If you had the opportunity...

BeoTeK

BeoTeK

New member
We all know times are tough and we live on the breadline (may just be talking about myself), but lately I find myself wondering. What could I do if I had the opportunity to do so? If I had the financial baking to do what I wanted to do?

I don't live my life in regret, and don't look back and think what if. But this is more of a dream, there's nothing wrong with being an adult and still dream and have aspirations. Sometimes we get in a rut of work, home etc. and wonder, is this what life is about?

What do you guys/gals think? If you had the capabilities, what would you do with it?
This doesn't need to be a financial/business matter, could be anything that you would have done given that you had the opportunity to do so.
 
If I had the financial backing and support of family, I'd start my own business. Almost did, but circumstances had me choosing otherwise.
I still do wish to start my own business, but I can't imagine it happening too soon.

There are many "episodes" in my life I regret being a part of, but it happened and it is an experience; something to learn from or learn for.
 
8sh said:
If I had the financial backing and support of family, I'd start my own business. Almost did, but circumstances had me choosing otherwise.
I still do wish to start my own business, but I can't imagine it happening too soon.

There are many "episodes" in my life I regret being a part of, but it happened and it is an experience; something to learn from or learn for.
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What business would you start?
 
If I had the financial backing I would go back into game development and create the game that I've planned out so well but these days just never find the time to work on.
 
I am planning on starting a small business soon but im not going to divulge in any details as im still fleshing out some things.

if i had alot of money i would go live in switzerland, that place is truly stunning imo or on an island like the maldives, away from all this pollution and crime & cANCer Corruption.
 
Given the financial backing I would open up a dev shop focusing on mobile and web applications, with a consulting and outsourcing arm. I have a couple of fantastic ideas for apps and sites that will eventually gather momentum and generate income.
 
If I had the fortune, would got diploma/degree. Then started a company that used game engines as solutions for companies problems(Not saying for every problem but a particular problem).
My brother just became unemployed, so I'm piggy backing on him to get things off the ground, but with so little time during the night and with him living a distance away from me, its been rough.
 
ArchieChoke said:
If I had the fortune, would got diploma/degree. Then started a company that used game engines as solutions for companies problems(Not saying for every problem but a particular problem).
My brother just became unemployed, so I'm piggy backing on him to get things off the ground, but with so little time during the night and with him living a distance away from me, its been rough.
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Gamification is a great way to solve problems.
 
I've always dreamt of owning a coffee shop, I'd have a bakery attached to it as well. Then I would pursue my dream of writing novels which I could do so in my own coffee shop.
 
My dream is a small coffee shop with a bookshop attached, comfy reading couches and nice sandwiches and soups. And then the dream is if I win the lotto I will follow the F1 for a year, from the first race to the last one.
 
I just want to earn enough money to travel the earth any which way I please. Would probably want to drive from CPT to Cairo in a Land Rover. Ride a motorcycle from Cairo to Barcelona. Travel to the US on a luxury boat of sorts. Buy/hire a Harley/Classic muscle car and travel from somewhere on the east coast to Los Angeles and back...that sort of stuff.
 
My dream is to go on with my studies and complete an MBA degree. Business and the study thereof is what my absolute passion is.

I would love to then take that skills and assist people like all of you start and setup small businesses. There are so much info that entrepreneurs need when starting a new venture, and I would love to be the guy they come to for assistance and guidance. My dream would be to, with an university's backing, start a SMB development program for first time entrepreneurs.
 
DieGrootHammer said:
My dream is to go on with my studies and complete an MBA degree. Business and the study thereof is what my absolute passion is.

I would love to then take that skills and assist people like all of you start and setup small businesses. There are so much info that entrepreneurs need when starting a new venture, and I would love to be the guy they come to for assistance and guidance. My dream would be to, with an university's backing, start a SMB development program for first time entrepreneurs.
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DieGrootHammer, do you currently have the skills to assist people with advice for setting up small businesses? I started one a year or so ago and the whole business aspect of it all is daunting. Man, I wish you had the backing to help people like the rest of us.
 
So great to hear you guys' dreams, goals and aspirations. Really great to hear that in tough times like this and despite us being grown up, that we still have these and mostly knowing we may never achieve them. I don't try to knock anyone down by saying that, but instead raise them up to acknowledge those ideas, grasp at them and never let them go.

1. I am quite passionate about photography and have extremely little time to do it these days. But I would like to get to a level of "professionalism" in this regard and supply my services to people who can't afford the professional quality for memorable experiences like weddings and births etc.
To be able to survive and provide a free service to people who can actually appreciate it, I'm not looking for payment but seeing the joy on peoples faces from the product I deliver is payment enough for me.

2. If I had some financial backing for a business, there's a nice empty office/space in the local mall that every time I see it I can imagine a cigar lounge or business lounge area.
 
Solitude said:
DieGrootHammer, do you currently have the skills to assist people with advice for setting up small businesses? I started one a year or so ago and the whole business aspect of it all is daunting. Man, I wish you had the backing to help people like the rest of us.
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Currently I am training and reading up on the various aspects a lot. I've also done a fair few business related course and I do have a business diploma behind my name. Currently working on doing SMDP, then EDP, then MBA. That is my 4 year plan, so I'll be fully qualified within that period.

The biggest reason why I want to do this is because people are overestimating what is needed to start a business.
 
Iv always wanted to start my own restaurant... Since i was 18 when i started working as a waiter/barman in cape town... I do 3D Rendering now for Architectural presentations, so i sit behind a PC all day... I like to think im a much more hands on people person, and would love the interaction that the restaurant industry brings...

A mate and I have a really cool concept that we are going to put a proposal together for... Who knows, if we can find an investor that likes the idea it just might happen... Gotta dream BIG "whistling:
 
DieGrootHammer said:
The biggest reason why I want to do this is because people are overestimating what is needed to start a business.
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For me the biggest risk in starting a business is that currently I earn a salary and if I leave everything to run a business and it fails... well that scares me a lot. So I started a part time business and now I risk being sued by the company I work for. I told them that I started a business but they want me to do things that aren't part of my job here. But that's a very gray area because I'm a programmer and well I do programming. At work though I'm in the financial sector and my own company is in a completely different sector, doing very different stuff that doesn't impact my job at all. But if I don't try then I'll never know.
 
Fivel said:
Share a bit more on your views here....I'm interested in hearing what you think.
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Gladly. But I may talk for a while though.

So, starting a business can be daunting, and can seem very cash heavy. But in fact, there are ways of starting a business with little to no spare cash. There are so many business examples of people that started out from their own garage with little money.

Your business can either be a product or a service company. A service company it comes down to you doing the services and then collecting the payment. These type of businesses are the cheapest and easiest to start up. There are so many entrepreneurs that starts like this. They would first start providing a service first, then build the business from there.

Product based businesses may in fact need more startup capital to get off the ground though. But that is why you can start off by doing the service for a fee, and using that money coming in as a way of financing the rest of the business.

Now I know there are some cost involved in getting some instruments or equipment required to get your service based business off the ground. These costs are probably the biggest hurdle for someone to get over before starting a business. So why not see if you can in fact provide that service with the equipment you have at the moment? And if you cannot do that right now, what service can you do with your current equipment?

So, if you truly feel that you have a service that can benefit other people, there is not a lot that is stopping you actually providing that service and growing your business from there. One thing you need to take into consideration though, is to make sure you have a differentiating factor between your service and that of any competitors. Make sure you can provide a service in a way other cannot, and you will find an immediate market for that service.

Another big thing that everyone MUST have is a well thought-out business plan. A good business plan is like gold for a new entrepreneur. If fact, many Business Incubators or angle investors may take your business plan as a way of getting financing for a business. If you are able to differentiate yourself enough from any other service or product provider, these investors will not have any problem forking out the capital for your business. This is risky though, but it is completely possible to get financing for a company without putting in a cent. You may end up with a much smaller share of the company, but it's still possible.

So, to summarize, service companies are the cheapest to start getting finance for your dream business. Differentiate your service from the competition. Make sure you have a well constructed business plan.
 
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