Smart or Foolish Entrepreneur?

[dowjr1]

Took me a long time to pay some debts off from a bad business deal. I was not involved other than silent partner. Moved to another state with much lower costs and cash flow is much improved now.

After finally paying credit cards off, I took a $20K loan (interest free for a year) to start a dog training business in a city 90 min away. The business is a franchise and I was originally a client of the owner and thought he worked miracles with my dogs. I own the training rights for the geographic area using our system. I interviewed and hired a young, hungry gal to get things going. She is spending 17 days at the Training HQ to learn the craft and has already started booking clients.

I am just not a salary kind of guy...which is sometimes good and bad. But I felt compelled to take the chance on this opportunity. I feel great about the venture but should love everyone's two cents. After so long to pay debts off am I foolish to start another business? Opine away!

[garbandz]

90 minutes away could become a problem.Do you plan on moving there?

Your young hungry gal could break away and start her own business,leaving you with a 3 hour daily commute.

Or having to hire another person who you are still 90 minutes away from.

Too many potential snags for me to consider this route...........

[ogus]

If it's Charlotte, people drop a mint for their pets...

[earthson]

90 min. is a long travel when you have to be there ASAP for something. Maybe it's a control-freak nature that comes out when my money is involved, but I would need to be present to eyeball everything - especially when the business is first starting up and you don't know your new hires from Adam.

[LGC]

As was already mentioned, there are a couple negatives to consider. You've already committed, so the major factor is your commitment to making it work. Good luck with your new venture.

[sw15825]

Is this the "New New York" with the no taxes for 10 years for qualifying new businesses? The commercials piqued my curiosity.

A closer proximity to the business would help in some ways, mostly the inconvienence of traveling alot. Actually, I think the pet business is growing well and people will spend alot on their pets from my experiences. Good Luck on your new business!

[NastyPirate]

There are always going to be issues and hurdles with a new business model. If you are truly determined to make it work, you will succeed. Never forget the feeling you had when paying off those debts; that should be motivation enough.

[El Presidente]

I have been involved with a fair few businesses, all start-ups. Some succeeded, some failed, some broke even...which is a fail

A few things I have learned

1. Your business plan rarely survives first contact with the consumer. You need to be nimble.
2. In relation to your cashflow, work diligently in knowing your costs and revenues. then double your costs and halve your revenues for the first 24 months. If it still works, proceed.
3. Keep partners to a bare minimum. Nil if possible. If taking them on, ensure they bring day to day involvement in the mundane issues. A cash partner is generally a pain in the arse.
4. Master the mundane aspects of the business.
5. Do not rely on key personnel. Optimally, your model needs to operate without reliance on key personnel.
6. Keep debt to an absolute minimum.
7. Start with the end in mind which as an entrepreneur is exiting your business entirely (sale or perpetual cashflow). Write down your exit strategy on the basis of someone else buying your business or it running successfully with minimal involvement from yourself (cash cow). Work back your planning from there.
8. Have the best lawyer and accountant you can afford from day one.
9. Have a mentor who has successfully done it all before. Refer to him/her on a regular basis.
10. Write down everything that can go wrong. Plan for it now and enact the plans.

[topdiesel]

I have been involved with a fair few businesses, all start-ups. Some succeeded, some failed, some broke even...which is a fail

A few things I have learned

1. Your business plan rarely survives first contact with the consumer. You need to be nimble.
2. In relation to your cashflow, work diligently in knowing your costs and revenues. then double your costs and halve your revenues for the first 24 months. If it still works, proceed.
3. Keep partners to a bare minimum. Nil if possible. If taking them on, ensure they bring day to day involvement in the mundane issues. A cash partner is generally a pain in the arse.
4. Master the mundane aspects of the business.
5. Do not rely on key personnel. Optimally, your model needs to operate without reliance on key personnel.
6. Keep debt to an absolute minimum.
7. Start with the end in mind which as an entrepreneur is exiting your business entirely (sale or perpetual cashflow). Write down your exit strategy on the basis of someone else buying your business or it running successfully with minimal involvement from yourself (cash cow). Work back your planning from there.
8. Have the best lawyer and accountant you can afford from day one.
9. Have a mentor who has successfully done it all before. Refer to him/her on a regular basis.
10. Write down everything that can go wrong. Plan for it now and enact the plans.

I agree with all of these, but particularly #s 3,4,5,6 & 8.

I am not just agreeing because I am an accountant.

I have seen many businesses succeed and many fail. Most of the successful ones have utilized those key five. Some have leveraged great sums and are still really successful, but they could crumble easily in the perfect storm. The really successful ones are incredibly passionate about their business and are deeply involved in the operations.

[canadianbeaver]

I am going to comment on your business from a client point of view if that's OK. Maybe that can help you from bombing out from the get go. There are 3 dog training companies in our area, all franchises. I live in a rural are about 1.5 hours north a Toronto. I talk about my Silver Lab, Blue, here all the time.

1. First trainer, a lady, was so alpha she had me in tears. The program was $595 up front, with lifetime support and the presentation had to be 30 pages long based on awards not only for my dog, but for me as we met each challenge for training. One of the main stays of the program was screaming "BAH!!" at my 2.5 month old puppy to get him to stop doing stuff, because his mother did that.

Matthew he wasn't, and I quote, "******* screaming BAH at any one. Call her and get our money back." When I called she said she knew the call was coming and had not processed the payment.

---

2. A lady shows up with corn-row long hair and a bunch of rings in parts of her head, not just her ears. She presents us with a thick book she has printed out for us to keep as reference for any issues we may have and we can call her any time. Nice! Her method is treat based but the treats must be given to your dog from your hand so the dog knows who is master. She also has us play all kinds of games with many building steps that are fun and educational. Fair enough.

First of all, Blue is a Lab. They will probably take your hand off to get that treat from you. When I called to tell her this was a problem, she did not believe me and wanted "video proof". Next, the games were so complicated, I could not keep the steps straight, and besides, each step had to be followed by a treat, so all Blue cared about was where the next treat was coming from. He could not care less about anything else.

Finally, what got her fired was the basis of her training, found in that bible she gave us. Her theory was that dogs are like children. If trained right, they would come home from school, not watch TV, do their homework, read until dinner, eat dinner, clear the table and do the dishes. They would then sit quietly and only do special activities if they asked and where given permission. Not sure what planet she came from but I am pretty sure she has never raised a human kid.

I mean absolutely no disrespect, but neither of these women were married or had families other than their dogs. Maybe a lady friend on the side.

I downloaded a few pages from online and trained Blue myself. A local young lady who walks him works a local shelter and helped me raise him to be a great dog. Cost me ZERO.

So before you drive all that way and invest all that dough, take a look at that business and make it an amazing one. You will love it and your clients will love you. And no need to go all that way.

Cheers!

Lisa

[dowjr1]

Well here is some more data on the venture. Regarding debt, I have already paid 25% of the debt off. The rest will be paid down in the next six to twelve months with or without cash from the business. Plus the debt is interest free until March 2016 so that helps. Second, I have a rental hous in a town 3 hrs away so comfortable solving problems from afar so 90 min is not a problem to me. I have a no compete agreement with my gal so that has been addressed as well. Regarding the system itself, as I mentioned, I was a client before an owner and believe strongly in their methods. They created amazing results with my two GSDs. Zero overhead at this point but a location will be needed and we have an inexpensive place in mind offering short term leases.

I will update everyone as things go along? Wish me luck!

[DWC]

Good luck Dan. I wish you all the best. I have no advice to offer. I wouldn't have the nerve to try and start a business of my own. Good for you.

BTW: Did you get to post a picture of your pups in the "What's your dog" thread? I'd love to see more of them than just your avatar.