Seeking advice on starting a new business
- Thread starter ElsiDawson
- Start date
And here I was scrambling to plan how I am going to see her before shes gone 4eva
I found my calling, you should be happy for me! Besides, I was never really that good in bed anyway, you're not missing much.
Elsi, it’s hard to know just how serious you are here but I think you are.
Your vision is basically about creatting a new experience around how nail salons. First thing I would do is find any social media groups about salons and find out what they are saying. Basically, is there any desire or market for your vision. If there is where are these people- will they come to you vs convenience or other value prop of current choice.
So that’s your homework- find out what the market is the best you can.
Now everything that comes after is spending the good money after bad.
Location,
Location, and location. Unless you are sitting on a buiding passed doen from drunk incle Chuck you are wntering a lease and those leases are what kill businesses. They are restricitve and often debilitating if your revenue projections are wrong. Do you have any lawyers as clients? Start asking questions during dates but you know in a sexy discreet way right?
The biggest thing in all this is to avoid getting into personal guarantees with contracts and obligations- that’s what does peopel in. You likely need a corporation too, not hard to set up actually.
There’s more but spending the intial money well and smart early can save you a ton of pain and money later.
Your vision is basically about creatting a new experience around how nail salons. First thing I would do is find any social media groups about salons and find out what they are saying. Basically, is there any desire or market for your vision. If there is where are these people- will they come to you vs convenience or other value prop of current choice.
So that’s your homework- find out what the market is the best you can.
Now everything that comes after is spending the good money after bad.
Location,
Location, and location. Unless you are sitting on a buiding passed doen from drunk incle Chuck you are wntering a lease and those leases are what kill businesses. They are restricitve and often debilitating if your revenue projections are wrong. Do you have any lawyers as clients? Start asking questions during dates but you know in a sexy discreet way right?
The biggest thing in all this is to avoid getting into personal guarantees with contracts and obligations- that’s what does peopel in. You likely need a corporation too, not hard to set up actually.
There’s more but spending the intial money well and smart early can save you a ton of pain and money later.
Ooooh, I've made friends at my local nail salon (my near-limitless charm doesn't discriminate between people paying me and the other people I give that money to) and been offered a job there. I think I did a good job negotiating my position--I get to bring in my bunny and wear whatever I want and I've managed to arrange it so I'm not answering to the shop owner/leaseholder, but another fulltime employee (who also loves me dearly). I'm thinking that instead of trying to get my own place and buy my own massage chairs, I should just overtake that salon. It's a great location, they already have qualified staff, and it's close to my place so I can walk to my new salon.
The interior is all wrong, but I can fix that.
A good suggestion I had was that it be a nail saloooon, and I can serve whisky and ale to the customers. I figure if I make everyone pinky promise not to tell The Man, we won't even have to get a liquor license.
It's all coming together!
Post script--Vpete, are you quite alright? You seem to be slurring your words.
I have bad thumbs- I actually type sober but develop a slur about 3 sentences in usually.
A word to the wise. Big global recession looming, likely in 2020. If you have cash to start a business, you're apt to find yourself trying to sell products that nobody can afford to buy.
History has shown that beauty product/business do well in recession/down turn economies. People may not be doing as well but they want to give the appearance that they are.
Before you do anything, do a budget of at the very least your monthly operating expenses.
Rent is NOT cheap, labour is not cheap as our minimum wage keeps going, payroll costs, insurance, utilities, parking for your clients?....
Once you know your costs, you can see how much revenue you need to bring in just to break even!
Staffing is also an issue.
From what I've seen, the margins are thin and you need a LOT of volume to cover costs and put $ in your pocket.
Not being a downer, just I see so many businesses fail because they don't realize they need $X just to pay the bills and the potential revenue is not possible.
Then if the numbers work, get a proper business plan done.
The BDC will lend start up businesses, again, not cheap and an upfront fee for "training" you in business.
Rent is NOT cheap, labour is not cheap as our minimum wage keeps going, payroll costs, insurance, utilities, parking for your clients?....
Once you know your costs, you can see how much revenue you need to bring in just to break even!
Staffing is also an issue.
From what I've seen, the margins are thin and you need a LOT of volume to cover costs and put $ in your pocket.
Not being a downer, just I see so many businesses fail because they don't realize they need $X just to pay the bills and the potential revenue is not possible.
Then if the numbers work, get a proper business plan done.
The BDC will lend start up businesses, again, not cheap and an upfront fee for "training" you in business.
Oh course I am ecstatic for you!
But what if terrible sex is my thing? Then I am totally missing out!
With what dear Elsi?
Not to sound like an asshole but I run a bunch of different business in Canada and abroad and my advice is, based on what you want to do, don’t.
If you want to open something up as a passion or as a personal goal, I’d say go for it. I’m not saying this to be discouraging. I’m saying this because I see this happen a lot. People subscribe to this notion that running a business is somehow more advanced or a higher rung of success and accomplishment in the world.
It’s a complete lie.
If your goal is to successfully run a small business in the lower mainland and afford the quality of life you wish to have, you need to take all the emotions out of the equation and assess how to make it work.
You will learn a lot about yourself and a lot about the world very quickly. I’m sure in your current line of work it’s afforded a pile of life experiences that no amount of education could buy. Running a business successfully can be very easy to do if you know what you’re doing and have experience, which starts with the fundamentals. Do the numbers make sense? Is there a game plan to drive business? Does that business even make sense in the area? How much will you need to invest and how long to break even? Is there a growth plan or an exit strategy?
If you watch shows like Dragons Den it’s the same routine. Cool idea, great product and everything but it’s all pointless. When business people ask about the numbers and someone on stage flinches for even a second, it’s over. The numbers have to make sense and they have to be real numbers. Not some weird altered state of reality.
The majority of business owners are struggling. They practically live at their job, it consumes a pile of time, they are always chained to their business and when factoring in everything, I think they’d be making way more money with benefits etc working a job. In fact if they put that much effort into some specialization and was working they’d be way further ahead.
If you still really want to do it, first off good on you. Takes a lot of courage to make a legit go of it. Second, really be clear with what you’re looking for and see if this business is really the vehicle to take you there.
I will say this much for sure. Only take this on if you are so passionate about it that you would be willing to do it for free for the rest of your life and that the money doesn’t matter. If you can say that to yourself honestly then feel free to PM me and I can put you in touch with some steps you can take to assess if it’s a good idea.
*as a reference*
I’m lucky I’m still in my 30s but for all the success that people see on the outside there was a huge price to pay. I think this is a part a lot of people don’t understand or see in business. I have a failed marriage because I chose the business over the wife. I’ve been fucked over financially from a best friend and lost another close friend because I chose business first. I’ve had to go places I never imagined I’d ever go to make it work.
Now it’s easy for people to say it was worth it because I have a pretty amazing life now. People see the life now and think “I want to start a business too”. Yeah well no shit. If I was my age now and things had not worked out, life would be pretty rough.
I’ve had businesses, meaning my first few tries didn’t pan out and I was fortunate that I found some great people at the right time to partner with. Without the amazing people I met, I’d be nowhere.
Some of my biggest successes came out of left field from areas that I never planned on. My story is obviously the exception in some cases but I’ve always had a bread and butter business that afforded a decent income to allow me to invested like crazy as well.
It’s only been recently that I’ve started spending money on myself. I went without for a long time but I was okay with that because I love what I do so much.
Again I don’t want to take this more off topic. All I’m saying is really give it a lot of deep thought.
If you want to open something up as a passion or as a personal goal, I’d say go for it. I’m not saying this to be discouraging. I’m saying this because I see this happen a lot. People subscribe to this notion that running a business is somehow more advanced or a higher rung of success and accomplishment in the world.
It’s a complete lie.
If your goal is to successfully run a small business in the lower mainland and afford the quality of life you wish to have, you need to take all the emotions out of the equation and assess how to make it work.
You will learn a lot about yourself and a lot about the world very quickly. I’m sure in your current line of work it’s afforded a pile of life experiences that no amount of education could buy. Running a business successfully can be very easy to do if you know what you’re doing and have experience, which starts with the fundamentals. Do the numbers make sense? Is there a game plan to drive business? Does that business even make sense in the area? How much will you need to invest and how long to break even? Is there a growth plan or an exit strategy?
If you watch shows like Dragons Den it’s the same routine. Cool idea, great product and everything but it’s all pointless. When business people ask about the numbers and someone on stage flinches for even a second, it’s over. The numbers have to make sense and they have to be real numbers. Not some weird altered state of reality.
The majority of business owners are struggling. They practically live at their job, it consumes a pile of time, they are always chained to their business and when factoring in everything, I think they’d be making way more money with benefits etc working a job. In fact if they put that much effort into some specialization and was working they’d be way further ahead.
If you still really want to do it, first off good on you. Takes a lot of courage to make a legit go of it. Second, really be clear with what you’re looking for and see if this business is really the vehicle to take you there.
I will say this much for sure. Only take this on if you are so passionate about it that you would be willing to do it for free for the rest of your life and that the money doesn’t matter. If you can say that to yourself honestly then feel free to PM me and I can put you in touch with some steps you can take to assess if it’s a good idea.
*as a reference*
I’m lucky I’m still in my 30s but for all the success that people see on the outside there was a huge price to pay. I think this is a part a lot of people don’t understand or see in business. I have a failed marriage because I chose the business over the wife. I’ve been fucked over financially from a best friend and lost another close friend because I chose business first. I’ve had to go places I never imagined I’d ever go to make it work.
Now it’s easy for people to say it was worth it because I have a pretty amazing life now. People see the life now and think “I want to start a business too”. Yeah well no shit. If I was my age now and things had not worked out, life would be pretty rough.
I’ve had businesses, meaning my first few tries didn’t pan out and I was fortunate that I found some great people at the right time to partner with. Without the amazing people I met, I’d be nowhere.
Some of my biggest successes came out of left field from areas that I never planned on. My story is obviously the exception in some cases but I’ve always had a bread and butter business that afforded a decent income to allow me to invested like crazy as well.
It’s only been recently that I’ve started spending money on myself. I went without for a long time but I was okay with that because I love what I do so much.
Again I don’t want to take this more off topic. All I’m saying is really give it a lot of deep thought.
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A good suggestion I had was that it be a nail saloooon, and I can serve whisky and ale to the customers. I figure if I make everyone pinky promise not to tell The Man, we won't even have to get a liquor license.
You may want to be very careful on doing this. It doesn’t take much for the liquor people to track things down. You just never know who is in getting there nails done.
Years ago I was talking to friends about an elk laying on side of the road, make a long story short, it turned out that a conservation officer was listening to the conversation. Point is, everyone has ears & likes to gab.
Good luck though.
You may want to be very careful on doing this. It doesn’t take much for the liquor people to track things down. You just never know who is in getting there nails done.
Years ago I was talking to friends about an elk laying on side of the road, make a long story short, it turned out that a conservation officer was listening to the conversation. Point is, everyone has ears & likes to gab.
Good luck though.
Not sure how much of this specific post to take seriously, but I definitely think it is a good idea to actually work in a nail salon for at least a year to see how you like it. Then after a year, if you can still stand the smell of nail polish and have not developed some type of repetitive strain injury, as you suggested, perhaps you can buy into an existing business and go from there. And as someone else suggested, if you do not have the capital to buy into a business, try setting up a home business until you have a reasonable amount of steady clients and a steady income stream, and then expand to a store front.
This advice is coming from someone who has never had his own business, unless you count personal tutoring, so take it with a grain of salt. Of course, considering our personal history, you were likely to do that anyway lol. I would love to try out your new services, but I do my own nails
Best of luck on your new venture,
JD
It's all a smokescreen. Elsi has already admitted to her plan to rule the world. This nail salon stuff is just to distract us, while she clandestinely furthers her takeover of the planet.
