What is your business idea?
- Thread starter cyclone4L
- Start date
I have thought about this very same thing, thinking if you got a big group of investors and some good hands on people involved. I just can't think how the logistics of buying out neighborhoods would work. Seems like there would've both people that simply wouldn't sell, and those that once they figured out what was going on would hold out for a huge payday. I also think an alternative or combo with your idea is also leaving a shared park.
I agree. I’m a light donut kind of guy. Hurtz donuts are too heavy. Ambrosia donuts in Ankeny is awesome. We even had them cater our wedding.
Also, I want to be a “decision coach”. Not a life coach, therapist, psychiatrist, financial advisor.... although I’d help in those areas. But I’d just specialize in helping people not make dumb ******* choices.
Im good at that for others. But like most, sometimes can’t see the forest through the trees myself. And often times, I think those closest to us (family, friends, spouse, etc) are just as blurred by the circumstances.
Im good at that for others. But like most, sometimes can’t see the forest through the trees myself. And often times, I think those closest to us (family, friends, spouse, etc) are just as blurred by the circumstances.
Ankeny? Ames needs one of these. They could make a killing by campus. I would be there way too much. I am a big fan of Four Queens in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.
If you are afraid to get your idea stolen, you’re only hurting yourself. You should be SHOUTING out your idea to find your first customers.
If you get any success at all, you will surely get competition. Don’t be afraid of it. It’s inevitable and there’s room for everyone.
Now granted my previous post was merely a jestful response, yet I’ll bite. First and formost you should carefully vet any business idea you may have amongst your target demographic. I’m a small business owner myself. Everything my company does directly targets market share of larger international companies (humble Cyclone brag being myself and my partners are all ISU alums). I’m not afraid of competition, and absolutely, competition is healthy and welcome.
If you have a certain skill set or knowledge base that you’re looking for entrepreneurial opportunities within, then state that loud and proud. Are you looking to be merely a capital investor? If so, also let that be known.
With that said, let’s partner up. Next venture of mine: I despise urban sprawl with all my heart. I will fight tooth and nail to develop Iowa cities from within and prevent the destitute sprawl of Ankeny and Western Des Moines.
Addendum: @20eyes, I somehow missed your previous post until now. I’m hearing you.
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Step one would be jumping on a single existing property and completing it as a case study. From there we can leverage that (hopefully successful venture) into investment for further development in the same neighborhood following the same approach.
We can do that numerous times for single properties. Given success in flipping a few properties/lots in that manner we then move to acquisition and zoning of an entire block that is predominately rentals. Yet Therein lies the struggle and balance of improving without gentrifying.
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Play it with friends first. Test how fun and dangerous it is. Might need to be bumper car paint ball.
This is called “house-flipping”.
This is SUPER EASY to practice, but you gotta do A LOT of practice.
Go on Zillow and view homes, better yet take a house tour in person. Take note of the listing price of the house, work up a list of upgrades you need to make to the house and how much they will cost/time it will take, and (the unknown part) what you will sell it at. You can get an understanding of the market on the “recently sold” houses on Zillow.
call contractors and suppliers, let them know you are considering using them for you projects and get quotes on what you think the house needs (new flooring, electrical, paint, siding).
then figure out your profit.
Never buy a house until you work up the numbers, you’ll always have a few houses you lose money on, but that’s business.
Also, understand what homebuyers want in a house and GIVE THEM THAT.
Note: the first few homes, you may need to do a lot of the work yourself...
hope this helps.
There needs to be an attachment that can be mounted on the front of a lawn mower that picks up dog crap before you run it over.
Thanks. I should have mentioned, I don’t just want to flip houses. Houses built in the 1900-1940s era have important architectural details that I want to keep. So, this would be about bringing those houses back to glory without just hitting and flipping. Think more “This Old House” and less “Flip or Flop.”
It’s much simpler to buy an old place, rip out all the good stuff, then throw down cheap replacements. That’s not what I would be in it for.
From what I’ve learned, flipping is all about speed. In an ideal scenario, you flip and sell the thing without ever making a payment on the mortgage. What I want to do requires time and care. What I haven’t thought through is how to make money on a house that may take 6 months to renovate.
Appreciate any thoughts on that.
Appreciate it, but it’s far more than house flipping as @throwittoblythe mentioned. I do know how to Zillow. The goal is not a quick flip of a single property or two for a few bucks. Flips are done on the cheap, and often are for the goal of rental property. This is revitalization to put a stop to excessive residential sprawl and show home buyers the core neighborhoods of our cities already have the houses and properties they are looking for. Think more along the lines of urban renewal, yet instead of demolition and gentrification you’re taking aging residential and returning it to former glory but on a neighborhood scale.
The barrier to this effort seems to be in the land ownership alone. You can’t rely on the hopes of buying up property piecemeal. And you don’t want to force people out. These both directly contradict the goal. So it would take some creative city councils, designers, and developers to be willing to work together putting pure profits and tax revenues aside for awhile to encourage renovation by current house owners in those neighborhoods, and give incentives to developers to buy and renovate as well. For the last 30 years “main streets” have revitalized across the state, but the residential immediately adjacent to the main street districts falls to the wayside.
This is a difficult issue because you are dealing with restoration of art instead of creating a factory.
The first thing I would do is chat with customers and do lots of research. Ask homebuyers what they look for in a house, if their first three things doesn’t include “I want a beautiful, historic house” or something like that, they ain’t ever gonna buy your house.
Going through this will not only give you a feel for if there is a need for historic house restoration, but also what problems homebuyers DO have. If you find a trend, you may have something to pursue.
Also, A SURVEY DOES NOT DO THE JOB AT THIS STAGE. Surveys do not give you pain points, you are trying to solve someone’s pain points.
let me know your thoughts.
Great Idea I would recommend anyone interested look into SCORE. https://eastcentraliowa.score.org/
Perhaps the OP may be interested in becoming a mentor.
There are different branches for different regions. I am a SCORE mentor in the East Central Iowa branch. It is a free service for anyone looking for advice on what they need to do to get started.
E commerce was invented a bit more than 15 years ago. Ideas are easy, bringing an idea to reality is a whole other issue.
