Please advise on my business ideas

[GoldenDragon]

Bro YR, you may want to try the idea of taking over smaLL aiLing Pubs/Food joints.DifficuLt part is, you have to have some contacts/networking to heLp you sniff out a good deaL.
Know of this Lady insurance agent who took over a smaLL ktv joint aLong Joo Chiat @$18k+ stocks; broke even by the 6th month and is now enjoying a profitabLe patronage nightLy..
You may caLL it Luck, we dont know.

18K? Can't be lah, bro. A very small joint of less than 1000sq ft involves at least 60-80k takeover fee. I only know of one joint that went below 100K takeover.

 

[jw5]

18K? Can't be lah, bro. A very small joint of less than 1000sq ft involves at least 60-80k takeover fee. I only know of one joint that went below 100K takeover.

Don't listen to that fellow tcss, $18K we all small ktv owners already....................

 

[GoldenDragon]

Don't listen to that fellow tcss, $18K we all small ktv owners already....................

18k maybe can takeover a stall at a hawker centre ONLY. Even a 1000 sq ft rundown joint in Little India also expect 120K.

 

[jw5]

18k maybe can takeover a stall at a hawker centre ONLY. Even a 1000 sq ft rundown joint in Little India also expect 120K.

later he will come back and say that his keyboard spoilt, not only cannot type small L but type another 0 nothing come out............

 

[scroobal]

I am puzzled. You have studio lights but no 105mm prime lens. Don't you do portraits?

Bodies:

Nikon F4
Leica R7
Nikon D3
Nikon D4.
Olympus OMD-5
PhaseOne with IQ160 back.

Lenses
7mm to 14mm (for Olympus so x 2 for effective focal length)
24mm to 70mm zoom.
14mm to 24mm zoom
70mm to 300mm zoom
50mm prime.
85mm prime
80mm prime (for phase one)
150mm macro (for phase one)

Studio lighting
Profoto D1 Air x2
Interfit x 2

Eizo ColorEdge CG241W monitor

Epson 3800 A2 printer.

All sorts of other stuff accumulated over the years eg flash units, ring flash, sekonic exposure meters, soft boxes, reflectors, tripods, etc

 

[Leongsam]

I am puzzled. You have studio lights but no 105mm prime lens. Don't you do portraits?

On a 645 format camera, 150mm is equivalent to a focal length of 93mm on a 35mm DSLR full frame sensor. It is the lens I use for most of my portraits.

 

[Fook Seng]

18K? Can't be lah, bro. A very small joint of less than 1000sq ft involves at least 60-80k takeover fee. I only know of one joint that went below 100K takeover.

Many potential investors do not factor in the operational losses in the first couple of years particularly in a start-up operation. Even buying an existing operation, there could be hiccups affecting revenue and cost just from the ownership change. Even if the business is profitable from the start, the working capital can be large unless everything is done on a cash basis.

More experienced investors will factor in such costs to their overall investment. If they don't the business can die a premature death before reaching the profitable phase.

 

[TakKiewPeng]

Lets say if yoiu have $50k, what business would you set up ?

$50k is not alot of money. With $50k, you need to find like-minded partners to share the costs of a business.

I want to start up a F&B business. Thinking of steamboat or buffet restuarant.

No way, you will need at least $350k to maintain it for at least a year before referrals and word of mouth take over.

Is it possible at all or do i need to get a bank business loan ?

Bank loan? Which bank will loan to you??

This La Mei Zi steamboat is like one good example : http://www.lameizi.com.sg/contact_lameizi_en.html

Each business stands on its own merits. Don't fall into the "me too" syndrome.

If the cost is too high, other business ideas i have in mind is to setup a massage shop. (Ya, those kind of hang goat head sell dog meat type)

Don't get the illusion that massage shop is cheap to run. The business is erratic and it relies on word of mouth, which means it takes a long time to spread its reputation amongst the happy customers. By then, the hot girl would have jumped ship.

This is my second choice.

Internet cafe i was interested but i dont think nowadays ppl still go internet cafe.

Internet cafe is touch-go with just $50k. It's workable if your location is good and where FTs and foreigners frequent. If you're thinking of installing online gambling, then it's another story.


So dear bros, please suggest what you will do if you have $50k cash. It is not a big sum, but ...... i want to do something instead of gambling this money away.

If I've $50k and only $50K and nothing more, then I'll worry because $50k is not enough to start any type of proper business and maintain it.

Forget about doing a business and work for someone to increase it to at least $350k. Then you can talk about starting a proper business. Those free-lance projects and hobby-based projects are not business. It's one in a million that someone makes a business out of his own passion. The rest just dream about making it big, but it's just a dream.

Thank you.

Don't thank anyone. Thank the university of hard knocks for your business education.

 

[Leongsam]

Forget about doing a business and work for someone to increase it to at least $350k. Then you can talk about starting a proper business. Those free-lance projects and hobby-based projects are not business. It's one in a million that someone makes a business out of his own passion.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you simply because I've seen, first hand, many businesses that started off as a passion become profitable.

"Making it big" is relative. While only one in a million grow to become multinational corporations, many which turnover 2 to 5 million a year are earning the owner a tidy sum.

Examples :

1. One of my cycling buddies loved tinkering with electronics. His house was burgled when he was a kid and being a nerd, he decided to build his own alarm system. He expanded his customer base from his own home to a number of neighborhood units and soon realised that he could earn a living doing this. 20 years later, he had an alarm monitoring customer base that was in the thousands. He sold his business for NZD20 million in 1997 and pocketed his 50% share so that's NZD10 million in the bank which returns $500,000 per year.

2. An ex colleague who lives in California loves customising guns. He has turned this into a business and averages about 15 jobs per month. Brings in USD5,000 to 10,000 monthly.

3. The son of my cycling buddy friend mentioned in 1. pimps cars for a living. He started off with his own car. His friends were impressed so he did it for their cars. It's now a business. I don't know the turnover but if anyone is interested, I can find out.

I know many others in my circle of friends who have turned hobbies and passions into money making enterprises. It may not be big money but it certainly beats working for someone else.

Even my photography turns a profit every year even though I try my damnedest to lose money. I know this because my accountant works out everything for me and I end up paying taxes on a regular basis much to my disgust.

And I almost forgot to mention sammyboyforum.com. It cost next to nothing to start as it was running for FREE on Delphi when it first went live in 1999. I sold it 7 years later for more than a million bucks. Beat that for ROI!

 

[TakKiewPeng]

Well boss, can't argue with real life examples that you mention here.
But it's just your experiences with the crowd of buddies you mix with. Success breeds success.

For Yellow Ribbon, we can't tell for sure his own background and his passion.

For the examples he mentioned, I find it hard he will ever make it into a proper business with just $50k, regardless if it's SIN or USD.

Assumption is that his choices of restaurant and massage house as businesses could well be his passions already. But we never know.

You're right to say that starting a business that is also your passion will make the venture more realistic, because you already like what you're doing. But I still come back to the $50k, in my final analysis.

Generally, $50k is really not alot to bank on, and passion is just that...passion. But to make a business out of a passion, I feel that $50k is scraping the barrel and that, frankly is a big risk he will lose everything finally, as there is no buffer.

However, as a simple example, Bangawan Solo started off as a housewife's passion for baking pastries, and why she's successful is because she makes great pastries and the business idea comes later. So, I usually term such business success as accidental success. It just so happened she had the skills to make pastries that many love. Some people just have the right mix to be accidentally successful in life, where money is concerned.

 

[Leongsam]

Well boss, can't argue with real life examples that you mention here.
But it's just your experiences with the crowd of buddies you mix with. Success breeds success.

There is one big difference between Singapore and NZ when it comes to starting a business.

When I come up with an idea here and discuss it amongst my friends. The response will be "Sounds good. Go for it!!!!".

If I did the same in Singapore, I'd be given 1001 reasons why my idea would never work.

That, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Singapore. Support for creativity and enterprise is sorely lacking in all quarters.

 

[TakKiewPeng]

There is one big difference between Singapore and NZ when it comes to starting a business.

When I come up with an idea here and discuss it amongst my friends. The response will be "Sounds good. Go for it!!!!".

If I did the same in Singapore, I'd be given 1001 reasons why my idea would never work.

That, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Singapore. Support for creativity and enterprise is sorely lacking in all quarters.

It's the environment, isn't it? Singapore has a larger proportion of the populace that is risk-averse and control-centric.

It's not easy for most to let down their hair and allow the creative juice to flow out.

It's also the enterprising mindset that is somewhat absent in Singapore. I've heard someone told me the difference between a HongKonger and Singaporean. When a HongKonger sees someone in a Rolls Royce, he emulates positively and says "if that bloke can do it, so can I".

But for a Singaporean, he will find a way to scratch the Roll Royce because the jealous gene takes over. That speaks volumes and I've seen this behavour literally shown by my ex-colleague. We were at somewhere and after that, everyone was trying to drive out of the busy car-park and there's a Merz sandwiched between cars and unable to get out. My ex-colleague just instinctively said "Serve him right for driving such a big car".

Well, that sums it all up, isn't it, boss?

 

[zeddy]

My passion is studio photography but the money comes from event photography... eg covering dog shows, family events, sporting events eg cycling, triathlon, cross country, motor sports etc.

I'll shoot at least 2000 to 3000 images.. select the best 1000 and put them up for sale. NZD29.95 per full resolution image so if I get to sell 100 images, that's $2995.... not bad for a day's work.

I used to do weddings but it's too stressful and the hours are too long.

Boss do you do nude photography as well?

 

[Fook Seng]

Boss do you do nude photography as well?

That is where the passion lies.

 

[Leongsam]

Boss do you do nude photography as well?

Not anymore because I don't feel comfortable during the shoot and this affects the results.

It is also very unproductive to shoot nudes unless the images are being used by some high margin erotica site and can command a premium. The reason is that each image requires a lot of touch up work. With a standard portrait, tidying up the face and the hair can be done in a few minutes with programs such as portrait professional. For nudes, it takes forever to get rid of all the blemishes. Many girls have pimpley asses, cellulite, stretch marks, fat in unwanted places and they expect the photographer to work miracles.

 

[Fook Seng]

Many girls have pimpley asses, cellulite, stretch marks, fat in unwanted places and they expect the photographer to work miracles.

We are talking of male nudes, not girly nudes. What have you been thinking?

 

[Leongsam]

We are talking of male nudes, not girly nudes. What have you been thinking?

Never had any such requests.

 

[tonychat]

There is one big difference between Singapore and NZ when it comes to starting a business.

When I come up with an idea here and discuss it amongst my friends. The response will be "Sounds good. Go for it!!!!".

If I did the same in Singapore, I'd be given 1001 reasons why my idea would never work.

That, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with Singapore. Support for creativity and enterprise is sorely lacking in all quarters.

that is the diff between sinkies and the unsinkified ones.

 

[Fishypie]

18K? Can't be lah, bro. A very small joint of less than 1000sq ft involves at least 60-80k takeover fee. I only know of one joint that went below 100K takeover.

For authenticity's sake, this pub is Located at 301, Joo Chiat Road..you may choose to drop by whenever you are free; whether it's stiLL being run by Lady G, i am not sure.
Lady G took over this joint aga 4 years ago, a rather Laid back & Lau pattern type of Chinese ktv.As she's quite the sociaLbLe type,she managed to get customers & friends Like me to raLLy around her when she took over.PLus side was, she was both hardworking & a damned good drinker; hence the saLes target soar..that was what i meant when i said she broke even by the 6th month; short of knowing if she'd signed a contract with the owner to continue with the rentaL's T & C then.
Lady G couLd be a ' Cooperate Raider' for aLL we know..buying out an aiLing company, and seLLing them off at a much higher profit.
To those nay sayers who think that Fishypie is tcss; hope you guys sober up.There's aLways some chance/opportunities out there.Crux is, whether you are a man pounding the streets or just an oLd boring keyboard warrior does make the difference to your cLoseted mindsets.
To TS, with some Luck; your $50k may weLL be churned into $500k.Good Luck !

 

[GoldenDragon]

Many potential investors do not factor in the operational losses in the first couple of years particularly in a start-up operation. Even buying an existing operation, there could be hiccups affecting revenue and cost just from the ownership change. Even if the business is profitable from the start, the working capital can be large unless everything is done on a cash basis.

KTV, HFJ businesses differ from most others. The first 3-4 months SURE MAKE money because brudders and friends will support you in the beginning. Yet to come across such a joint folding up within a year.