Setting up business ideas/advice

Hi all,

I’m new to this so go easy.

I have no business experience and was made redundant recently. I’m looking to set up my own business and have been pondering a few ideas recently. Just wondering if there are any thoughts on the following ideas. I’m aware of insurance costs etc but just if there are any other pointers.

I have about 5k, so was thinking along the lines of entertainment, such photo booths, games, bouncy castles for events etc. I would have to start with one decent item and work up from there but feel customer’s would just go to a one-stop-shop to get everything they need and I would struggle?  

Another would be to set up a portable soft play, but again Covid could be a bit of an issue at present.

mobile car valeting -  I like this idea but in reality probably time consuming for little reward?

Are there any good ideas where I can purchase equipment and rent it out that anyone could recommend? 

If I wanted to go bigger,  would I struggle with business grants and loans if I did want to set up a large event hire company for example? 

Any ideas what’s trending or advice would be great! 

Thanks 
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Comments

  • Mistral001
    Mistral001 Posts: 5,346
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    Mobile car valeting might be your best option out of the above.  If you have the space, doing it at your own home could  get you some the car dealership market.    
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    edited 14 August 2020 at 11:43AM
    I agree with @Mistral001 there is definately money to be made from car valeting.

    OP, the comment about being time consuming with little reward  ...... businesses don't have immediate rewards, those rewards take years to show.

    Working hours, minus overheads, leaves definate losses to various degrees - it's all about the numbers of hours you work - the more hours - the more earnings and eventually the profits start rolling in. 

    Have back up monies, don't sink everything into it, and take your time, a business worth having takes years to build 🙂

  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,938
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    Agree with both of the above.

    Note that if you are washing cars at home, your business plan needs to include disposal of the water. You can't just let it run into the domestic drainage system.
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  • Many thanks all. I did like the idea initially, but after purchasing a van (mobile) with the right equipment etc, and it taking 2-3 hours to complete a full valet at £50 to be competitive it didn’t seem very viable, unless I’m missing something? 
    Thanks,

  • Sandtree
    Sandtree Posts: 10,628
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    The hardest bit of getting a business started is coming up with the idea in the first place.

    Second most difficult thing is working out how you are going to generate business... unfortunately people generally are far too optimistic about how much business some marketing activity is going to generate. I've seen business cases with people saying they're going to flyer in all the supermarket carparks and they believe they'll get 25-30 sales per 100 flyers put on windscreens... it aint going to happen!

    Third issue is pricing... you ultimately need to price considering all your costs and time, people too often think that doing a job takes 1 hour and uses £3 of materials so if they want to make £20 an hour they charge  £23,,, they havent factored in the 20 minutes there and back, the 2 hours they spent putting flyers on cars at the weekend, the cost of those flyers etc. Similarly people tend to think they'll price low initially to win business and then push the prices up but this can be just making losses on the first jobs and then non-repeat business when the prices go up.

    Loans will probably be more difficult right now than normal given the state of the economy. You would almost certainly have to give a personal guarantee to them if you aren't a sole trader and banks will want to see that you've put enough of your own money into the idea and you're not just risking theirs.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,938
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    Many thanks all. I did like the idea initially, but after purchasing a van (mobile) with the right equipment etc, and it taking 2-3 hours to complete a full valet at £50 to be competitive it didn’t seem very viable, unless I’m missing something? 
    What I suspect you're missing is that running your own business is hard work, usually for little reward initially. The events ideas you mentioned would probably be similar: any problems or emergencies would be yours to solve, regardless of the day or hour.

    You say you have no business experience. You don't have a clear idea or burning passion for anything you'd like to do. Radical thought: look for work in either a field where you have experience, or something completely different. 
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    edited 15 August 2020 at 6:33AM
    Many thanks all. I did like the idea initially, but after purchasing a van (mobile) with the right equipment etc, and it taking 2-3 hours to complete a full valet at £50 to be competitive it didn’t seem very viable, unless I’m missing something? 
    Thanks,

    Yes, you're definately missing something - the potential to make a lot of money. 

    So let's take your maximum example, 3 hours work making you 50.00.

    How many hours a day are you thinking of working, the start-up of any business means long hours, the sucessfully self employed can't be thinking "if i do 2 today i can then have the afternoon or evening off", likewise, don't be thinking you'll have weekends off too ......

    Start your day at 6am, you could turnaround 4 cars.
    Does £200 a day seem like peanuts ?
    A 6 day week £1,200.

    Yes, you'll have your expenses etc, then you'll have an accountant who will help you maximise and minimise where appropriate ..... 
    Some cars might take less time - encourage that size vehicle and you're earning more ...... 

    There is money to be made if you really want to do it but you'll need to work hard from the very first day you decide to do it. 


  • Thank you - nice overview. Hard work is not the problem for me, as we have no family i the area and with my little ones starting school this September, I will need to do drop-offs etc which will limit my working time from 9-2 making it a risky venture. 
  • Grumpy_chap
    Grumpy_chap Posts: 14,740
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    I think the OP needs to decide on what the business venture is to be and then seek focused advice on that where the OP needs extra knowledge to get going.

    At the moment, the question seems to be "I would like to start a business with max £5k investment cost that is not too time consuming for little reward."

    I assume most posters on here with such an idea (I don't have one) would start their own business doing whatever it was that was lucrative and not effort and low start up capital, rather than just give the idea away to all and sundry...
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548
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    Well it all depends on the amount of work you can get to keep you going, When you think about the minimum wage or the living wage which is apparently £10 per hour, then £50 for 2-3 hours work doesn't sound to bad. 

    But in reality getting the work to keep you going all day is easier said than done.

    But since you only want to work from 9-2 then you would be as well getting a job in a supermarket or something as you cant really start a business with those limitations. Customers won't work to your schedule, you work to theirs.
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