What is a good solid business in todays world?
I was talking to a friend today, and he mentioned we should set up a business. Between us we have a wide array of skills, we can learn fast, and between two of us we can raise a fair bit of capital to invest.
The problem is, as we run down the list of possible things we could do, we found that all of it would be doomed to fail in the current market. (we live in spain).
It would seem to me, that if you have less than one million dollars to invest, you are almost doomed to fail from the start.
The question is, what is a good solid business in todays world? what kind of business could you set up for less than a million that is at least guaranteed to earn something?
It used to be everyone was almost guaranteed to earn a living, you could buy a boat and bring in some fish and make a profit, or open a bar and sell beer and get some profit, but now, it’s like every business has bigger expenses than profits.
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27 Answers
Coffee is big business over here in the US, how is that market over there??? Even in all the down fall people still went and got their morning cup of joe.
A good business anywhere is skilled home repair/odd jobs/appliance repair. Those skills are being lost.
Another is setting up home networks and home theaters. It’s hard finding people to wire a home properly.
Set up a permaculture farm. The investment would be classes for you, then a bunch of trees and seeds to plant, but after it gets going it’s almost entirely self-sustaining. And people always have to eat, including yourselves.
Also, isn’t everything basically doomed in Spain’s market? :P
@incendiary_dan “Also, isn’t everything basically doomed in Spain’s market?”
Not if you are big. If you open a bar where 200 people can drink, you will go bankrupt in less than 6 months, guaranteed. If you set up a 3 story bar/restaurant/jazz club then you will turn a profit.
Most small things are failing.
UPDATE:
A big key for a business to turn a profit where I live is by making the best out of the land or space you have. This is very important.
See, if you have a 1 story bar that can hold 200 people, and another 2 story bar that can hold 400. The costs of running the 400 capacity bar will be minimally higher.
Well, permaculture does allow the growth of insane amounts of food on a small area, but it doesn’t sound exactly like that’s what you’re looking for.
@incendiary_dan Actually, I have been looking at a bit of land that is for sale. 4000 meters2 and only 20.000 euros.
The thing is, I don’t know what the problems would be. Any vegetables or animals would need to be able to tolerate 45 degree centigrade heat and 12 hours of intense sun.
EDIT: we could afford to buy about 30.000 meters2 of land. (dry rocky land)
@poisonedantidote I’ve seen videos of permaculture experts making food forests on quarter acre plots that were basically just concrete to begin with, and others growing food forests in salinized deserts. If you can mulch, you can grow. Just might take longer with that sort of setting. Check out “Greening the Desert” on Youtube.
@jaytkay vertical farming sounds awesome. Just there are two more words “planning permission”. If I go vertical, I need to go high.
Vertical farming requires a lot of initial investment of materials, and constant supplies of energy and nutrients.
Everybody loves food, but you need to work on a slightly smaller scale than a bar or small restaurant if you don’t have that amount of capital.
Tapas are huge in Spain (and pretty big in my neck of the woods in the U.S.), and food carts are really big here in the States. Why not open a tapas food cart. As long as you park it where there are hungry people, such as near big office buildings during lunch and dinner, or near bars later in the evening, when people want a snack.
You need a little research before you start brainstorming. Talk to business owners and find out what some of the needs are that are going unmet, and how you can fill those needs. Balance that against your skills, experience and interests.
Example: A temp agency for waiters and restaurant workers. If restaurants find themselves short-handed, they can call the temp agency and get a waiter on short notice for one night.
Here, our plumber/electrician/appliance guys are raking money in. The business has been in the family for several generations; they are reliable, prompt, charge what they originally quoted, and let me tag along and learn a few tricks.
They triage so if you are standing ankle-deep in sewage, you get bumped to the top of the list.
Monday morning my first call will be to them due to a mysterious clog in a bathroom sink that I rarely use and don’t feel like crawling around under.
Ok, so I have been “researching” this vertical farm stuff for the last 10 minutes.
The idea, as it is, is brilliant. However, no one has done it, and the idea of using a building sounds wrong to me.
But I think I have an idea. Maybe instead of buildings, I could grow up the sides of giant poles/towers.
I do love the idea of farming, to make things from nothing is very cool. But traditional farming would never work here. Not on the small little island i’m on. But a vertical farm, adapted for here, that could work perhaps.
I will be looking in to this further.
Instead of poles, how about other plants? Natural ecosystems have several layers of plants often working in cooperation with each other, or at least not getting in the way and filling the same niche. That’s how wild spaces have so many plants concentrated.
@jaytkay I hope you clicked my second link, ^ you’ll love it if you haven’t seen it already.
Another part of permaculture production that might interest you is what Sepp Holzer remarked on in the documentary about his permaculture farm in the Alps. He said that because he was growing a variety of plants, not only were they less likely to have bad years but when the price of one dropped it didn’t matter so much, because he had all the other stuff to sell. So it’s much less subject to shifting market prices.
plumbing.
motto: Your SH*T is our bread and butter.
I agree with @BarnacleBill‘s post, with the addition of asking your current clients (UK guests staying in the hotel).
From my understanding, a fair amount of retired British people flock to Spain for several months during the winter season. What is it that they need or want while away from home that long? Some items that come to mind are: British cuisine, easy/reliable internet access, entertainment like coach tours and activities, and rentals of items that they do not want to bring along with them. This could be a small refrigerator, a clothes rack, a wheelchair, beach lounge chairs/umbrellas/towels, etc. It could also be a laundry service.
Typically when a corporation is looking into an area they do a market analysis to see if it worth while to bring their business in an area. Why don’t you do a market analysis of your area and see what is needed and wanted that you would be able to start or invest in. Finding you what is needed or desired will should give you the best possibilities of what to invest in.
Child Care, either full time, or play time only, drop in.
Teaching people how to use the computer and all the new hand held devices.
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