I have a business opprotunity!

[Mooks]

Alright, here's the story. My city is rather small, about 12,000 people. However, 15-20 miles away there is a much larger city, roughly 250,000 people. There is this new little area that just popped up (There is currently a brand new Subway in one of the sections) that is like a mini-strip mall. It consists of 5 building fronts. I talked to the guy and he told me for the 950sq. ft. building would be about $900.00 a month! I talked to other business owners around town who own around that many sq. ft. and they are paying upwards of $1500.00 a month or more for theirs.

Also, I am very good with web design... Going on 8 years of PHP, HTML, CSS, MySQL, Javascript, etc... So making a website is not a problem for me.

My problem is, what kind of business could I start to go into this building? I really like the thought of having a company that isn't retail (I don't have thousands of start-up funds after the down payment for the building, and other expenses), so is there any kind of actual business (Desks, computers, staff) that you can think of? I was thinking of an internet consulting website/firm but I would just like to gather some ideas and then choose from a list, as it would be a lot easier to see what ones would work and which ones would be a hassle.

Thanks!

[jimmiejo]

With a strong web design background you should put a design firm together. And just like many other service businesses, the last thing you need is a storefront. You can save yourself a lot of money and stress if you start your business from home and create a customer base online. Once you've developed a network with a steady stream of income, then look at renting a workspace, but definitely not in a strip mall, which is made for product selling retailers.

[Josh]

instead of starting your tech company with the brick and mortar building, approach the owner and secure a transferable option to lease for $900/mo. Offer to pay him/her some small amount ($50-$100) for the option, see if they bite. Find another renter to sell the option and split the difference with savings to the renter and profit for you. this win win situation allows you to make a profit and allows the renter to get a below market rate lease.

$1500-$900=$600 difference/mo. between market rate and your option rate

$600 x 12 = $7200 difference/year

Just throwing out a random number say you split the difference, meaning $300/mo goes to your pocket for sale of the option and $300/mo goes to savings to the renter. Now... you could theoretically charge $3600 per year of the term of the option, for a renter to buy the option that will save $3600/year over current market cost.

If you secure a 2 year option, sell it for $7200, ($7200 profit for you and $7200 in market rate lease savings to the renter) and use it as a down payment to BUY a property... then what previously would have been rent payments are now building YOU equity.

[Mooks]

The only problem I am seeing with a tattoo parlor is that there is already 6 in my town, along with a ton in the bigger city next to us...

[Sarafina]

Originally posted by Josh
instead of starting your tech company with the brick and mortar building, approach the owner and secure a transferable option to lease for $900/mo. Offer to pay him/her some small amount ($50-$100) for the option, see if they bite. Find another renter to sell the option and split the difference with savings to the renter and profit for you. this win win situation allows you to make a profit and allows the renter to get a below market rate lease.

$1500-$900=$600 difference/mo. between market rate and your option rate

$600 x 12 = $7200 difference/year

Just throwing out a random number say you split the difference, meaning $300/mo goes to your pocket for sale of the option and $300/mo goes to savings to the renter. Now... you could theoretically charge $3600 per year of the term of the option, for a renter to buy the option that will save $3600/year over current market cost.

If you secure a 2 year option, sell it for $7200, ($7200 profit for you and $7200 in market rate lease savings to the renter) and use it as a down payment to BUY a property... then what previously would have been rent payments are now building YOU equity.

Gotta love the sandwich lease options. This sounds like a good idea to me. The tough part is gettin the landlord to agree to it. Ofcourse the transaction in of itself isn't a business. You could however do this to take advantage of the cheap rent and put some cash in to another business venture, perhaps web designing.

[Carl2k]

Originally posted by Josh
instead of starting your tech company with the brick and mortar building, approach the owner and secure a transferable option to lease for $900/mo. Offer to pay him/her some small amount ($50-$100) for the option, see if they bite. Find another renter to sell the option and split the difference with savings to the renter and profit for you. this win win situation allows you to make a profit and allows the renter to get a below market rate lease.

$1500-$900=$600 difference/mo. between market rate and your option rate

$600 x 12 = $7200 difference/year

Just throwing out a random number say you split the difference, meaning $300/mo goes to your pocket for sale of the option and $300/mo goes to savings to the renter. Now... you could theoretically charge $3600 per year of the term of the option, for a renter to buy the option that will save $3600/year over current market cost.

If you secure a 2 year option, sell it for $7200, ($7200 profit for you and $7200 in market rate lease savings to the renter) and use it as a down payment to BUY a property... then what previously would have been rent payments are now building YOU equity.

WOW. Really like this idea though I only thought you could do it with stocks and not property too.

[scotland]

Are there any updates on this situation?