If you had 100k to start a business, what would you do?

[tooshiny]

I've recently come into some money and for health reasons I need to give up my current job.

Musing with friends what I could do to become self sufficient by using my 100k wisely so I don't have to rush out and find another job.

So, if you had the time, money and the skills, what business would you start that you reckon has a fair chance of success in the next few years?

Demand for good cleaners is still larger than supply - a good company to start if you do it right. Plus there’s all
sorts of cleaning (e.g. biohazard cleaning) or markets (medical, research, tech is a good specialty too) that you can go in to.

In a choice between originality and making money, I’ll choose the latter 😉 it’s easy to look down on it but I know of some cleaning companies making good money!

I would do bookkeeping for tradespeople. Lots who are great at the practical side but rubbish at doing the books. It also gives you the advantage of knowing lots of trades people for when you need jobs done or need something bought from trade only places. Very low outlay, all you need is a computer and the relevant software. You don't have to be an accountant, AAT is enough. My dad did this and made a decent income after he retired from accountancy. He was
actually an accountant and had worked for years in corporate roles but didn't want the responsibility of being "the accountant".

He started doing books for a plumber who told all his friends and it snowballed!

I would love to know what sort of income you could expect for doing this, "doing the books" appeals to me for some reason. I'm not an accountant and have sworn no more exams, but I am a numbers person who is a bit disillusioned with the corporate machine!

Me and DH own and run a business set up in 2020. If I had £100,000 and know what I now know no way would I be setting any business up in this current economic climate. I would look for a sensible financial investment and take advice from some kind of investment company or financial planner. Also wouldn't invest in property and become a landlord at the moment either.

If you have access to land, could you invest in solar panels and create a solar farm? I’d love this. No or minimal staff, sustainable and you’d become an expert on it quickly, which might be useful for consultancy work in this new industry.

Just read on another thread that there is a surge in demand for hand woven baskets, people are fed up with mass produced stuff from B&M.

I know this isn’t what you asked op but you don’t necessarily need a capital investment to start a business. And you don’t necessarily need to invest your own capital.

You don’t need to be limited to €100k either because you could use that secure a business loan, or find investors to match your investment.

You could also think along the lines of investing that money in something else entirely, to provide a safety net while you build your business.

You missed the main uk franchise expo 5 days ago!! But this is another biggie in April

https://share.google/ee7zzpA8q0Xs8u0y3

The AAT qualification is not that difficult (I did it myself a few years back and found it pretty easy) and the course was interesting. I can't ask him what he charged though as he wouldn't remember now, he's not in good health. I've known a few people who made a decent living though.

Not as easy as that.
Bad tenants, late rent, no rent, trashing the place. Need i go on. Lots of landlords are selling up.

I did AAT years ago, and a family member is doing it now. They have changed the syllabus out of all recognition. To be honest, if you want to be self-employed and 'doing the books' for small businesses, then what you need is a few years of experience in actually working in an accounts role; also preparing accounts from incomplete records; and ideally the ability to go in to sort out the shambles they've got into (hence them wanting to pay someone to do it). You also need to know how to deal with preparing the accounts for limited companies, partnerships, sole traders, and occasionally charities & non-profit organisations. And be able to quickly get a handle on the quirks of numerous different accounting software packages.

Just having an AAT qualification without at least some practical experience to back it up probably wouldn't be sufficient to go freelance with multiple clients straight away.

Small business owners also tend to think that they can buy an accounts software package, press a few buttons and it will do their accounts as if by magic. To err is human, but to really fuck things up you need a computer, and the messes I've had to sort out in my time have been fraught to say the least. PICNIC.

I was a freelancer for quite a few years, it is stressful in a number of ways, largely because the business owner doesn't - or won't - do what is needed, and often can't understand why it needs to be done a certain way. They don't like being told what they need to do in order to stop losing money either, nor do they take kindly to an experienced book-keeper realising they are trying to fiddle their tax and VAT. I had to get rid of two of my clients who wanted me to look the other way - and I wasn't prepared to commit fraud on their behalf.

The other small issue is that they want their books to be done but they don't like paying the going rate for someone qualified. They view it as a menial clerical exercise and expect someone on NMW to be able to do it easily. They'd rather get their spouse/significant other to do it for nothing.

There’s an outdoor beach cafe near us and I would buy and run that. I’m the summer it’s heaving and at this time of year there are dog walkers wanting a coffee or a hot chocolate ☕️

Planning permission is the main work here, so look for industrial/abandoned land that is not overlooked by residential areas.

DH and I said if we come into money we’d open a campsite. In fact there’s one that closed down near us because the owner sadly passed away. When we drive past I always say I wish I had the money to buy it and make it lovely again.

Although I haven’t got a clue how much it would cost to do something like that so not sure if it would be a successful business and would obviously have a low season to think about.

Echoing other posters, I wouldn't do anything that requires a physical premises. I'd retrain in something that provided a mobile service that people always need - plumbing, hairdresser, I think there's money to be made in botox and microblading etc or an online business. I keep seeing people online selling vintage clothes and making money but not sure where they are sourcing them.
I've got two properties up north worth 100k combined and get about £750 a month rent from them, not been without their problems but when I get the full rent it is a good earner.

I’d hand the money back and get a job. Sorry. I’m not built to be self employed.

If I absolutely had to, I’d do my current job as a private provider and probably end up either working 20 hours a day or earning £6k a year, quite likely both.

I think the best option is the gas safety engineer one.

My advice is always become a plumber or a roofer, the two trades where the customer is often not in a good position to negotiate the price. Don't go near cafes/restaurants, allegedly 60% fail in the first year, 80% within 5 years, there are a couple near me, where I presume the owner has an alternative income, that can't possibly be making a profit. I suspect the mobile chippy does ok, different village every night etc, but there are loads of food vans so the market is fairly saturated.

Don’t put the whole £100k into one thing right away. Start small, test the market, and keep a cash buffer because the admin costs and paperwork will drain you faster than you think.

When I set up my Ltd, I wasted so much time on random legal requirements I didn't even know existed, like getting an LEI for financial/investment stuff. I ended up using LEI Register just to get it over with quickly.

Focus on validating the business first, but definitely budget for the boring corporate admin from day one.

Female taxi driver.

I'd like a shop like Cook that did high quality frozen ready meals. We have one locally (so obviously not locally) and it's always busy.
I'd like attach a cafe and serve the desserts in a relaxed attitude. And a bit of parking. And have small local events in the cafe.
I would not do this unless I had endless cash.

I don't have 100K but I like the idea of starting a business with 1K.

I also like the idea of cat sitting with a small side cattery business. Like a cat airbnb, where they book in sometimes but I could easily close.

The absolute best business advice we got from a business advisor was to set up a business with minimal investment that has immediate turnover. That was what we did. We had a marketable skill.

Well duh @Brunchatstephaniesbut what is it?

Virtually anything that based on "time" rather than goods/equipment, i.e. consultancy, coaching, etc. Or if no such "skills" then do something labour intensive such as cleaning, gardening, car washing, etc where start up costs are low.

Or you start small and "boot-strap" or "shoestring" it, i.e. buy something cheap, sell it, re-invest the profits to buy more, or bigger things, sell them, re-invest the profits, rinse and repeat dozens of times as you "ratchet up" the business.

I set up a small accountancy practice (initially self only) with just my "Time" desktop and cheap free printer back in 1999, using free software (unbranded basic etc) that came free with the computer - VERY basic spreadsheet and VERY basic word processor. I'd previously bought the computer for home use so no additional cost. Advertised by putting cards in local corner shop windows. Got a handful of clients, used the fees I charged to advertise in the local newspapers, then used the fees from the nex tranche of clients to buy proper software, and so on, until I rented my own office, bought a decent laptop, computer, scanner, printer, shredder, etc.

One of my clients was a classic shoe-stringer. She had a little hobby and started selling surplus stuff on ebay back in the mid 00's, just odds and sods really, where she'd bought a pack of 10 of something but only needed 2 or 3, so sold the rest. Rinse and repeat several times. Then she started buying stuff purposely to sell, rinse and repeat. Then she got a proper website and ditched the ebay account. Went from strength to strength, eventually £2million turnover and she sold out for around half a million after trading for a decade or so. Again, started basically from nothing, just spending a few pounds here and there on her hobby and then it grew organically.

Another client sold wet fish from the back of a clapped out van. Spent all he had every day at the wet fish market first thing in the morning and went out and sold it - used the cash to buy more stock the next day, rinse and repeat! After a decade he had a food processing factory selling sandwich fillings to national chains, likewise sold out for a few million. Just by "ratcheting up" his business and going into different products/suppliers based on networking contacts made as his business grew and changed into different markets.

The ones who had shed loads of cash to invest , i.e. from inheritances or early retirement lump sums tend to "waste" it and my experience is that they're more likely to fail and lose it. Usually because they go all out with expensive offices/premises, unnecessary equipment, leases, expensive cars, etc. Basically money burning a hole in their pocket and they just spend it because they can, wrongly thinking that "image" makes a successful business (it doesn't!).

If you've no money, you're more likely to be careful about how you spend it, what you can do without, make things out of nothing, "make do and mend". No it's not easy having to work like that, but at least you're not building up debt/loans/obligations etc that you struggle to repay.

If you want something stable, start a local business renting out containers for construction debris and waste. With 100k, you can buy a used hooklift truck and your first set of containers. Construction sites and renovations are always happening, so you’ll have a steady stream of customers.

The good thing is that you don’t have to lift heavy loads if you have health issues. You hire a driver, and you just handle orders from your laptop. When I started out, I got the management software from CurbWaste so I wouldn’t have to deal with logistics and invoices. It does the work on its own, and you avoid all the stress of organizing routes.