New business ideas??

Whats up gang,

I am trying to coming up with new business ideas and need your help. Basically, I have found that some of the best ideas come from asking people you know what they want and need that isn't being catered to now. This board is some of the most hands on and innovative people that I interact with and if I can find something that will make you lot happy, then maybe the "regular joe" would use it too. Does not need to be car related, it is kind of a crowded area as it is, and doesn't need to be physical or website based only. The internet does offer the ability to grow better than my physical location does though (Small City of 100K).

Thanks in advance. I may not get any feedback here but I have to leverage everything I have and you guys are it !

On site computer repair is a good one.. with people's viruses, malware, and network problems it's easy to find customers and if you're good at it people will refer you to everyone they know. Even something simple like speccing and setting up a wireless router is daunting for the average person and it is a relief to them to have someone help them that isn't making commissions from Best Buy.

Yeah, with the $200 dollar minimum for Best Buy to even look at your computer, that is an idea worth looking into. I have a decent tech back ground (I am the family computer fix it guy) and think I could learn a reasonable amount of stuff quickly. Thanks for the idea dculberson!

Agreed with dculberson except to say you will need the patience of a saint. Computer tech support is one of the most thankless jobs with a customer base designed to make you insane.

The average (l)user will call their 13 year old nephew rather than pay someone and then want you to fix what he screwed up while trying to fix it.

There's a good living in there but you need to be able to smile through the stupidity :)

dculberson wrote: On site computer repair is a good one.. with people's viruses, malware, and network problems it's easy to find customers and if you're good at it people will refer you to everyone they know. Even something simple like speccing and setting up a wireless router is daunting for the average person and it is a relief to them to have someone help them that isn't making commissions from Best Buy.

For problems where the computer is still running and online you can use remote support instead of driving out there. If you don't want to use a commercial service like TeamViewer, a no-shell SSH connection with reverse-tunnel to a VNC server will do, you'd just have to package it as a portable app.

BTW if anyone can think of a job where they need a robot then let's hear it. And not an "android like Data on Star Trek to do my job for me" or an "adult" robot

We were joking at the last family dinner of opening up a coffee shop in the "Mom" area of town called "Stir Sticks". Get it?

How about now?

The government is going to roll out regulation that electrics and hybrids have to put out sound. Make / market a hack board that you can change the sounds. 180* header V8 sound... out of a Prius

Farm fresh to your door. Work with small local farmers to inventory and do door delivery of farm fresh goods. Internet ordering, they leave a cooler out on the porch that you fill. Takes some research work and networking to make it happen.

The computer repair idea is something that I may pursue. The farm fresh delivery business would be a good company on a small scale but I think that is a little limited for me. There are affluent people in Columbia aplenty but even if I max out my opportunities I can't see that turning into anything past just me making it by. Thanks for the ideas guys!

singleslammer wrote: ...Does not need to be car related...

I dont understand

Wasn't one of the columns in the last issue a short discussion about an increasing need for repaired/rebuilt ECMs for OBD1 and older OBD2 cars? If you know computers, a little self education could make that work, especially if you became THE niche guy for a particular make or something...

In reply to ultraclyde:

That is an interesting thought. I would need to refresh my soldering skills and get some test equipment (I have not idea about this one) but it could work. One thing I am afraid of is that I wouldn't have a car there next to me to test to see if the replace caps or whatever did the trick, assuming internet business.

I want an app (ipod touch) that allows each of my kids an individual sign-in. It: 1 - tracks time spent on the device 2 - can be made to limit time on the device

I've seen a few things that allow the parent to set a time limit. After the box pops up telling the kid that time is up, it goes away and they keep on playing.

3 or 4 bay garage with tool rental and a paint booth.. reasonable hourly rates and tool rental.

singleslammer wrote: I am trying to coming up with new business ideas and need your help.

My son was convinced that "food tape" would help when making giant soft tacos and you're trying to hold it all together.

A "kid" I know who just left the Army Ranger program is looking to reverse engineer the larger magazine clips and wants to quickly go into production as these are getting hard to find right now.

Icks-nay on the coffee shop and/or food related (farm fresh, etc.) ideas.

Take it from one who knows. Unless your name is Ray Kroc, food service businesses are a dog-eat-dog.

...and Kroc wasn't in the hamburger business. He was in the real estate business with an ownership stake in the finest commercial property on every busy corner in the entire country, masquerading as hamburger joints.

In reply to SVreX:

Oh I know better than to go into food service.

In reply to DrBoost:

I am not getting into Apps, that market is WAY over saturated.

In reply to BARNCA:

I have a friend who opened a DIY auto shop in town, not room for two and he is over a year now without a ton of income.

In reply to Datsun310Guy:

Food tape? interesting idea but I feel like there are a lot of science and FDA items block that. I am not getting into the gun industry. That is way to volatile of an industry.

Good stuff guys. I threw this on Facebook and other places and have some really good ideas coming in. One in-particular that is picking up a friends dead idea and taking another crack at it. Thanks everybody.

I might be berkeleying myself here, but I think the "Webvan" idea was just too far ahead of its time. Hell, I'm pretty sure I didn't own a computer when that E36 M3 came out. Now people are fatter, lazier, more internet savvy, and less responsible with money (no data to back that up, btw. Just personal experience.)

Have a small warehouse (low overhead,) minimum order. Start the first store in a tourist/resort town where people are renting houses, cabins, whatever. Might also be good for retirement communities 10 years down the road. Give flyers and coupons and crap to all the rental agencies. Advertise on billboards.

I might give it a shot in the next 5 years.

My big krux is that I'm a lot better at making things and making decisions than running a business. I berkeleying hate managing people. It's good because I've never had more than 3 employees at a time. Bad because I have a hard time delegating and end up overwhelming myself.

To the OP: What are you good at/experienced with?

I'm a fan of mobile oil change/ car wash service. Better yet, a 25 point basic vehicle check.

Go to businesses and change oil in their parking lot for employees during the work day. No lost time. Offer discounts for volume, and specials for businesses that sponsor.

Low overhead (no building), meets a needs, ability to charge a premium, easy to train, franchise-able.

Make sure to have the ability for customers to place orders/ pay through their smart phones.

BARNCA wrote: 3 or 4 bay garage with tool rental and a paint booth.. reasonable hourly rates and tool rental.

Yeah, I've thought about this a lot lately. The shop I used to work at rented a hoist for $25/hour, a flat for $15 an hour. The difference was, he was just answering the demand. It was gravy on top of his $100-$145 per hour rates. I have no idea what you'd have to charge to make a profit.

I don't think food is a terrible idea. Its one thing every person on earth needs, wants, enjoys, and often sees the value in premium versions. Also, there's decent markup.

I don't know the curse word conversions this site uses yet, but being a student from Berkeley, CA and owning a 1997 4door E36 M3 leads to a lot of short lived excitement whenever I see those words here.

Check the market on computer repair stuff. It's what I do on and off, and over the past couple of years, the amount people are willing to pay has come down from about $50 an hour to about $20 an hour. If anything takes more than an hour, people complain. Because you have to sit there waiting on things sometimes, labor fees add up fast and are often enough that the customer says that they could have replaced it instead, and they often can with a $289 Walmart special.

Computer shops are more cost effective for customers since you don't have to sit there working on one thing in a shop. I know I can work on several things at once, especially if I'm doing a bunch of installs. Start in a spare room and offer pickup service for anything that isn't networking and simple software stuff. If you decide to go that route, build a dedicated room for it, as you will need it for all of the spares you'll build up. I haven't done it for profit for a while, and I still have computer stuff everywhere.

SVreX wrote: I'm a fan of mobile oil change/ car wash service. Better yet, a 25 point basic vehicle check. Go to businesses and change oil in their parking lot for employees during the work day. No lost time. Offer discounts for volume, and specials for businesses that sponsor. Low overhead (no building), meets a needs, ability to charge a premium, easy to train, franchise-able. Make sure to have the ability for customers to place orders/ pay through their smart phones.

That's a fan berkeleying tastic, franchisable idea, IMO. Hell, why not offer tires too!? Weather is a big issue for mobile detailing for most folks not as fortunate as you and I.

The oil change thing is great...also assuming you're as fortunate as you and I (living somewhere where the EPA isn't going to randomly, anally interrogate you.)

Mobile bicycle repair--do housecalls for tuneups/repairs

There is a glut of mobile auto detailers out there, but probably room for one more

This is my new venture: www.stringwerks.net

collector car storage club - meeting room - indoor storage - pick up/delivery, spring/season prep. There are a lot of cars tucked away in mini storage units - for close to same price could be in heated storage with clubhouse access. Extra fees for detailing, delivery. Looks like a car club, is actually a real estate rental bus.