low-budget startup ideas....

low-budget startup ideas....

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CzechItOut

2,154 posts

190 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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I'm always a bit puzzled when someone writes off a whole industry because they are sick of their current role. Every company I have worked with (I'm in IT too, both as an employee and contractor) as been different. Different people, projects, attitudes to risk, innovation etc.

Therefore I'd ask, are you really sick of fixing computers or is it just your current role? Would you be reinvigorated by working for a different company and in turn not throwing out your most valuable professional skill?

Mandarin VX

Original Poster:

2,344 posts

169 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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CzechItOut said:
I'm always a bit puzzled when someone writes off a whole industry because they are sick of their current role...
I'm sick of IT.

It's that simple.


Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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As said, in every industry there will be people moaning that you can't make any money in it whilst some people are very successful. If looking at an existing sector you need to work out how to do it better, cheaper, etc. You may find you competition isn't actually very good and you can better better than most.

With low start up ideas you'll find you are competing with a lot of people who are doing the same and so you'll have people offering cheap pricing etc. Place yourself above them as best you can.

singlecoil

33,313 posts

245 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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markcoznottz said:
...Gardener who does next door can't get on with his jobs for people asking him to do stuff. Aging parents, rented houses with voids, rented property's in general, usually hedges. And mostly cash. Apparently t's almost impossible finding gardeners, presumably because it's fairly hard work and seen as boring/ menial.
In the OP's position this is what I'd do. Cheap van, lawnmower, strimmer, hedgecutter and some other gardening tools, A couple of books and a couple of dozen hours on YouTube and you'll be ready to start, and you don't need to leave your current job to try it out.

Once you get started clients will come from word of mouth, and you can also branch out into all sorts of home maintenance as you build up your knowledge and tools.

Mandarin VX

Original Poster:

2,344 posts

169 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
markcoznottz said:
...Gardener who does next door can't get on with his jobs for people asking him to do stuff. Aging parents, rented houses with voids, rented property's in general, usually hedges. And mostly cash. Apparently t's almost impossible finding gardeners, presumably because it's fairly hard work and seen as boring/ menial.
In the OP's position this is what I'd do. Cheap van, lawnmower, strimmer, hedgecutter and some other gardening tools, A couple of books and a couple of dozen hours on YouTube and you'll be ready to start, and you don't need to leave your current job to try it out.

Once you get started clients will come from word of mouth, and you can also branch out into all sorts of home maintenance as you build up your knowledge and tools.
Its definitely an idea, but personally, its not really my sort of thing, definitely a valid suggestion though (as I have a van and most of that kit).

I have been thinking last night and this morning. And as has been suggested, maybe I need a change of scene but stick within IT, I just need to move away from end-users.
Something that I have been looking at is offering B2B networking & infrastructure services to SMBs, as this is something that I am comfortable with, educated in and qualified to do. Also doesnt require any startup cash.

My weak point is advertising though.

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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singlecoil said:
In the OP's position this is what I'd do. Cheap van, lawnmower, strimmer, hedgecutter and some other gardening tools, A couple of books and a couple of dozen hours on YouTube and you'll be ready to start, and you don't need to leave your current job to try it out.

Once you get started clients will come from word of mouth, and you can also branch out into all sorts of home maintenance as you build up your knowledge and tools.
^^^^ This...... Ex work colleague does gardening, took early retirement and gave it a go. He does like gardening though. Mows the lawns, keeps on top of the all the flower beds and prunes trees/bushes, treats the fence, advises on what plants go with what. Works as many days as he wants, not how many days he’s asked to do.

Its amazing how much plant maintenance he does inside too when people are on holiday, and people like the fact he’s moved the post off the mat, opens and closes curtains, feeds the cat, cleaned the windows, organises workmen to come in etc… in winter he’ll paint (say) the spare room for them.

No need to advertise, all word of mouth and never goes to anyone’s house more than a mile from his front door.

Whether he is paying tax on all of this is another matter!

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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Maybe this is a B2B vs B2C. Ie, it's the people more than the job. Amazing how varied employee culture can be at different companies.

You could kill two birds. Look for a job in a smaller company with less exposure to end users. Pick a company that you think you could emulate to some degree, then if you don't like the job, you can do a bit of recon and learn how things are run, which will be great grounding for when you go solo.


bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Wednesday 11th December 2019
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A cross post going on there, I must admit saying goodbye to your workplace skills isn’t easy and is risky.
Marketing/advertising is either a tough one or easy dependent upon how you expect your customer to find out about you/your business.
What does everybody else do in this line of work, and where do they fail? if indeed they do…
What would you do that’s different to create your niche?
How would you exploit this niche?
How easy would it be for the competition to follow you?
What happens If the turnover/profit is half what you were expecting?
Almost as risky, what happens if the turnover/profit overwhelms you and staff/agency people/contractors are required?
One thing I have been told, is that the business model won't be what you expect, and will probably go in a different direction from the one you were expecting.
It’s always ongoing internal risk assessments and more questions than answers!

CzechItOut

2,154 posts

190 months

Thursday 12th December 2019
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Mandarin VX said:
Its definitely an idea, but personally, its not really my sort of thing, definitely a valid suggestion though (as I have a van and most of that kit).

I have been thinking last night and this morning. And as has been suggested, maybe I need a change of scene but stick within IT, I just need to move away from end-users.
Something that I have been looking at is offering B2B networking & infrastructure services to SMBs, as this is something that I am comfortable with, educated in and qualified to do. Also doesnt require any startup cash.

My weak point is advertising though.
I think this is the best approach. Try to identify what you're sick of in your current role (end users) and what you enjoy and use that as focus.

The B2B ideas have legs, but as you say, you need customers. Do you have any contacts with small businesses you could work with? I used to do a bit of web design on the side and all of my work came from previous contacts and word of mouth.

Alternatively, could you get a contract role doing something better suited to your tastes? This would at least give you a minimum of 6-months of regularly income without the need to be constantly looking for new customers.

drmcw

172 posts

91 months

Thursday 12th December 2019
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CzechItOut said:
My weak point is advertising though.
And there you have it I suspect. I too was lousy at advertising and more importantly marketing but was fortunate that word of mouth brought me enough large IT projects to keep me going for 30 years.

I know a guy who roughly did what you do - he had a company that fixed consumer computers as well as business ones - it was very successful but he fancied a change and converted his photography hobby to another successful business doing weddings, portraits, and I suspect most important of all commercial work for companies and advertising agencies.

He is very good at promoting his services. In the early days he must have misrepresented his experience but his skill hid that and he delivered. He would hire top end gear (Hasselblad etc.) just to be considered. He opened his own studio premises.

This is what the Mums referred to above cannot do and so you don't compete with them. He also managed to get the 3k plus for weddings. I suspect by teaming up with wedding planners and venues. That said he no longer does weddings but he does do excellent portraits mostly for businesses.

I have no idea if he still enjoys photography. I suspect not in the same way as it's now a job with loads of pressure which he seems to soak up well.

I don't wish to sound harsh but I'd suggest you look for a salaried post you'll find more rewarding, Self employment isn't for everyone. It's really, really hard work and often very lonely and stressful and again sometimes with little reward and you certainly won't escape those customers smile

Only staff are more trouble than customers smile

Mike