If you could run your own business...

[slenle]

GTKY

Dh and I daydreaming in the car about our future. I’m sick of my job and feel like there are going to be major change in the company within the next few months and I don’t picture myself there much longer.

I want something fun, flexible, realistic for a small town. Let’s pretend money isn’t an issue.

So if you could open your own business, what would it be? Restaurant? Clothing store? Something different?

Help me daydream.

[nam2013]

Ohhhhh fun!

I would love to open a small cafe, where kids are welcome and have room to play, with a little toy/record/gift/book shop on site.

ETA Dh and I have been talking about this for years!!!

[klong11]

I would have a book store. New and used. Special areas for reading comfortably with like bean bag chair and such.

[nam2013]

Jan 5, 2019 11:26:10 GMT -6 klong11 said:

I would have a book store. New and used. Special areas for reading comfortably with like bean bag chair and such.

If you ever go to Paris, go here, it is so wonderful. And the next door cakes and lattes are the best!

shakespeareandcompany.com

[nam2013]

Oh I have one more... I would want to move to Sweden/Canada and open a campground with some cabins and an organic bakery adjoined. Weddings would be possible there...

[guster]

Ooh, what a great gtky!

I fall in between event/holiday planning and organization. I love the details of that kind of work. Especially bigger events like weddings and restaurant/hotel openings where you have to combine both.

Then I play along with a cafe idea — a simple one of soups and smoothies. MH and I call it Forget the Fork as a joke, but in the right place I think it could do well.

Then my most recent thoughts include subscription services. A friend I met in town has one that’s a party in a box. You choose from the themes he has and he puts together a pretty box with plates and decorations, birthday cake toppers, balloons, favors, etc. He does quite well with it. I like the idea of a box for the smaller holidays. Things to decorate your mantle and/or your table top for Fourth of July, one of the first day of summer, the start of the school year, st. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. you could go with really simple boxes that had the bare bones or a deluxe box to include things like throw pillows, outdoor flags, party and recipe ideas.

I also think a crockpot freezer meal subscription box would go over super well. People love blue apron and the like, but to have a freezer meal that’s been prepped so that you can just park it in the crockpot or instant pot delivered to your house 7 to 10 times a month could be a major time saver for some families.

I have a lot of feels here.

[chrisy01]

I’ve always wanted to open a bakery. I love to make desserts. But I also love party planning but where I live there are so many of both of those businesses.

[xolastunicornxo]

Dh brews beer and we’ve daydreamed about opening a cool brewery. Something around lots of restaurants and you could bring in your own food. We’d have a huge patio with Cornhole, jenga, other patio games. Board games. Kid and family friendly, so not a crazy bar, just good beer and a relaxed fun atmosphere.

On a more realistic note, I’d love to figure out how to launch a personal assistant type business. I’m bomb at finding deals on things and picking out clothes and gifts for people.

[tgrimes]

Big shocker, I’d have my own dance studio. If y’all remember, I was offered my friend’s studio when he passed and had to turn it down. 90% of it would be in the evenings and I’d never see my family.

I still get sad when I think about it. 😢

[dapostrophe]

My mom and I just talked about opening a Spanish kitchen co-op type thing. Basically a bunch of food lovers subscribe to this group and get to use the chef's kitchen and entertaining space for big meals. They have a cleaning lady included in the fee, so basically you decorate the space, cook in a high quality kitchen, have a party and then someone else cleans up the mess...all in the same space. I guess these are somewhat popular in Spain and she has a wine hookup to bring over Spanish wines too!

[kim22]

Absolutely a gymnastics gym but probably not a hard core competition type place, just along the lines of The Little Gym or My Gym place. Same issue at tgrimes though with the hours not being great. I could have daytime but with the majority of working parents, I would need a lot of evening hours too.

[vino]

Jan 5, 2019 12:01:44 GMT -6 xolastunicornxo said:

Dh brews beer and we’ve daydreamed about opening a cool brewery. Something around lots of restaurants and you could bring in your own food. We’d have a huge patio with Cornhole, jenga, other patio games. Board games. Kid and family friendly, so not a crazy bar, just good beer and a relaxed fun atmosphere.

On a more realistic note, I’d love to figure out how to launch a personal assistant type business. I’m bomb at finding deals on things and picking out clothes and gifts for people.

Well, this first one I feel is your backyard already! You’re such a great ‘party’ person and I see you welcoming everyone with open arms to have a chat and good drink.

You’d be a wonderful personal assistant and honestly once C is in school you should 100% do this. So many people would hire for big and small jobs.

[vino]

Jan 5, 2019 13:13:02 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

Big shocker, I’d have my own dance studio. If y’all remember, I was offered my friend’s studio when he passed and had to turn it down. 90% of it would be in the evenings and I’d never see my family.

I still get sad when I think about it. 😢

I really hope this works out for you one day. That you’re able to make it happen, you’re so passionate about it.

[vino]

For me; I would open a business to be a Personal Organizer for the home, office etc.

Also, I really, really love budgeting and helping people meet their financial goals.

[peachsmama]

Jan 5, 2019 14:48:30 GMT -6 vino said:

For me; I would open a business to be a Personal Organizer for the home, office etc.

This would be my dream.

[peachsmama]

Sil and I have talked about bull dozing my uncles place when he passes and creating a wedding/reception venue. It has a pond and we would put a big old barn looking building that could open up to do indoor and outdoor parties.

[nam2013]

I soooo want to visit all of these places or hire all of you!

[slenle]

I love all of these! I wish something would pop out to me as a brilliant idea. I do like nam2013 ‘s cafe/kid friendly place idea.

But in my perfect world, I don’t want it to involve nights and weekends. Dh joked I could call it sam’s but spelled Sahm... since it would basically be a place for the stay at home moms. Lol. Not sure how much of a thriving business that would be in our town.

[mskatiep]

A dog park/bar just opened this year in KC and I wish I had thought of it. I'd probably do a coffee shop/bar/dog park combo so I could get the morning and afternoon crowd.

[snoopmommymom]

I’d like to move somewhere tropical and have a Bed and Breakfast. I’d love all the small details to make their stay special and I’d also love giving recommendations and helping set up excursions to help them have the best vacation ever.

[flamingo]

Really, the interior design/decor field is the place for me. I love helping people solve problems within their home, and helping to make their space both more beautiful and functional. My sister and I have talked about doing it together someday--while she doesn't have the degree, she does have great taste and we work well together.

I also really love children's clothing and I think that would be such a "fun" business--a cute little children's boutique. But in reality, I don't really want to be in a pure retail business with a storefront, overhead, etc.

[xolastunicornxo]

Jan 5, 2019 14:45:06 GMT -6 vino said:

Jan 5, 2019 12:01:44 GMT -6 xolastunicornxo said:

Dh brews beer and we’ve daydreamed about opening a cool brewery. Something around lots of restaurants and you could bring in your own food. We’d have a huge patio with Cornhole, jenga, other patio games. Board games. Kid and family friendly, so not a crazy bar, just good beer and a relaxed fun atmosphere.

On a more realistic note, I’d love to figure out how to launch a personal assistant type business. I’m bomb at finding deals on things and picking out clothes and gifts for people.

Well, this first one I feel is your backyard already! You’re such a great ‘party’ person and I see you welcoming everyone with open arms to have a chat and good drink.

You’d be a wonderful personal assistant and honestly once C is in school you should 100% do this. So many people would hire for big and small jobs.

ILY. You can come drink beer in my backyard anytime! 😘

[xolastunicornxo]

tgrimes i would love to see you start your own studio!!

flamingo I can so see you with a posh children’s boutique!

[kim22]

On a lazier note, I tell DH all the time I want to offer my services to sit in peoples houses when they can’t be home but they are getting like an appliance delivered or need a plumber to come fix something. I could just hang out on their couch and watch Netflix then let the other people in and out.

[lfig]

Jan 5, 2019 14:48:30 GMT -6 vino said:

For me; I would open a business to be a Personal Organizer for the home, office etc.

Also, I really, really love budgeting and helping people meet their financial goals.

Your hired! On both fronts! But your going to really have to help me with budgeting thing because I’m “hiring “ you while I have zero income! 😂. Clearly you have your work cut out for you.

[lfig]

MH and I have recently been discussing moving to the lake when he retires in 10 years and buying a lake resort to run. No food, just cabins. Then we would hire someone to clean the rooms. So really all we’d have to do is manage reservations. He’s a handy guy so he could fix just about anything that would break or need done. We love to spend time on the lake so it’d be great.

[nam2013]

Jan 5, 2019 16:10:42 GMT -6 slenle said:

I love all of these! I wish something would pop out to me as a brilliant idea. I do like nam2013 ‘s cafe/kid friendly place idea.

But in my perfect world, I don’t want it to involve nights and weekends. Dh joked I could call it sam’s but spelled Sahm... since it would basically be a place for the stay at home moms. Lol. Not sure how much of a thriving business that would be in our town.

Ohhh no nights! But open early, so maybe cafe is the wrong word, more like a coffeehouse .

[trtlcrzy]

Honestly, I’d never want to own my own business. It’s always 1000% more work than you are expecting it to be, unless you’re super rich and can pay people to do everything for you.

[inthekitty]

Same as trtlcrzy. I'd never really want my own business. MH fantasizes about owning a diner often and I have to remind him he can't cook.

[inthekitty]

In reality if I had my own business it'd be a private practice, but that's boring.

If I won the lotto I've often thought I'd love to operate a therapeutic riding/outdoor retreat program for vets. I'd have occasional 1-2 week long workshops in which I would provide individual and group therapy between activities but this way I wouldn't have a caseload and would still be free to travel. I also might have it be a practicum site for students in training and have them do most of the therapy while I provide supervision.