if you had to start a business today with 7k

[badmouse]

You're asking the wrong question. In ANY business, the thing that matters is selling.

Better question is in two parts: what bunch of customers can you reach cheaply/easily/etc, and what product do you have access to that you can sell to them?

And, of course, is there profit after expenses?

Ebay is great because it's an easy way to reach customers, but the problem is, what to sell to those customers?

Good luck. I've started many businesses, sold a few quite profitably, and am soon starting another (sick kid cuts into time though).

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

To the OP: Try buying and selling something cheap that can be sold easily like badmouse said.

 

[Rubycon]

NIKE was started with less than 10k.

 

[gopunk]

some internet service

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: C6FT7
NIKE was started with less than 10k.

In 1971. If they started it with 10K in 1971, that would be over $45,000 today.

 

[Evadman]

$7k isn't very much. If I had to, I would do a custom one off chassis shop, but 7k would be cutting it real close.

For you, ebay business.

 

[Rock Hydra]

7k!! Hmm...Probably a lawn mowing business.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Hamburger place, although I kind of doubt that $7000 is enough.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: C6FT7
NIKE was started with less than 10k.

ya but they had the SWOOSH

 

[Syringer]

Bet it on RED.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Hamburger place, although I kind of doubt that $7000 is enough.

Yeah, if you had the basics to cook with to start with.
and maybe a sweetheart deal with a bar that needs food service to fulfill an "all ages" license.

 

[HyTekJosh]

consulting business

 

[yobarman]

I would be happy with 7k... i'm starting a business with basically nothing and bootstrapping my way into millions haha.

 

[HarvInSTL]

Internet Cafe

I know that everyone will say boo, horrible idea. Sure it is a bad idea, in the US.

I was in Costa Rica April of this year and most of the tourist spots, Tamarindo mainly was charging approx $6/hr of internet access.

So you figure it like this. You buy 10 cheap Dell PC's for $399 each. Use coupons, etc. You figure $4k for the the computers.

The two shops I frequented in Tamarindo and La Fourtuna were using a standard 128k ISDN line for there internet access. Which based upon the research I did ran appox. $35-$50 US/month

The rest of the cash would be spent on your building. Instead of desks, build desks right into the wall with 2x4's and MDF. Sand & paint, repeat.

The labor would be yours most of the time so you wouldn't have to worry about paying someone. Even better you could pay yourself to nef in OT while charging people $6/hr.

Some of the nicer internet cafe's had faster connections and were offering VOIP phone calls for $0.50-$2 for a 5 or 10 minute call. Once again something like that would allow you to broaden your offerings to your customers while bringing in more cash without you having to fork over much capital.

Just my 2 cents.

As far as profit goes think about it like this.

Open from 8am-10pm. With a 40% usage rate, in a day total possible billable hours=140hrs.
Usage rate of 40%=56hrs per day=$336/day
Even at a usage rate of 10%=$84
What you need to figure out the cost of are the following:
Rent:
Electricity:
Insurance:
% per month set aside for repairs:
Internet Access:


And to make it even cheaper make sure your location had enough space where you could either rent the area above it,etc to live in. Sure you might live in a small cramped space for 6months to a year but once you start making profits, you will be making some killer cash.

One of the reasons I chose Costa Rica is the weather is about the same year round. 70-80 degrees with the amount of rain depending on where you are in the country. Having such a nice temeprate climate allows for a steady stream of tourists year round.

So I feel something like this could be easily done with 10-15k in startup cash.