I have not posted anything lately, mainly because of two reasons: 1) I am working with a small company to expand their current small business, and 2) my husband and I are looking to start a new small business of our own.
Thinking of opening a small business is difficult. When finding ideas to start a new small business you can do what you love, if there is a good market for it and you can make it profitable. Or, you can find a good market which you don’t love or have an interest in. There are lots of variables which quickly turn into brick walls.
My main problem is that my family has always had physical stores. I don’t want a physical store. I hate the idea of being married to the store, dealing with employees, and wondering who will cover what hours.
Being raised in a small business family, I was often told to stay away from franchises. I never questioned the advice. I also never questioned why we use cold water when we run the garbage disposal. Silly me.
As we have looked at different businesses for ideas, we have found some pretty interesting ways people are making money these days.
We recently ran into a “great” franchise “opportunity.” The opportunity was for headlight restoration (this is something my husband has done successfully for years). In this franchised business, you not only have expert training videos you must purchase from the franchisor, you must also purchase their products and pay them a monthly “consulting” fee. This is on top of the initial investment.
No thanks.
Somehow we then became involved with a larger franchisor of a major retail chain. We listened to their spiel, and then I asked to see the financials. I was amazed that any one business could make so much money and keep so little of it. I guess I am accustomed to my family’s businesses, where you keep a lot more of what you make.
Overall, I was mostly astounded by the amount of debt this franchise had. Apparently, according to the franchisor’s, the amount of debt was common. Debt…Common..?
Again, no thanks.
It is amazing how many people are selling business franchises. It is also amazing how much money these people are making. We recently met a man who was selling small franchised businesses for under 10k. The catch? After you spend the 10k you must pay a monthly fee and purchase their products. This man is extremely wealthy and has sold many of these types of franchises all over the United States.
And what about the people who purchased these franchises? I tried to track down a few, but they were all out of business. I suppose there are some out there making money, I just have not found them.
So we continue looking and thinking of ideas for our next business. In the meantime, I am working with another small business. I am helping them expand their current small business and this takes a lot of time. I am anxious to finish this work so my husband and I can concentrate on our own business.
