lets share some business ideas guys

**stlyoungbizman** · 02-22-2008 10:40 AM

Im new to YE and I see alot of you all already have a business. I am in that gruely process of trying to find the right one for me.what do you all think about tow truck co, carpet cleaning, shipping services. If you all have some throw out there too and just offer insite and opinion on them. Im a 21 and a college student and really like what you all are doin here on YE.

**BusinessAdviser** · 02-22-2008 11:26 AM

I do know that you can make a killing with a tow truck!

**GuyBBY** · 02-22-2008 11:51 AM

Youngbiz,

Being an entrepreneur is unique for one very important reason. You are doing what you truly love, by your standards, designed and executed how you would like them done, strategizing and feeling the reward of impacting customers and industries. The excess of money and the tangible rewards come after as a "perk" if you will.

Ask yourself what you truly have a passion to do, what you find yourself wanting to do in your free time, what is it about you that people say "He is so good at that", "Man he really understands how that works", etc. Your ideas are great businesses, towing, cleaning, and shipping- all things done everyday and are needed by many. I am just prompting you to think of what it is about each that you personally love...do you love towing cars? Do you enjoy the satisfaction of customers when they have their office/homes clean? Those are all honest questions to ask. Then, once you have that "ah ha!" moment about what you would want to do because you love it...then you can spawn ideas from that notion.

And don't take the tone of this post to be "have you thought about what you want to do", I am just putting it out there to see what your true feelings are about what you want to accomplish as an entrepreneur.

Hope to hear more!

G

**stlyoungbizman** · 02-22-2008 11:56 AM

Thanks GUYBBY, thats was a insiteful post. I am in that stage now of thinkin what it is I really what you to do. what is your business if u dont mind?

**pboychuk** · 02-22-2008 11:59 AM

My insight, I am also a college student, and two things occur to me as being very important, which you should consider. 1) startup cost - all those ideas you suggested require a vehicle and expensive equipment. 2) time - how on earth do you plan to tow someones car while you are in class? Assuming you dont have employees to do so which would increase the bottom line. You may want to look into a niche that is not so saturated with franchised companies. If you have any questions please send them my way, i do enjoy helping people with startups in my age group

**GuyBBY** · 02-22-2008 12:06 PM

I am in E-commerce, providing marine/boating markets with online classifieds, website management, B2B/Small Business advertising, etc. I have always been involved in boating/fishing, and went to Undergrad in this region and learned about who they are, what they love, what they hate, and how not only I could run a business there, but help and impact as well. You become not just a business but a person in that community with a business. Those are the types of feelings, goals, and purposes that you want to get out of being an entrepreneur.

Feel free to PM and get in touch through email,

G

**Frampo** · 02-22-2008 03:04 PM

Take a look at my blog. We can all share ideas and build a business.

frampobusiness.blogspot.com

**tazman9r** · 02-22-2008 06:59 PM

My step-father used to do mid-size truck deliveries. He was home every night, though often late, and out every morning early. It was a family run business, and his father made pretty good money doing the truck dispatching. If I were to go into that type of business, I would focus on the dispatching side. If you have a line on some routes already, see if you can get a loan and buy a fleet of trucks or vans, a couple less than ideal to do all the jobs, then grow further once your routes solidify. Hire drivers for about 2 1/2 times minimum wage, if your finances will support that. That should reduce possible turn over which will create holes in your schedule that you'll have to fill.

When my step-dad left the trucking business, he started a janitorial service, which included carpet cleaning. To be taken seriously as a carpet cleaner, you'll need one of those V/8 powered suction devices mounted on either a truck or trailer. Nothing else really gets the water out of the carpets, upholstery, and draperies you will be contracted to clean. You might want to start a basic cleaning service and then grow into carpet cleaning. Again, you'll want to focus on the dispatching part, so you'll need reliable people, and reliable people cost money.

About shipping, refer to the trucking comments. This will be very similar, it just depends what you want to ship. This might also be the simplest one, as you can broker shipping and use other services, but then you become more expensive than your competition. You will also have to become proficient in dealing with aviation cargo outfits (airline or non-airline) so you can offer national and international services.

hope this helps.

**rekid** · 02-25-2008 12:32 PM

Hey all,

I'm a college student too. Big problem i've encountered is costs but if there's a will there's a way right? Try figuring out how you can creatively use leverage to get one of your ideas started. If you don't have the money you might want to look into trading services you can provide (or barter services, same thing) until you get the right elements in place.

**rekid** · 02-25-2008 12:35 PM

i wish i could remember where I read some examples to pass on to you of people who started businesses from scratch and with no resources of their own. They would have been great examples of creative approaches.

**sspoldir** · 02-25-2008 01:31 PM

Select a profitable market, record a Camtasia video of you doing something on your computer or going through a powerpoint slide show. Then sell those videos digitally or using a service like Kunaki. You can have a profitable business going in less than a week of time spread out over a few days with virtually zero startup cost.

**CDRamming** · 02-25-2008 02:31 PM

In terms of fleet management and doing something like that. I know that not having a car at college sucks, and alot of people need one from time to time. But the problem is most people under 25 cant rent a car, and who really wants to pay $60 to go out for one night. You could get a few different cars, get liability insurance and start a small rental service. Charge by the hours used and have the normal gas stipulation bring back with a full tank or else its over priced for us to refill. You could even buy parking passes for on campus so the cars would be easily accessed and you wouldn't have to buy a parking lot. If you are in St. Louis I know UMSL, Wash U, Lindenwood, and SLU are all relatively close. I wouldn't mind paying $10 to have a car to take my girlfriend on a date, or to just get off campus for a while.

Another thought to go along. If you leased the cars cost would be less and you could get new cars fairly often. You could work with Enterprise which is based in St. Louis in Clayton, they do leasing and obviously rental. You might gain some credibility and further clients using their cars.