I was talking to someone last night about ideas for businesses. He's got something in the works and I've always thought I would come up with some brilliant money making scheme that would allow me to travel the world, see distant cities and sights or just let me sit at the bar more than I already do. Maybe this time, while having my feet massage with the blood of clubbed baby seals.
It seems to me that my ideas are always a day late and a few thousand dollars short. I remember back to a business class where I wrote a mission statement and a business plan for starting a business that would deliver groceries to people in my neighborhood's homes. My professor told me I was silly and that people liked to shop and pick out their own items. A few months later, the class was over and I saw a magazine cover article about a 15 year old kid who made almost a million dollars in one year delivering groceries in his neighborhood. Now we have Peapod and other services. I remember bringing the article to him and saying "I guess that's why they say, those that can not do, teach!"
I've had a few other ideas. Some of which I actually went in and found places to rent, evaluated operating costs and found how much my product would cost me and what I could charge. One of those ideas was a store devoted to selling sports caps. I spoke to people and everyone laughed. My thought was that every kid I knew between the ages of seven to seventeen bought a new hat every month or two. Everyone told me it's a fad business and the novelty will wear off. Three years later the store Lids opened up all over the country. Today it's the leader in sports hat sales. Some fad.
I've thought of other businesses such as a restaurant delivery system for every restaurant in lower Westchester. My thought was businesses wouldn't have to hire delivery guys directly and if something went wrong they could say that they subbed out the work and couldn't be blamed. A few years after people shot that idea down, Chef's Express opened and did exactly my idea. They didn't work out, because they couldn't get enough restaurants to join in, because their markup was too great and it became a black eye for the restaurants that used them.
I've got some ideas that have floated in and out of my brain over the years, but none that I've felt comfortable with committing to. It's tough, because even with dreams, it sometimes takes a lot of work. We live in a world where people complain about the economy but still go to over-priced vacation spots like Disney or the Jersey Shore. People say they don't want to go to restaurants because they are too expensive, but they throw out leftovers at home. They buy hyrbid cars to save on fuel mileage, but smoke cigarettes at $10 a pack. It's difficult to think of something everyone needs, because basically, that would mean thinking like most people. Thankfully, for the most part, I don't. But the problems remains, there are people breaking their backs for pennies on the dollar of what suits in big buildings are getting for doing nothing. Sure they paid their dues, literally, by going to school for four or more years, but there has to be something for us bottom feeders.
So what is it? What's something everyone needs. A service? A product? Hell, Silly Bandz are making someone a shitload of money and they are the dumbest things ever. By the way, I'm wearing one as we speak. So what can I offer? I've done lots of coaching over the years and have thought of trying something in that field, but the problem is time. To make money, I've got to put a lot of time in. This I don't really have. Plus, kids are in school during most of the year, so you're limited to certain hours. The payoff isn't there unless working with large groups and that's not what I'm thinking of. I've thought of a tutoring program for elementary school children in Math. The reason being that I'm pretty good at math and have had lots of success when explaining it to kids who have problems. The reason is I make it fun. I remember a college class I took with a friend. The teacher used an easy example and said what is 2A*2A? I answered singing to the tune of Louie Louie, 2A 2A, wooooeeee-oooh it equals 4A squared? The class laughed, my friend thought I was a freak, but he never forgot how to do that stuff. The problem for me is that it becomes boring after a while and it's not something I could trust someone else to do, the same way I do it.
So the search continues. Craiglist, Facebook, Ebay. Why didn't I think of these things? Maybe it'll come to me in a dream. Maybe not. Maybe it's not meant to be. Either way, I'll be listening and watching, hoping that something sparks my imagination and maybe a vision of something great will come and I can make it happen. Until then, it's back to the grind.
It seems to me that my ideas are always a day late and a few thousand dollars short. I remember back to a business class where I wrote a mission statement and a business plan for starting a business that would deliver groceries to people in my neighborhood's homes. My professor told me I was silly and that people liked to shop and pick out their own items. A few months later, the class was over and I saw a magazine cover article about a 15 year old kid who made almost a million dollars in one year delivering groceries in his neighborhood. Now we have Peapod and other services. I remember bringing the article to him and saying "I guess that's why they say, those that can not do, teach!"
I've had a few other ideas. Some of which I actually went in and found places to rent, evaluated operating costs and found how much my product would cost me and what I could charge. One of those ideas was a store devoted to selling sports caps. I spoke to people and everyone laughed. My thought was that every kid I knew between the ages of seven to seventeen bought a new hat every month or two. Everyone told me it's a fad business and the novelty will wear off. Three years later the store Lids opened up all over the country. Today it's the leader in sports hat sales. Some fad.
I've thought of other businesses such as a restaurant delivery system for every restaurant in lower Westchester. My thought was businesses wouldn't have to hire delivery guys directly and if something went wrong they could say that they subbed out the work and couldn't be blamed. A few years after people shot that idea down, Chef's Express opened and did exactly my idea. They didn't work out, because they couldn't get enough restaurants to join in, because their markup was too great and it became a black eye for the restaurants that used them.
I've got some ideas that have floated in and out of my brain over the years, but none that I've felt comfortable with committing to. It's tough, because even with dreams, it sometimes takes a lot of work. We live in a world where people complain about the economy but still go to over-priced vacation spots like Disney or the Jersey Shore. People say they don't want to go to restaurants because they are too expensive, but they throw out leftovers at home. They buy hyrbid cars to save on fuel mileage, but smoke cigarettes at $10 a pack. It's difficult to think of something everyone needs, because basically, that would mean thinking like most people. Thankfully, for the most part, I don't. But the problems remains, there are people breaking their backs for pennies on the dollar of what suits in big buildings are getting for doing nothing. Sure they paid their dues, literally, by going to school for four or more years, but there has to be something for us bottom feeders.
So what is it? What's something everyone needs. A service? A product? Hell, Silly Bandz are making someone a shitload of money and they are the dumbest things ever. By the way, I'm wearing one as we speak. So what can I offer? I've done lots of coaching over the years and have thought of trying something in that field, but the problem is time. To make money, I've got to put a lot of time in. This I don't really have. Plus, kids are in school during most of the year, so you're limited to certain hours. The payoff isn't there unless working with large groups and that's not what I'm thinking of. I've thought of a tutoring program for elementary school children in Math. The reason being that I'm pretty good at math and have had lots of success when explaining it to kids who have problems. The reason is I make it fun. I remember a college class I took with a friend. The teacher used an easy example and said what is 2A*2A? I answered singing to the tune of Louie Louie, 2A 2A, wooooeeee-oooh it equals 4A squared? The class laughed, my friend thought I was a freak, but he never forgot how to do that stuff. The problem for me is that it becomes boring after a while and it's not something I could trust someone else to do, the same way I do it.
So the search continues. Craiglist, Facebook, Ebay. Why didn't I think of these things? Maybe it'll come to me in a dream. Maybe not. Maybe it's not meant to be. Either way, I'll be listening and watching, hoping that something sparks my imagination and maybe a vision of something great will come and I can make it happen. Until then, it's back to the grind.
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