Mikelly Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 OK, OK, I know I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, and most people would kill to have my gig. However, I'm starting to plan for my next move, once the 16 year old is grown and in college. The wife and I are considering moving to somewhere less congested, and more relaxed, and most likely on the east coast, and likely in Virginia or North Carolina... We may even stay in Fredericksburg. However, I do NOT want to drive to DC every day for the next 20 years... SO, since her job pays much less, we are starting to research our next big adventure... I'd like to time this so that it will distract her from the "empty Nest" syndrom she will certainly experience when Craig leave's home... Any ideas you guys can think of? Doesn't have to be car or auto related (And I'd just as soon it not be at all...) Gonna need to sustain our living expenses of about 2k per month with out mortgage and bills... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil1934 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 I'd need a litle more info. Do you want employees? Can you do heavy labor? I ran an underpinning company for seveeral years, installing piles under houses that settled. You can get in for aBOUT $10K and will make twice your budget with only one helper and a pickup truck. I got out when insurance went to 49% of payroll with no accidents in 7 years, I was filling out sales forms for the D of Rev, getting OSHA insp, etc. I found it was near impossible to do a part time business as the insurance would take $50K at the start of the year and you spend the next 8 months working out of the hole. I'm working for th eman who bought my equipment, making more, and he gets the gov't hassles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 9, 2004 Author Share Posted January 9, 2004 Don 't know what we will get involved in, but likely not something manual labor-ish since I'd like to do it with the wife. I can do employees... Maybe open a store of some type, I don't know... Really just doing prelimenary research now. I'd like for it to be something we could start with her opening it, and me jumping in after we get it established, me working behind the scenes until we get her up and running and then me quitting my current consulting gig... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKDGabe Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Well, let's see if I can remember "rich dads" lesson. Four ways to make money: 1. employee - that's what you are now 2. employer - own and run a business like Phil suggested 3. businessman - own a business that runs itself (you could go away for 6 months without it faltering) 4. investor - stocks/bonds business financier etc. My personal suggestion is #3. My dad just bought a driving range where I'll be working (looks like I'll take over ownership some day 8) ) and things like washateria's and car washes are relatively low maintenance and have alot of cash coming through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 If you and your wife like working outdoors, not too much labor, and only working 9 months of the year, I here the lawn care industry is going well. I have a friend that works for the county and gets off work at 3:00pm, he then mows lawns for people, and has to turn people away. Next summer he is thinking about adding a second mower, and hiring an employee. It may be a business you are interested in. You would want to make sure you incorporate as an LLC or an S-Corp so that you could only be sued for the value of your investment in the business. I found this site (http://www.lawnsite.com/) when I was looking at lawn mowers last summer. There are some interesting stories and good advice from the professionals over there; however, their advice for equipment is slanted to the sponsors of the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddriver Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 I've always thought that if I had the means, I would start one of those cool indoor go-kart tracks. Rent a building, buy insurance and 10 karts, and you wouldn't have too much overhead. It would be a lot of work, but in the mornings before you open up, you could bring out your own suped up kart and drive the track a while. Plus when you got bored with the track, you could change it! It's probably just a pipe dream for me, but I've seen a lot of these start up lately, and I'd like to get in on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 I get e-mails all the time telling me how I can make $25,000 a month while working 4 hours a day at home. I'll start forwarding those to you Mike - I get about 50 a week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonzer12 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 One of my buddies is a mail carrier (Canadian however). He starts his day at about 5:60 or 6 and is on the golf the coarse by 11am, not bad and he makes a decent living, I don't have any real idea what he pulls in. He is in good shape tho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 9, 2004 Author Share Posted January 9, 2004 Mr. Coffey, out of all these responses, my decision was hinging on your comments the most! I kill me! You got anything better??? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Ultimately I think being successful in business comes down to two things: 1. Honesty - without this you'll eventually fail. 2. Hard work - without this you'll never succeed. Pick something you love to do, something you're willing and looking forward to spending 12 hours a day, 7 days a week doing. Pick something that you get all excited about when talking to your family and friends. Pick something your son will be proud of and tell his friends "You think that's cool? My Dad does..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Mike, I have a couple of friends in the Bar/Resturant buisness...they both do well..the guy that has the bar/resturant with a cool atmosphere/theme does a lot better than the guy that just has a bar. I have a fairly original idea for a motorhead based bar that I might share with you offline if you were interested. Rufus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 9, 2004 Author Share Posted January 9, 2004 I'm all ears... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 If you can detail well, there's some money to be had. I have a friend that used to charge $200 for a full detail job. He would do about 4 cars a weekend for a total of 16 man hours. Not bad when he was just doing it himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKDGabe Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 If you can detail well No man, you're thinking too small. Hire a mexican or two to do it and oversee/help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 How many immigrants are up in that area? Fortunately, and unfortunately, here in California we're in grand supply. I heard some mention of manual labor. Plus...you do a few on the weekends here and there, start to build a customer base, and when the time come to just do the detailing, you're ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kosmatka Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I don't know if your wife would be interested in it , or you. But there's great money to be had in rebuilding wrecked cars. The turn around is pretty good, you can pick up a wrecked 95' subaru impreza for $200, put $1000 dollars into it and turn around and sell it for $4-5000. You just have to make sure the cars have clean titles and if you think about doing this for a professional living, try to get a retail auto license. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 It boils down to something you and your wife would both enjoy doing, and starting a business is rough to say the least. Maybe starting a business around cars would be best because you love it? Not sure where but theres a niche im sure of it. Long days and tons of hard work, but hey youve been there, and youll do well at whatever Im sure. Selling cars is only good if you can sell new ones and get people on the financing, or its kept a side hustle, otherwise the dealer liscences and taxes kill that profit margin big. retail liscense is what keeps you from making good money doing that, you have to sell twice as many cars to make half as much money. Its a lot harder to sell cars in the 4-5k range unless its a steal, or else you have people screaming the ashtrays have been used, this tire is low on air blah blah blah. Not the steadiest income there. I do have a way around that one you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest exahertz Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 If you like cars which seems to be a definate yes, but want something your wife can do with you. OPen up a car wash/detail business. I work at one of these and people pay like 40 bucks (and thats here in FL who knows what u can get up north) for a damn express wax. This includes throwin the wax on w/ a cheap orbital and wiping it off (30 min tops). All the employees get damn near minimum wage and tips. $30 profit easy of every wax. Buff and wax, full details are like 100-200. People pay 10 bucks to have their car washed(not even hand washed) and hand dried. Be an owner of a little business like this and the cash will start rollin in. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil1934 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Just a few points to think about. Health care will run you over 1/3 of your budget. And some businesses will grow whether you want to or not. I averaged almost 60 hours per week last year and did not want to work more than 24. My goal is a garage business fabricating induction systems for hot rodders, but between the job and about 4 project cars I don't know when I'll get to it. Just be sure to pick something you can stay on top of, and the public has gotten ridiculous in their expectations. I now deal with builders and developers and it's much more pleasant. When I had my business I went to look at a house at 5:00. People won't take off so you can do it on your work time so they expect you to do it in the evening. After fighting through traffic for an hour and a half for a free estimate I was in the lady's neighborhood but could not find the street so called and got no answer. I callerd the next day and she said I left precisely at 5:00 as you were supposed to be there then and you need to make another appointment and you need to come 15 minutes early. I told her no ma'am I don't. And hung up. And the world is full of people who will take a 25% discount when they send you a check and figure you won't sit in small claims for 2 days to recover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thanks for the ideas fellas... None have scratched the itch though... And no, not interested in ANYTHING to do with cars. I did that before and it became work and turned me away from working on my own Zcar. I'll keep diggin'... We'll find something... Fortunately we have all the time in the world... Might get into foreclosure homes and renevations... We'll see... The car wash ownership sounds good... Game plan is to make the wife the president so she can get all the A-8 perks for minorities... And it has to be something she can do if I croak, AND it has to generate enough to pay the overhead, insurances, and pay our bills... Washing and detailing cars isn't quite what I had in mind... We're talking something a bit larger, since I can put hands on about 250K if I need it and she would qualify for A LOT in small business loans... Mike 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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