If you had £10K to start a business, what would you do?

[sleepingdragons]

Silly or serious suggestions both appreciated!

Although - some serious ones would be great. I haven't a clue what to do with it.

I would either use it to retrain as a play therapist or similar (no idea if it's enough money for that though) and then try and get a job in a children's hospital or hospice.

Or

I would buy a Baby Sensory franchise (I think they are about that) or perhaps another slightly cheaper one, or maybe one of the NCT training courses, or learn to do Baby massage etc and then I would renovate the outhouse in our garden that DH currently keeps all his crap in, into a lovely space that I could do that classes from so that I wouldn't have the overheads of renting a village hall etc. Maybe provide tea and coffee and biscuits for after for people to have a chat. 1I think the new baby/maternity leave market it quite a good one as you will always have a good turnover of new clients, and new mums are always looking for something to do.

I would put it in a 1 year ISA & have the interest paid into your bank account untill you know what you want to do with it

I inherited 40k at 18 & pissed the entire lot up the wall apart from buying a car, that I no longer have nor did I sell, or look after it went for scrap. Will never mention this again as makes me absolutely sick every time I think about it.

I am 25 now & have only just bought my first house & only because I landed myself a good job 2 years ago & was able to save £400 a month whilst paying rent and childcare. Very lucky.

That 40k could have set me and my daughter up for life if I had put it into an isa for just 1 or 2 years & plodded on with what little money we had, 10k a year around college. I'd of bought a house at 20 had it done gorgeous & be finishing my mortgage by the time I was 31.

I'm not insinuating you will be as silly as I was I was very young & very skint with a baby & living in a rubbish tiny damp apartment with absolutely nothing. But I 100% would put it in an isa untill you have a plan, I haven't read past a few people suggesting business ideas and although I'm not offering any I just wanted to share this.

Although if you do plan to spend soon I would 100% set up an at home business! I know somebody who very successfully set up a frame business from home when she had her little one with around £100, she is very successful. For an idea on what I mean see link :) wish you luck xx

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/468234535/personalised-name-frame-initial-frame?gpla=1&gao=1&&utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=shoppinggukenngba-crafttsuppliesanddtools-other&utmcustom1=6821ab74-a280-44e7-ba67-2c98a44f425f&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4Lf-jc273QIV77ztCh3zxgKJEAQYASABEgIIvvD_BwE

Reading through this I would say blogger aiming to become a PR person. Go learn some graphic design skills too and how to set up your own website. Do this while working PT.

I would buy a geo probe and drill wells.

@civicxx Great post, I think bootstrapping is the way to go.

This website has some useful tips. I like their philosophy.

www.popupbusinessschool.co.uk

There is a disused building in one of my local parks, I think once upon a time it was a cafe/community centre type place.
I would restore it into a child/baby friendly cafe where mums and pushchairs can gather, eat cake, there would be a play area etc. It is a lovely big park but there isn’t even a public toilet nearby, let alone anywhere to get a refreshment, so it’s not the sort of place you can spend the day, but should be.
They did similar at another local park which has been really popular.
I would probably need more than £10k though.

As someone who tried to set up a website recently I think there is a real gap in the market for affordable basic website design for individuals, small businesses/ charities etc. Everything I found was either ssooo expensive or totally crap. I’m not sure how much work goes into building them and so whether an affordable website business would make money or not, but if you can design and build them that’s a really valuable skill.

I would very much advise against buying a children's franchise unless you live in an affluent area.

I have recently retrained as a graphic designer and am now working as a creative in an ad agency full time. I love love love it and feel very lucky. If you are serious about design then formal training is a must if you want to be taken seriously by an employer, so that is where I would invest the money. Strong experience in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop are a given but can be acquired less formally through practice and sites such as Lynda which has many excellent and very high quality design courses.

If you want to freelance you could skip formal training but the competition is fierce and they pay is truly crap - graphic design is one of the most poorly paid industries in the UK. A full time junior designer is lucky to earn 18K where I am.

Franchises can be very expensive. You need something with relatively low start-up costs.

What I like about the Apprentice is that it does illustrate how you can set up something small and make cash straight away - I know it is TV and they have lots of help, but there is a message there.

How about:

Buying and re-selling on ebay/Amazon
Cleaning agency
Dog walking agency

Or, for an employed route, taking the CIPD qualifications?

I really like the taxi/shopper for the elderly idea. A neighbour retired early, bought a wheelchair taxi and earned a lot of money taking out residents of nursing homes for the afternoon. He would pick them up, take to a very local garden centre and have a cup of tea with them. He charged about £65 for a few hours work. Wheelchair accessible taxis are an absolute fortune in my town and are few and far between so have to be booked well in advance.

Buy a van, have it fitted out, be a dog walker.

Ariela that sounds like a brilliant idea :)

I'd spend 1k on somthing lovely, nice weekend away or New bikes for all of us then put the rest in premium bonds! And forget about it for a year or so until I have a well thought out actual plan......

You mentioned a swimsuit design.

I would buy myself a brilliant sewing machine, some fabrics etc and get really familiar with it then go on the London College of Fashion week course on pattern cutting and contouring for lingerie.

The course sounds amazing and would give you lifelong skills its around £600 I believe.

The sewing machine will last you for years, you could always buy it on eBay or resell later as they hold their value.

You mentioned crafty stuff. Have you watched The Repair Shop on BBC2? Any of the trades there you fancy a go at? I like the look of caning (antique chairs). With that money you could do a few courses and set up and market yourself as a business. Or stained glass repairs! I can but dream....

I think repairs would be better than creation in the craft world - customers search for you rather than you searching for customers.

Sell online

Your skills and outlook sound a great match for the third sector and your weaknesses probably less critical there.

You say you'd like to do something that pays back socially - have a think something that you'd really like to make a difference in, then at oportunities in charities in that sector. Use the 10k to get you in the door somehow - either through relevent training, time for an unpaid internship or starting out in a graduate post.

These would be short term fixes (1-2 years max) to get experience and skills specific to the sector to compiment your (impressive) existing skills set, then you'd be rolling. Never underestimate the value of a job you feel proud to do!

I'd personally probably use it to train as a barber (not as hard as doing hairdressing) and then rent a chair in a salon while saving the rest to open a small barbers near a school (handy for parents to make a quick stop on the way home with the kids). I know someone who did this (although started with nothing as he didn't have 10k to begin with) and has now bought a bigger shop near the high street and has a few staff. He's not making millions but he's making a tidy profit. I think I could happily be a barber!

Watching this thread with interest. We have recently received some inheritance money too and I'm bored and unhappy in my current job.
The trouble is, I'm not good at anything other than the sector I've worked in for the past twenty odd years, so haven't got skills like yours OP!