For the older guys around here... business related

[avvidclif]

An idea for the garage sale/flea market aficionados. Not gonna get rich but, not working hard either.

A different twist just for thoughts. The old downtown here had a hotel, 2 story, probably 30-40 rooms total. Real old school place 2 bathrooms/floor. Basically a small room to rent. Think the hotel in Gunsmoke. It sat vacant for years because no-one could figure out what it was good for. A local lady leased or bought it. She went in removed doors creating cubicles that she rented out to folks wanting to sell stuff. Think flea market. Indoor and open 6 days a week. Ac/Heat. People rented a room and basically set it up however they wanted as far as tables etc. They bring in the stuff and it all is priced and marked. Check it in with the cashier and put it in your space. The owner/leasee took care of operating hours and running the checkout counter. It was all computerized. You basically paid rent for the space and a percentage of the selling price to the operators. All prices were fixed, sorta, and there were NO Returns. The owners took care of sales tax, bus licenses, etc. They have since taken over several more closed business in downtown and are doing quite well. One for general stuff, another for Xmas stuff, baby stuff. Those folks were thinking outside the box and it paid off.

Of course this is not a metromess, small town USA.

It's a neat place because you never know what you will find and where. Prices are good and they stay busy.

 

[kbaxter60]

Overwhelmed with calls and thinking about other services he can provide off season.

There were a number of these services up where we lived in WA state. The off season picks typically:
* Sprinkler blowouts in the fall - requires commercial compressor
* Putting up outdoor Christmas lights
* Snow removal / sidewalk cleaning (not much needed here, unless we have another like last February)
*Other yard services (fertilizing, weed control, etc)

 

[BuzzinSATX]

In my humble opinion, I'd go the hydroponic route. Minimal startup costs, large production in a minimal space, large population looking for organically grown produce. If you specialize in salad greens, the seed is cheap, fertilizers (nutrients) are cheap, you may utilize the flow of water through some fish ponds and have a meat source for your own use or sale. Trout, bluegill, catfish, everything just depends on what you want to do, fresh fish to sell to restaurants and veggies. You could dedicate space to raise chickens for eggs and feed them organically grown greens, so many options.

Hydroponics is using fertilizer in the water. Aquaponics is using live fish to produce the fertilizer for the veggies. It’s a symbiotic relationship…fish poop and produce nitrates, plants clean water use fish poop. But you are now way more engaged because your main focus has to be keeping fish healthy, because they can get sick and die off.

Primary fish used for aquaponic is tilapia because the grow fast and can live tightly compacted in a tank. I tried tilapia on a small scale and they were a pain for me. I had some due, and some jumped out of the tank. I dumped the tilapia and switched to koi. I am not eating the koi, but if you want an income, you can certainly raise and sell the koi.

I have about a dozen koi that are 4-7 years old. Lost a couple last year during the freeze, but koi are hearty fish…mine are largely ignored…fed daily in summer, make sure they have plenty of water, and an air stone, and they pretty much live fine: