Serious question for you guys.
Funny replies are appreciated and any serious answers can be e-mailed or Im'd if you prefer not to post openly.
Looking to do some investing or start a small business. I hate my job so a small home based or local business that allows me to spend some evenings and weekends with my family would be a godsend.
Have 100k. Have degree and experience in Culinary arts, kitchen side not business. Would prefer to expand my horizons, have been a landlord, and am fairly handy around the house. Willing to learn.
Looking for ideas, my wife keeps pushing me to do something weapons related but you guys are a bunch of cheap bastages so I am straying away from that.
Also stayng away from most things food related because this business usaully involves nights and weekends and I am getting sick of these hours.
So what would you do if you had no experience and a bunch of cash that you really wanted to use to better your families life with for the long run?
I am no genius and do not like to gamble so stock market and such is a no-no. I am 100% legit and crime free so acquiring any sort of license is ok.
I am stumped and open to suggestions.
Nick

As we speak these people are looking at my info.

I am scouting locations...

www.Quiznos.com

One JUST opened up in my neighborhood.
I thought that was a decent idea too, but I have some experience with franchises and the rules are a bitch to play by some times.

I remember a fact told to us in Business School at college:

The two small, single owner businesses that fail the most are:  sporting goods/gunshops and restaurants.

If you open a small business, are you ready to lose money for the first two years?  If not, don't open a business.  Undercapitalization is the primary reason for failed businesses.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you need to be very careful about this.  You stated that you "do not like to gamble so stock market and such is a no-no".  If you don't like gambles, you shouldn't start a business.

It can be very rewarding and profitable, but it can also be heartbreaking and costly.

Probably not the sort of advice you wanted, but there it is.

Yes, thank you for the advise. I am very cautious of this exact situation. Notice I mentioned no to gunshop and stated specifically that I know my way around a kitchen but not the business end.
I am under no false impressions of what a lovely time small business owners have making money. My father and father in -law both had succesful businesses and it cost them their health. I ran my own car stereo shop in the late 80's and remember what it was like keeping the money flow steady.
Thru years of diligent hard work, savings and a few good real estate transactions I have managed to stash away some money. I am at a point in my life where I want to work hard now to give my family a better future.
Just looking for ideas that I may have not thought of trying to think "out of the Box" is all.
Thank you and keep em coming.....

How to make $$?

Buy postban ar15s. Wait --->New AW ban. Now sell your (now) preban guns and live happily ever after...

Saw one of these recently where I work. Looked like an interesting idea.

Anybody use a vending truck?
I always wanted one of these.
Selling food out of a truck at a fixed location. Alot of work but I like people and I am a master at anything grilled.
Also looking at all the franchise possibilities out there.
Looking into real-estate again. Multi unit office and or  family buildings

Paul, your words ring so true!!!
I was not going to post this queery at first but you guys are great!
Yup real estate is my faitfull stand by.
But, figured I would at the very least reasearch other options too.

Whisper-

Where are you in VA?

I'd be happy to speak w/ you about real estate investing, esp. commercial property.

I was an underwriter for commercial mortgage backed securities for about 5 years for a major bank.

why don't you get back into this always a teenager wanting a loud system!

Car stereo  has gotten way advanced nowadays.
Have not talked it over with my wife yet but it is a legitimate business and I can cover start up costs and float the business for a couple of months if need be.
It helps that my wife is an audio acoustics engineer....
Hmmmmm

Im sent with a contact #

Round Table Pizza
I was going to open a franchise here in DFW in 1996, but didn't have the capital for it because they wanted 10 more locations (exclusive to me) since they were not in Texas at the time.
They are the #1 pizza in the world!!!
(actually the Universe...)

Fortunately, here in the DFW area, they made an agreement with Blockbuster to open within their stores.  So I now have access to it near my house!!!! (It was only available in the western states before.)  They have dine-in and carry out, but unfortunately the Blockbuster deal is carry/delivery.

Will look them up

If you are pretty good with numbers, like dealing with people in a positive way, enjoy working 9-5 M-F, can set up a small office in your home, can lease/buy a computer, fax machine, and copier....become a mortgage broker!

If you can become affiliated with an existing mortgage broker, let them deal with all of the crap work of keeping lenders, ensuring legal compliance, etc. and you just "rent" the liscense from that broker. As you will be working from your home and not adding to the brokers overhead, you may be able to negotiate a better split of the commission!

For an example, I introduced a friend to the business and he has made YTD, over $80k! This is after training for about a month last Novemeber and now he works about 35 hours a week. He used to work 80-100 hours in the car business. If you want more info, let me know.

radios still hook up hot to hot ground to ground plug in the amps and big speakers away you go!
about 6 mths ago went to a car audio store to get my truck windows tinted during the hour i was there they sold over $5000 worth of audio equipmet from full blown entertainment system for a van radio, alarm, dvd, flat screen display to play video game/movies and few other iteams,talk to the guy that worked there and said he sells a setup atleast once a week if not twice!

Ahh yes but there is sooo much more nowadays.
Custom fabrication using fiberglass, plastics, wood etc.
In car theater systems, much more advanced electrical work to the vehicles. Voiding manufactures warranties to electrical systems, BIG liability.
In house manufacure of high output alternators and fabrication of brackets for belts and wiring harnesses. Custom ground effects and paint, rims and accesories, etc.
If you want to compete with the big boy chians, tweeter, best buy, etc. Nowadays you need alot more sophistication than just BOOM.

Get a copy of the movie "Heat" and study it carefully.  Then form a crew and, well, you know the rest.

Seriously, if you do come up with a brilliant idea, let us in on it.  I'm not having much luck finding a traditional job at the moment.

Ok slowly narrowing down the fields.
Wife agrees that we should stick to things we know well, so real estate, food, and beleive it or not gas stations (I grew helping my dad run one).

Hmm gotta call WAWA and find out if they are company owned or franchise.
Thank you everyone, still listening though.......

If you have $100,000 or so and are serious, this is one of the best investments I can think of: Taxi medallions. They only appreciate, and you realize returns of about 15% per year by leasing them out to cab drivers and cab companies.

In Anchorage, there are a fixed number of taxi permits which hasn't changed since 1983.  These permits cost something like $15,000 then.  The city has nearly doubled in population, but there are still the same number of permits.  They're worth $125,000 now.

In theory, the city can issue new ones, but this never happens.  All the permit holder form a cartel to protect their interests, and have the city and public cowed by lawyers to believe these permits are PRIVATE PROPERTY.  But they aren't.

My brother spent two years trying to break this racket up, but he failed just like everyone else has.  But it has made him wish he had $100,000 so he could buy one of these permits.

You dont have to be a resident of Anchorage, or Alaska, or even a US citizen to hold a permit.  IM me, I can refer you to my brother who is an expert on this. He knows the laws, the regulations, the procedures of acquiring these things.

buy some harleys and rent them out.
Lebrew

With all the fat asses in this country (and they're getting fatter by the day) you can't go wrong with a down-payment on a Krispey Kreme franchise.
I shit you not!

Buy a duplex or triplex. Steady monthly income if you are carefull who you rent to. When the market value increses sell them and do a 1031 exchange for a like property that is larger. You are always looking to sell with a profit, not have to pay capitol gains, and pickup more or larger properties while not oweing or very little left to pay. Interest sucks.

I bought a lot for 60k held it for a few years while renting it to a car dealership. I later sold it for close to 150k. I did a 1031 exchange for three duplexes. 6 units at $475 makes for a decent monthly income. These are directly across the street from a university. Tenants are two retirees, a state trooper, and three over 30 couples that are students.

cruizer

I was thinking today how great it would be great to own a Subway franchise.  They are always doing brisk buisiness.  No idea what they cost though.

Well If you live is a somewhat rural area:
You could go buy A CAT or a Compact tractor and provide those services to people who have somewhat small places that do not have one. You can get a new tractor and implaments for around 50K. the guys that do it around here charge 25-40hr. Or you can get a Decent Cat for 50-60K and make around 60-80HR. clearing brush and building ponds

My sister was looking in to doing this just a year ago.  She was disappointed to find out you have to put up [b]$1,000,000[/b] and have a net worth of [b]$10,000,000[/b].  Needless to say, she couldn't do it.

You could get a used car dealer's license.  The requirements vary state to state, but you'll need some land, a building (small and cheap if you just want to meet minimum requirements) with a telephone, and a sign with your business name on it.  You'll need to give the state a bond as insurance against fraud - in Louisiana it is $10,000.

With a license you can go to dealer auctions and big dealerships will sell stuff they don't want to you at wholesale price.  Make anywhere's from $500 - 1500 for an average sale.  As long as you have a good sense of a vehicle's worth and stay away from cars with mechanical problems, it's as good as gold as long as you don't hold on to it for several  months.  Cars and trucks under $5000 have the most profit potential for the amount you invest into them, but they are also more risky since older cars tend to have more problems.

If you just want a small time business with little overhead, that you can run from home, then you can buy some cheap land that is not in a great location.  You can list vehicles on ebay and advertise them in local papers.  Even if you only sell 1 car per month, hey $1000 a month isn't bad.  I wouldn't lease land and I wouldn't finance the vehicles, because then if you don't sell a certain amount in a certain time frame then you could lose money.

Other advantages:  
-buying cars tax free
-if i am not mistaken, the bond you give to the state can also be used for liability insurance for test drives, etc.
-without a license, you can only purchase 5 vehicles per year (at least in Louisiana)


I do not have a license myself, though I wish to eventually.  My father works for a large Ford dealership, and I have seen their wholesale and retail price lists for used vehicles.  I have also bought vehicles there at $500 over wholesale and made easy money.

Here is a good link on the net: [url]http://www.dealerlicense.com/[/url]  I haven't tried their books, but they do look like they know their stuff.

I hope this helps, it's not for everybody, but there is money to be made.  hopefully I haven't forgotten anything.

For anyone who was curious.
Final desicion: Money will be invested in a college education.
The culinary arts is great and I love cooking but I do not want to invest in any sort of food based business, thus I am investing in myself and will be attending UMUC via an online degree. 100k is enough to get a bachelors and have some money left over to keep in the bank.
Living in VA and being a federal worker already will give me access to other Federal jobs which I cannot apply for without a BS thus giving me a solid return on my money in the future.
For anyone following this thread, all I can say is that sometimes the wisest investment is a GOOD EDUCATION. Without it so many doors are closed to you.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions.