Need an idea. Please help!

[phillie23]

ok so this year (2010) i knew for sure i wanted to start my own business. I just didn't know for what.(and still dont obviously) SO I took the proper steps and got my tax id # and my liscense to sell online retail in the state of Wisconsin. trying to keep it broad, and NEEDING a name right then and there I decided on 'Jackson Distribution' Now i still have no idea what i want to do and i am registerd as this.... ANY IDEAS? BTW i registered as a sole proprietorship
THANKS

[cborodescu]

Hi phillie23,


Could you tell us more about yourself? What is it that you are doing on a daily basics and what is it that you'll like to fix? What are your skills?

[Mike Hay]

I think that shows some real brass. When I formed my first corporation, I had no idea what it would be doing. In all truth, it was a solid 4 monthes before I did my first job, and it happened to be completely unrelated to what my corporations name was. I had formed Northern Lights Oilfield Services Ltd. And as it turned out, 4 monthes later, I insulated an attic???? WTF. Ultimately, what I did, did not matter, what was important was that I did at all, I just needed to do something before I went insane.
So life is funny. I had never touched insulation in my life, and here I am at a crossroads. I landed another job insulating because word got out I did this.....hmmm. So I accepted a job to insulate a 1.5 million dollar home, and hired a few experienced guys to teach me how to do the job that was going to be the future direction of my company???? I paid out most of my profits those first few jobs, and what didnt go to wages went to tools, but what I was really paying for was an accelerated education. The guys didnt seem to mind being paid to teach their boss his job hahaha. We are now have the honor of being North Americas only full service insulation franchise. So, there is no shame in jumping the gun, just be ready to grab onto the opportunities that will most definately cross your path and see where it takes you, you just never know, life is a mystery.

[ryanlucht]

Honestly, I'm in a similar position. So what I'm doing is just flexing my "entrepreneurial muscles" all the time. That means that every day I try to come up with 3 new business ideas, even if they're total crap and I'll never look at them again, I at least write down 3 new ideas.

[Mr.JustIncredible]

It's always funny to me how people who are business minded always seem to be in the same predicament at one point or another in their "road to success". Okay, with that being said, I am in that very same situation right now. But I don't want to jump the gun and start something; I want to make sure it's the right thing I'm getting into. Until I know for sure what I want to do, I'm doing a lot of listening and a lot less talking. I'm keeping my main focus on emerging markets rather then try to get into this over saturated sponge we call an economy and always looking for a new idea rather then just copy and paste someone else's success story onto my page. So far though, I've done car flipping, general merchandise distribution, and started a small valet company a while back and sold it. All in all, you can't expect to make it big with just one idea, and it's always good to keep a couple of aces in the back of your mind for your next venture.

[phillie23]

Hi phillie23,


Could you tell us more about yourself? What is it that you are doing on a daily basics and what is it that you'll like to fix? What are your skills?

Yes, basically right now I am unemployed. I was fired from my title as head chef 5 days before christmas. I was handed a restauraunt that was losing 10k per month over the course of a years time, i was brought in because i had worked for an extended period of time with the previous head chef and was the "best possible substitute" after 5 months i had the losses cut down to just over 6k per month. I was making great progress, and given the remainded of what i assumed would take about a year (the given time constraint was an educated guess based on the principles of keeping the restauraunts image, and food quality the same.) anyways 5 months came around. and I was fired. to this day i believe it was a personal vendetta from the CEO of the company, but its not something i can prove. all i really know is my intuition has never let me down and based on all variables my opinion stands.

Anyway, the head waitress had mentioned to me that i should start a consignment business. So I asked my parents for a laptop computer for christmas. The waitress was going through a messy divorce and was liquidating her ENTIRE house. so i purchased her digital camera from her and began my venture. unfortunantly i listed an initial 24 items, and received no calls what so ever. feeling disheartened and defeated i extinguished all thoughts of persuing this idea any further.

Then one of my close friends from high school called me. he was going through a messy break up and wanted to sell all of his stuff and leave town as soon as possible. So i jumped back in head first. initially i had offered to do the entire job for free. i later did receive some compensation. and i realized i could love to do this everyday. unfortunately i am at a cross road. BECAUSE the average person ages 40-45 and younger, KNOW how to use a computer, and thus can sell their items on the internet themselves. So now having my ideal target market, Im unsure how to advertise this service, i have considered the classifieds, and even a few flyers to hang on bulletin boards at places such as the post office and popular gas stations. but i have yet to act because i am still trying to come up with the correct marketing approach (basically im having a writers block on how to promote my strengths to the customer) i also have a very realistic personality, so i have been catching my self doubting the potential success of this venture, and therefore leaving it on the back burner more than i should, due to the smaller size of the area. i guess im just having trouble rationalizing the work for the seemingly small market.

so thats a little bit about me, my skill set is... really alot, i am a jack of all trades master of none. i have dabbled in alot of things over the course of my life ( i am 25 by the way) but i would not necessarily say i have expertise in ANYTHING.

anyways any insight is always appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to actually read this.

[carbonfree]

I had a mentor who always said, "Make your move before your ready". Yes, you need to plan and strategize, but don't fall in fear-paralysis. I have some questions for you,

-In terms of technology, you dont need to know THAT much to set up a shop. Although I don't know much about it, I've heard great things about Shopify to ease the process of setting up an online store for the non-techy.

-Marketing will require a lot of wit and creativity on your part and, in my opinion, will be the biggest challenge in creating a successful business. For online marketing, I suggest writing articles in your niche and participating in forums; but you are going to need a lot more than that to seperate yourself (sorry I'm being so general here--marketing is difficult)

-Have you figured out how you are going to ship items? Have you gotten any customers yet?

If you're ready, just jump in. I once thought I had a genius idea and made my move before I was ready. I found out no one was interested and changed my focus immediately. You can't live inside your mind, you've got to take it out to the market ASAP! Good luck!

[phillie23]

thanks for the insight. I guess i was a little vague as far as how im doing my consignments. My setup is completely mobile, i do not inventory anyone's products, i go to the customers home, take the pics, create the listing, and use craigslist( and some forms of social media) to get it sold. i do all the leg work, and act as the... escrow(?) for the buyer and seller, i propose counter offers and arrange meeting times between the two. the only time i would use something like ebay is IF the item hasn't sold in the desired time frame, and they want it gone. since i have not run into this problem yet, i obviously have not used it.

[HugoBoss]

HI, i been reading your post, and find it interesting, what form of marketing do you use to attract customers, what jobs are you doing more and what is your net income monthly from this business. THX

[PapaSpot]

I like Mike Hay's story. Now THAT made me laugh. The fact is, most new businesses fail within their first year. Why do they fail? The number one reason is lack of funding. But that is due to poor planning. They say if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. So the first thing you must do to be successful is to have a fail proof plan. Most people don't have a plan, let alone thinking that plan through. For example, do you watch "Shark Tank"?. If so, you will see that almost every single entrepreneur comes to the table without adequate research, experience, knowledge, etc. When they are asked about the market, they go dumb, not knowing the facts. When they are asked how much it would cost to produce their product, they go dumb. When they are asked what they will spend the money on, they don't have the right answer. This is all due to poor planning, and an inadequate thought process.

If you would like someone to be your sounding board, I would love to help. Maybe I can offer a few suggestions along the way.