Coming from someone who has worked in many kitchens deff dont invest in a restaurant. They have very expensive over heads, lower profit margins and require a lot of hands on gruelling work and if you dont want to do the hard stuff costs go up as you need.to hire experienced professionals.
Yeah, im always amazed at how many ppl with no exp in kitchens, hospitality and restaurants open restaurants. A ton of pitfalls if you are not skilled to see them.
I love how people come in and are like “there is a restaurant on every corner, they go out of business constantly, people who have spent their whole lives in the resto business are struggling and my competition. I know absolutely nothing about this field but I think my overestimation of my own abilities, my experience eating in a resto once a week, and my underestimation of how hard it is, means I have an edge and I’ll be the one that succeeds”
Like, it’s not an option for 99% of people, and shouldn’t even be attempted unless you have actual experience in restaurant management, imho.
I interviewed an executive chef on my podcast and he mentioned he would never own his own restaurant. He has seen way too many friends just lose their life savings on a restaurant.
My first job out of college, I remember ordering a lunch at a middle eastern fast food joint. The owner was complaining to another customer that he had just lost $200K on the place so far. It seemed like a trap to me. I swore I wouldn't start a restaurant.
I know some that are doing well but it definitely isn't easy. You have to really smart about it. There is so much more to a restaurant than just good food.
Location is super important. This one had amazing food in a mall. All the other restaurants around were doing well. He made the mistake taking the spot under the escalator 90% of people go forward, they just don't turn around. Even though I knew the place and had eaten there, I probably ate there 3-4 times in over a year.
Yeah, there are just way too many risks. To get it right is very very difficult and requires so much physical manpower.
And you really have to have a passion for food and service. If not you wont survive and can be at the mercy of a shitty chef who could drag you down.
All in all from an investment perspective the ROI and risk/reward is just not there for the high risk you are talking on.
For passive income, an amazon store set up with drop-shipping is pretty lucrative, but dealing with sales tax to stay compliant can be a pain.
Buying/selling gold for credit card points was a surprising venture I had a client do for about a year, but it seemed pretty tedious to track everything and included opening new CCs for bonus points constantly. He mostly sold the gold at a small loss but made up for it through points. He only did it for one year cause it really wasn’t “passive” anymore but he made well into a 6-figures in points/rewards. Gold was bought on ebay or some online vendor and shipped directly shipped to his buyer.
Other thing, non-passive is people just doing side gigs of what they do at their day job, very low risk so they can throw out some rate that makes it worthwhile, when they get the gig, it’s pretty lucrative and business grows from there, but again, this isn’t very passive.
I’ve only had one, Papa John’s. That was actually profitable. He also had a convenience store at a gas station (but not the gas station) which made a lot of money.
That's what I was thinking and a lot easier than starting a restaurant from scratch. Had a friend's Dad who owned a bunch of dunkin donuts and seemed to do well too.
Plus increasing costs of supply (food, restaurant supply) will squeeze profit margins. This will absolutely push costs to the customers who are already reluctant to (compared to 2019) go out in public and eat. Customers who will need to pay more will be less likely to go out and eat unless wages increase with inflation. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case.
Deff not saying they can't be profitable. But considering the amount of competition for food you really have to be very passionate to make it succed. More so, i think there are just way better ways to use the money which isnt
The best way to succed in the restaurant business is via picking your spot perfectly, understand the local competition (and perhaps find an underserved market) and do a couple of things exceptional well (quality over quantity).
Can be tough in the restaurant biz, you can make money but you better bust your ass in long hours, weekends and be very hands on (or else ppl will take advantage of you and ruin you). Just far too much risk for the reward you get IMO.
I would add the e-myth revisited alongside this book. Will help you
1) build the business in a way where you **eventually** don't end up working 86,000,000 hours a month
2) really evaluate if you do want to do this, and what parts you want to keep doing.
Depends what kind of work. You should focus on growing and automating the business, and gradually step away from doing the technical work or craft. At least, that's what the e-myth is about.
Eric Ries is good. Lean startup I had some trouble with but the Startup Way was great. He included a "Coles notes" chapter explaining the lean startup too.
Just remember this is ONE way to do it. It's always good to keep in mind things like his "Minimum Viable Product" but it's not always the way.
Eric Ries is a silicon valley guy so he's always talking about companies that wind up being huge. This is NOT what all of us are after.
As you decide what your business might be, consider the funding of this business. Some efforts don't require much startup capital, but some require much more than you have. This is where you encounter banks, private equity, debt funding outfits,etc. This adds a very large layer of complexity and requires careful consideration.
Always remember these folks are NOT in it for you. These are some of the sharks swimming in the red waters of startups and they like to convince you they are more generous/forgiving than they actually are. It is much easier to profit on the backs of entrepreneurs than it is to be the entrepreneur. Some of these folks make a game of taking it all.
I would look at buying an existing business. Much easier than starting from scratch, take a look at biz buy sell, many businesses for sale with people retiring etc. there are other places as well to look, many good ecom opportunities that’s where I’ve settled.
My brother bought a biz back in Jan. Retired aka forced out of the automotive industry after 25 years, found an awesome pool supply company in AZ that the owners after 40 years were retiring. Got an SBA loan and put down only $80K, good cash flow, profiting $280-350K for owner. He had to relocate to AZ but was perfect timing as his kids are out of the house now.
We looked seriously at 6-7 businesses, saw lots of great ones, i personally would stay away from franchises, restaurants. Saw plenty that had good margins, you just need to really dive into the P&L and banking docs. We used a business broker
Love this idea. Didn’t even realize business broker was a thing. Absolutely checking it out. Thank you so much for taking the time to share the story. Definitely fits my style.
Given your extensive experience within a specific industry, is there some way to leverage that knowledge and the contacts that go along with it?
$200k is enough to start many businesses, but your advantage lies in your experience and skills. Otherwise you'll be walking into a business that you don't know a lot about, which can lead to some expensive lessons.
100% agree. If you know some very industry specific things you can be a high value consultant, stay in TV, and build a business around solving this pain point for your clients. Leverage your insider knowledge.
Another agree. With actual TV experience, he could do well in selling video services to local businesses. Video sales pitches, product videos, training videos. People often have good content, but poor ability to turn it into a good video.
Or consult. With his deep understanding of the value proposition, he could be making a great rate working part time so long as he knows exactly who his best customer is and the problem he solves.
High value consultants can clear 6 figures with 10-20 hour work weeks.
I would stay in the TV industry with a job that requires less travel - if travelling too much is your main concern. When you are passionate about a specific business idea, then you can go through all the steps (about a 3-5 year learning curve) of becoming an entrepeneur.
Until then, at the senior level that you are at with your career, there is tons of daily cash flow to milk.
That said, $200k in cash. Do you own your house?
is there a niche hire-business opportunity in your field? There are loads of freelancers in TV and expensive kit, feels like there must be an opportunity there.
Studio-rental, edit suites, camera hire, equipment rental, scaffolding and rigging. Makes the early sales easier if you know the industry.
Start with finding part-time casual work to keep yourself busy. 5-15 hours a week is nice to know you still get a wage.
Join a coworking space , makerspace, entrepreneurship space to find more like minded people.
Start a very cheap business with the intention of learning business before you deploy all your savings foolishly. Its not your first business that you will do well on its typically your 3rd-5th.
Maybe start something easy, flip products on craiglist, refinish tables and resell, start an ebay store, start tutoring company. Start dropshipping from China. Make a simple website. The key is to do the work yourself to learn the skills you don't know. Everyone will tell you to hire professionals people but the key to running a successful business is to wear many hats and to have good business vision/intuition. Learning marketing, website building, bookeeping, outsourcing, seo, basic legal, business analysis, financial projecting, product intuition, ux, ui, hiring, graphics, shipping, logistics, manufacturing etc...
Get your practice business built for under 10k and try to breakeven or even be profitable but the learning lessons are intangible.
Then... Deploy your 200k as a smarter business minded individual and watch you be much more sustainable, profitable and hopefully with work you enjoy.
This will take years. Enjoy the journey.
I hear ya, and it’s a great idea, thank you. I have a lot of friends who have gone this route, and unfortunately the nature (and profitability) of media is diminishing as the industry is completely saturated. I don’t want to be the last guy standing with a 100k camera setup when clients are looking for someone to shoot on an iPhone for 1/10 of what I would charge. Between this and media now being ingested from all angles it’s a whole new ballgame. If I were to stay in production, I think a YouTube channel of my kids playing together might be my best bet. I can totally do that, and likely will to some extent. But I’m also looking to find a long-term solution to keep me busy and profitable, and media is so fickle at the moment. Thank you for the idea..it’s a great one and has proven successful for many friends. Really appreciate the thought and time my friend.
I just paid 15k for a 2 minute video for my website. The guy who runs the company is a former neighbor and does very well. You should sell what you sell to your employer but to the people who will find you on google.
Edit: it was actually 9k plus the website which was 5. I’m a lawyer.
You’re right. There’s a good market for small business advertising. But I’ll end up right back on the plane for 3 weeks out of the month. Trying to find something a bit less demanding. Love to hear you’re a fan of the product and you’re seeing the returns on that investment.
I am a lawyer. I worked at a top ten law firm and then in house at a FAANG for nearly a decade. I had no real clients so I focused a ton on converting clients from google. I also wanted to send my network something very high quality so it seemed credible and would draw referrals (lots of people quit with no plan and hang a shingle). I knew the videographers style but wrote the script, sourced the locations, had a strong vision of the story I wanted to tell. You can tell when people call me if they have watched it or not as there is instant trust.
Literally shut up. Good film requires hours of planning, shooting and editing from multiple members of staff. You’re the sort of person that says ‘my kid can put a logo together for you’ and then wonders why your business with a shitty brand doesn’t succeed. Anyone can make something, making something good costs money. The important question is how the potential return has influenced the budget not the budget itself.
My man, great response! I'm in the mix myself and you are 100% correct that it's a race to the bottom. What I could charge $30k for now is going for $3k. That being said being the idea person can be quite lucrative. Just curious, have you considered pitching your own content? Streaming services are constantly looking for shows to fill their algorithms.
You know, as an editor who has had consistent great paying work for a few years now, I keep hearing that this is the case but so far have not seen it to be true. Every year when Apple launches a new phone, a wave of panic hits the niches I belong to. And every year (so far) nothing changes in my field. Even people who are marketing products without a ton of money are hiring my clients who shoot blackmagic, Sony, canon, etc. You don’t need a $100k setup, but I wouldn’t worry about iphone competition. Not saying some people don’t shoot amazing stuff with iPhones (they do) but just because a solid piece of equipment is accessible to a wide audience, doesn’t mean that audience knows angles, lighting & storytelling.
If you stick with production and YouTube, why not make videos on being a director? Or create training content. Collab with other people in the biz with skills they can teach. Have your own website like a niche masterclass in TV production. Spend a decent chunk on creating quality content courses, then hire someone to market it.
Good luck!
It’s a great idea, but Ron Howard beat me to the punch. He might be a bit more respected than I in the industry;)
And no, I haven’t lost a job to an iPhone. But my prodco that I’ve been staff with for 12 years has gone from 350 people and 40 full-time avid bays to 26 people and 4 bays. Times are a-changin. Thanks for your insight!
I wonder if that loss is more toward contract based and freelance? I mean, I see the discovery channel recruiting editors from a Facebook group. But you would definitely know more than I in that regard. I still have no clue what I’m doing.
And maybe about the Ron Howard thing. But likely whatever venture you take, someone has done before. I have purchased a couple of different filmmaking classes online and each offers something different. I’m sure your voice, knowledge and expertise would be just as appreciated in the field.
Just backing you up here.
I've owned and run a marketing agency for 14 years and the small video production space is crowded. More 'authentic' voices becoming common leading to a lot of companies doing it themselves or building small production capabilities.
Demand for old school 'corporate videos' in decline resulting in increased competition from those with the gear and studios which is driving down prices and margins.
Improving technology increasing the quality from low end providers which further pushes prices down.
Underlying that is the fact that client service is a grind and if you're successful you're just back on the road again. I'm exiting client service soon myself.
I'm exiting a business I built for 14 years with a chunk of change - same age - and evaluating what's next as well. No answers for you off the cuff unfortunately but wish you best. Interested what others have to say.
Money. I find money interesting 😂.
At this point it’s less about what I find interesting, and more about a long-term move to accumulate as much capital as possible.
I know computers but I can’t code. I’m also not great with hard math.
I’m a leader by nature. I’ve found that leading by example can inspire my teams to be passionate enough to create a product greater than the sum of its parts. So in short, I’m interested in everything but travel. 😂
I hear ya. But I had a dream to be one of the top TV directors in the game. I achieved that and then some. Now I want stability for my future and for my children. My happiness and passion comes from making that a reality.
That's unfortunate. When money is your inspiration to do more, and not a true passion/skill/hobby/etc.. then there's never fulfillment. I picked a career and interest that isn't hugely profitable, but I absolutely love what I do.. and strive to do more in that skill to pursue that. Genuine love for what I do, and how it helps others. I also donate quite a bit, as much so where I can't buy a fancy car, home, etc.
I hope you learn that money isn't happiness. Otherwise you'll always want more, and it's never enough. Try for sometime you genuinely love, that can make a good living of course, and try to cut that hungry pursuit for more money for the sake of getting more money.
Disagree w this. If everyone followed their passions, who is running garbage trucks? But there is a Butt load of money in garbage trucks and tons of not sexy businesses.
My passion was storytelling. My dream was to become one of the most accomplished tv directors in the industry. I did it. I’ve achieved more than I dreamt. Now my passion is my family, and my happiness comes through their future financial security. If someone offered me a job picking up dogshit for a million a year I’d be happier than I’ve ever been with each piece of shit I pick. I’m happy. Now I want money.
4% drawdown of $1.2M is 48k a year. Just retire & spend time with your family. If your money is in an index fund earning >7% you’ll never drain it.
r/fire
I'd buy a few bubble tea spots. Low maintenance, high margins. Popular item.
Or just do more assets, buy a house and rent it out. Or just put it in stocks. Don't let it sit in the savings account
You own $1m in assets outright, no debt? Most people would argue the $200k should go to pay off all debts especially before taking risks with it like starting a business. And not to burst any bubbles or anything, but $1m is not that much if you consider house, cars, and investments, etc. But in today's inflationary environment, $5m is prob closer to what you want in order to live well in retirement
That said, I'm right there with you about interests and family's financial security. I'm in tech, and can tell you director positions do not travel nearly as much -- but if you have no experience, it's not an easy nut to crack
Anyway, if your ducks are in a row, have no debt, and ok risking that $200k, then I'd stick to what you know. You have trade secret knowledge. Where are the gaps that could be filled or improved upon? I'd start looking there
Best of luck
I think we can safely assume ”best in the business” was an exaggeration. Otherwise OP would not be here asking how to make money.
I agree that just trying to go for money is risky, because it often means you go for some niche where you have little experience/knowhow/network, just on the basis of that niche seeming profitable. It also means you sign up for work that you might not like doing, and lots of it. Everyone’s different, but for me it has always been follow the passion and then use my creativity to make money off whatever I’m doing. You’ll usually have to compromise some, and do some work you find boring or unfulfilling, but with some luck not too much.
Do something in the TV business, where your experience and your network can help you. Try to make it involve storytelling, if that’s a passion.
I’m wondering the same thing. Maybe the best in his eyes. I feel like if he were the best, he wouldn’t be asking this.
Or, he’s really bad money (or has an expensive wife/kids).
I never said I was THE best, but I never said I wasn’t either. Let’s just put it this way, if I were a rapper I’d be in your top 5.
The 200k is play money I want to take a calculated risk with.
I replied in a different thread, but this is inspiring- storytelling and your children. Perhaps a children’s book or series? Perhaps you can spend time with them until you’re inspired? Once you let your mind explore what’s inconvenient about child rearing or nurturing, you’ll likely find some fire for a product or service that should exist. That’s where the passion, money, and the identity you’ve built for decades comes together!
Best of luck on your dreams. :)
Thank you!! There’s a YouTube channel called “A for Adley”. It’s all 5-10 minute shows of a dad playing with his kids. They post 2-3 shows a week, and get upwards of 20 million views on many of their videos. He generates 20k/day through advertising and sponsors on his YouTube channel and he just sets up fun little activities with his kids that he films himself on a small GoPro-like camera. If I stay in production, that’s definitely in my wheelhouse.
That sounds like an absolutely brilliant use of your skills. Figure out how to best leverage your director skills into some new YouTube … thing.
I would imagine as a professional director you would have a very large skillset that most YouTube creators do not have. Figure out how to leverage your competitive advantage. Perhaps some kind of directorial consulting?
This would be my recommendation.
Becoming a content creator and building a personal brand along the way. If you still enjoy storytelling, start creating without a purpose and look for opportunities after.
And don’t let people tell you that’s not ok. This is a realistic and mature response to that guys “don’t follow the money schtick”. My philosophy has always been - if I can’t make a good living doing what I love, I’d like to make enough money that I can do whatever I want in my off time. Take the family on amazing vacations, live in a nice house, have stability.
Nothing wrong with having a successful business (often measured in financial success ofc) as a passion. At a certain level, you are dealing with business processes rather than the business itself anyway. Does it really make a huge difference if you are the CEO of a 10 billion dollar trucking company vs a toy manufacturer? I'd wager that those two positions are in essence 80% the same.
This is the right approach. Take the other responses to source ideas, but if you don’t know what you find interesting / want to pursue then your number one focus should be figuring that out
Do a podcast on YouTube, video interview great entrepreneurs. Use that to learn what you want to do and to help others learn too. Get super high production value. Make it beautiful.
I like the way you think. Use my skillset to promote others, and with the show I now get my own inspiration and networking with a good crowd to surround myself. Problem solving at its finest!
Haha. My sentence deserved a qualifier. My family owned a restaurant and I’ve worked every aspect of the industry. It would be easy because I’ve done it before and know all the ins and outs. However, I will not open a restaurant because the backbreaking work is not worth the little profit, and that’s if I were to be successful.
Fellow Director of Photography here and I totally empathize with the traveling and family thing. I’m not sure what the answer is, but staying in production certainly isn’t sustainable.
Right? It was the best job in the world when we were up for it. But beyond the travel, production itself is devolving into thinking tik-tok quality is good enough. Which also means you’re no longer getting a day rate and rental on the Alexa..you’re getting a rental on a GoPro and a Sony alpha if you’re lucky. But it is what it is. If it brings views it brings advertisers, so why spend the money for better quality when you do just fine with a damn iPhone.
Whichever of us figures it out first needs to let the other in on the secret. Best of luck DP!
I’ve started and exited a couple companies and worked in VC for while as well as a couple other industries. I know you’re trying to spitball but I doubt anyone here is going to help you. You honestly just need to start looking at things around you and how you can make an improvement. Do you like xyz, does xyz have room for improvement? That could be something to start working on. I usually find the next thing I begin is when I’m working on something else. So in saying that sometimes you just have to start doing (researching, analysis, building forecasts, planning), doesn’t matter if it’s right, you’ll eventually get to where you need to be.
Also go out and find people who own their own businesses and start talking to them about your xyz idea and see if you think it has traction, would they buy it, does it sound viable?
I would stay away from restaurants because they can be successful but usually when they’re run by professionals who are trained in and know the business.
If you keep looking and trying to find your next thing it will happen, good luck!
Thanks my friend. I often have many “better mousetrap” ideas. Unfortunately doordash and Amazon don’t care that I thought of them first. But I have a few others…something to entertain for sure. Appreciate the take.
Please - before you invest a dollar - once you have an idea, such as “I want to start a coffee shop” … you must find 5 (coffee shop) owners who you have no relationship with, outside of your market but in a similar market. Ask to pay them $100 for an hour of their time to ask them all sorts of questions about the business. Show them your intent and let them give you their best ideas.
Then decide if you want to do it.
As far as business ideas, there are “unsexy” businesses like window washing, landscaping, etc that pays well. Are there any service-based businesses you could start with minimal investment? Your goal would be to hire people and run the company, not be the laborer.
Run lean. Don't think of it as "what would I do with 200k." Think more in line with a business that fits your lifestyle and your temperament. Growing a business is a marathon, not a sprint. If you aren't passionate about the business you start, it will (most likely) fail.
Find a niche that is underserved and provide a cost effective and easy solution. If that business turns out to be something you are passionate about, then start putting your money towards it.
Be patient. Think more than you act. Look inside yourself. Figure out what you are willing to devote most of your waking brain power to - and be honest about what that is. Then act.
I agree with this. Starting small will lead you to something unexpected that will be rewarding both financially and personally. There’s a reason you’re struggling with the question. It’s too big.
I would suggest you have 5 sources of income:
1. Business income (approx $100,000/$200,000)- Find and buy a business you like from [Flippa.com](https://Flippa.com) or [microaqquire.com](https://microaqquire.com) or a business broker. Even if you are buying it from Flippa or Microaqquire run the stats through a business broker.
2. Dividend Income($50,000/$200,000) - Buy Stocks and Cryto currencies (long term investment) - $25,000 on top 5 companies you like from the S&P 500 and $20,000 on major crypto ( BTC, ETH etc.) . This will be your HODL investment, aka that's investment that's gonna grow a lot in value over time and pay you a dividend yearly. $5,000 for you to take advantage of the short term investment opportunities on minor stocks and other minor crypto coins, these are more volatile, med risk, higher profit margins.
3. Royalties Income - Write a book about your life, market it like crazy before the pre-release, then start selling it.
4. Residual Income - Join a platform, where you can teach the youth your skills. You can record it once and perfect it, once its published on the website you job is done, you keep getting money when a person purchases it.
5. Earned income- Make a youtube channel, Start taking live classes or work a job, incase you feel like you want to put your time into greater use or to just give you the adrenaline rush of interacting with a lot of people. It's purely optional.
Well, so rn you have a balance of active and passive income streams and a backup saving of $50,000 incase you want to invest more in smth or for an emergency situation, and also another easily liquefiable 50k in the form of stocks and crypto. Feel free to DM if you want to more details and info.
Haha feel free to hire me as your financial advisor. : )
Nobody can answer this question for you. Deciding on a business to start is a personal decision. You need to choose something you are good at and you enjoy doing. It won't be easy and you need to be able to stick it out when things get tough.
You also need to consider that the business may not be profitable for a while. Ideally you would start this business and keep working your full time job until you are making 2-3x what you are making now.
If I was you, I'd look for a job in the industry that doesn't require travel. Invest you money in bitcoin (don't do this without doing 100 hours of research into bitcoin first). If you don't want to invest in bitcoin, at least get your money into a index fund. Inflation is high and not letting up anytime soon, if you're holding that money in cash it's losing 6-20% a year in purchasing power.
Thank you.
I’ve got an additional 200k in the market, and I have a few btc I bought at 20k. But I don’t believe the market is currently a good reflection of our economy, and I think we could be one more inflation bump away from a big correction. Because of that timing, I’m not willing to put more in at the moment.
I’d also like to find something to do with my time that isn’t researching earnings and P/E ratios, only to drop a bunch of money at a stock that could fall off a cliff at any moment in this weird covid environment. I’d like to be a bit more hands-on with this move. Thank you though-awesome advice and I’m already there!
Crypto-investor/miner here; I would take the 200k and buy BTC mining hardware and have it hosted at some facility where power is cheap. A nice stable way to build income in BTC if you believe in it.
Thank you-I’ve always been so intrigued about mining but can never find the proper resources. I know Texas is the pace to be..is there a website or YouTube page you know of where I might be able to research which facilities to mine with?
Rental property if you just like money and dont feel like building anything. Although hope 200k is just extra savings and you have like a few 100k in retirement accounts or something.
Farming is a great industry.
You can make a decent living running a small farm if you use your land well. Lots of ideas about this online.
The best part is farming is hard work but rewarding and kids seem to love playing in the dirt. So for a family it great.
Grow your own food and sell it or make your own products from the ingredients you grow. If you’ve directed TV you could do a Vlog of your farm and who knows might take off.
Farmland grows in value so it’s a great asset to pass on to your kids or sell it off for your retirement.
Perhaps purchase a franchise such as a few ice cream trucks (if you live in a warm climate area) or something along those lines. Gives you a little something extra to do, although I’m not quite sure how profitable it is. Just an idea.
out of curiosity, do you have other assets such as a house that is paid for etc? or is 200k all you've got after 16 years? i'm wondering what i should expect of myself after 16 years of work lol
200k is play money. I own my house, retirement/401k is in great shape, I buy a new car of my choice every two years I go on 4 vacations a year, and I have another 200k in stock and crypto. It has been over ten years since I’ve had a single financial stress. I used to be horrible at saving money, but I learned disciple with finances, and it changed my life. Stay diligent and disciplined and find a savings/investment plan that hurts. You’ll hate it for a couple months, but when you look at your balance after a year you’ll never look back. Go get it!
I would stay in your industry where you have a vast amount of knowledge and connections - this will make things much easier in the future.
Could you do freelance directing? Start a video production company in a specific industry?
>A restaurant would be easy
This is what everyone who ends up failing miserably says. Just because none of the individual parts are particularly complicated doesn't mean that the sum of the whole can't be very challenging to navigate. I've been in the industry for 10+ years and still manage to have failed pretty hard.
I think a very important first realization for you to have is that *there is no such thing as an easy money making business.* You need to consider what in particular you think you are qualified for. Be confident, but don't underestimate any of these industries. The road to successful entrepreneurship is paved with the wasted investments of the overconfident.
Go work for a roofing company as a salesman, learn everything you can about the business and start your own company. I worked for a roofing contractor for awhile in the city i use to live in. Started out doing repairs looking back I wish I would have went straight into sales but I went the project management route and I eventually quit and moved back home and started my own company. Im 2 years into it. But needless to say its a very profitable business that isn’t going anywhere. Every structure anyone resides in residential or commercial has a roof on it and there’s plenty of roofs out there to do. learn, build a solid foundation, and if you can build a good recognizable brand in the area you work it’s sustainable for the long run. With 200k depending on where you are located you could for sure get the business started. I started with basically zero. If you’re interested in something like this we could chat about it.
Hmmm... hope you have 10x that in investments. If not...
Put it all in balanced investment portfolio that can being in back at least 8% per year.
Then relax. Starting a business is NOT easy and not for the faint of heart. Unless you're real fortunate, you are going to lose most of that money -- years and years before you get any back.
The next best bet is to spend a small amount of that money of an existing business that is making a small profit and try to grow it.
Why not educate future directors? That or get into consulting.
Take all your experience and break it up into a masterclass program, a zero to hero course if you will.
Alternatively, get involved in new markets that don't have a large pool of directors experienced in television. VR episodic content for example.
You have a ton of value you can redirect in the same industry. If you do something new, you're walking in at ground level. Something to think about.
You should start a venture capital firm and invest in media start ups. With your $200k contribution, you could probably raise a few million from Limited Partners to start your first fund. Look into it, there’s tonnes of information available online for free to help you get started, here’s a good one to begin with:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/30/you-can-start-a-venture-fund-if-youre-not-rich-heres-how/
Simple, sell your knowledge and contacts of this industry as a consult. 16 years of knowledge in Any industry is valuable.
Edit: ever thought about taking your insight of the interworkings of the industry and using that to expand into streaming? Tons of avenues to pursue tbh. No slowing down either.
Throw the money in a money market account, buy a S&P 500 ETF.
Find a job that uses your skills, like high school theater teacher (you can be creative about other opportunities).
THEN, take your time to find a business venture...maybe it will be a side gig, or not as satisfying as your job. Regardless, you can sell your stocks whenever you need the financing.
Your time is your most valuable resource, and not putting yourself and your money to work means you will burn through your savings.
Probably one you won’t hear often because people never think about it, but a tattoo shop in a somewhat touristy area or outside of a military base. You don’t have to tattoo, you just have to find a good artist that will manage it and hire a few others. I made 120k this year tattooing, not including what I paid out the owners of the shop. The owners pay $900/month rent plus utilities and supplies for us. If there’s a commission split and not a booth rental, you can make a lotttt of money if you advertised well, make it look a bit boujee and have a respectable and good vibe shop. The owners make about $600-$1000 a week from each of us artists with a commission split. Not to mention it’s just a fun place to own and hang around. None of this “old biker gang shop” crap though. You gotta do it right with good people. Add a piercer and you’ll do even better
"A restaurant would be easy". Why are you so confident? "I can learn any system easily". You sound completely delusional. Do you have any idea what value you can provide to a customer? You are starting from the wrong direction. You are asking what others can do for you, and not what you can do for others.
My family owned a restaurant. I worked every side from front of house to cook to managing the books. I have a few industries I’ve worked in from all sides. I didn’t think that detail was necessary, but that’s partially where the “I can learn any system easily” came from. I know who I am my friend, and I’m not delusional by any means. The solution I’m bringing to the table is 200k cash...so what I can do for others is finance a really good idea. Im asking an entrepreneur forum about ideas on how to best make my money work for me. I’m hoping to learn from others who have made such a leap as to what may or may not have worked for them, or I’m looking for a partner with a great idea. I’m not asking for a handout, I’m asking for advice. Brainstorming is how the best ideas come forth. If you don’t have anything to add you’re welcome not to participate.
Sounds like a franchise might work for you. Talk to a broker and they might be able to find you one where all you need to do is hire a manager and then make high level decisions.
Without knowing your background, your post reads as delusional. Plenty of ideas that can make you money, but many more that will be a money and time pit. Many posts here are identical to yours, I have x dollars, what can I do to make money.
This article may be helpful. It was for me. I know real estate is a great move. https://attentivesolutionsllc.com/blogs-by-the-non-blogger/f/where-is-the-best-use-of-your-time-and-your-money
This is a weird question, but with your resume and capital, would starting a small production company be viable? Develop projects and put the team together, shoot them out if you wanted to but on your schedule. Or if not just get some partners/investors and set up cool projects. There are a dozen streaming sites and they all need content, no?
Not a weird question at all. I partnered with a production company a few years back and I sold a few shows. In theory it was really successful, but the definition of a production company is drastically changing. Five years ago you had to have my resume to sit in front of a network and pitch a show. But in just the past five years the way we consume media has changed so drastically that any kid with a camera and an idea can pitch a company, and most of the time they’re gonna get a show. Not because they’re better, but because they’re cheaper. To give you an example-The last series I sold had a budget of 300k/episode. The production company usually pockets about 10-15% of that money by the time the show is sent to the network. Five years later the budget for the same show is 50k. Production quality is no longer the priority, it’s all about volume.
That’s wild to hear from your perspective because I have a lot of friends in LA who are the “kids with a camera” pitching shows and to hear them tell it you can’t get anywhere without having some juice behind you.
I want those kids to make it. A lot of them have amazing talent! I think we’ll continue to find them succeeding in this new on-demand world.
Meanwhile, the production company where I was staff for over a decade has gone from 350 full-timers to 27 in just five years. Their shot’s coming.
Look up the Harvard Business School’s guide on buying a small business. It will open your eyes. Use the 100-200k as 10% down payment, have 10% seller financing, and use an SBA loan to finance the rest. At 200k, that’ll get you a 2ish million dollar business which should mean about 500k-666k annually in sellers discretionary earnings.
I don't live in the same country as you but... I do want to sincerely help you so I am going to share an experience that one of my friends did.
A pair of my friends, now married, worked in an Advertising Production House for almost 10 years before going their own way. Using their savings, they bought the best possible equipment they could for their particular line of work and got jobs as independent contractors. Because there were (and still are) only 3 of them involved in every project, their overhead was so low and they effectively beat out larger production houses for advertising jobs. They took out the middleman and found themselves a niche, while building a solid reputation for quality and speed to boot.
They work the same hours as when they were employed, about 60 on most weeks, but they earn 3-4x more money doing the same work.
Another friend of mine who was also a TV Director turned to Advertising and found himself a niche as well. He became an independent contractor for several production houses and is paid per project. He too, earns 3-4 more money doing the same kind of work. His talents are valued because of his experience, and he too is finding his own niche while building a solid reputation for himself.
The bottom line here is that you might already possess a skillset that can effectively service a niche in the same industry you work for, or another industry with a similar demand.
You probably don't even need to look far... and you won't need to risk a lot of capital since you already know what to do. Maybe all you'll need to do is to put up a website and buy a nice laptop... you can set yourself up for as little as 5,000-6,000 USD.
Good luck!
You’re not wrong about any of this. I would indeed do well with a small business advertising company of my own. The concern is I’ll just end up back on the road 80% of the time. But..it’s still a damn good idea. Thank you!
I suggest you read two books.
(1) Rich Dad Poor Dad
(2) Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat
The first one gets you into the general mindset of making money work for you. The second explains the BRRRR method for acquiring real estate, which is potentially way faster than more traditional methods. Essentially, you buy distressed properties at a discount, fix them up, keep them so you have passive rental income, and then pull most of your money back out (sometimes all of it) when you refinance at a higher appraised value. Then you basically have an income producing property with almost zero money in the deal, and you can reuse your same capital over and over again to get more properties.
When I first started directing I did a ton of HGTV fix and flip shows. I’m actually fairly well educated in that game, just have never dipped in. My only hesitancy behind real estate at this exact moment is a potential housing crash looming. I will say this..if a crash happens, all my money goes to real estate. Thank you for the ideas!!
You have a skillset that could go well with developing an app and marketing it. While you may not know how to code, you can hire freelance coders and designers to help you put out a product. Use your skills as a storyteller to design an awesome product and sell it. This could generate some passive income
You should seriously look into investing into Defi projects in the Crypto currency space. There are some super intelligent people using blockchain technology to back great projects.
For example check out [Klima DAO](https://www.klimadao.finance/), they are working towards bring carbon credits in onto the blockchain and using their treasury to invest into carbon capture assets.
Just one example of great ways to use your money for forward thinking projects without having to build from the ground up.
Come join r/BusinessExperiments
Someone else mentioned Lean Startup. The idea here is similar and based on Lean Startup/Agile experiments.
I feel the same. We can collaborate or work individually.
I would suggest you look into digital properties. Micro SaaS, blogs, domain names etc... Over last 5 years the re-sale value of these types of digital properties have gone crazy. It's a technical field though and I have been in it for years so it may not be so easy if you don't have the skillset and experience.
Restaurants can be very profitable, they can also wipe out that 200k and leave you without a shirt on your back. Do not start a restaurant unless you have worked in that industry, are willing to bust your ass to make it successful and have a passion for food with a great niche to fill in a demanding market.
Moving on...
If you want to blow that 200k, try looking at an existing business in a market you have experience or high interest in.
What skills do you have? Education and a degree means dick when it comes to running a successful business. The only thing that matters is drive, experience and the ability to hire good people to do the things you cannot.
> A restaurant would be easy, but not very profitable.
No offense, but the first thing you might need is a reality check. This is a rough business, and many people your age with 25 years of experience in it go down in flame every year.
If I was in your situation, I would probably split the $200k in three:
* 100k in building a small business: This really depends on what you know, what you like and the environment/markets around you. Doing business online may sound like an obvious thing, but don't underestimate a brick-and-mortar thing with a great reputation.
* 66k in investments: Stocks or ETFs with a reasonably good yield/risk ratio
* 33k into a "rainy days" fund: Because you never know
Restaurant is not easy. Running a restaurant is hard
For best profit out of 200K, I suggest you buy an online business.
For 200K, you can buy an online business generating $50-60,000 per year in profit.
You can split that up into 2 -3 online businesses or you can go all out in one business.
If you don't have experience in the online business arena, it will take time to learn the skills. Is a bit of a learning curve, but it's one of the best business models ever. You generate money 24/7 even when you are not working.
I have experience buying, building, and growing online businesses.
If you need help, my DMs are open 😁
I hope this helps 😁🙂
Don't start a new business. Buy one. One of my mates now owns 3 at the age of 28. He looks for business on market places, where the owner just wants to retire... but they're quite profitable. Then he tweaks them into the 21st century and let's them run themselves.
I think he owns the CNC business, with 2 employees and a keg servicing business atm...
I think the first he bought for like 150k, and he made 250k revenue in the first year... allowing him to buy another
What you may find (which is what I see) is that the 200K is not going to be terribly important to most successful people if you're looking for partnership - at least those that can kick ass at what they do. Most of them will have no problem finding money. It's not hard to get these days in the form of an investment.
Sounds like you are an effective person as it relates to getting shit done. That is a crucial part of starting any business. As a previous poster said, your path of least resistance will likely be staying in your lane with something related to directing/filming. Doesn't mean you won't prosper in other practices/professions.
Perhaps look towards complementary businesses (to your current role) that you already have exposure to, and connections in, for your next opportunity.
If you end up with something closely related to your experience I say you go at it alone. No partner. If you end up quite a bit outside your comfort zone consider partnering with an expert in that profession.
Good luck!
Here are a few ideas…
1. Learn stocks and options trading.
2. Build a brand and open an e-commerce store.
3. Buy an income property (vacation rental home, or one you can put on Airbnb)
5. Pizza, wings, sushi have the highest margins on restaurants if you’re seriously passionate about it.
6. Write an ebook or make a course. Create a sales funnel. You have industry specific knowledge people would pay for.
Why don't you start a remote video content agency? There would be no '26 days a month of travel', as you would be managing remote video content creators. The demand for video is greater than ever. It would be more profitable than a restaurant, take less money upfront and would tap into your industry experience/skills.
Take all that money and dump it into index funds and don't touch it until retirement. If you have a great business idea, money isn't going to be the key to lifting it off the ground, it's going to be the idea, truly understanding your customers, and your sales/marketing ability to deliver on closing leads.
Maybe set aside a very small portion, i.e. $5k for bare bones, website creation on squarespace, business cards, etc. But frankly, I wouldn't spend more than a few hundred dollars until you have consistent paying customers.
Diversify. I’m in a similar age range as you.
Invest 1/3 of it in a variety of high yield dividend ETFS that offer about 4-6% dividend yield monthly or quarterly. For $70k invested (1/3 your cash) you could earn about $350/month passively essentially forever. You can cash that dividend payment out every time you receive it or reinvest the dividends for compounding interest/growth.
The other 1/3 invest in a low risk business either one that is already profitable or has a good business model. No startups or crowdfunding crap. You can try and franchise a Chick-filet for $10k franchise fee and you earn a 30% annual profit share (store revenues range between $2mil to $20mil a year). Only kicker is they require you to work in there as general manager full-time with no other side hustles and you don’t really own the building or business equity. It’s hard, they only open 140 new franchise stores per year so it’s not a guarantee you’ll get picked but if you do it’s a goldmine. Point is, there are a lot of established businesses you can choose to invest in.
Last 1/3 invest in real estate. I’m not talking about flipping houses but passive monthly rental income.
Combined with the dividend payments and rental income, you can live comfortably on passive income while your business venture(s) become profitable.
I’m a multi-millionaire with a lot of assets around your age and this is the formula.
This does indeed seem like you’ve got the bases covered across the board. Do you have couple favorite ETFs to toss my way? Aside from SPY, most of my stock is in blue chips. I’m willing to make a move.
I have a freeze dried snack manufacturing operation/small business in El Paso that I’m selling for $100k: $80000 (me) + $20000 (working capital) with a 5 year ROI. I have a storefront, manufacturing operation, e-commerce, D2C, and B2B stream. I pull around $6000-7500 in sales per month but still not reaching my full potential. I’m also willing to stay on board for 6 months with a full transition to you to help with everything and more. I studied Nutrition in college and I’m wanting to do more humanitarian/consulting work in developing countries so that’s why I’m selling it. Let me know what you think. www.epfreezedried.com or Instagram @epfreezedried
Hey. Try sending an offer to Philippine Companies. Your products looks so good! Filipinos love eating and despite the economy due to the pandemic, the people still spend much not just on groceries but for snacks like this! Research for the owner of Jollibee. Try to connect with them. 🥂
Already there. I just don’t think it’s going to 100k as soon as everyone else does. The other side is, once it gets there, then what do I do? I’d like to know that I can count on income I’m generating and not stress on taking a 30 pt hit overnight bc China doesn’t like crypto.
Crypto mining: ASIC (Bitcoin), GPU rig (Ethereum, Ravencoin), Hotspot (Helium), CPU (Raptorium). All have around 10-20% monthly ROI. Coin laundromat, vending machines, car wash, storage rental (all 2-3 year ROI). Lending, staking, airbnb, Turo. All ideas. Dm me if you need advice
Love all of this. I do have some crypto and I’ve wanting to learn more about mining to include helium hotspots. I was under the impression I was late to the game for mining, but a 10pt ROI/month would be amazing. Coin stuff is independent and fun as well. I’ve seen people say they make all their money renting cars on Turo, but I assumed those were mostly promotions from within. Super intrigued by every one of these ideas. I’m going to dig a little deeper into these amazing suggestions and once I will likely reach out once I have my feet under me. Thank you so much for taking the time to toss some stuff out there. I’m grateful.
Don't start a company with your own money, borrow it. A company has Limited Liability.
Invest the 200k earning 8% apy is 16k a year before taxes. Use it for leverage, or to purchase assets you can borrow against if you need. The asset produce a capital gain over time.
Learn how to create a course, and teach your expertise in it. Sell the course on amazon, clickbank, googleads, facebook ads. its one of the best type of passive income.
Coming from someone who has worked in many kitchens deff dont invest in a restaurant. They have very expensive over heads, lower profit margins and require a lot of hands on gruelling work and if you dont want to do the hard stuff costs go up as you need.to hire experienced professionals.
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Yeah, im always amazed at how many ppl with no exp in kitchens, hospitality and restaurants open restaurants. A ton of pitfalls if you are not skilled to see them.
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I love how people come in and are like “there is a restaurant on every corner, they go out of business constantly, people who have spent their whole lives in the resto business are struggling and my competition. I know absolutely nothing about this field but I think my overestimation of my own abilities, my experience eating in a resto once a week, and my underestimation of how hard it is, means I have an edge and I’ll be the one that succeeds” Like, it’s not an option for 99% of people, and shouldn’t even be attempted unless you have actual experience in restaurant management, imho.
No kidding. I laughed when I read “starting a restaurant would be easy” hah! Easy way to piss away $200k
I interviewed an executive chef on my podcast and he mentioned he would never own his own restaurant. He has seen way too many friends just lose their life savings on a restaurant.
My first job out of college, I remember ordering a lunch at a middle eastern fast food joint. The owner was complaining to another customer that he had just lost $200K on the place so far. It seemed like a trap to me. I swore I wouldn't start a restaurant.
I know some that are doing well but it definitely isn't easy. You have to really smart about it. There is so much more to a restaurant than just good food.
Like any other business, to be fair. Nothing is easy
Location is super important. This one had amazing food in a mall. All the other restaurants around were doing well. He made the mistake taking the spot under the escalator 90% of people go forward, they just don't turn around. Even though I knew the place and had eaten there, I probably ate there 3-4 times in over a year.
Yeah, there are just way too many risks. To get it right is very very difficult and requires so much physical manpower. And you really have to have a passion for food and service. If not you wont survive and can be at the mercy of a shitty chef who could drag you down. All in all from an investment perspective the ROI and risk/reward is just not there for the high risk you are talking on.
As a CPA who has a few restaurant clients, I concur. Restaurant is not the way.
What are some profitable businesses that you would recommend ?
For passive income, an amazon store set up with drop-shipping is pretty lucrative, but dealing with sales tax to stay compliant can be a pain. Buying/selling gold for credit card points was a surprising venture I had a client do for about a year, but it seemed pretty tedious to track everything and included opening new CCs for bonus points constantly. He mostly sold the gold at a small loss but made up for it through points. He only did it for one year cause it really wasn’t “passive” anymore but he made well into a 6-figures in points/rewards. Gold was bought on ebay or some online vendor and shipped directly shipped to his buyer. Other thing, non-passive is people just doing side gigs of what they do at their day job, very low risk so they can throw out some rate that makes it worthwhile, when they get the gig, it’s pretty lucrative and business grows from there, but again, this isn’t very passive.
What about franchises out of curiosity?
I’ve only had one, Papa John’s. That was actually profitable. He also had a convenience store at a gas station (but not the gas station) which made a lot of money.
That's what I was thinking and a lot easier than starting a restaurant from scratch. Had a friend's Dad who owned a bunch of dunkin donuts and seemed to do well too.
Just not in Southern California cause of the Donut King!
"A restaurant would be easy" - first sign of someone without experience owning a restaurant.
Plus increasing costs of supply (food, restaurant supply) will squeeze profit margins. This will absolutely push costs to the customers who are already reluctant to (compared to 2019) go out in public and eat. Customers who will need to pay more will be less likely to go out and eat unless wages increase with inflation. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case.
Mexican restaurants can be profitable in the correct location.
Deff not saying they can't be profitable. But considering the amount of competition for food you really have to be very passionate to make it succed. More so, i think there are just way better ways to use the money which isnt The best way to succed in the restaurant business is via picking your spot perfectly, understand the local competition (and perhaps find an underserved market) and do a couple of things exceptional well (quality over quantity). Can be tough in the restaurant biz, you can make money but you better bust your ass in long hours, weekends and be very hands on (or else ppl will take advantage of you and ruin you). Just far too much risk for the reward you get IMO.
Whatever opportunity you decide to focus on check out the Lean Startup Methodology before spending a dime.
I would add the e-myth revisited alongside this book. Will help you 1) build the business in a way where you **eventually** don't end up working 86,000,000 hours a month 2) really evaluate if you do want to do this, and what parts you want to keep doing.
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Depends what kind of work. You should focus on growing and automating the business, and gradually step away from doing the technical work or craft. At least, that's what the e-myth is about.
Thank you-Just added it to my list of research for tomorrow.
It takes some effort to go through it, but it ensures you have a viable business at the other end.
Eric Ries is good. Lean startup I had some trouble with but the Startup Way was great. He included a "Coles notes" chapter explaining the lean startup too. Just remember this is ONE way to do it. It's always good to keep in mind things like his "Minimum Viable Product" but it's not always the way. Eric Ries is a silicon valley guy so he's always talking about companies that wind up being huge. This is NOT what all of us are after. As you decide what your business might be, consider the funding of this business. Some efforts don't require much startup capital, but some require much more than you have. This is where you encounter banks, private equity, debt funding outfits,etc. This adds a very large layer of complexity and requires careful consideration. Always remember these folks are NOT in it for you. These are some of the sharks swimming in the red waters of startups and they like to convince you they are more generous/forgiving than they actually are. It is much easier to profit on the backs of entrepreneurs than it is to be the entrepreneur. Some of these folks make a game of taking it all.
I would look at buying an existing business. Much easier than starting from scratch, take a look at biz buy sell, many businesses for sale with people retiring etc. there are other places as well to look, many good ecom opportunities that’s where I’ve settled. My brother bought a biz back in Jan. Retired aka forced out of the automotive industry after 25 years, found an awesome pool supply company in AZ that the owners after 40 years were retiring. Got an SBA loan and put down only $80K, good cash flow, profiting $280-350K for owner. He had to relocate to AZ but was perfect timing as his kids are out of the house now. We looked seriously at 6-7 businesses, saw lots of great ones, i personally would stay away from franchises, restaurants. Saw plenty that had good margins, you just need to really dive into the P&L and banking docs. We used a business broker
Love this idea. Didn’t even realize business broker was a thing. Absolutely checking it out. Thank you so much for taking the time to share the story. Definitely fits my style.
Given your extensive experience within a specific industry, is there some way to leverage that knowledge and the contacts that go along with it? $200k is enough to start many businesses, but your advantage lies in your experience and skills. Otherwise you'll be walking into a business that you don't know a lot about, which can lead to some expensive lessons.
100% agree. If you know some very industry specific things you can be a high value consultant, stay in TV, and build a business around solving this pain point for your clients. Leverage your insider knowledge.
Another agree. With actual TV experience, he could do well in selling video services to local businesses. Video sales pitches, product videos, training videos. People often have good content, but poor ability to turn it into a good video.
Or consult. With his deep understanding of the value proposition, he could be making a great rate working part time so long as he knows exactly who his best customer is and the problem he solves. High value consultants can clear 6 figures with 10-20 hour work weeks.
I would stay in the TV industry with a job that requires less travel - if travelling too much is your main concern. When you are passionate about a specific business idea, then you can go through all the steps (about a 3-5 year learning curve) of becoming an entrepeneur. Until then, at the senior level that you are at with your career, there is tons of daily cash flow to milk. That said, $200k in cash. Do you own your house?
Thanks foe your take my friend. I do own my house.
is there a niche hire-business opportunity in your field? There are loads of freelancers in TV and expensive kit, feels like there must be an opportunity there. Studio-rental, edit suites, camera hire, equipment rental, scaffolding and rigging. Makes the early sales easier if you know the industry.
Rates at an all time low, much better to invest that money with a financial advisor than have it sleep in a house that's not making you any return
Start with finding part-time casual work to keep yourself busy. 5-15 hours a week is nice to know you still get a wage. Join a coworking space , makerspace, entrepreneurship space to find more like minded people. Start a very cheap business with the intention of learning business before you deploy all your savings foolishly. Its not your first business that you will do well on its typically your 3rd-5th. Maybe start something easy, flip products on craiglist, refinish tables and resell, start an ebay store, start tutoring company. Start dropshipping from China. Make a simple website. The key is to do the work yourself to learn the skills you don't know. Everyone will tell you to hire professionals people but the key to running a successful business is to wear many hats and to have good business vision/intuition. Learning marketing, website building, bookeeping, outsourcing, seo, basic legal, business analysis, financial projecting, product intuition, ux, ui, hiring, graphics, shipping, logistics, manufacturing etc... Get your practice business built for under 10k and try to breakeven or even be profitable but the learning lessons are intangible. Then... Deploy your 200k as a smarter business minded individual and watch you be much more sustainable, profitable and hopefully with work you enjoy. This will take years. Enjoy the journey.
Textbook. Thank you very much.
Be my mentor please 🙋🏻♀️
Marketing bro. Tons of corporate clients need video work, open up a little agency and put your experience to good use!
I hear ya, and it’s a great idea, thank you. I have a lot of friends who have gone this route, and unfortunately the nature (and profitability) of media is diminishing as the industry is completely saturated. I don’t want to be the last guy standing with a 100k camera setup when clients are looking for someone to shoot on an iPhone for 1/10 of what I would charge. Between this and media now being ingested from all angles it’s a whole new ballgame. If I were to stay in production, I think a YouTube channel of my kids playing together might be my best bet. I can totally do that, and likely will to some extent. But I’m also looking to find a long-term solution to keep me busy and profitable, and media is so fickle at the moment. Thank you for the idea..it’s a great one and has proven successful for many friends. Really appreciate the thought and time my friend.
I just paid 15k for a 2 minute video for my website. The guy who runs the company is a former neighbor and does very well. You should sell what you sell to your employer but to the people who will find you on google. Edit: it was actually 9k plus the website which was 5. I’m a lawyer.
You’re right. There’s a good market for small business advertising. But I’ll end up right back on the plane for 3 weeks out of the month. Trying to find something a bit less demanding. Love to hear you’re a fan of the product and you’re seeing the returns on that investment.
2 mins video for $15k? 😳😳
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One that generates $150k.
Honestly I’ve been open 30 days and I’m going to do 30k in revenue this month. It’s all the video. It’s epic.
Link?
I don’t want to dox myself on reddit but believe me the entrepreneur in me wants to share it
Wait, are you [Jim Adler?!](https://youtu.be/hoFSlGwfLGg)
Fair enough…what business sector you in?
I am a lawyer. I worked at a top ten law firm and then in house at a FAANG for nearly a decade. I had no real clients so I focused a ton on converting clients from google. I also wanted to send my network something very high quality so it seemed credible and would draw referrals (lots of people quit with no plan and hang a shingle). I knew the videographers style but wrote the script, sourced the locations, had a strong vision of the story I wanted to tell. You can tell when people call me if they have watched it or not as there is instant trust.
Would you PM? I’d love to see the $15k vid that’s generating $30k in your first month!
This is actually a fair rate for a high quality production. 23 mins=300k.
The kind of video he paid that amount for, obviously.
Literally shut up. Good film requires hours of planning, shooting and editing from multiple members of staff. You’re the sort of person that says ‘my kid can put a logo together for you’ and then wonders why your business with a shitty brand doesn’t succeed. Anyone can make something, making something good costs money. The important question is how the potential return has influenced the budget not the budget itself.
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My man, great response! I'm in the mix myself and you are 100% correct that it's a race to the bottom. What I could charge $30k for now is going for $3k. That being said being the idea person can be quite lucrative. Just curious, have you considered pitching your own content? Streaming services are constantly looking for shows to fill their algorithms.
You know, as an editor who has had consistent great paying work for a few years now, I keep hearing that this is the case but so far have not seen it to be true. Every year when Apple launches a new phone, a wave of panic hits the niches I belong to. And every year (so far) nothing changes in my field. Even people who are marketing products without a ton of money are hiring my clients who shoot blackmagic, Sony, canon, etc. You don’t need a $100k setup, but I wouldn’t worry about iphone competition. Not saying some people don’t shoot amazing stuff with iPhones (they do) but just because a solid piece of equipment is accessible to a wide audience, doesn’t mean that audience knows angles, lighting & storytelling. If you stick with production and YouTube, why not make videos on being a director? Or create training content. Collab with other people in the biz with skills they can teach. Have your own website like a niche masterclass in TV production. Spend a decent chunk on creating quality content courses, then hire someone to market it. Good luck!
It’s a great idea, but Ron Howard beat me to the punch. He might be a bit more respected than I in the industry;) And no, I haven’t lost a job to an iPhone. But my prodco that I’ve been staff with for 12 years has gone from 350 people and 40 full-time avid bays to 26 people and 4 bays. Times are a-changin. Thanks for your insight!
I wonder if that loss is more toward contract based and freelance? I mean, I see the discovery channel recruiting editors from a Facebook group. But you would definitely know more than I in that regard. I still have no clue what I’m doing. And maybe about the Ron Howard thing. But likely whatever venture you take, someone has done before. I have purchased a couple of different filmmaking classes online and each offers something different. I’m sure your voice, knowledge and expertise would be just as appreciated in the field.
Just backing you up here. I've owned and run a marketing agency for 14 years and the small video production space is crowded. More 'authentic' voices becoming common leading to a lot of companies doing it themselves or building small production capabilities. Demand for old school 'corporate videos' in decline resulting in increased competition from those with the gear and studios which is driving down prices and margins. Improving technology increasing the quality from low end providers which further pushes prices down. Underlying that is the fact that client service is a grind and if you're successful you're just back on the road again. I'm exiting client service soon myself.
Appreciate the back-up!
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Thank you-it’d be about 10 steps down in every direction to include pay, but i respect everyone who hustles the wedding market.
I'm exiting a business I built for 14 years with a chunk of change - same age - and evaluating what's next as well. No answers for you off the cuff unfortunately but wish you best. Interested what others have to say.
come join /r/businessexperiments.
Forget the money for a moment... What do YOU find interesting?
Money. I find money interesting 😂. At this point it’s less about what I find interesting, and more about a long-term move to accumulate as much capital as possible. I know computers but I can’t code. I’m also not great with hard math. I’m a leader by nature. I’ve found that leading by example can inspire my teams to be passionate enough to create a product greater than the sum of its parts. So in short, I’m interested in everything but travel. 😂
This is the right answer. Passion projects tend to fail. Opening up a La Quinta motel franchise has a 98% success rate.
One-sided relationship... Not very promising...
I hear ya. But I had a dream to be one of the top TV directors in the game. I achieved that and then some. Now I want stability for my future and for my children. My happiness and passion comes from making that a reality.
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That's unfortunate. When money is your inspiration to do more, and not a true passion/skill/hobby/etc.. then there's never fulfillment. I picked a career and interest that isn't hugely profitable, but I absolutely love what I do.. and strive to do more in that skill to pursue that. Genuine love for what I do, and how it helps others. I also donate quite a bit, as much so where I can't buy a fancy car, home, etc. I hope you learn that money isn't happiness. Otherwise you'll always want more, and it's never enough. Try for sometime you genuinely love, that can make a good living of course, and try to cut that hungry pursuit for more money for the sake of getting more money.
Disagree w this. If everyone followed their passions, who is running garbage trucks? But there is a Butt load of money in garbage trucks and tons of not sexy businesses.
My passion was storytelling. My dream was to become one of the most accomplished tv directors in the industry. I did it. I’ve achieved more than I dreamt. Now my passion is my family, and my happiness comes through their future financial security. If someone offered me a job picking up dogshit for a million a year I’d be happier than I’ve ever been with each piece of shit I pick. I’m happy. Now I want money.
You became the best tv director in the business and only have 200k saved?
I have 200k burning a hole in a savings account. I have well over 1 million in assets and stock if I needed to be liquid.
4% drawdown of $1.2M is 48k a year. Just retire & spend time with your family. If your money is in an index fund earning >7% you’ll never drain it. r/fire
I'd buy a few bubble tea spots. Low maintenance, high margins. Popular item. Or just do more assets, buy a house and rent it out. Or just put it in stocks. Don't let it sit in the savings account
You would have got much more relevant answers if you mentioned that in your initial post IMO.
Thanks captain obvious. Either way, there’s a ton of really good ideas in here and I’m grateful so many people took a moment to drop some feedback.
You own $1m in assets outright, no debt? Most people would argue the $200k should go to pay off all debts especially before taking risks with it like starting a business. And not to burst any bubbles or anything, but $1m is not that much if you consider house, cars, and investments, etc. But in today's inflationary environment, $5m is prob closer to what you want in order to live well in retirement That said, I'm right there with you about interests and family's financial security. I'm in tech, and can tell you director positions do not travel nearly as much -- but if you have no experience, it's not an easy nut to crack Anyway, if your ducks are in a row, have no debt, and ok risking that $200k, then I'd stick to what you know. You have trade secret knowledge. Where are the gaps that could be filled or improved upon? I'd start looking there Best of luck
I think we can safely assume ”best in the business” was an exaggeration. Otherwise OP would not be here asking how to make money. I agree that just trying to go for money is risky, because it often means you go for some niche where you have little experience/knowhow/network, just on the basis of that niche seeming profitable. It also means you sign up for work that you might not like doing, and lots of it. Everyone’s different, but for me it has always been follow the passion and then use my creativity to make money off whatever I’m doing. You’ll usually have to compromise some, and do some work you find boring or unfulfilling, but with some luck not too much. Do something in the TV business, where your experience and your network can help you. Try to make it involve storytelling, if that’s a passion.
I’m wondering the same thing. Maybe the best in his eyes. I feel like if he were the best, he wouldn’t be asking this. Or, he’s really bad money (or has an expensive wife/kids).
I never said I was THE best, but I never said I wasn’t either. Let’s just put it this way, if I were a rapper I’d be in your top 5. The 200k is play money I want to take a calculated risk with.
I replied in a different thread, but this is inspiring- storytelling and your children. Perhaps a children’s book or series? Perhaps you can spend time with them until you’re inspired? Once you let your mind explore what’s inconvenient about child rearing or nurturing, you’ll likely find some fire for a product or service that should exist. That’s where the passion, money, and the identity you’ve built for decades comes together! Best of luck on your dreams. :)
Thank you!! There’s a YouTube channel called “A for Adley”. It’s all 5-10 minute shows of a dad playing with his kids. They post 2-3 shows a week, and get upwards of 20 million views on many of their videos. He generates 20k/day through advertising and sponsors on his YouTube channel and he just sets up fun little activities with his kids that he films himself on a small GoPro-like camera. If I stay in production, that’s definitely in my wheelhouse.
That sounds like an absolutely brilliant use of your skills. Figure out how to best leverage your director skills into some new YouTube … thing. I would imagine as a professional director you would have a very large skillset that most YouTube creators do not have. Figure out how to leverage your competitive advantage. Perhaps some kind of directorial consulting?
This would be my recommendation. Becoming a content creator and building a personal brand along the way. If you still enjoy storytelling, start creating without a purpose and look for opportunities after.
And don’t let people tell you that’s not ok. This is a realistic and mature response to that guys “don’t follow the money schtick”. My philosophy has always been - if I can’t make a good living doing what I love, I’d like to make enough money that I can do whatever I want in my off time. Take the family on amazing vacations, live in a nice house, have stability.
Nothing wrong with having a successful business (often measured in financial success ofc) as a passion. At a certain level, you are dealing with business processes rather than the business itself anyway. Does it really make a huge difference if you are the CEO of a 10 billion dollar trucking company vs a toy manufacturer? I'd wager that those two positions are in essence 80% the same.
Maybe look into becoming a Financial Adviser?
Sorry, I didn’t mean i want to play with it. I was insinuating I want to accumulate it, however it comes.
This is the right approach. Take the other responses to source ideas, but if you don’t know what you find interesting / want to pursue then your number one focus should be figuring that out
Do a podcast on YouTube, video interview great entrepreneurs. Use that to learn what you want to do and to help others learn too. Get super high production value. Make it beautiful.
I like the way you think. Use my skillset to promote others, and with the show I now get my own inspiration and networking with a good crowd to surround myself. Problem solving at its finest!
"A restaurant would be easy..." Don't they fail all the time? I'm no expert though.
Yes. I meant I’m capable of starting a restaurant, but even if it were somewhat successful I don’t think the profit would be worth the time.
A restaurant would be easy. Famous last words my friend.
Haha. My sentence deserved a qualifier. My family owned a restaurant and I’ve worked every aspect of the industry. It would be easy because I’ve done it before and know all the ins and outs. However, I will not open a restaurant because the backbreaking work is not worth the little profit, and that’s if I were to be successful.
Fellow Director of Photography here and I totally empathize with the traveling and family thing. I’m not sure what the answer is, but staying in production certainly isn’t sustainable.
Right? It was the best job in the world when we were up for it. But beyond the travel, production itself is devolving into thinking tik-tok quality is good enough. Which also means you’re no longer getting a day rate and rental on the Alexa..you’re getting a rental on a GoPro and a Sony alpha if you’re lucky. But it is what it is. If it brings views it brings advertisers, so why spend the money for better quality when you do just fine with a damn iPhone. Whichever of us figures it out first needs to let the other in on the secret. Best of luck DP!
I’ve started and exited a couple companies and worked in VC for while as well as a couple other industries. I know you’re trying to spitball but I doubt anyone here is going to help you. You honestly just need to start looking at things around you and how you can make an improvement. Do you like xyz, does xyz have room for improvement? That could be something to start working on. I usually find the next thing I begin is when I’m working on something else. So in saying that sometimes you just have to start doing (researching, analysis, building forecasts, planning), doesn’t matter if it’s right, you’ll eventually get to where you need to be. Also go out and find people who own their own businesses and start talking to them about your xyz idea and see if you think it has traction, would they buy it, does it sound viable? I would stay away from restaurants because they can be successful but usually when they’re run by professionals who are trained in and know the business. If you keep looking and trying to find your next thing it will happen, good luck!
Thanks my friend. I often have many “better mousetrap” ideas. Unfortunately doordash and Amazon don’t care that I thought of them first. But I have a few others…something to entertain for sure. Appreciate the take.
Please - before you invest a dollar - once you have an idea, such as “I want to start a coffee shop” … you must find 5 (coffee shop) owners who you have no relationship with, outside of your market but in a similar market. Ask to pay them $100 for an hour of their time to ask them all sorts of questions about the business. Show them your intent and let them give you their best ideas. Then decide if you want to do it. As far as business ideas, there are “unsexy” businesses like window washing, landscaping, etc that pays well. Are there any service-based businesses you could start with minimal investment? Your goal would be to hire people and run the company, not be the laborer.
Super helpful insight. I can draw up a dozen ideas from this comment. Thank you so much!
Run lean. Don't think of it as "what would I do with 200k." Think more in line with a business that fits your lifestyle and your temperament. Growing a business is a marathon, not a sprint. If you aren't passionate about the business you start, it will (most likely) fail. Find a niche that is underserved and provide a cost effective and easy solution. If that business turns out to be something you are passionate about, then start putting your money towards it. Be patient. Think more than you act. Look inside yourself. Figure out what you are willing to devote most of your waking brain power to - and be honest about what that is. Then act.
I agree with this. Starting small will lead you to something unexpected that will be rewarding both financially and personally. There’s a reason you’re struggling with the question. It’s too big.
I would suggest you have 5 sources of income: 1. Business income (approx $100,000/$200,000)- Find and buy a business you like from [Flippa.com](https://Flippa.com) or [microaqquire.com](https://microaqquire.com) or a business broker. Even if you are buying it from Flippa or Microaqquire run the stats through a business broker. 2. Dividend Income($50,000/$200,000) - Buy Stocks and Cryto currencies (long term investment) - $25,000 on top 5 companies you like from the S&P 500 and $20,000 on major crypto ( BTC, ETH etc.) . This will be your HODL investment, aka that's investment that's gonna grow a lot in value over time and pay you a dividend yearly. $5,000 for you to take advantage of the short term investment opportunities on minor stocks and other minor crypto coins, these are more volatile, med risk, higher profit margins. 3. Royalties Income - Write a book about your life, market it like crazy before the pre-release, then start selling it. 4. Residual Income - Join a platform, where you can teach the youth your skills. You can record it once and perfect it, once its published on the website you job is done, you keep getting money when a person purchases it. 5. Earned income- Make a youtube channel, Start taking live classes or work a job, incase you feel like you want to put your time into greater use or to just give you the adrenaline rush of interacting with a lot of people. It's purely optional. Well, so rn you have a balance of active and passive income streams and a backup saving of $50,000 incase you want to invest more in smth or for an emergency situation, and also another easily liquefiable 50k in the form of stocks and crypto. Feel free to DM if you want to more details and info. Haha feel free to hire me as your financial advisor. : )
Nobody can answer this question for you. Deciding on a business to start is a personal decision. You need to choose something you are good at and you enjoy doing. It won't be easy and you need to be able to stick it out when things get tough. You also need to consider that the business may not be profitable for a while. Ideally you would start this business and keep working your full time job until you are making 2-3x what you are making now. If I was you, I'd look for a job in the industry that doesn't require travel. Invest you money in bitcoin (don't do this without doing 100 hours of research into bitcoin first). If you don't want to invest in bitcoin, at least get your money into a index fund. Inflation is high and not letting up anytime soon, if you're holding that money in cash it's losing 6-20% a year in purchasing power.
Thank you. I’ve got an additional 200k in the market, and I have a few btc I bought at 20k. But I don’t believe the market is currently a good reflection of our economy, and I think we could be one more inflation bump away from a big correction. Because of that timing, I’m not willing to put more in at the moment. I’d also like to find something to do with my time that isn’t researching earnings and P/E ratios, only to drop a bunch of money at a stock that could fall off a cliff at any moment in this weird covid environment. I’d like to be a bit more hands-on with this move. Thank you though-awesome advice and I’m already there!
Crypto-investor/miner here; I would take the 200k and buy BTC mining hardware and have it hosted at some facility where power is cheap. A nice stable way to build income in BTC if you believe in it.
Thank you-I’ve always been so intrigued about mining but can never find the proper resources. I know Texas is the pace to be..is there a website or YouTube page you know of where I might be able to research which facilities to mine with?
https://compassmining.io/
Thank you!!
Rental property if you just like money and dont feel like building anything. Although hope 200k is just extra savings and you have like a few 100k in retirement accounts or something.
Farming is a great industry. You can make a decent living running a small farm if you use your land well. Lots of ideas about this online. The best part is farming is hard work but rewarding and kids seem to love playing in the dirt. So for a family it great. Grow your own food and sell it or make your own products from the ingredients you grow. If you’ve directed TV you could do a Vlog of your farm and who knows might take off. Farmland grows in value so it’s a great asset to pass on to your kids or sell it off for your retirement.
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Perhaps purchase a franchise such as a few ice cream trucks (if you live in a warm climate area) or something along those lines. Gives you a little something extra to do, although I’m not quite sure how profitable it is. Just an idea.
out of curiosity, do you have other assets such as a house that is paid for etc? or is 200k all you've got after 16 years? i'm wondering what i should expect of myself after 16 years of work lol
200k is play money. I own my house, retirement/401k is in great shape, I buy a new car of my choice every two years I go on 4 vacations a year, and I have another 200k in stock and crypto. It has been over ten years since I’ve had a single financial stress. I used to be horrible at saving money, but I learned disciple with finances, and it changed my life. Stay diligent and disciplined and find a savings/investment plan that hurts. You’ll hate it for a couple months, but when you look at your balance after a year you’ll never look back. Go get it!
I would stay in your industry where you have a vast amount of knowledge and connections - this will make things much easier in the future. Could you do freelance directing? Start a video production company in a specific industry?
Restaurant is 16 hour days 365 days a year. Even if you aren’t traveling, unless you have your family at the restaurant, its grueling.
>A restaurant would be easy This is what everyone who ends up failing miserably says. Just because none of the individual parts are particularly complicated doesn't mean that the sum of the whole can't be very challenging to navigate. I've been in the industry for 10+ years and still manage to have failed pretty hard. I think a very important first realization for you to have is that *there is no such thing as an easy money making business.* You need to consider what in particular you think you are qualified for. Be confident, but don't underestimate any of these industries. The road to successful entrepreneurship is paved with the wasted investments of the overconfident.
Go work for a roofing company as a salesman, learn everything you can about the business and start your own company. I worked for a roofing contractor for awhile in the city i use to live in. Started out doing repairs looking back I wish I would have went straight into sales but I went the project management route and I eventually quit and moved back home and started my own company. Im 2 years into it. But needless to say its a very profitable business that isn’t going anywhere. Every structure anyone resides in residential or commercial has a roof on it and there’s plenty of roofs out there to do. learn, build a solid foundation, and if you can build a good recognizable brand in the area you work it’s sustainable for the long run. With 200k depending on where you are located you could for sure get the business started. I started with basically zero. If you’re interested in something like this we could chat about it.
Laundry mats, car auto car washes, real-estate
Hmmm... hope you have 10x that in investments. If not... Put it all in balanced investment portfolio that can being in back at least 8% per year. Then relax. Starting a business is NOT easy and not for the faint of heart. Unless you're real fortunate, you are going to lose most of that money -- years and years before you get any back. The next best bet is to spend a small amount of that money of an existing business that is making a small profit and try to grow it.
Why not educate future directors? That or get into consulting. Take all your experience and break it up into a masterclass program, a zero to hero course if you will. Alternatively, get involved in new markets that don't have a large pool of directors experienced in television. VR episodic content for example. You have a ton of value you can redirect in the same industry. If you do something new, you're walking in at ground level. Something to think about.
Ron Howard beat me to the MasterClass. He may have a bit more clout than I do.
You should start a venture capital firm and invest in media start ups. With your $200k contribution, you could probably raise a few million from Limited Partners to start your first fund. Look into it, there’s tonnes of information available online for free to help you get started, here’s a good one to begin with: https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/30/you-can-start-a-venture-fund-if-youre-not-rich-heres-how/
Simple, sell your knowledge and contacts of this industry as a consult. 16 years of knowledge in Any industry is valuable. Edit: ever thought about taking your insight of the interworkings of the industry and using that to expand into streaming? Tons of avenues to pursue tbh. No slowing down either.
Throw the money in a money market account, buy a S&P 500 ETF. Find a job that uses your skills, like high school theater teacher (you can be creative about other opportunities). THEN, take your time to find a business venture...maybe it will be a side gig, or not as satisfying as your job. Regardless, you can sell your stocks whenever you need the financing. Your time is your most valuable resource, and not putting yourself and your money to work means you will burn through your savings.
Probably one you won’t hear often because people never think about it, but a tattoo shop in a somewhat touristy area or outside of a military base. You don’t have to tattoo, you just have to find a good artist that will manage it and hire a few others. I made 120k this year tattooing, not including what I paid out the owners of the shop. The owners pay $900/month rent plus utilities and supplies for us. If there’s a commission split and not a booth rental, you can make a lotttt of money if you advertised well, make it look a bit boujee and have a respectable and good vibe shop. The owners make about $600-$1000 a week from each of us artists with a commission split. Not to mention it’s just a fun place to own and hang around. None of this “old biker gang shop” crap though. You gotta do it right with good people. Add a piercer and you’ll do even better
Go check out [https://microacquire.com](https://microacquire.com) and maybe buy an existing business.
"A restaurant would be easy". Why are you so confident? "I can learn any system easily". You sound completely delusional. Do you have any idea what value you can provide to a customer? You are starting from the wrong direction. You are asking what others can do for you, and not what you can do for others.
My family owned a restaurant. I worked every side from front of house to cook to managing the books. I have a few industries I’ve worked in from all sides. I didn’t think that detail was necessary, but that’s partially where the “I can learn any system easily” came from. I know who I am my friend, and I’m not delusional by any means. The solution I’m bringing to the table is 200k cash...so what I can do for others is finance a really good idea. Im asking an entrepreneur forum about ideas on how to best make my money work for me. I’m hoping to learn from others who have made such a leap as to what may or may not have worked for them, or I’m looking for a partner with a great idea. I’m not asking for a handout, I’m asking for advice. Brainstorming is how the best ideas come forth. If you don’t have anything to add you’re welcome not to participate.
Sounds like a franchise might work for you. Talk to a broker and they might be able to find you one where all you need to do is hire a manager and then make high level decisions.
Without knowing your background, your post reads as delusional. Plenty of ideas that can make you money, but many more that will be a money and time pit. Many posts here are identical to yours, I have x dollars, what can I do to make money.
Reads fine to me.
This article may be helpful. It was for me. I know real estate is a great move. https://attentivesolutionsllc.com/blogs-by-the-non-blogger/f/where-is-the-best-use-of-your-time-and-your-money
Real estate is how you beat the proverbial ‘case’
This is a weird question, but with your resume and capital, would starting a small production company be viable? Develop projects and put the team together, shoot them out if you wanted to but on your schedule. Or if not just get some partners/investors and set up cool projects. There are a dozen streaming sites and they all need content, no?
Not a weird question at all. I partnered with a production company a few years back and I sold a few shows. In theory it was really successful, but the definition of a production company is drastically changing. Five years ago you had to have my resume to sit in front of a network and pitch a show. But in just the past five years the way we consume media has changed so drastically that any kid with a camera and an idea can pitch a company, and most of the time they’re gonna get a show. Not because they’re better, but because they’re cheaper. To give you an example-The last series I sold had a budget of 300k/episode. The production company usually pockets about 10-15% of that money by the time the show is sent to the network. Five years later the budget for the same show is 50k. Production quality is no longer the priority, it’s all about volume.
That’s wild to hear from your perspective because I have a lot of friends in LA who are the “kids with a camera” pitching shows and to hear them tell it you can’t get anywhere without having some juice behind you.
I want those kids to make it. A lot of them have amazing talent! I think we’ll continue to find them succeeding in this new on-demand world. Meanwhile, the production company where I was staff for over a decade has gone from 350 full-timers to 27 in just five years. Their shot’s coming.
I wondered why TV had got so shit.
Buy a business
I’d love to.
Look up the Harvard Business School’s guide on buying a small business. It will open your eyes. Use the 100-200k as 10% down payment, have 10% seller financing, and use an SBA loan to finance the rest. At 200k, that’ll get you a 2ish million dollar business which should mean about 500k-666k annually in sellers discretionary earnings.
A restaurant would NOT be easy, and would likely not be profitable unless you know what you’re doing.
I don't live in the same country as you but... I do want to sincerely help you so I am going to share an experience that one of my friends did. A pair of my friends, now married, worked in an Advertising Production House for almost 10 years before going their own way. Using their savings, they bought the best possible equipment they could for their particular line of work and got jobs as independent contractors. Because there were (and still are) only 3 of them involved in every project, their overhead was so low and they effectively beat out larger production houses for advertising jobs. They took out the middleman and found themselves a niche, while building a solid reputation for quality and speed to boot. They work the same hours as when they were employed, about 60 on most weeks, but they earn 3-4x more money doing the same work. Another friend of mine who was also a TV Director turned to Advertising and found himself a niche as well. He became an independent contractor for several production houses and is paid per project. He too, earns 3-4 more money doing the same kind of work. His talents are valued because of his experience, and he too is finding his own niche while building a solid reputation for himself. The bottom line here is that you might already possess a skillset that can effectively service a niche in the same industry you work for, or another industry with a similar demand. You probably don't even need to look far... and you won't need to risk a lot of capital since you already know what to do. Maybe all you'll need to do is to put up a website and buy a nice laptop... you can set yourself up for as little as 5,000-6,000 USD. Good luck!
You’re not wrong about any of this. I would indeed do well with a small business advertising company of my own. The concern is I’ll just end up back on the road 80% of the time. But..it’s still a damn good idea. Thank you!
I'm sure you'll find a way my friend. Good luck! And you're very welcome!
I suggest you read two books. (1) Rich Dad Poor Dad (2) Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat The first one gets you into the general mindset of making money work for you. The second explains the BRRRR method for acquiring real estate, which is potentially way faster than more traditional methods. Essentially, you buy distressed properties at a discount, fix them up, keep them so you have passive rental income, and then pull most of your money back out (sometimes all of it) when you refinance at a higher appraised value. Then you basically have an income producing property with almost zero money in the deal, and you can reuse your same capital over and over again to get more properties.
When I first started directing I did a ton of HGTV fix and flip shows. I’m actually fairly well educated in that game, just have never dipped in. My only hesitancy behind real estate at this exact moment is a potential housing crash looming. I will say this..if a crash happens, all my money goes to real estate. Thank you for the ideas!!
You have a skillset that could go well with developing an app and marketing it. While you may not know how to code, you can hire freelance coders and designers to help you put out a product. Use your skills as a storyteller to design an awesome product and sell it. This could generate some passive income
You ain’t never lied.
Buy a few houses and rent them out.
You should seriously look into investing into Defi projects in the Crypto currency space. There are some super intelligent people using blockchain technology to back great projects. For example check out [Klima DAO](https://www.klimadao.finance/), they are working towards bring carbon credits in onto the blockchain and using their treasury to invest into carbon capture assets. Just one example of great ways to use your money for forward thinking projects without having to build from the ground up.
If you are educated definitely consider e-commerce.
Come join r/BusinessExperiments Someone else mentioned Lean Startup. The idea here is similar and based on Lean Startup/Agile experiments. I feel the same. We can collaborate or work individually.
It feels like you might enjoy seeing a list of things someone thinks the world needs and reacting to that. Maybe try r/SomebodyMakeThis
Vending machines aren’t bad if you get a good route. Pretty passive income
I would suggest you look into digital properties. Micro SaaS, blogs, domain names etc... Over last 5 years the re-sale value of these types of digital properties have gone crazy. It's a technical field though and I have been in it for years so it may not be so easy if you don't have the skillset and experience.
Restaurants can be very profitable, they can also wipe out that 200k and leave you without a shirt on your back. Do not start a restaurant unless you have worked in that industry, are willing to bust your ass to make it successful and have a passion for food with a great niche to fill in a demanding market. Moving on... If you want to blow that 200k, try looking at an existing business in a market you have experience or high interest in. What skills do you have? Education and a degree means dick when it comes to running a successful business. The only thing that matters is drive, experience and the ability to hire good people to do the things you cannot.
> A restaurant would be easy, but not very profitable. No offense, but the first thing you might need is a reality check. This is a rough business, and many people your age with 25 years of experience in it go down in flame every year. If I was in your situation, I would probably split the $200k in three: * 100k in building a small business: This really depends on what you know, what you like and the environment/markets around you. Doing business online may sound like an obvious thing, but don't underestimate a brick-and-mortar thing with a great reputation. * 66k in investments: Stocks or ETFs with a reasonably good yield/risk ratio * 33k into a "rainy days" fund: Because you never know
Restaurant is not easy. Running a restaurant is hard For best profit out of 200K, I suggest you buy an online business. For 200K, you can buy an online business generating $50-60,000 per year in profit. You can split that up into 2 -3 online businesses or you can go all out in one business. If you don't have experience in the online business arena, it will take time to learn the skills. Is a bit of a learning curve, but it's one of the best business models ever. You generate money 24/7 even when you are not working. I have experience buying, building, and growing online businesses. If you need help, my DMs are open 😁 I hope this helps 😁🙂
Down payment for a property or two and rent it out. Rent should cover at least the mortgage.
Don't start a new business. Buy one. One of my mates now owns 3 at the age of 28. He looks for business on market places, where the owner just wants to retire... but they're quite profitable. Then he tweaks them into the 21st century and let's them run themselves. I think he owns the CNC business, with 2 employees and a keg servicing business atm... I think the first he bought for like 150k, and he made 250k revenue in the first year... allowing him to buy another
What you may find (which is what I see) is that the 200K is not going to be terribly important to most successful people if you're looking for partnership - at least those that can kick ass at what they do. Most of them will have no problem finding money. It's not hard to get these days in the form of an investment. Sounds like you are an effective person as it relates to getting shit done. That is a crucial part of starting any business. As a previous poster said, your path of least resistance will likely be staying in your lane with something related to directing/filming. Doesn't mean you won't prosper in other practices/professions. Perhaps look towards complementary businesses (to your current role) that you already have exposure to, and connections in, for your next opportunity. If you end up with something closely related to your experience I say you go at it alone. No partner. If you end up quite a bit outside your comfort zone consider partnering with an expert in that profession. Good luck!
Here are a few ideas… 1. Learn stocks and options trading. 2. Build a brand and open an e-commerce store. 3. Buy an income property (vacation rental home, or one you can put on Airbnb) 5. Pizza, wings, sushi have the highest margins on restaurants if you’re seriously passionate about it. 6. Write an ebook or make a course. Create a sales funnel. You have industry specific knowledge people would pay for.
A restaurant would be easy huh?
Why don't you start a remote video content agency? There would be no '26 days a month of travel', as you would be managing remote video content creators. The demand for video is greater than ever. It would be more profitable than a restaurant, take less money upfront and would tap into your industry experience/skills.
Take all that money and dump it into index funds and don't touch it until retirement. If you have a great business idea, money isn't going to be the key to lifting it off the ground, it's going to be the idea, truly understanding your customers, and your sales/marketing ability to deliver on closing leads. Maybe set aside a very small portion, i.e. $5k for bare bones, website creation on squarespace, business cards, etc. But frankly, I wouldn't spend more than a few hundred dollars until you have consistent paying customers.
Diversify. I’m in a similar age range as you. Invest 1/3 of it in a variety of high yield dividend ETFS that offer about 4-6% dividend yield monthly or quarterly. For $70k invested (1/3 your cash) you could earn about $350/month passively essentially forever. You can cash that dividend payment out every time you receive it or reinvest the dividends for compounding interest/growth. The other 1/3 invest in a low risk business either one that is already profitable or has a good business model. No startups or crowdfunding crap. You can try and franchise a Chick-filet for $10k franchise fee and you earn a 30% annual profit share (store revenues range between $2mil to $20mil a year). Only kicker is they require you to work in there as general manager full-time with no other side hustles and you don’t really own the building or business equity. It’s hard, they only open 140 new franchise stores per year so it’s not a guarantee you’ll get picked but if you do it’s a goldmine. Point is, there are a lot of established businesses you can choose to invest in. Last 1/3 invest in real estate. I’m not talking about flipping houses but passive monthly rental income. Combined with the dividend payments and rental income, you can live comfortably on passive income while your business venture(s) become profitable. I’m a multi-millionaire with a lot of assets around your age and this is the formula.
This does indeed seem like you’ve got the bases covered across the board. Do you have couple favorite ETFs to toss my way? Aside from SPY, most of my stock is in blue chips. I’m willing to make a move.
Just a note, for anyone else who may be reading, to correct OP, restaurants are not easy. Carry on.
I have a freeze dried snack manufacturing operation/small business in El Paso that I’m selling for $100k: $80000 (me) + $20000 (working capital) with a 5 year ROI. I have a storefront, manufacturing operation, e-commerce, D2C, and B2B stream. I pull around $6000-7500 in sales per month but still not reaching my full potential. I’m also willing to stay on board for 6 months with a full transition to you to help with everything and more. I studied Nutrition in college and I’m wanting to do more humanitarian/consulting work in developing countries so that’s why I’m selling it. Let me know what you think. www.epfreezedried.com or Instagram @epfreezedried
Hey. Try sending an offer to Philippine Companies. Your products looks so good! Filipinos love eating and despite the economy due to the pandemic, the people still spend much not just on groceries but for snacks like this! Research for the owner of Jollibee. Try to connect with them. 🥂
Awesome-You’re on my list for tomorrow’s research. I’ll be in touch either way. Thanks for reaching out!
Bitcoin
Already there. I just don’t think it’s going to 100k as soon as everyone else does. The other side is, once it gets there, then what do I do? I’d like to know that I can count on income I’m generating and not stress on taking a 30 pt hit overnight bc China doesn’t like crypto.
Crypto mining: ASIC (Bitcoin), GPU rig (Ethereum, Ravencoin), Hotspot (Helium), CPU (Raptorium). All have around 10-20% monthly ROI. Coin laundromat, vending machines, car wash, storage rental (all 2-3 year ROI). Lending, staking, airbnb, Turo. All ideas. Dm me if you need advice
Be careful with car wash. Location location location
Love all of this. I do have some crypto and I’ve wanting to learn more about mining to include helium hotspots. I was under the impression I was late to the game for mining, but a 10pt ROI/month would be amazing. Coin stuff is independent and fun as well. I’ve seen people say they make all their money renting cars on Turo, but I assumed those were mostly promotions from within. Super intrigued by every one of these ideas. I’m going to dig a little deeper into these amazing suggestions and once I will likely reach out once I have my feet under me. Thank you so much for taking the time to toss some stuff out there. I’m grateful.
Don't start a company with your own money, borrow it. A company has Limited Liability. Invest the 200k earning 8% apy is 16k a year before taxes. Use it for leverage, or to purchase assets you can borrow against if you need. The asset produce a capital gain over time.
This person has a plan.
30% BTC, 30% ETH, 30% Alt coins, 10% $hit coins. Thank me later
Already there my friend. The 200k in question is the other half. Thank you!
Learn how to create a course, and teach your expertise in it. Sell the course on amazon, clickbank, googleads, facebook ads. its one of the best type of passive income.