![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemsybobsyBusiness expansion ideas. Help!
Right. I dunno what to do. I am getting more and more interest, and it's getting to the stage where I'm going to be struggling to fit everybody in. Part of me wants to keep saying YES YES YES and take them all on and expaaaaaand, because I'm not kidding but I want to make some actual money for once in my life and this is my chance. The other part of me says, 'Nooo, keep it small, you're living just about stress-free and you're happy and earning just enough, so just say no!' I also want to move over the other side of the city. I really, really do. I think I want M&M to be Waterside & New Forest business, rather than a Southampton business. Or at least, that's where I want to live. Mostly because I'm bloody fed up of traffic lights.
So the options are pretty much like,
Option 1. Turn down future business and carry on as I am; hoping that gradually word of mouth spreads over Hythe and I lose some of the regulars over the east side of town, and therefore end up working more in Hythe and just going as far as Shirley, which would be ideal - and would justify moving that way. I could carry on as I am now, with my not-too-shabby lifestyle. I will never be able to afford to buy a house unless I shack up with some chump, and I will never be able to rent anywhere with two dogs. So the only solution is keep business bubbling away as it is, with this same amount of income each month (a standard full-time wage, I believe), and perhaps rent some commercial premises in Hythe (and live there in a caravan!) This seems a bit like a fun idea, until you consider that the cheapest, tiniest commercial premises seem to be the same amount of monthly rent as a 2-bed house... and then it doesn't seem very fair.
Option 2. Carry on expanding. Join a business network group in Hythe and try to get tons of business over that way, and take on an employee to cover the Eastsiiiide round, and... just keep it growing? Take on more employees to cover future 'rounds'? I could end up with teams! This is the only way I'm likely to ever be rich enough to be able to live anywhere, ever. But it's also likely to be hassle and worry and stress and I don't deal... being my own boss was supposed to be a great, chilled lifestyle and I'm worried that turning it into a 'business' will feck me up in the brainz. But on the other hand, one day I might be able to have a team of cleaners, and be able to sit in head office (or on my epic, 12-acre farm) with daycare dogs and... SWIMMING POOL.
Other problems include the fact that being 'a business' puts me in direct competition with The Enemy and all that. The world of dog walking/pet care businesses seems to be quite a bitchy competitive world that I don't really wanna be part of. I wouldn't be a rip-off franchise merchant like them though. Also, there are TONS of dog walkers in the Hythe/Waterside area, so it would be better for me financially to stay over this side of Southampton. I guess that's why I'm wanting to take people on, so they can cover it while I mosey about in the Forest. Haha. So many pros, so many cons.
Right. I dunno what to do. I am getting more and more interest, and it's getting to the stage where I'm going to be struggling to fit everybody in. Part of me wants to keep saying YES YES YES and take them all on and expaaaaaand, because I'm not kidding but I want to make some actual money for once in my life and this is my chance. The other part of me says, 'Nooo, keep it small, you're living just about stress-free and you're happy and earning just enough, so just say no!' I also want to move over the other side of the city. I really, really do. I think I want M&M to be Waterside & New Forest business, rather than a Southampton business. Or at least, that's where I want to live. Mostly because I'm bloody fed up of traffic lights.
So the options are pretty much like,
Option 1. Turn down future business and carry on as I am; hoping that gradually word of mouth spreads over Hythe and I lose some of the regulars over the east side of town, and therefore end up working more in Hythe and just going as far as Shirley, which would be ideal - and would justify moving that way. I could carry on as I am now, with my not-too-shabby lifestyle. I will never be able to afford to buy a house unless I shack up with some chump, and I will never be able to rent anywhere with two dogs. So the only solution is keep business bubbling away as it is, with this same amount of income each month (a standard full-time wage, I believe), and perhaps rent some commercial premises in Hythe (and live there in a caravan!) This seems a bit like a fun idea, until you consider that the cheapest, tiniest commercial premises seem to be the same amount of monthly rent as a 2-bed house... and then it doesn't seem very fair.
Option 2. Carry on expanding. Join a business network group in Hythe and try to get tons of business over that way, and take on an employee to cover the Eastsiiiide round, and... just keep it growing? Take on more employees to cover future 'rounds'? I could end up with teams! This is the only way I'm likely to ever be rich enough to be able to live anywhere, ever. But it's also likely to be hassle and worry and stress and I don't deal... being my own boss was supposed to be a great, chilled lifestyle and I'm worried that turning it into a 'business' will feck me up in the brainz. But on the other hand, one day I might be able to have a team of cleaners, and be able to sit in head office (or on my epic, 12-acre farm) with daycare dogs and... SWIMMING POOL.
Other problems include the fact that being 'a business' puts me in direct competition with The Enemy and all that. The world of dog walking/pet care businesses seems to be quite a bitchy competitive world that I don't really wanna be part of. I wouldn't be a rip-off franchise merchant like them though. Also, there are TONS of dog walkers in the Hythe/Waterside area, so it would be better for me financially to stay over this side of Southampton. I guess that's why I'm wanting to take people on, so they can cover it while I mosey about in the Forest. Haha. So many pros, so many cons.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-07-17 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-17 08:58 pm (UTC)Whatever you do that involves other people, get it in writing, especially the money bits and especially if you're friends!
Is there some sort of small business set-up advice place near you? Maybe through the local council (if there's any money left in their pot!) or job-centre?