I’ve been through this several times. I’ve created products, created production mechanisms, developed packaging, and began to market. Some items didn’t go over well, some were real moneymaker. But in all cases, in a few months duplicate products made in China began to appear and were sold for less than 1/2 of my product. Patents and legal maneuvers were of no help. China will rip off your idea and shut you down. So be careful how much money you spend on development because your product lifetime will be short.

Mega church. Big money maker

I would say you can duplicate all of that for much less than $1M.

Why not just start your own. Roofing is not a repeat business unless you’re a sub for a very busy homebuilder. Google reviews are crap. What exactly will you be buying? Here’s a tip: I need a new roof. I’ve been collecting bids. I have 6, starting at $11K thru $19K. Who do you think I’m gonna hire? How’d I find them. They were doing a roof that I passed on my way to work. They had stuck a sign out by the road. I didn’t google it and I did no searches. Except for the guy with the sign they were all word of mouth. I could be in the roofing biz tomorrow if I was so inclined. So could you.

A rental salon is not worth much if you don’t own the building. The only thing you’re buying is the initial build out and goodwill of clients. As a stylist, if you leave the clients leave with you. So goodwill is not even for sale. Don’t pay very much if there’s no real estate.

The reason you feel this way is because you’ve never had to reach into your own pocket to cover a payroll.

Truth is … you have to have intestinal fortitude. Which means you gotta want it. But you must be correct in your assessment of yourself and your abilities. I give you the example of a singer (or an actor or a ball player). There are many examples of people in these genres who have “made it”. But unlike what you see and hear, it’s more than just being discovered. You have to assess your talents and abilities to see if you have the basics of what it will take. Of all the success stories there are ten million failure stories. Being untalented, unprepared, and unwilling will always seal your doom. It ain’t easy in the beginning and if you think the struggles aren’t fun, then you are not in the right place.

I like working so a part of my success is always having something to do. Also having freedom and control that allows me to work on whatever wherever. Nobody tells me what to do. Financial freedom has a lot to do with it and that means a strong cash flow. So $$ is never a problem. It’s like I have a money faucet. When I need or want more money I just open the faucet and out it comes. So I always need to protect the faucet. That is success. I don’t need to be there working constantly. But if I’m not involved the faucet can be compromised. So my focus is on the faucet. And that creates many opportunities for me to have something to do.

I would never fire an employee “out of the blue” unless it was for something dangerous or criminal. But not because I didn’t think they fit in or caused tension. If that’s the situation they deserve to be brought in and explained to what they are doing is wrong. You may have to do it twice. But if they don’t make an effort to improve then you can fire them and refer back to the warnings they were given. That’s the fair way to do it and you’ll have no regrets. But to yank the rug out from under someone who doesn’t have a clue is wrong wrong wrong.

The Christmas Carol 1950s version

I too am a salon owner. Our stylists are so busy that they are turning walk ins away. I have talked to 3 stylists about joining us but they are thinking the holidays are the wrong time to change salons. We haven’t had a slowdown since covid. Besides being a great salon there are a lot of reasons for our success, some things totally out of our control. We mostly serve normal people who come on a normal schedule. We book out 3-5 weeks. I’m sure you’re doing everything like you should. It may be the local economy in your area I don’t know, of course. But I wish you’d come and work with us.

You really don’t need to do anything to get started. You don’t need license, permit, insurance, capital or equipment. Half the time you’ll find your idea sucks. I’ve started many businesses using my cell phone and they all started as a side hustles. Some actually became a real biz. Once I had a cash flow I had to determine future direction. And the ones that failed didn’t cause any financial hardship. People who studied business learn all the goofy stuff, but those of us who have done it know it’s not needed.

I suppose everyone has this problem. It’s kind of funny that people pay Google money to be deleted. I begin each day I’m bed with a hot coffee brought to me by my hot baby. I go to email first and just delete them with a swipe of my finger on my phone. Same thing with texts and messaging . The good ones I skip and hold for later. It takes about 10 minutes. If this is a big problem for you, then you really need to lighten up.

I tried to start a dating service in a small town. No one knew. This was all pre internet. I rented a PO Box and ran an ad in the local newspaper. People joined for $2 month. I think I made $10 in 3 months

I had listed both of my businesses for sale right after covid. I used a broker and she listed on several sites. I found the whole process to be disheartening. Seems like every potential buyer wanted tons of info and proof that there was lots of profit and little actual work. One buyer offered to buy it but wanted to hire me to continue to run it. Ridiculous. Seems like buyers were turned off by the fact that they would actually have to run the businesses. So my listing expired and businesses has improved and regained what was lost to covid. I have cut back on time I spend working and profit is way high these days. I can’t think of a single reason why I’d want to sell now. My broker had told me that no buyer is interested in potential. That is dumb if you ask me. When I bought the businesses I had vision and I had confidence that I could grow it. Buyers don’t have those traits. So I’ll just suck up the money and be semi retired.

Yes I’m married and have kids. I have no employees. I do everything in my biz but I do lean on a cpa to work out my taxes every year. I run my business, my business does not run me. I prioritize my work. Some things are “paperwork” and I can do that stuff at home and at any hour. I can set my own hours and days. Truth is, I could bring in more business and make more money if I had some employees. But I’d have to give up a lot of freedom. So you can’t have it all. Decide what’s important to you.

Virtual assistant? Thats about dumb.

Learn how to do everything. Have NO employees. This will save you money AND make more money for you.