Need to diversify company

rbh

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Well its that time of the year again, spring/summer and my work has all but dried up, and I am getting tired of the feast or famine construction life style.
I would like to try something new, I do not know What! maybe something like- retail, MFG, specialty farming (on 5 acres) specialty construction.

Anyone seeing any trends or new things out there these days?
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: Need to diversify company

I hear ya Robby. Sorry, I don't have any advice, but, I feel your pain. Being in the lawn/snow business it's feast or famine for me too. Winter is when I have a lot of downtime. Especially last winter! Winter is our longest season. It's getting old. I miss a steady paycheck, but at the same time, I'm not sure I could go back working for "the man". Been at this for 12 years and feel I need to move on. Just not sure how.

Good luck, sir. I'm curious on the responses you'll recieve. Maybe some will help me too. Lol......
 

halfmoa

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Re: Need to diversify company

wooden_ship_playset_mast.jpgBuild portable playhouses and storage sheds? There's a guy around here that fills in his down time with playhouses and does quite well.
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

Hey guys, I bet we will get quite a few interesting ideas.
A couple of things have come to mind, and remember this is a small town with lots of small towns around so I will have to include travelling in my rates if I still do the construction thing.

Spray foam insulation, closest on is 1.5 hours away, small berry farm, or garlic, tree nursery.
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: Need to diversify company

Hey guys, I bet we will get quite a few interesting ideas.
A couple of things have come to mind, and remember this is a small town with lots of small towns around so I will have to include travelling in my rates if I still do the construction thing.

Ha, ha... Same here. The closest "real" towns are 20 + miles in any direction. I always say, "we're 20 miles from nowhere". Even those are very small.

You can raise a LOT of chickens on 5 acres and there is a big market for chicken raised naturally without all the chemicals, anti-biotics, etc.

Permits, permits, permits. Friend of mine was going to raise only a few chickens until they found out the permit was going to be $200+/yr. Those "few" chickens would need to lay a lot of eggs. On a larger scale, a chicken farm would be awefully shhhtinky.... But, an idea if RBH wants to get into the animal world......

No work area for the fiberglass repair idea, but thanks.........
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

You can raise a LOT of chickens on 5 acres and there is a big market for chicken raised naturally without all the chemicals, anti-biotics, etc.

We are rural and the chicken board has just advertised for more producers HMMMMM

But to make the investment in buildings/equipment/birds in this area due to the elevation/short season and closenest of neighbours?
I know what you mean, great bucks in organic meat or semi organic???

we'll put this into the Q as option 10 or 11. :D
 

TruckDrivingFool

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Re: Need to diversify company

My folks had some land come out of CRP and my Stepdad looked for a few years at growing speciality crops on a few acres for some retirement income. I don't remember all of them but the one thing I do remember is that most of them required 2-5 years of growing before he was going to see a viable product. Lot of regulations that you could get into trying to be an organic free range chicken farmer.
More of a heads up than naysayer and unfortunately the old man passed before he decided on what to do with the couple of extra acres he had in mind.
 

korygrandy

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Re: Need to diversify company

Since this is a really wide open forum. Maybe sit down and make a list of things you enjoy doing and try and stay within that scope so at least if it's a tough start, it will be something you enjoy.

Then look at the things you are really good at, whether it's being super keen on detail, chatting with anyone and everyone or staying independently focused.

I did the small business thing, and I was successful enough for a decent living, but I hadn't grown the business enough to really get the payday and I don't think I will ever have that energy.

If you want to get into a venture with me, I am starting an online business. I don't really know where it's going to take me yet, except that I want it to be the difference between livin' and livin' large! mobileappsineed.com is the name of the website, I have no business model, not a lot of direction and minimal concept but I will make it work somehow.

I do have a drive to make it successful, I know it's in an area/industry that I enjoy, I am knowledgeable beyond your everyday guy and it's a hot market. Mobile Apps are right in the name for crying out lout, I figure how can I not be successful.

On the flipside, In the past I've run an independent glass installation business for 4years, and I hear your pain. For me it was work my but off and miss out on all the great summer activities so I could be retired in the winter which to me made no sense at all. I'm certain there were a couple of opportunities to make this business bigger than I imagined, but I just didn't have the drive for what I was doing. Before starting the business I apprenticed for a cpl of years with a local glass company until I knew enough of the skill to make myself some $$.


The difference between the 2 ventures is this, my last venture I approached knowing it was a trade people needed, everyone has broken glass right? This new venture is based on this principle, it's not what a person needs, but what they "want". Trending as bubba mentioned. :cool:

I look forward to some other responses in this thread.
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

While I will keep my core businnes going I need some start up capital, its a good thing I am used vehicle rich! BAAHAHAHA:D
So if I can sell of some old steel I "might" be able to raise 30K +-

I will tell ya that the idea of a combo coin laundry/car wash/simple kitchen, restraunt (3 in 1) has got me somewhat interested, in a tourist town a few miles away.

In a couple of weeks as soon as the units finished I will be starting to offer ditch witch services plowing and trenching as well I can screw anchors into the ground and do custom auger work with our digger derrick (14", 18" 24")
 

korygrandy

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Re: Need to diversify company

Since this is a really wide open forum. Maybe sit down and make a list of things you enjoy doing and try and stay within that scope so at least if it's a tough start, it will be something you enjoy.

Then look at the things you are really good at, whether it's being super keen on detail, chatting with anyone and everyone or staying independently focused.

I did the small business thing, and I was successful enough for a decent living, but I hadn't grown the business enough to really get the payday and I don't think I will ever have that energy.

If you want to get into a venture with me, I am starting an online business. I don't really know where it's going to take me yet, except that I want it to be the difference between livin' and livin' large! mobileappsineed.com is the name of the website, I have no business model, not a lot of direction and minimal concept but I will make it work somehow.

I do have a drive to make it successful, I know it's in an area/industry that I enjoy, I am knowledgeable beyond your everyday guy and it's a hot market. Mobile Apps are right in the name for crying out lout, I figure how can I not be successful.

On the flipside, In the past I've run an independent glass installation business for 4years, and I hear your pain. For me it was work my but off and miss out on all the great summer activities so I could be retired in the winter which to me made no sense at all. I'm certain there were a couple of opportunities to make this business bigger than I imagined, but I just didn't have the drive for what I was doing. Before starting the business I apprenticed for a cpl of years with a local glass company until I knew enough of the skill to make myself some $$.


The difference between the 2 ventures is this, my last venture I approached knowing it was a trade people needed, everyone has broken glass right? This new venture is based on this principle, it's not what a person needs, but what they "want". Trending as bubba mentioned. :cool:

I look forward to some other responses in this thread.

I know a lot of entrepeneurial spirited folks, some things these guys I know do are:
- Renting Inflatables (think inflatable castles and waterslide parks),

- air-duct cleaning for commerical properties (I have a friend who started using an RC car to make his work easier, and he is now evolved into a full-blown robotic engineer leading the industry),
- Gutter Cleaning, Shoreline Clean-up and Dock Installation,
- Food Trucks (they go to populated business districts during lunch and fire up the generators), Catering.

Hope that gets the "thnking cap" going a little.
 

korygrandy

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Re: Need to diversify company

I even knew a guy who invented a unique "resort" toy that is basically a bicycle on 2 massive floating "paddles" so a guy sits in-between these monster truck tire looking paddles and pedals his way around the beach/ocean.

The one toy itself was not enough to earn him a living but he has since worked with resorts/partners to design/build variations and some other one-off resort-toys.
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

Of ALL the business opportunities out there I would rather stand in the street and take a beating than get involved in a restaruant. The ONLY people I have seen make it work are those willingto be married to it 24/7 and even then it's iffy. Yes I owned one for about 3 months and seen the light and sold that thing as fast as I could.

I know what you mean, I would only do it with the combo, you almost have a captive clientel when they're doing thier laundry!
(real light menu,coffeee, pop milkshakes, chips, burgers, dogs ETC, "no poutine", YUCK)
 

korygrandy

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Re: Need to diversify company

Umm, checked it out and it went to GoDaddy and they say the web site is for sale.

That's what I was saying when I said there's no real direction yet. I literally just bought the domain name. Its mine, I own it...I just haven't "transferred the deed and begun to poor foundation" yet.

The general principle will be mobile apps people need, I haven't decided if it's really going to be apps they need, or apps they "think they need" as sometimes humans have a tough time determining the difference :facepalm:

Sorry to get off-topic a bit.
 

O'Riley

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Re: Need to diversify company

Do you have a green thumb? My sister has about eight 30 x 100' greenhouses. She starts planting the end of february, opens May 1, and should be sold out and done for the year this week.

After paying employees, dirt, plants and fuel for heat she ends up with around 75k profit for three months or so of work. Not too bad but the first couple months are a lot of work.

As everyone knows, when the weather warms up women have to plant their flowers. :)
 

Bob_VT

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Re: Need to diversify company

It's morbid but, build a crematorium. Cremation facilities are basically a gas powered oven and a grinder. You would require 3 small buildings and you would be dealing with hospitals, veterinarian's and funeral director's. You could deal directly with pet owner's.

It does not depend on the weather.

I am not kidding. I have a good friend that opened one and he is doing good. Many people pre-arrange in today's world.
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: Need to diversify company

I'm confused. You say you live in the middle of no where Wis. and then say you need a permit to raise livestock? Good grief, I thought Wis. was 98% farmers to begin with.

Farming is south of here. Up north is mainly woods and lakes. We're a vacation area with lots of town ordinances. We're rural, yet there are no townships. Where one town ends another begins even tho the actual town is miles away from the border. Kinda screwy. When you apply for a building permit for a structure, you'll find a person ask "what color will it be" when it hits a town board meeting. That question comes from a board member. Not like that legally has anything to do with anything.... We have rules for rules. And there's always a group of people who like to invoke their ideas on the rest of us. And push hard to get them passed. Some of those people are seasonal. Welcome to my world....

The idea of opening a carwash/laundry mat has been thrown around here too. Just too many hoops to jump thru. One being, the holding tanks would have to be pumped on a regular basis. No septic systems.... Bars/restaraunts are closing left and right along with baitshops that have been around forever. The bad economy is taking its toll.

Crematorium. Eek! I don't have the personality nor the stomach for it. I hear making grave vaults can be lucrative...
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

^^^^^

+1 0n the EEK factor, with a side of Yuck thrown in for good measure, LOL!

Wimusky, whats logging like there?, could you get a wood lot licence?
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: Need to diversify company

^^^^^

+1 0n the EEK factor, with a side of Yuck thrown in for good measure, LOL!

Wimusky, whats logging like there?, could you get a wood lot licence?

It's logging heaven around here, if your a logger. A lot of public land is owned by paper companies. We live in sand. Jack pine and red pine grow really well and are harvested on a regular basis. I have 20 acres that "had" a bunch of jack on it. They got a bud worm one day and I had a logger come in and take them down. Made some good money out of it at least. Some went to pulp others were bolts. Not sure what would be involved on the wood lot license. At times I see request for bids on logging an area. A person really should have heavy equipment to do it right. There is one guy who cuts everything by hand and hauls it out with horses. Unfortunately, he can't pay much. It is good for people who want minimal disturbance to their property.... I do have a job that will probably happen tomorrow. It's a lake lot that has a fair amount of standing and laying dead that I guy wants cleared out.....
 

rbh

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Re: Need to diversify company

It's logging heaven around here, if your a logger. A lot of public land is owned by paper companies. We live in sand. Jack pine and red pine grow really well and are harvested on a regular basis. I have 20 acres that "had" a bunch of jack on it. They got a bud worm one day and I had a logger come in and take them down. Made some good money out of it at least. Some went to pulp others were bolts. Not sure what would be involved on the wood lot license. At times I see request for bids on logging an area. A person really should have heavy equipment to do it right. There is one guy who cuts everything by hand and hauls it out with horses. Unfortunately, he can't pay much. It is good for people who want minimal disturbance to their property.... I do have a job that will probably happen tomorrow. It's a lake lot that has a fair amount of standing and laying dead that I guy wants cleared out.....

I think you are going to see the price in dimensionable lumber and pulp wood go through the roof soon, as we have almost take all the beetle killed wood in this province out. (it decimated us in the north west)
So in the next 25-50 years or so we will be back at the lumber game full steam, but till then?
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: Need to diversify company

We talk about feast or famine, Spring/Fall i tend to gain accounts. Just when you think you're going to get ahead then I lose about the same amount due to the owners changing circumstances, whatever that may be. I found out a couple days ago I lost a lawn job at a cabin when I showed up to mow it and was approached by the renters who will maintain the lawn and plow it. Wasn't rented before and the owner never told me to this day.. A double whammy! In my travels today I drove by a place I plow and I saw a 4 sale sign! At the beginning of each season, spring and fall, it gets real stressful because you really don't know what customers you'll have for that season...... Some you can bank on, others you hope they stay on board.... You just never know for sure.......:facepalm:
 
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