Starting small biz concierge services for senior
mangomoon
10 years ago
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emma
10 years agojakkom
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Senior Citizen Friendly Shrubs
Comments (6)Can you post a photo of the site? It's hard to make suggestions without knowing where the bay window and window wells are, the depth of the front bed, and how many stories the house has. However, here's some info to get you started. The limelight hydrangea may struggle in full sun all day, since in general hydrangeas like a lot of moisture. Do you have some sort of a watering system, such as a soaker hose for the area? Also, you might want to think about something with spring interest to distract from the lawn in early to mid spring. There are some weigelas that stay quite small ('Spilled Wine' and 'My Monet' off the top of my head.) Heaths and heathers stay small. Checkmate rhododendron stays small and I have found to need no particular care other than mulch annually. Birds' nest spruce gets wide, but not tall. You can ask on the conifer forum about other smaller sized conifers. There are a couple of kinds of deutzia that stay small ('Chardonnay Pearls' and 'Nikko'), both of which I have and give little care to beyond the regular additions of mulch and some water in really dry weather that the entire bed gets. Boxwoods can be kept small with regular pruning, I believe. I'd probably go to local nurseries in the spring and read lots of tags and make notes as to height and width, bloom time, and bloom and foliage colors. Then I'd go home and figure out what might look good. Until then, I've attached a link to the plant search at the Missouri Botanical Garden's website. You can put in requirements for plant characteristics and requirements and see what pops up. There may be other similar plant searches hosted by other botanical gardens or universities. Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden plant search...See Morecouple questions re:purchase of existing gard. cntr/nurs biz
Comments (5)I received an e:mail reply to this post and thought I'd put it here so that if someone else has similar questions they in the future they can follow the discussions. ********MESSAGE*********** Subject: Buying Someone's Business Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 20:52:58 -0500 It is my experience that anyone wanting to sell a viable business will be asking more than it is worth. You say you would expect a 30 % Profit ratio and I know that would be required for the investment you would be required to come up with. I think a person would be better off starting our with a new start up but have the objective of not having to hire so much labor and incur all of the expense that that goes with it. I have operated a wholesale/Retail Nursery with the minimum amount of labor with profits much higher that the 30 percent you say you would expect/must have. I developed a process where I sold other growers plants and netted more than 50 % profit per sale, had the plants in my possession for a average of 2 hrs. but never in inventory on my property. I also have developed a process where I myself can Propagate/Grow/Sell 3 gal. plants for $1.00 ea., yes you read it right, $1.00. Can I assume you know the retail Garden Centers Selling Price for the Average 3 gal. size Plants? If you can find anything less than $19.95. Lets look at typical 3 gal. size plants where your production cost is $1.00 ea. and you would be willing to sell such plants to the general public for $15.00 ea. ( $1.00 production Cost times 1,400 percent = $14.00 and as with any/all produced products the production cost is always added in to come up with the selling price, so $14.00 + $1.00= $15.00 the stated selling price. You may notice you got your $1.00 investment/Production Cost back when you sold the 3 gal. plant and you made 1,400 % return on that investment that makes your 30 % pale compared to this. You sold the Plant for approx. 1/4 less that the G/Centers but your profit ratio is much greater. Maintaining the same or better quality along with a lower selling price is what people are looking for and the word will spread. Ok you would like to not even have to shell out the $1.00 production cost, so you set about to also propagate/grow/sell some 3 1/8 inch pot size herbs, perennials, flowering etc. plants that the customers buying the 3 gal. plants would also buy for say $2.00 ea.----Production Cost in this example cost me $.10= 10 pennies ( Production Cost = $.10 times 1,900 percent $1.90 and add in the $.10 prod. cost= $2.00 the stated selling cost. Now take $1.00 of the $1.90 profit and grow a 3 gal. gal. plant where your real dollars profits come from, and get your 10 pennies back to produce other such 3 1/8 inch size plants and you made 90 cents but now your profits on the the 3 gal. plants are actually $15.00 vs. $14.00. You just try to figure out the overhead cost of operating a Retail Garden center along with what debt you will be severing to buy a fully operating G/Center. If you want to know the in's/outs of starting from the ground up I have intro. info. I can e-mail you and Multi Pages of directional info. based on 30 + years of doing what you say you wish to do. No Greenhouse required if you are growing/selling Hardy Outdoor Plants and you can even sell tender plants for warm season sales. RG in Va. Beach Va. *******REPLY**************** RE: Buying Someone's Business I'm sorry, are you responding to my post on the gardenweb professional gardener's forum? Why didn't you respond there? I'll post this there for others so that if someone else comes to that site with a similar question they will be able to follow the discussion. I assume so due to content of your message. I think you mis-read my post. I did not state that I'm looking for a 30% profit, I stated I was looking for the industry standard for debt/income ratio (30% in many industries) which indicates whether an owner has become heavily indebted on their business. It has nothing to do with the profit margin of the products they sell. I also did not state that I would limit myself to considering retail garden centers. While many businesses offered for sale are overpriced, there are many more that are viable opportunities. Just like when you buy a car or a home it is the buyer's responsibility to research an accurate valuation on ANYthing they are considering purchasing- and then counter offer based on a fair assessment of it's actual worth. I have considered a startup business, however, decided that I am not in a personal situation where I can wait 3-5 years on my investment (and working 2 jobs so I can feed my family) before turning a reasonable profit. Best regards "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." Proverbs 31:13-15...See MoreFood biz ques / my website
Comments (13)IMO, it's foolish to do the first dinner without liability insurance. Also, be sure your vehicle is covered for commercial use...would hate to find out it's not when you back out of your client's driveway smack into their new car. (Just joking...I know you'd never do that but still...) Get the certificate. There's no downside. That's a no-brainer. Just do it! Check the SBA's website. They might offer micro-business insurance assistance. The cost of your liability insurance will be based on a pre-determined (by the insurance companies) risk factor. Serving food is high risk no matter who's stove you use or where you cook. You didn't mention the amount of coverage but I'm going to throw out here that again, IMO, you should have at least $300K (and more would be better). You might have a hard time finding a carrier that will write such a small policy. Teaming up with a professional personal chef organization makes really good sense. Consider your membership fees as advertising costs. Remember...the reason most small businesses fail is because they were inadequately capitalized...that includes such things as insurance. Sooz, you sound sincere about this venture. If you are...I'd also seriously suggest you prepare (if you haven't already) a detailed WRITTEN business plan. Again, the SBA Micro-Business department will assist (as will SCORE). Your odds of success go up (or down) in multiples depending on what steps you do now before you start your business. Having a WRITTEN business plan is considered crucial. Nobody will take you serious if you don't have one. I suspect you haven't done this step 'cause if you had...these questions would already have answers. Please back-up, put creating menus for the websiste on hold, & get your business ducks in a row. Write a business plan before anything else. Sorry for lecturing...the banker in me is groaning in pain. It's awful to watch a small business owner fail. And they fail not because the food's yucky. They fail because they don't have WRITTEN professional business plans, know how to use them, & follow their plan. And, no, you are not too small for this to be important. Sooz, professionals consider 2-3 years a minimum time investment in preparation for start-up of a micro-business. In the course of writing your plan you'll get the answers to all your questions plus lots more you've never thought of yet. If it's important enough to do...it's important enough to do right. Off banker soapbox, sorry. /tricia Here is a link that might be useful: SBA's Guide to Writing A Business Plan...See MoreSenior citizen discount
Comments (13)Yeah, Lindakathy's link sounds like it might be more realistic. But both say the Salvation Army's discount is "up to 50%." I'm there a lot, and never heard of anyone getting a senior discount. I'll bet when I ask, the employees will stare blankly at me. LOL I'll ask at Wendy's and Burger King, too. I'm not there often, but every little bit helps. I'll check out Big Lots, although I suspect it's not actually 30%. And of course I'll look for an excuse to stay at the Waldorf so I can get that $5,000 off the Presidential Suite. ;-) Thanks for bringing this to our attention!...See Moremangomoon
10 years agosushipup1
10 years agomangomoon
10 years agosunnyca_gw
10 years agoemma
10 years agoraee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
10 years agosushipup1
10 years agojakkom
10 years ago
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