Motorcycle-Journal Forums - View Single Post - If you could open/start your own business

palanon · 03-05-2008, 04:14 PM

Honestly Scotty,

There is an unbelievable amount of work involved in starting a small business. Especially if you want to enter the hotel and restaurant market. I own and operate a small business in commercial and industrial facilities maintenance building and repair, and believe me, that's easier than hotel and restaurant management ( done that too, decades ago ).

There are so many compliance issues from zoning, permits, taxes, employment, sales, insurance, etc,etc. I couldn't cover a tenth of the issues involved.

Even financing for a venture like that is hard to get. You need to have an incredibly detailed business plan to even walk into a bank. This alone can eat up tens of thousands in personal labor and consulting fees. And, not to burst your bubble, Hotel/restaurant ventures have the highest failure rate so, banks are reluctant to give decent loan rates or loan money to these ventures.

The best suggestion I can give is, if you or your friend haven't, take some classes in hotel and restaurant management. Quite a few issues are covered in these courses.

The only way I was able to go into business was to take every penny I owned after 15 years as a project manager and invest it all in equipment, tools, trucks, shop space, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, employees, customers, sales, etc, etc, etc.

Oh, and time, if you start a business don't ever expect to have any personal time. If it's 3 o'clock in the morning, you better be doing some work, be it actual or paper. Don't even think of time with kids.

Heck, I could go on and on.

03-05-2008, 04:14 PM	#13 (permalink)
palanon No Significant Other Joined: Apr 2006 Bike: 2003 Bandit 1200S Location: Newmarket, NH Posts: 2,326	Honestly Scotty, There is an unbelievable amount of work involved in starting a small business. Especially if you want to enter the hotel and restaurant market. I own and operate a small business in commercial and industrial facilities maintenance building and repair, and believe me, that's easier than hotel and restaurant management ( done that too, decades ago ). There are so many compliance issues from zoning, permits, taxes, employment, sales, insurance, etc,etc. I couldn't cover a tenth of the issues involved. Even financing for a venture like that is hard to get. You need to have an incredibly detailed business plan to even walk into a bank. This alone can eat up tens of thousands in personal labor and consulting fees. And, not to burst your bubble, Hotel/restaurant ventures have the highest failure rate so, banks are reluctant to give decent loan rates or loan money to these ventures. The best suggestion I can give is, if you or your friend haven't, take some classes in hotel and restaurant management. Quite a few issues are covered in these courses. The only way I was able to go into business was to take every penny I owned after 15 years as a project manager and invest it all in equipment, tools, trucks, shop space, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, employees, customers, sales, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and time, if you start a business don't ever expect to have any personal time. If it's 3 o'clock in the morning, you better be doing some work, be it actual or paper. Don't even think of time with kids. Heck, I could go on and on. __________________ " In the name of the Speedo, the Tach and the Holy Throttle, amen. "