaining steam.

There are some new health issues that have forced me to abandon any business at this time. As for the money that was mentioned, the fudge kettle alone costs over $5,000 and there are rarely any used ones to be found. But it is a moot point now.

Nomad

Sounds like You live in a town: Are there stores? Are there homes? do they use electricity? Small business: reduce their heat and electricity bills 30%. You have to go to them. Doesn't use your business location. check out USApowerDog.com they are just starting to enlist re-sellers.

jjvon, this thread is about a year old as well as Nomad has not been active in over 4 months. Just Saying!