What business?

barrymung

Hi All,

I find myself with £4,000 to invest in starting a small business of some sort. It'd need to be something that I can operate on a part time basis..

Question is, what to invest in?

I'd wondered about bouncy castles or catering of some sort at local fetes (Candy floss) or maybe some sort of market stall.

Any other thoughts or ideas?

(I'm very loose with the term "business", so if anyone knows of any investments with a decent enough return then let me know)

Savvy_Sue

candy floss and bouncy castles will both be quite seasonal, not to mention taking up all your weekends.

if you search this board for bouncy castle, you'll find some older threads about it.

Horace

What are you passionate about? This may seem like a strange question to ask but if you are not passionate about the service/product that you offer in your business then self employment won't really work because your heart won't be in it. As an example, I started out organising weddings but I realised that I actually hated weddings so rebranded this year and now I am doing something that I absolutely adore which is event management concentrating purely on the corporate market. It was a fairly expensive error to make - deciding that a wedding was just an event but what I hadn't banked on was all the stress and the people who can be quite foul to work with...whereas I have always organised corporate events and love doing it..which is why I am sitting here at 18.33 still working:D

If you are having anything to do with food preparation then you will need a food hygiene certificate. If you are hiring out bouncy castles then you will need some public liability insurance.

Not wanting to put you off self employment are you sure that this is what you really want to do? You will work harder than you have ever worked in your life for less pay than you would get in employment, with no holiday pay or sick pay. I would say that on average I work a 60-80 hour week although I may well do more because I tend to work weekends too but it doesnt seem like work to me because it is fun.:D

Mrs_Murray_PLC

Agree, Horace. If you enjoy it then it's no hassle whatsoever to give up every free minute - almost like a hobby.

OP - I would think Candy Floss and Bouncy Castles are not only seasonal but also very overrun with people trying to do that kind of thing.

Is there anyway you can translate your existing skills into a viable business? You say that you would be doing it part time - what will you do the rest of the time?