Cheap small business ideas

Radar · 02-15-2009, 06:42 PM

So once again I find myself without a job and once again it had nothing to do with my performance in the job. I feel that this is the nature of IT work. You work someplace for a year to three years, then you're gone and you do it again and again.

This is how it's been for the last 20 years with the exception of how bad it got when the dot com bubble burst and I found myself delivering pizza, bartending, and doing anything else I could do to survive.

There are other things about IT that I just hate too. For instance the fact that you have to spend thousands of dollars to acquire and update certifications every couple of years. In virtually every other kind of work, you learn how to do it once, and that's what you do for your whole career.

The economy is in the crapper again and there aren't many IT jobs. The few that there are either don't pay well or there are thousands of people applying for them.

I've discussed small business ideas before that don't require a lot of startup money but which make pretty good money. I was ridiculed for my idea to open a hot dog cart like my uncle Manny, even though dog carts in a decent area make pretty damn good money.

That idea won't work very well in California anymore since a year and a half ago, laws were made that make it extremely difficult and impractical to run a dog cart. For instance you have to grill dogs rather than steam them, and you have to follow the same rule for restaurants that you have a sink with 3 compartments to wash/sanitize/rinse your utensils, not that a dog cart uses any other than tongs. Then you've got to have a completely separate sink to wash your hands. You can't use the same sink.

This makes the carts much heavier and more expensive. Larger restaurants push for these rules to put cart vendors out of business.

I suppose you could get a catering truck and work it that way, but you'll have to spend about 4 or 5 times the money and I don't really have $60k sitting around.

You could also setup a booth using a customized EZ-UP canopy with a small rolling sink etc. like this electric one...

or this propane one

I think with this sort of a setup, you'd want to do more of a gourmet sausage business at farmer's markets and things like that than a regular hot dog business.

The other option is to do a Kettle Corn business in the same kind of setup. Your materials are cheaper, and the whole business would cost under $10k.

I love kettle corn myself and I've been to a lot of events where people sell it and they always seem busy.

Do you guys have any other ideas for a small business that requires little start-up but which could make enough money to support a family?

smoothmoniker · 02-15-2009, 09:53 PM

Math / Science tutoring?

$40/hr is the going rate, if you can get 4 hours of work 6 days a week (4pm to 8pm daily, 10-2 on Saturday), the math looks decent.

4x6x40 = $960/wk x 50 weeks = 48k/yr

It's not coke rich, but it'll do.

barefoot serpent · 02-16-2009, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Math / Science tutoring?

$40/hr is the going rate, if you can get 4 hours of work 6 days a week (4pm to 8pm daily, 10-2 on Saturday), the math looks decent.

4x6x40 = $960/wk x 50 weeks = 48k/yr

It's not coke rich, but it'll do.

yes, Kaplan is hiring.

wolf · 02-16-2009, 09:46 AM

One of my cow orkers got a gig teaching Math at one of those As-Seen-On-TV crap tech schools.

It was very frustrating, because those people who are there because they saw an ad for how to be a nursing assistant on TV are not the sharpest pencils in the box.

But she made decent money.

Didn't last more than one semester, though.

Griff · 02-16-2009, 10:28 AM

Do you have a hobby which you are expert at that others would like to learn?

kerosene · 02-16-2009, 10:46 AM

You could do vending machines.

Or start a diaper delivery service.

Radar · 02-16-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff

Do you have a hobby which you are expert at that others would like to learn?

Computer networking has always been my job and my hobby. I just don't find any joy in it anymore.

BrianR · 02-16-2009, 11:30 AM

I doubt it's for you but my company is hiring for drivers.

A month of school, a minor investment for tuition (free if you're into indentured servitude) and two months' mentoring puts you into a shiny truck that will pay halfway decently, give you a job no matter where you live or how bad the economy gets and allow you your self-respect.

It's hell on families though.

Sheldonrs · 02-16-2009, 11:49 AM

Is prostitution not an option? You don't really have to invest much into the business and so long as you don't have a pimp, it's all profit.
The only down-side is lack of benefits or retirement plan.

smoothmoniker · 02-16-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

Is prostitution not an option?

Out here, we call that "Consulting".

Sheldonrs · 02-16-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Out here, we call that "Consulting".

I can picture someone walking up to a car and asking, "Hey baby, wanna consult the shit out of me?".

Pie · 02-16-2009, 12:29 PM

You've never worked for Ernst & Young, I see.

wolf · 02-16-2009, 04:10 PM

Radar, what happened with your home-schooling supplies business?

Cloud · 02-16-2009, 04:38 PM

make crafts using papier mache. $10 start up costs + discarded paper.

Shawnee123 · 02-17-2009, 11:46 AM

My sis in law once had an idea to snag one of those tiny old photo-mat booths and make it a reallllly quick morning drive-thru coffee station.

Probably can't find any of those around anymore and that was before there was a Tim Horton Hears a Who on every block.

02-15-2009, 06:42 PM	#1
Radar Constitutional Scholar Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 4,006	Cheap small business ideas So once again I find myself without a job and once again it had nothing to do with my performance in the job. I feel that this is the nature of IT work. You work someplace for a year to three years, then you're gone and you do it again and again. This is how it's been for the last 20 years with the exception of how bad it got when the dot com bubble burst and I found myself delivering pizza, bartending, and doing anything else I could do to survive. There are other things about IT that I just hate too. For instance the fact that you have to spend thousands of dollars to acquire and update certifications every couple of years. In virtually every other kind of work, you learn how to do it once, and that's what you do for your whole career. The economy is in the crapper again and there aren't many IT jobs. The few that there are either don't pay well or there are thousands of people applying for them. I've discussed small business ideas before that don't require a lot of startup money but which make pretty good money. I was ridiculed for my idea to open a hot dog cart like my uncle Manny, even though dog carts in a decent area make pretty damn good money. That idea won't work very well in California anymore since a year and a half ago, laws were made that make it extremely difficult and impractical to run a dog cart. For instance you have to grill dogs rather than steam them, and you have to follow the same rule for restaurants that you have a sink with 3 compartments to wash/sanitize/rinse your utensils, not that a dog cart uses any other than tongs. Then you've got to have a completely separate sink to wash your hands. You can't use the same sink. This makes the carts much heavier and more expensive. Larger restaurants push for these rules to put cart vendors out of business. I suppose you could get a catering truck and work it that way, but you'll have to spend about 4 or 5 times the money and I don't really have $60k sitting around. You could also setup a booth using a customized EZ-UP canopy with a small rolling sink etc. like this electric one... or this propane one I think with this sort of a setup, you'd want to do more of a gourmet sausage business at farmer's markets and things like that than a regular hot dog business. The other option is to do a Kettle Corn business in the same kind of setup. Your materials are cheaper, and the whole business would cost under $10k. I love kettle corn myself and I've been to a lot of events where people sell it and they always seem busy. Do you guys have any other ideas for a small business that requires little start-up but which could make enough money to support a family? __________________ "I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." - George Carlin

02-15-2009, 09:53 PM	#2
smoothmoniker to live and die in LA Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,090	Math / Science tutoring? $40/hr is the going rate, if you can get 4 hours of work 6 days a week (4pm to 8pm daily, 10-2 on Saturday), the math looks decent. 4x6x40 = $960/wk x 50 weeks = 48k/yr It's not coke rich, but it'll do. __________________ to live and die in LA

02-16-2009, 09:46 AM	#4
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	One of my cow orkers got a gig teaching Math at one of those As-Seen-On-TV crap tech schools. It was very frustrating, because those people who are there because they saw an ad for how to be a nursing assistant on TV are not the sharpest pencils in the box. But she made decent money. Didn't last more than one semester, though. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-16-2009, 10:28 AM	#5
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Do you have a hobby which you are expert at that others would like to learn? __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

02-16-2009, 11:30 AM	#8
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	I doubt it's for you but my company is hiring for drivers. A month of school, a minor investment for tuition (free if you're into indentured servitude) and two months' mentoring puts you into a shiny truck that will pay halfway decently, give you a job no matter where you live or how bad the economy gets and allow you your self-respect. It's hell on families though. __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

02-16-2009, 10:46 AM	#6
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	You could do vending machines. Or start a diaper delivery service.

02-16-2009, 11:49 AM	#9
Sheldonrs Master Dwellar Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 4,412	Is prostitution not an option? You don't really have to invest much into the business and so long as you don't have a pimp, it's all profit. The only down-side is lack of benefits or retirement plan. __________________ Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and the world laughs AT you.

02-16-2009, 12:29 PM	#12
Pie Gone and done Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,808	You've never worked for Ernst & Young, I see. __________________ per·son \ˈpər-sən\ (noun) - an ephemeral collection of small, irrational decisions The fun thing about evolution (and science in general) is that it happens whether you believe in it or not.

02-16-2009, 04:10 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Radar, what happened with your home-schooling supplies business? __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-16-2009, 04:38 PM	#14
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	make crafts using papier mache. $10 start up costs + discarded paper. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

02-17-2009, 11:46 AM	#15
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	My sis in law once had an idea to snag one of those tiny old photo-mat booths and make it a reallllly quick morning drive-thru coffee station. Probably can't find any of those around anymore and that was before there was a Tim Horton Hears a Who on every block. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

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