With a 100k in cash, what kind of business to start?

[A CLOCKWORK TRADER]

As others have noted, if you're serious about starting a business and putting that much money in, you'll have to quit your job. You said you work in finance but what exactly? Are you analyst? If you're a trader, a really good one, and you have that ability to raise funds as you said then starting a hedge fund would be in the cards. Again, that all depends on your background.

Damn that college education! College does stress research over action though. Imagine if the whole degree was "start a fake million dollar portfolio, report back on your earnings in 4 years, you get a grade based on your returns" Students would be experts in investing, accounting, tax fraud, and auditing.

In theory yes but not in practice. There are people who really excel in paper trading but as soon as they put real money up they lose their shirts. It's all to do with psychology. It's a completely different mindset trading a $1 million dollar paper account and trading $1 million dollars of your actual net worth.

CHINA, import/export anything really.

And if China have turned a corner [which i think they have] Aussie mining stock, its what kept AUS out of the GFC and will be on the way up again

"Lifes about, shooting your load"

Import/Export is a really good business venture. Something I definitely want to get into. It's certainly not a part time venture though that's for sure. All the legends of the field like Marc Rich, Richard Elman, etc., basically lived and breathed the business.

 

[Lothario]

Alright Rocket 13, How about being a Silent Investor in a Gas Station or become Partner with someone who owns few Fast Food Franchises like MCD, BK or Dairy queen etc.

If you have a Primary Job then you can not be at the site to run that business, you just have to find people/firends who are in the business and need some cash to buy a new or add another Gas Station.

Gas Stations in Midwest USA are anywhere in between 200,000 - 400,000 depending upon the location , sales etc. and bring in 10,000- 15,000 in profit per month, Yes if run right which is a lot of work , you just to find that person who is doing that and become partners with him., may be help him a bit running the business, take care of the legal Issues, paper work and or get your hands Dirty and work a 12 hr shift at the station on weekends

 

[defguy]

I would personally invest in companies with that money and just sit on their board, but right now my money is in stocks. But I would not recommend either for someone else, learning the stock market is a 4 yr process. Read and paper trade for at least 2 years to form a strategy and about 4 years overall to not be 99% of the people who lose $ in the markets. But I know what youre thinking, your different and special, you can do this in months from now lol Even after 7 years my trading strategies are changing as I am learning new things.

investing in a business directly (not stocks) is even harder, and youll have to sit on the board and approve/shut down important business decisions. It takes a lot of knowledge of the business, the industry, how businesses work, and capital. I wouldnt recommend that for anyone who hasnt started at least 2 businesses.

Lothario has it right, use the $100k as a downpayment on a franchise. McDonalds is the best and most expensive out there, $100k might not be enough.... but these things are GOLD MINES. We as a country are fat bc nobody can compare with the dollar menu at McDonalds or Wendy's. Last time i checked a MickeyD's cost ~$1Mill to build from scratch and will make $2Mill in its first year of operation. You can leverage 3-4 times its EBITDA to buy another one. And the best part, you can hire a property management company to run this thing for you for a fraction of the profits.

 

[presidentcarter]

This looks promising:

[video=dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa...ly-return-on-inve_school#.UNJxE-TWKcZ[/MEDIA]

 

[bacon]

if the op is open to being a landlord this money could prove to be the path to real wealth.

if you want to do this in the US you would need to look to outside of NYC but a move to many parts of the country you could buy a 6 unit or so apartment complex wit 70-80k down. then i would live in one of the units(housing a major expense taken care of) you could with the 5 other renters pay off the mortgage in 15 yrs or less. then you would be sitting on bank as then your housing would be paid for and the other rental income would go to pay for your other living expenses.

if you did this abroad find a country with agreeable banking laws so you could get a mortgage or build the apartment complex for under 100k(you could also probably buy a small hotel or hostel for that in many parts of the world). then as an america market yourself to other foreigners online and they will pay more to rent(furnished places) or use your hotel/hostel since it is effectively marketed also reasonably priced to them. trust me clean affordable accomadation that is marketed to foreigners will always be in high demand.

one advantage of being a landlord at least in US is that the tax rate is 15% and if you choose to set up real estate abroad i believe the first 80k of money you make overseas is not taxed at all.

speculation is also good and thats what i do but i have considered these options above i just dont know where i want to live, i have terrible wanderlust so i can live in one place... yet. i just play the spec market. its risky but if your young you should be more risk adverse. heres my favorite site for speculative investing http://www.zealllc.com/2011/silvnc.htm
it has free weekly essays and for subscribers stock picks

edit just thought of another option buying atms which would not cost too much 5-8k renting the space? in bar, mall, strip mall . . . for every transaction you clear a buck or so. imagine if 20 people go there a day that would yield 600 bucks or so. a month i imagine all you would need to do is refil the atms once a week or so with couple thousand depending on the frequency of use.

 

[Parlay44]

I head mechanico is looking for investors in his Poosy Bar.

 

[maestrobaires]

either invest money into someone's business or just use it to buy yourself some freedom while you build equity sweat business

being a finances pro and and entrepreneur are different pairs of sleeves

 

[renotime]

I don't really think it's the idea that is important. It's the execution of that idea.

 

[jtbabycarrots]

Say I have roughly 100k in cash, could be double or triple that if I got some friends involved, but I would really appreciate any input as to what kind of business can be started with that amount of capital. Keep in mind it would not be something I could dedicate ALL of my time to, as I have a dayjob. Online businesses are of special interest as I could work on them at my dayjob as well. Thanks in advance for any genuine advice guys!

A little about my background if it helps:
- In my mid 20s with a degree in finance
- Live in the New York area
- Passionate about music, travel, learning languages[/font][/font][/font]

Man, I was in this exact same position in 2007 (i.e., before the motherf*cking market collapsed) so I can tell you from experience what I learned (hindsight is 20/20, right).

1. Educate yourself
a. PAY for advice from non-commissioned professionals
b. READ books like "rich dad, poor dad"

2. Understand that your monthly cash flow is the only thing that is important. That is, only income producing assets are important. Not the asset itself.

3. Keep your day job while you put together your plan.

4. Do not trust anyone. No one. Nobody. Get legal representation for anything you do with anyone.

5. Determine your level of risk when evaluating your options. How much money are you willing to lose in order to make money? Also, what is your risk adjusted ROI? That is, if you can make 8% on average in the stock market, how much additional risk do you take to make more?

6. Lastly, understand that once you take the red pill, and leave the rat race that you are in right now, there is no going back - so don't f*ck it up.

Best wishes

 

[RossTan]

4th from the right is unreal.

the 4th one in on the right hand side who's the most turned was born a DUDE! :O (Amanda Sampaio)

 

[bhawthorne]

4th from the right is unreal.

the 4th one in on the right hand side who's the most turned was born a DUDE! :O (Amanda Sampaio)

Like I said in post #16, I'm pretty sure they're all dudes.

 

[Alpha Mind]

Internet Marketing. Take 4,000 dollars of the 100,000 and dedicate a year to learning about IM and find a profitable area that you do well. You should have a profitable model by the end of the year, and you can use some of the 96k left to scale it up.

Exactly.

There's an info product called Guru Blueprint by Eben Pagan that's incredibly useful for figuring out what space you should go into.

It's designed to help you build an info marketing business, but the process is what's helpful. You can probably find it via torrents or on youtube.

Don't squander that money. Dropping 50K on a business is easier than you think.

If you're weak in an area, don't spend money with the first professional services firm that promises gold. I run an agency because I got burned that way, for 20K.

If you're in your under 30 (I'm 27), don't be in a hurry to drop the proverbial load on a face. People have ideas and will feed you a lot of bullshit. Stick to what you know and you'll be okay.

You want to go into something you have mastered. For me, it's SEO. For you, it might be selling natural Vitamin D3. Do what you know, love, and can make other people believe in and it's gravy.

Ignore haters and their perceptions of high margins. If it sounds GREAT, it's probably trash.

Physical products are WAY easier than information products, especially with Amazon sponsored products (Amazon's version of AdWords).

Be frugal with your cash. If you spend 1k, make sure you get 4-5K in return and you'll be fine. A lot of people speak of risk/reward, but in reality it's immediate ROI. If it's predictable and can be scaled, you'll be gravy.

Good luck.

AND DO NOT SQUANDER THAT 100K!

 

[xsplat]

Do what you know, love, and can make other people believe in
...
Physical products are WAY easier than information products
...
Be frugal with your cash.

Solid

Also, be careful not to spread out your time and attentions too thin.

Also consider a mentorship program. You can cut years off your learning curve, and this can also help you to avoid making false starts in the wrong direction.

My mentorship program here in Indonesia is going quite well, this first week. The guy is smart and doing great work, at low financial cost or risk to me, and he's learning things he'd never be able to learn in any school. I'm confident he'll be earning solid income this year. The next guy comes out in mid March.