Business Opportunities and Ideas

[alankharrison]

Hi there.. first ever post today

im looking for ideas to start a business cheaply I have had a look at the ways you have mentioned but was wondering if you have any other ideas?

[John]

Well there's a lot of idea in the business ideas section of my blog but it really depends on what sort of business you want to start.

Do you have any ideas so far?

Regards, John
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Editor of Business Opportunities and Ideas

[alankharrison]

Yeah I've had a few but im not sure what I should go for raising funds for some of them will be hard. heres a list of some of them

1. open a gym (the idea was to create a gym which is open 24hrs to allow those who cannot get to the gym during the day to work out. but it would require a great deal of capital to either build from scratch or to renovate an existing property.
2. I was thinking about buying a mobile car cleaning and valeting business franchise again not as much capital involved although still alot for someone who just finished school.
3. Photography was another option i thought about. opening a studio aswell as going to different events. but again still alot of money for equipment etc..
4. Im very artistic and thought about opening a gallery for artists to hang their work and charge commision on sales again alot of overhead costs involved with rent and renovating which i want to aviod if possible.

1 and 2 are definatly more appealing as there is already a market there and more people are wanting to lose weight. and 2 theres moiilions of cars out there that all need washed. 3 and 4 arr things people dont need these are wants.

if i took out a loan i would have to secure it against something whidh at the moment since im just 18 im still living with my parents. so aloan might not be possible.
what do you think?

i have sent away for a info pack from the franchise so it should arrive shortly.

i don want to make millions i jst want to b able to do my own thing and work when i want to work. I'm looking to earn around 600-1000 that would be my target to begn with anyway.

[jon_davies]

alankharrison,

I think your first idea sounds great and would appeal to all those people that work shifts/unsociable hours so the opportunity to go to a gym late at night would probably be ideal!

Do you know if it has been done/tried before?

If not, you could be onto something unique there!

[John]

I like the gym idea too.

Regarding loans, you don't always need security and in some cases the assets of the business can be used as security.

Do you have any experience of working in a gym? If not it might be a good idea to get some, which will help you refine your plans.

Regards, John
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Editor of Business Opportunities and Ideas

[alankharrison]

Yeah i havnt heard about any gyms which are open at night although i will look into this today and see what i find. I dont have any experience working in a gym but being totally addicted to sports i go to the gym alot or i used to before it closed down for renovation. I live in a small town of around 15000 people so i would be looking to open the gym in a busier area.

Aswell as being open 24hrs i had the idea of offering retail space inside the gym for sports shops, offer spa services, and concierge service. i also thought about a on-site nursery... people may find it difficult to get someone to look after small children while they are at the gym. again to make it as profitable as possible and to appeal to a greater range of customers i want to have dance studios, badminton courts, indoor football pitches and swimming pool. which is why it may cost alot for the initial start up.. i basically want to open a health and fitness club/centre again offering all these services i thought about targeting proffessional sports teams offering a team membership to use the facilities for training and also let individual team members use the facilities outwith their training in the own time.

do you think i should start small and begin with just opening a gym with the 24hr service and then expand later??

with regards to marketing i thought about the local radio stations and papers and also door to door leaflets. would that be enough?

thanks for the quick replies and help
its great

alan

[alankharrison]

just carried out my first market research there... i called arond 20 leasure centres in and around the area which i live in and the latest which they were open till was 11pm and most were only 10pm with last entry an hour before closing. so it seems being open 24hrs and having no restrictions may be good and I definatly feel there is a market for it.

how would i go about finding out from people if they would go to the gym late at night??.. i know a survey can be good but people just tend to say what they think will make you happy dont they.

i think i may go for this since its the idea i've had the longest and i already started a business plan for it a while ago.

[jon_davies]

Am glad to see you have taken my advice about the gym idea Alan!

[quote="alankharrison"]I live in a small town of around 15000 people so i would be looking to open the gym in a busier area.

I think you would be best to look at large town/city locations rather than towns because as you have correctly identified in your statement above, the population density is obviously much lower in smaller towns/villages.

As a possible suggestion, you might want to consider looking at retail parks/units on the outskirts of cities, as that might work for people who want to combine late night excercise with a bit of late night retail therapy! One thing you will need to carefully evaluate is the transport links to/from such parks/units as it would be good to encourage users to use public transport rather than driving?!

[alankharrison]

thanks for all the help. yeah i do have alot of big ideas but i think you are right i should start smaller just now then expand later if possible.

I think the retail park idea is good. i stay near glasgow its around a 30min drive and there is alot of retail parks in the area which are always busy. I'll investigate which ones stay open the longest and have a look at locations etc.

Most are near motorways and have good transport links they also already have a huge number of potential custmers which go there daily. The only problem i think would be parking. all the parking is closed during the night at the retail parks so i would perhaps have to over come that in some way.

I also thought about the city centre why not open in the busier shopping high streets? There is more public transport links and parking wouldnt be a problem as parking is free in the city centre after 6pm.

I would look for a retail space which has perhaps two floors so i would have enough space for the gym plus changing and showering facilities.

what do you think?

my aim is to have it open sometime this year is that realistic?

[jon_davies]

[alankharrison]

my aim is to have one open this year then if all goes well then have two open in three years perhaps one in glasgow then another in edinburgh. Then after that gradually expand to include the whole of the uk.

I think your right with regards to the layout of the gym.. im going to keep it as simple as possible at the moment so all in one level for the gym although the office etc could be upstair or whatever..

Are you any good with business plans? I am currently writting one and im not sure if i have included everything.

so far i have:
Business description
mission statement
philosophy
the market and industry
products and services i want to offer
features and benefts to the customers and company
potential customers
and finally marketing and advertising

is there anything i have missed? out or have which i dont need?

Obviously i will need a page stating projected runnng costs and projected profits etc and also investment required.

I aim to get a business loan for the bank to get everything started and i will need 100% from them as i have no capital at all.

thanks for all the help its great to have someone to bounce ideas off. My family arent the greatest help in the world they just want me to go to uni and get a "real job" I've told them about my plans.. and they dont really tak me seriously. but im going to do it one way or another. i've always had ideas in my head its just hard to get things going in the right direction.

thanks again jon.

[thestarmanuk]

Hi Alan

This is my first visit to the forum and very interesting reading it makes.

I noticed that you have mentioned that you are artistic and wondered whether my business might be of interest to you. I have been involved in it since 1995.

It is relatively cheap to get started, quite unque and very enjoyable.

Send me an email if you need any info but my websites and blog are pretty comprehensive.

Regards

Mark

[topaffiliategirl]

I think you are entering yourself into a massive financial commitment, however I think your enthusiasm is great and I don't want to be a downer, if you are really keen on the gym idea I would recommend taking over an already established gym then you already have customers, a lot of people join either major branded gyms or just their local gym by placing your gym inner city or at a retail park are you likely to encourage females to join?

[alankharrison]

I am still in the research stage at the moment this will hopefully show if it will be financially viable. I do have alot of other idea aswell so if it isnt worth while then its not the end of the world. i have about 5 different ideas which im working on.

with regards to your question locating the gym in the inner city or retail park was to make it attractive to as many potential customers as possible. it would be located near shops and transport links where anyone could get there easily.

im still thinking about what is right for me at the moment and i know t wll be alot of money involved with the gym and it may be financial reasons which mean that i cannot go for it.

im open to any suggestions you may have.

thanks

alan

[Rich325]

Space rental - Have you thought about a regualr weekly booking at your local community hall or similar? There are places that will give you space for a small fee. This works well for anyone who requires an audience as well. E.g. for training clases in a variety of subjects. Initially it would only be limited excercise clases to keep cost down. If you get good eedback, this will help with business planning support, and with lending support for when you need to buy equipment. By starting off small, with low overheads, and no loans at all, you can test the market and see if it attarcts interest in the area.