What would you do with 6k

bizzyb

I have just been made reduntant and have 6k to start a business, i no its not much but id rather get up and do something than sit at home feeling sorry for myself.I have worked as a woodmachinist since i finished school 10 years ago but this sector is pretty much dead and buried. I am stuck for ideas, i know people are not going to give away niche business ideas but something that might be worth getting into i am willing to give anything a go that i think i am capable of doing.

Gloomtastic!

Where are you based?

PixelPure

Start brainstorming. Seek for problems in everyday life, criticize everything. Always question everything you do or interact with, followed by a thought of "Why do I do this and what annoys me about this" " How can it be improved"

Some of the best ideas are the most simple and painfully obvious that you wonder why you never thought of them yourself. Think hard.

Listen carefully for moments when people say "I hate when..." they are opportunities to create a solution.

Run your ideas off people you trust and ask for feedback, but be wary people close to you are often negative with business ideas. Simply use their thoughts to further develop another idea.

Stick to what you are good at.

Good luck.

Mozart1986

I would add, develop your passions. It is in the subjects or communities or hobbies that you most enjoy that you will have the greatest potential to develop a viable service in. As an example, Etsy.com is a massive multi-national business set up by three people in New York who love craft products. Everything sold on their site is made by the seller. They new this market because they new the craft indusrty, even though most people would look at it and say "who would buy those crap trinkets"

If you have an idea spend a good few months criticising and analysing it, until you are fully comfortable with its viability and you have worked out the business model and the revenue streams. Once you get to that point, commit to it completely.

steve_

I agree with whats been said, focus on your passions. If there is something you enjoy more then anything else, look at how you can develop it into a business. Naturally some ventures will need more money then others so work out your costs, make up a business plan. Study the market and then go for your dream. People tend to jump into new territories when it comes to business and this can lead to heart ache. If you can find a way to monetize your passion this will help with sticking with it through the rough patches. Doing what you love and making money from it. I cant think of a more appetising prospect. People will judge and try dash your dreams or ambitions but only you know what your capable of. Do your research, do your work and make a good go at it.

J_Wholesale

steve_ wrote: »

focus on your passions

I actually disagree with this. If your passion becomes your job, then any time you have job related problems (getting paid, bad clients, etc.), it takes some of the joy out of what was once your passion.

Say you love making jewellery. You decide to make jewellery for a living. But the jewellery that sells well is not the jewellery you love making. And it's repetitive - where once each piece was unique, now you find yourself making 20 of one conservative style because it's quicker and there's more money to be made.

Your love for jewellery making, your passion, can quickly disappear. And what do you do in your time off? You won't want to make jewellery, as you're already doing this 8 hours a day. You'll have sold your passion for a pay cheque.

My advice would be to treat money making as just that, and keep your passion for the other parts of your life.

Zonua

J_Wholesale wrote: »

I actually disagree with this. If your passion becomes your job, then any time you have job related problems (getting paid, bad clients, etc.), it takes some of the joy out of what was once your passion.

Say you love making jewellery. You decide to make jewellery for a living. But the jewellery that sells well is not the jewellery you love making. And it's repetitive - where once each piece was unique, now you find yourself making 20 of one conservative style because it's quicker and there's more money to be made.

Your love for jewellery making, your passion, can quickly disappear. And what do you do in your time off? You won't want to make jewellery, as you're already doing this 8 hours a day. You'll have sold your passion for a pay cheque.

My advice would be to treat money making as just that, and keep your passion for the other parts of your life.

I understand your point of view, in a way . . . . but I TOTALLY disagree with this. The reason I started to do what I do, is because I'm totally passionate in it. I love what I do. Isn't that the best thing about becoming self employed - earning a living from what your passionate about!? Sure, you gotta accept you can't design jewellery exactly for yourself - you have have to design things that other people want, but isn't this all part of it - figuring out what people want, and not finishing the job until they are 100% satisfied. I don't think I could do a good job, if lost the passion.

Mozart1986

Where he misses the point is that people are naurally altruistic and we want to do serve other naturally. Thats the whole point of the word "should". Making jewellery for others, even if they weren't your taste, would have a different kind of satisfaction. Of course that is a very general rule of human nature. If you hate someone you certainly don't feel fulfilled making them jewellery. The point of sticking with your passion is that you understand it and you understand what people want. If its gardening and you own a gardening centre you can share your expertise and meet many more people of similar interests.

steve_

Dont get me wrong i agree with J_Wholesale to an extent. I understand that the genuine raw passion you have might dull over time or even fade altogether. But when this happens i think its time to rekindle the flame and think why you began the venture to begin with.

In relation to the jewellery, i used to work in a jewellers and one of the girls there make her own items and sold them herself in her own time. The satisfaction she got from selling her own stuff thumped any experience she ever got from a previous job. And like you said she came to the conclusion that she might have to make jewellery that wasnt exactly her tastes. But this is when you can use your knowledge and genuine passion to flip the situation. Instead of making generic, high selling tat she put her own spin on things and injected her passion into these new pieces. Its all about perspective if you feel you have to conform just to make people happy then i dont think you should attempt it full stop. Its the people who challenge the trends and flow the other way that can catch a niche or change a style or scene altogether.

But the idea of having a passion for your job, i agree that maybe this doesnt have to be your hobby or true passion. Many people find happiness in job thats are not related to any passions they may have. But for me the idea of waking up each day and dealing and trading with something i adore and love just seems right.

For me Gary vaynerchuk gave a great talk on the subject of following your passion. Granted he is a bit much and hard to handle at times but he makes so very valid points. And if anything he is proof that you can make money from your passions and have a good time doing it too. Monotony and stress are inevitable factors when working for yourself but i honestly think if your passion still burns you will have more of a push and desire to make it work. Anyways check out Garys video its an interesting watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4

J_Wholesale

Interesting little book written by Hugh MacLeod last year called Ignore Everybody. He talks a lot about what he calls cash and sex. The cash being your day to day income, and the sex being your passion, and how you shouldn't mix the two.

Example from the book would be a guy who used to love collecting antiques, decided to open an antique shop because it was something he was so passionate about, and now can't stand antiques.

I hear what you guys are saying, but my experience has been that your passion and your tastes will not be other people's passion and tastes, which means if you want to comercialise it, you'll be struggling not to sell out. The artist who has to paint book covers his employer wants, the writer who writes copy for ad agencies when he really wants to write like Faulkner, the mother who loves taking care of her own children, but finds that she doesn't really like looking after other people's kids for money.

Nom-IzZ

sent you a PM there, we have out catering trailer and van for sale for that kinda of money - good money earner and perfect on run up to the concert season