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Business Ideas.

ThatBuckeyeGuy said:
Was just curious as to some other options you could use as a business depending on how much property you had. Alot of people with a few acres (3-7) are capitalizing on small regenerative farms around here. Example. Raise chickens , can they compete with case farms and other big companies? Not a chance. Do they rake in good profits? Absolutely. Some even lease small acreage to do it. So like the example of chickens, instead of just raising some for whole bird meats at pennies on the dollar they do it with a sales pitch. Instead of selling a meat bird for $5 they sell it as "organic" for $8. Then they expand it. They'll also sell broth for $10. Quarters for $X. Free range eggs for $X. Seasoned for $X. They can turn a $5 bird into $XXX if you market it differently. Especially if you get into chef marketing . Imagine setting up at a flea market or farmers market and selling a bird for x amount. But at your booth you also sell several bi products of that bird to make up xxx amount. Alot of people around here are starting to do that with different animals on a small scale and their profit margins are impressive for the small scale. On small acreage they're producing the animals as well as planting the food they consume in the same areas and and also working the rich soil caused by this to market other products off of the small area hence regenerative. Everyone all about making 5 things out of 1 to save money and bloat their profits. That's why I asked was just curious that's all. Like many others have said you have a higher chance than most being successful in whatever path you choose. I do like the pest inspection idea as it's always in demand whether the markets hot or cold. Like you mentioned , can't close on a VA loan and similar without the inspection. And when other companies are pushing people 3 weeks out and you could do it in a week or two Its guaranteed money . People want to close as fast as possible and they want Inspections done yesterday. Best of luck brother
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Love it man. And it's a great market. I can see where that would kill in Ohio. It would be hard to do here as there are a good number of small growers around. From actual businesses to people with roadside produce they sell out of the back of their truck. Watermelons, onions, greens, fruit, boiled peanuts, honey, eggs etc. There are just so many people that live rather simply who are trying to make a little money, it would be hard to find a profitable niche. It's very common to see roadside sellers parked at rural intersections or pull-offs here. I stopped and talked to a fella last weekend selling produce out of his truck bed. Note to anyone who may pass through the south, if you ever stop to talk to anyone you better have 30 minutes to kill, or hope another customer pulls up so you can waive and tell him you gotta get on 🤣. Anyway, He had some green beans and I mentioned that I needed about 50lb worth for canning. He wrote his number down and said "give me a call in two weeks to make sure they produced then stop on up at the house" old fella just got a big ass garden and he sells it.

Worth thinking about for sure though. I'll let it rattle around some.

Right off the bat it makes me wonder if he needs that big ass garden sprayed for pests in exchange for some produce. 🤣
 
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Even up here there is a guy that puts these little half moon green things around every new house. He shows up around the same time we put power in. It's for termites. So if you started by targeting those new houses...you could grow with the area. Or like him, he only does new houses. Says it keeps him busy enough.
 
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Termite business will end your Turkey hunting adventures. You have no idea how many calls you will get and book during the swarming season and contracts you will have to fulfill after. I have a coworker in that business and can’t keep up w an army of employees. He’s a top notch guy and has that kind of business. Matter of a fact I use his stuff cause he don’t have time to service me. Joe give me a call, I can give you some pros and cons.
 
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With the boom in housing, I would think that a home inspector/consultant company would go over well. Not sure what credentials you need, but I was talking to a guy not too long ago that was doing really well with as a home inspector.
 
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As far as work goes, when I reflect back, there was nothing more satisfying than building a business you own. It has been the highlight of my working career… Having said that, there is also no greater demon or mistress to take you away from your wife and children when they are growing up or growing old.

I do feel bad about some of the events my children were involved in I missed during the ongoing struggle to find a balance between building a company and family, but we got through it. I was lucky and had a incredible wife that supported my “dream”.

You’ve got a good head on your shoulders Joe. I have little doubt you will be successful in most any venture you set your mind to. We should all be relieved to know you choose to use your intelligence for good instead of eeevil. 😎
 
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ThatBuckeyeGuy said:
Was just curious as to some other options you could use as a business depending on how much property you had. Alot of people with a few acres (3-7) are capitalizing on small regenerative farms around here. Example. Raise chickens , can they compete with case farms and other big companies? Not a chance. Do they rake in good profits? Absolutely. Some even lease small acreage to do it. So like the example of chickens, instead of just raising some for whole bird meats at pennies on the dollar they do it with a sales pitch. Instead of selling a meat bird for $5 they sell it as "organic" for $8. Then they expand it. They'll also sell broth for $10. Quarters for $X. Free range eggs for $X. Seasoned for $X. They can turn a $5 bird into $XXX if you market it differently. Especially if you get into chef marketing . Imagine setting up at a flea market or farmers market and selling a bird for x amount. But at your booth you also sell several bi products of that bird to make up xxx amount. Alot of people around here are starting to do that with different animals on a small scale and their profit margins are impressive for the small scale. On small acreage they're producing the animals as well as planting the food they consume in the same areas and and also working the rich soil caused by this to market other products off of the small area hence regenerative. Everyone all about making 5 things out of 1 to save money and bloat their profits. That's why I asked was just curious that's all. Like many others have said you have a higher chance than most being successful in whatever path you choose. I do like the pest inspection idea as it's always in demand whether the markets hot or cold. Like you mentioned , can't close on a VA loan and similar without the inspection. And when other companies are pushing people 3 weeks out and you could do it in a week or two Its guaranteed money . People want to close as fast as possible and they want Inspections done yesterday. Best of luck brother
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Yes you can make a ton of money doing a niche agricultural thing at farmers markets and such BUT when you figure in time it sucks. You're burning evenings, and whole weekends to get to enough to make it worth the time. The farm does beef cattle, between drive time, time at the markets and set up/ tear down it was >40hrs a week for 4 farmers markets a week.

I had ~$10-14k in sales the past two years for my beekeeping. I could sell $2-800 at a farmers market or a day atthe local streetfair but when you figure in the 8-10 hours of time plus bottling and the other work required throughout the year is really not that much.

If you go the pest route, find a local beekeeper that will help you with cutouts and/or swarm calls. Unless you're only going crawling insects.
 
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A little update on this as it's been a couple months. Still moving forward. I've spoken to the state licensing guy a few times and finally have a clear path forward. As expected there will be a mountain to climb, but at least I can see that big bastard clearly now. There are some hurdles to overcome regarding licensing but that's to be expected when you're gong to spray poison in residential dwellings, commercial buildings and restaurants.

Mississippi has an education requirement to apply for licensing which includes at least two years of post secondary education. No problem, except my university transcript office went all woo girl this summer and it took a month to get my transcript. The next step is I need to take three courses through Purdue University to satisfy the educational requirements for Entomology. Yay more school. :LOL: Once I have that, I can finally apply to take the state licensing examinations as a commercial applicator. Yay more studying about bugs. :ROFLMAO: The state exam not only covers bugs, but state and federal laws regarding restricted use pesticides. All that before I even register the LLC. :ROFLMAO:

If it was easy everyone would do it. Which I why I'm gonna do it.

I've been doing some market research also. Thanks to a licensing requirement I can find every business, the owners names, and then a little internet sleuthing pulls up their home address. So far I've spotted 4 different pest control company vehicles in town. Two very well off companies with probably a half dozen trucks that operation in MS, LA and Al, and 2 other smaller local guys with what looks to be 2-3 trucks each and a physical business address. On the state licensing page for businesses in the county there are 4 other companies I haven't seen out and about registered to home addresses. They look to be smaller one man owner operated shops. Granted I don't know what their wives do, but none of them are hurting for money. They all have nice houses, boats, outbuildings, some live on the water, drive nice vehicles, send their kids to college, take vacations to the Caribbean or Florida, etc. I also noticed none of them advertise, no mailers, facebook ads, no google ads, and nothing on the radio that I've seen. I haven't seen them promoting themselves on the local talk of the town facebook page when people ask for pest control advice, recommendations etc. This tells me that the vast majority of their business is organic, word of mouth, or it just falls in their lap. For a guy willing to put some marketing, a smile, and a personal feel to his business I believe getting clients shouldn't be an issue. From what I'm seeing, if you haven't grown your pest business here, it's because you didn't want to.

Onward
 
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Business idea: Minding your own 😁

Im super jealous you had the testicular fortitude to do this. Im a play it safe and make sure I have a steady dependable income type of guy. I see other guys taking risjs and it does pay off. Risks are not my thing. lol My wife brings in random pay so I have to be steady. She tells me to pursue my ideas, but I need to be the steady one with insurance. Makes me mad, but such is life. I check out mentally and live that keyboard warrior rat race!
 
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After meeting you at the pig hunt this spring and your aptitude for honest business you'll be successful.

Joe, here's a risk I - one I've dealt with regarding pest control. I take care of my widowed 50% absentee neighbor's house, wife's good friend and a German National. She got termites and it's been a treatment and legal quagmire for 2.5 years.... I'm not checked out on 'Bonding' but there is always an error rate with any repeatable task. That faq'n β (beta) error, will rise and try to bite and you'll need to make sure that's covered when, as you described there is remediation after the job. We're into lawyers and around $130,000 out of the pest control company, opened up the house four times. We think it's done now but I could tell working with the job foreman/manger it was a considerable drian. The insurance or capacity to withstand the inevitable remediation oops and legal side is a flank to be covered that I'm sure you've considered.

Best of luck, but it's not luck if you're lucky ;).
 
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P8riot said:
Thats a tough one. Ask me how I know insurance won't cover a "work product" issue like that. OK dont ask, Ive been an insurance adjuster for 15 years.
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It's one area I need to read more about and I don't know all the details but I know in MS when a company does a termite treatment they have to issue a termite bond for a period of one year. The bond can be for retreatment only, or retreatment and repair. This would be for new termite damage since issuance of the bond. They're generally worthless because if damage is found and there isn't an active infestation, the pest control company will say it is old damage caused by termites before the bond and doesn't apply. Some bonds are only for retreatment, some have a $ cap limit for repairs. Depending on the $ amount the pest company may turn it over to their business insurance or there may be a claim against their surety bond. Some pesticide companies like Termidor have warranty guarantees if their products are used. The bottom line is it's all in the language of a contract and any termite pest contract should be tighter than a frog's ass.
 
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Stressless said:
After meeting you at the pig hunt this spring and your aptitude for honest business you'll be successful.

Joe, here's a risk I - one I've dealt with regarding pest control. I take care of my widowed 50% absentee neighbor's house, wife's good friend and a German National. She got termites and it's been a treatment and legal quagmire for 2.5 years.... I'm not checked out on 'Bonding' but there is always an error rate with any repeatable task. That faq'n β (beta) error, will rise and try to bite and you'll need to make sure that's covered when, as you described there is remediation after the job. We're into lawyers and around $130,000 out of the pest control company, opened up the house four times. We think it's done now but I could tell working with the job foreman/manger it was a considerable drian. The insurance or capacity to withstand the inevitable remediation oops and legal side is a flank to be covered that I'm sure you've considered.

Best of luck, but it's not luck if you're lucky ;).
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Thanks bud. If you don't mind if like to give ya a call to discuss. I'd just like to know more about the situation and circumstance from a learning perspective.
 
No worries Joe, happy to help if I can. Just shelling out serious $xx,xxx for Adverts and Direct Mailers for the Mrs election, it's all over in the primary as this race is non-partisan, early voting 8-20 Aug and election day 23 Aug. Sent a msg with the cell #.
 
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