I once new a guy a who owned and operated 2 mall kiosks where he sold board games and puzzles during the holiday season at two popular malls.  My illusion of the American dream was shattered when I found out he still had a full time job.  I wanted to believe that he attended a couple trade shows to find out about new and up and coming games like Apples To Apples and learned where to spend his money and was set for the year based on his few months sales at the mall.  Sadly, not the case.

I think about weird small businesses a lot.  I was once in a small town and there was a limousine service offered.  And it instantly captured my mind, like, how long does it take to make a limo profitable?  They have to cost $150K plus customer acquisition costs, cleaning, repair, driver etc.  Lot of money and a limited time of the year in rural Wisconsin anyone would want to rent your vehicle.

Last night I was playing pickleball and I see a vehicle, trailer and a dunk tank.  I did some google research and they go for about $4K.  I imagine the vast majority of events that want a dunk tank want a deal.  Charity and community events. 500 gallon tank would have to be filled on location.  That's going to take a while 6 to 12 gallons per minute on a garden hose.  So, lets go 8/minute 62.5 minutes.  So, an hour to fill it.  Can't imagine that it is ever profitable.  Reasons why you don't see dunk tanks and limos on Shark Tank I guess.

Another business that interests me is divey car dealerships, the ones with like 12 cars or less and none of them look at that great.  Maybe the building itself is a house.  Does that guy need a full time job outside of his business?  Secondly, if he is single, how weird is it for him to explain his shady car dealership to dates.  Do they get two months into the relationship before they realize they are with a shady looking car dealership owner that has a house on the lot for the financing?

My fav that I may have posted about before is small hotels that have 20 rooms and charge under $75/night.  I understand that unfortunately this where people who can not be financially dependent often live and it is a money trap that they can not get out of as they have no credit or reference to get an apartment they live as long term residents in the hotel.  Even with that baseline of income I don't see much upside to the business.  This to me is my favorite one I know.  Do you have to live on premise?  Is your dating pool relegated to the residence?

www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x8803b6cf65973941%3A0xb51d16e9f18347f5!3m1!7e115!4s%2Fmaps%2Fplace%2Fnorthern%2Binn%2Bappleton%2F%4044.2872813%2C-88.4116096%2C3a%2C75y%2C79.68h%2C90t%2Fdata%3D*213m4*211e1*213m2*211sUtdIfG25x6niL64XgK6Fog*212e0*214m2*213m1*211s0x8803b6cf65973941%3A0xb51d16e9f18347f5%3Fsa%3DX!5snorthern%20inn%20appleton%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e2!2sUtdIfG25x6niL64XgK6Fog&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix78OutI_4AhWRTTABHV8FCwIQpx96BAhEEAM
The shit I think about.

I've wondered about those tiny car dealerships as well. I don't think I would ever consider buying a car through them, but are they any worse than buying from some random person?

If you own a small hotel generally the plan is to live in it. Same deal with the self-storage places that have an apartment for an old couple who mind the place.

There's a block not too far from me that has a cluster of small hotels - not 20-room small, but small name-brand hotel chains - that have been serving as long-term housing for people on hard times. It's become a problem for the area.

This thread came to mind recently, I think a lot of these weird small businesses are stacked.

Meaning one person might own a weird kiosk, helium balloon delivery and a weekend coffee cart.

I drive by an electric train store on my commute. How much demand can a place like that have, assuming it's legit and not a laundering operation.

Gotta be less than the many bead stores. I do know that model trains are among the first things to go at an estate sale, so maybe there are lots of closeted model train fans.

There's a local slot car store deep in an industrial district that has been there forever.

I can't understand why or how it has survived given I've never heard anyone talk about it.

It has a massive track inside it, that's all I know about it.

Never played Yakuza 0, I see. Slot cars are serious business!

Oct 17, 2024 21:51:56 GMT NATH45 said:

There's a local slot car store deep in an industrial district that has been there forever.

I can't understand why or how it has survived given I've never heard anyone talk about it.

It has a massive track inside it, that's all I know about it.

I love that with online you can now have all these niche businesses that never would have been viable once upon a time.
Most of these types of businesses are just people who really love what they do.

Though, even if they aren't turning over big cash, most businesses can generate wealth but few owners do it.

I have an idle plan when I have some more time to buy micro businesses then buy a warehouse for them to rent. It's not a bad deal because you can get a moderately profitable business and put it into a premises that is larger and nicer than they need, then use the business to pay off the property with the business rent. It works because rather than the business declaring a profit it is paying a rent.
Then the trust that owns the building has to pay tax on the building, but it can offset some of that against depreciation and interest.

You could just buy the factory and rent it out, but this way you have the chance to grow the business as well.
My idea is rolling some small businesses into a medium size business you can eventually sell...

This year is crazy for me, not much in the way of machine sales and I will be lucky to make a profit, more likely to be a small loss, but the amount of work I am doing is insane.