/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.350534]

Any /DIY/nosaurs start their own businesses? I've been thinking about opening up something somewhat small, like a coffee shop or something. I know a lot of coffee shops fail, but I figure that's because a lot of idiots think they can open up a coffee shop.

Any of you guys open up a small business? Any advice on getting started, what things to look out for?

[Anonymous No.350554]

Find out how much money it will take to open your place and run it without income for 1 year. Now add 30% to that amount. Thats the amount of money you should have in the bank before you even start thinking about starting a small business that will be your primary means of support.Most business fail because they don't have the cash reserves to make it through their first year and any unexpected costs that pop up.

Next, if it isn't starting to pay for itself after the first year you'll need to seriously think about getting out before it ruins you. Many members of my family have started businesses only to see them crumble for one reason or another and take their whole life down with them. Don't be that broke, bitter uncle or whatever that had to live in his car for 8 months because his restaurant failed. Have a fall back plan and the brains to use it before its too late. If that means walking away from a year of your life, so be it

Lastly, take a few accounting classes. Not just Intro to Accounting, real, serious accounting classes. Just do some night classes at a community collage for a few semesters, no need to apply to Cornell or anything. It will open you're eyes on how shit works. This isn't even about math, so don't use "I'm bad at math" as an excuse to dodge this. Most of the shit you work with is basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. No graphing bullshit or square roots. Its mostly about keeping track of your god damn money. Where its going, where its coming from, what its doing for you.

If you don't know this shit you better have an accountant on staff and he better be more trustworthy than Mother Teresa. IE not friends or family. Someones who's JOB is keeping track of your money. Certified Public and all that. Bonded too. If anyone can screw you out of your money its your accountant and you need guarantees that that is the last thing thats gonna happen.

[Anonymous No.350563]

>>350554
Wow, thanks man. This is good info.

[Anonymous No.350566]

>>350554
This post outlines a lot. I'd like to put emphasis on the first two parts (have enough money before you get started!) and add something: do your market research and use your head. Always ask yourself important questions and don't let yourself be satisfied until you can confidently answer them. Where would you open it up? Would people in that area be willing to go to a coffee shop? If now, would people be willing to travel to that area for your coffee shop? About how much would each customer spend? About how many customers can you expect?

Above all, do NOT get ahead of yourself. Running a successful business is incredibly rewarding, but before that, and for a very long duration before that, it takes patience and hard work.

[Anonymous No.350567]

>>350566
>If now

If no*

[Anonymous No.350608]

Not sure if it's starting a business but I used to run my own medical practice.

[Anonymous No.350610]

another pointer:

Keep the FUCK out of dead areas. Every town has them; the old strip mall with only one or two shops that are still open, that street that's 90% boarded up windows.

You won't make any money there. In fact, the only reason i'd ever go into an area like that is if there was no rent and rates for 6 months. Then i can have 6 months of advertising to make up for the fact it's a shitty area

[Anonymous No.350611]

>>350563
Yeah it should be sticky so people don't ask this fucking question all the time.

[Not OP No.350639]

My dream is to have a mobile french bistro.

I'd mostly solicit companies and factories and I'd have a few portable standing tables and some gentle music playing to encourage people to hang out near my truck and eat their food and enjoy the weather. Rain or shine! (We're minnesotans, we're tough like that!)

I'd hang around for about an hour and then take off to my next location.

I'd serve things like giant bowls of ratatouille with a slice of crunchy bread, and thick juicy burgers (burgers can be french, right?) with a generous wad of fries. Or maybe make a giant vat of beef bourguignon to serve over mashed potatoes. The ideas are endless - I would change it up ever week or two to keep it fresh, of course. I'd TRY to stay under $10 for a full solid entree and I'd try to keep the portions generous and worth the money.

I'd offer hot slices of pie or a mini creme-brule or cheesecake with a hot cup of tea or coffee for dessert.

What do you think, /diy/? Would you want to be my customer and support me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_hdmt4vpBo

[Gezicht No.350644]

Coffee shops are all about location and consistency. Fuck up either of those even a little and you've just thrown money down the toilet.

[Anonymous No.350645]

>>350534
>coffee shop

Don't bother. Coffee shop market is already saturated, if you're not opening up next to an existing shop then there's no demand, and if you are....competition will fuck you unless they're an independant with really really shitty customer service.

Food (yes coffee shop is food) is all about location, you need a fuckload of cash to pay ridonkulous rent for a good area....but for srs, don't bother. Think of something else.

[Anonymous No.350649]

>dat feel when i can't open up a barbershop because Gilette owns 99.1% of the shaving industry here in Norway

the last ones who tried got raped mercilessly. when Gilette sensed competition, they gave away free Gilette products to our entire military and lowered their prices so low that the local business got shut down in under a month.

fuck Gilette, i just want to shave with something that doesn't cost me 50 dollars per blade.

[Anonymous No.350668]

>>350639

roach coach version of french bistro.

sounds legit.

[Anonymous No.350732]

>>350649
>>here in Norway
>our entire military
I thought you guys used someone else's military ?

>fuck Gilette, i just want to shave with something that doesn't cost me 50 dollars per blade.

Indeed why I went to DE blades. Will not drop punitive cash on something that costs less than a dime to produce.

[Anonymous No.350733]

i want to someday own a bakery on the side, not as my main source of income just something i'd like to have.

would a shop or food truck be more prosperous?

[Anonymous No.350745]

>Coffee shop market is already saturated

What about a modern tea house? It'd have to be a bit more than just handing tea over the counter like Starbucks. It'd have to be a real experience that rejuvenates the soul. But casual enough so people feel comfortable going there any time or any day. Also you'd need hot boys working there to "appeal to the target demographic."

Kinda like a Panera bread but more girly and with less food stuff on the menu, some damn fine tea, and lots of boys.

[Anonymous No.350768]

>I thought you guys used someone else's military ?

you are thinking about Iceland

[Anonymous No.350769]

>>350745
If you open one, you should hire me.
Give me 1 month to work out and perfect my /fit/ness.
I mean, damn, all those beautiful high class ladies and good music all day and good food and drink. That's the life.

[Anonymous No.350780]

Make it mobile, take the business to the customers. You can also then get into the lucrative events like festivals and speciality markets.

[Anonymous No.350781]

>>350639
I'd eat there.

[Anonymous No.350785]

As long as you can say "or something" after it...don't. To survive in business, to thrive, to be willing to put up with the shitty money you will make alongside the horrible hours, at least at the start, you have to LOVE the business. LOVE what you're doing. Otherwise it makes a standard 9-5 soul crusher look charming.

[Anonymous No.350820]

>>350745
victorian style tea room complete with small tea sandwiches

throw in some steam punk flare where appropriate (cashregister/POS n maybe have 1 or 2 steampunked computers available to use) to attract the younger crowd

[Anonymous No.350831]

>>350732
>norway using someone else's military
no, we have our own (relatively small) military.
i think switzerland used to do that, but in the middle ages or victorian era.

[Anonymous No.350833]

>>350732
my DE blades Astra are made by Gillete, at least they are cost effective as fuck.

[Anonymous No.350842]

>>350781
>>350668
Thank you! :)

Also, >>350780 what a super cute truck! :O

[Anonymous No.350878]

>>350645
OP here. Do you have any other ideas for simple businesses like this? Things that are similar, but might be less saturated.

I've also been thinking about starting an arcade. I'd have a bunch of exclusive indie games that you can't find anywhere else (not unlike http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/nyregion/13joint.html?_r=0 )

[Anonymous No.350884]

>>350820
>>350745
You can do coffee at a tea house. Look at how Barefoot Coffee has their coffee bar set up.

But yes, having a non-exclusive well priced tea house with mini sandwiches and a nicely dressed employees in timeless outfits, could get quite the market going.

And you don't have to reinvent the wheel here, just take the best examples from everywhere

[Anonymous No.350917]

>>350884
some sort of coffee would be a must, even if you're going with the Victorian tea house theme. If you're also adding some steampunk flare, get one of those big brass/copper scary looking cappuccino machines. If you're hardcore /diy/ then build yourself a latte printer and slap some steampunk decor on it to fit the theme.

[truckerfag !!xXmBuWkIT3n No.350936]

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My uncle owned a pressure washing empire, my mom owned a daycare company, my dad started a national coffee roasting company, and I started a trucking company.

Protips:
>form an LLC
>no, you don't have enough money saved up
>save up 4 revenue cycles worth of free capital before beginning (typically 12 months)
>save more money if you can
>plan on operating at a loss the first 3 years (tax breaks for it as well)
>calculate your operating costs
>calculate your operating costs again

>>350639
Ok, bro. Firstly, ditch the music idea. It's obnoxious

Second, you need to go to every office in an industrial complex, and find out when their lunch hours are. Find as many as you can that don't overlap, and leave a few paper menus (with motherfucking prices on them) at the ones YOU CAN ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO.

Don't forget the truckers backed into the shipping and receiving docks. Drive by at a crawl gently tapping your horn with a big ass sign on the side of your roach coach that says "HOT MOTHERFUCKING FRENCH FOOD" and list a few main dishes as well. Truckers flip a shit at a chance for some hot food with a short walk after they've been backed in a dock for 4 hours. Consider getting a CB radio to expand your customer base, but get permission from the property owners in the area to vend there. Most don't give a fuck, but a few will call the cops on you for trespassing.

[truckerfag !!xXmBuWkIT3n No.350944]

>>350733
Food trucks work well for impulse buys. Ask any stoner what they want to eat, several hundred times, and the top 5 will flesh out viable mobile food categories. They aren't really the bees knees for grocery shopping, but they're ok for whatever you can eat with one hand while standing (anything on a plate is iffy, but can be a secondary type of item).

If you plan on anything more than that, a shop is probably best.

[Anonymous No.350954]

>>350936
also, make sure you are set up to take cards. even if its just a square reader for your phone.

Here at bragg we have a food truck called the 'gut truck' and whenever we are at a firing range, these fuckers drive to where we are and sell cheap tasty food, and make redonkulous amounts of cash

>candy, non-prescrip meds, microwavable food like burgers, hot pockets, cold drinks

last time we were at a range with about 35 people, they made over 70 dollars in 20 minutes

>1. get mobile food
>2. drive to where people are but food isn't (rest stops, industrial parks, trainyards)
>3. sell food

[Anonymous No.350964]

>>350884
>>350917
Too bad all your customers would be cunts and arseholes.

[Anonymous No.350978]

>>350649
Unless you live in the arse end of nowhere I can't believe you couldn't find enough people willing to pay for a shave and a haircut done barbershop-style.

If you meant just selling shaving products then yeah, there's not much margin in a ten cent pack of blades. Setting up a webstore would probably be your best option, though you'd be competing with the likes of Amazon.

[Anonymous No.350980]

>>350608
Would you say its better to have your own practice or work for someone?

[sage No.350985]

>>350954
>with about 35 people, they made over 70 dollars in 20 minutes

so, they made $2 per person? and don't forget to take away the food cost (30%, more if they're idiots), and cost of gas, and they barely broke even.

>over 70 dollars
>redonkulous amounts of cash

are you 12?

[Anonymous No.350989]

>>350878
I can see good money from that IF it works. That specific idea would be serving a pretty specific customer. Mabye make it a game/hobby store/arcade

[sage No.350992]

>>350732
have you considered a straight razor? They cost good money up front, but they last forever. I've been using the same blade for over 5 years now.

[sage No.350995]

>>350820
steampunk caffeine shop? Yeah, I'd go there.