At the height of the prohibition, gin was a favorite in speakeasys, as it was quick and easy to bootleg. The term bathtub gin was coined because of the way you mixed the spirit—the bottles were too tall for regular sinks, and had to be filled under a bathtub faucet.
Cheers to that !
(Now you do !)
You've always wanted to be your own boss ? Own your company ?
Not everyone can be a business owner as it's time consuming and can be really tricky dealing with suppliers specially in restaurant business.
Here is some tools and tips do go through the buying process :
#1 Be sure about what kind of business you want to run !
Of course it won't be the same if you want to be a restaurant owner or a retail owner.
Your mind and common sense might lead you to the most valuable business, as, of course, your business is your livelihood. But remember that you are going to spend quite some times working on that project and you will definitely spend most of your time in your company especially the first year.
So you might want to think twice before getting yourself in a business that you don't enjoy and care and you have to be willing to learn specially when you know nothing or little about this type of company.
#2 What, Where, when, for who ?
When your mind is settle on what business you want to own, you will have to answer 4 questions in order to start your business plan.
- What ? Meaning what kind of services/products you want to sell. Look up online or among competitors business what kind of services/ products they sell, their prices, the quality, how customers respond to that type of service/product.
- Where ? That question is probably the most important one ! You will have to conduct a market research. You want to get settle where customers are and moreover where their is an actual market.
Let's say you want to open a beach shop, sell bathing suit, boards, cooler ... of course you'll want to be near a beach if not on a beach. Well, think about a bar: you won't put a bar in a across a primary school.
This step is really tricky because you might find a great location where their is customers but they are not likely to spend money on the kind of services you offer and that leads us to the next question:
For who? What kind of customers you are looking to target? Are you offering low-cost services or premium services ? Depending on the target you'll have to find a location that matches the average income in that neighborhood. People might be willing to drive to buy specific products/services but if you are not offering anything out of the ordinary you have to rely on close living customers.
- When ? Did you know that timing can lead to great success as much as great failure? For example, did you know that Amazon was on the verge of bankruptcy ? You probably wonder why. Well Amazon was create in 1994 by Jezz Bezos in the purpose of selling books at first. By then, not a lot of person had access to internet and even to a credit card, it wasn't commun to buy online. People didn't know how it worked and they were probably afraid too.
Let's just say that you might have a great idea, you want to be inventive, creative and offer something new, out of the ordinary. Just remember that sometimes the world is not ready for it and that same idea might fail today but in 5/10 or 15 years it could be a game changer. Best thing to do is to conduct some surveys. That will help you figuring out what people are willing to accept, to pay for, what kind of services/ products they need, how much they would pay for it, if they would be willing to drive further to get it.
There is a lot of questions that need to be answered prior of buying a business or create one, build one from ground. But time is your friend. Take the time to analyze all the different aspect of that business. Being prepared will definitely help you to get through the process and help you succeed.
We wish you good luck in that new journey of yours and we are available if you need any advises on buying an already established business (restaurants/bar).
1 in 5 realtors live in California !!
(Now you know !!)