Small buisness Ideas

Just curious since we have a fairly random group of people on here what are some ideas you have considered or what areas do you think in Montana would work awesome? I have always wanted to start my own side buisness and see what it's like, but so far I have not taken the leap. Part of my job now is buisness develpment so I get a good fix of it everyday at my job, but it still intrigues me to do something aside from my daily job (probably something more creative, clothing design, franchise etc.)

It has been a dream of mine to start and AWD Dyno.

I think someone needs to buy in on a Pole Position franchise..Open one of those here..I would buy a yearly membership if we got one here..That place is a blast and I think honestly it would do pretty damm well in this town...Someone want to put up the money ???hahaha

Is that those really fast go carts? If so, that is a good idea.

Ya it is..Indoor track oh my what fun it would be..Everytime I go to vegas I hit that place up...I would have my Birthday partys there, my kids, my ladys and friends..Find any excuse to go out there..LOL

I have talked to the Pole Position franchise manager before, I have wanted to do that for a while. Have a sweet track and also a parking lot to have MAEC meets and car shows. They have a really good franchise model setup, I'd really love to do it somehow.

Ya I have been looking into it for couple years myself. But havn't had the start up cash nor was I in a position to..But now hmmm...Might have to start looking into it again..Funny cuz everytime I think about opening a business rack my brain this place always stays stuck in my head....I just think it would do REALLY well in this town...

Open one Jason I would be one of your best customers!!!!!!

yeah i went to one in Salt Lake City called FastKart Speedway. so much damn fun!! i love to have one here in town!!!!

The go-kart discussion definatley comes up a lot whenever we start brainstorming. I think the real money to be made in the go-kart buisness would be real estate. If you had the money to get it going in a new building and cover some of your expenses I think it could work. As a stand alone buisness I think it's a pretty tough gig. I know most of the ones in Salt lake area struggle to stay afloat. The relatively High start up costs I think prohibits a lot of people from doing it.

It does still stick in my mind... maybe I need to dive into it further and see if you could make it work. There is a lot of good incentives right now with SBA loans.

For about $1,000, you can get into water treatment business.

There's a three day school back in Wisconsin.

No need for a lot of inventory as we stock it all for you.

Then you get a $500 test kit, hook up with realtors and water well specialists, and go to work curing water issues.

It's just a matter of installing the right product to cure the results of the water test.

Start out part time or whenever you have free time and ten years from now you'll have employees and be making a good living.

http://www.water-right.com/

I've been to the F1 Go Kart race track in Boston a dozen times. It's never busy and it's a huge investment. HUGE!!

http://www.f1boston.com/

Well I have heard we are supposed to get a Sonic, Chilli's, and a few others. I wouldn't mind owning either of those buisnesses here, or even a Hooters. Those places would to fabulous here.

05judge wrote:

Well I have heard we are supposed to get a Sonic, Chilli's, and a few others. I wouldn't mind owning either of those buisnesses here, or even a Hooters. Those places would to fabulous here.

I wish In-n-Out Burger would franchise.

Hooters is nuts, you have to have a minimum $1,000,000 in liquid assets on top of all the franchise fee's and initial capital. In all reality a franchise in Billings I personally think is not the best route to go, because of all the expense just for the rights, unless its something really sought after.

We looked into Sonic a while back and they wouldn't allow Billings because they said it was too small, once the economy slowed down they lowered their requirements and that's how the owner got the franchises he did in Montana. We actually talked to a bunch of them, Wahoo's Fish taco's being my favorite, they were/are interested but our main business keeps us busy enough that I have a hard time wanting to get into some new business that will take a lot of work and probably never have the returns our Oil company has. I guess its tough to look at selling something in small quantities with little return after selling something that you sell large quantities of.

BUZBYU wrote:

For about $1,000, you can get into water treatment business.

There's a three day school back in Wisconsin.

No need for a lot of inventory as we stock it all for you.

Then you get a $500 test kit, hook up with realtors and water well specialists, and go to work curing water issues.

It's just a matter of installing the right product to cure the results of the water test.

Start out part time or whenever you have free time and ten years from now you'll have employees and be making a good living.

http://www.water-right.com/

That pretty interesting Buzz. So I assume the company you work for is one of the network dealers for all the products? Do they offer products out side of water softening.. i.e. do they handle contaminated water issues?

ts4l wrote:

Hooters is nuts, you have to have a minimum $1,000,000 in liquid assets on top of all the franchise fee's and initial capital. In all reality a franchise in Billings I personally think is not the best route to go, because of all the expense just for the rights, unless its something really sought after.

We looked into Sonic a while back and they wouldn't allow Billings because they said it was too small, once the economy slowed down they lowered their requirements and that's how the owner got the franchises he did in Montana. We actually talked to a bunch of them, Wahoo's Fish taco's being my favorite, they were/are interested but our main business keeps us busy enough that I have a hard time wanting to get into some new business that will take a lot of work and probably never have the returns our Oil company has. I guess its tough to look at selling something in small quantities with little return after selling something that you sell large quantities of.

They said Billings was to small for a Sonic? LOL what a joke. Sonic originated in Oklahoma and there are Sonic's in towns with less than 4k people...LOL..That's too funny. There should be at least 4 in Billings. That would make since...

b1r - TS wrote:

BUZBYU wrote:

For about $1,000, you can get into water treatment business.

There's a three day school back in Wisconsin.

No need for a lot of inventory as we stock it all for you.

Then you get a $500 test kit, hook up with realtors and water well specialists, and go to work curing water issues.

It's just a matter of installing the right product to cure the results of the water test.

Start out part time or whenever you have free time and ten years from now you'll have employees and be making a good living.

http://www.water-right.com/

That pretty interesting Buzz. So I assume the company you work for is one of the network dealers for all the products? Do they offer products out side of water softening.. i.e. do they handle contaminated water issues?

we are a wholesale distributor for pumps/well drilling/landscaping/sprinkler irrigation/and now water conditioning.

I don't think they handle contamination but maybe to some extent. Going thru their website, it's mostly for removing the chlorine out of city water, water softening, or the removal of sulfer/iron etc... from water wells

we just took on Water-Right three months ago and since I'm in administration, I don't know much more about the product. However, I have appointed a product manager for the line and he's already been to the school so I'm sure he could answer any questions you might have.

I was just curious because of all the water issues they are having out in North Dakota with the drilling activities. If you have fresh water supplies or can filter river/lake water you can sell it for a small fortune right now.

they can probably do it but I don't know that for sure. I do know if you send them a sample they will tell you what they can do.

River water? Run it through a charcoal filter and call it good!

Really the filtration is not the big issue, its getting the permit in the first place to draw the water out. They are pumping millions of gallons of water a day into the ground, so you can imagine what the public preception is about that...."they will suck the rivers and lakes dry!"

So how many locals guys do you have promoting products now? Is this something you would have to look outside of Billings area in order to be succeful?

b1r - TS wrote:

Really the filtration is not the big issue, its getting the permit in the first place to draw the water out. They are pumping millions of gallons of water a day into the ground, so you can imagine what the public preception is about that...."they will suck the rivers and lakes dry!"

So how many locals guys do you have promoting products now? Is this something you would have to look outside of Billings area in order to be succeful?

I don't think there are ANY Water-Right dealers in Billings. WE just took it on and are still burning off our old Kuna Filtration stuff.

i have my little bizz that stays busy. not (should we say legal yet) but a lttle dream i call MTP Montana Performance. Honestly wouldnt have made it last year without it.

Because I am in the metal business I know that stainless, copper, and brass kitchens are a cash cow. Hoods, catch troughs, vents, stove trim, even stuff like custom hinges, handles, and light fixtures. Commercial kitchens especially will pay top dollar for that stuff. You just have to make sure you are fast enough to make your hourly rate worth it.

karts in belgrade is 1 a min lots of fun

My father works for Floating Islands International. They just launched a division in China. Uses recycled materials to create artificial marshlands that develop bacteria that cleans up the water. It eats away the toxins. Balances pH.

They just launched some testing down in LSU to $$$ of the oil disaster in the Gulf.
"Oil Eating Microbes"

I think natural water purification for environmental marine biology is gonna kick big in a few years.

I've had an idea developing a Mastermind or Thinktank comprised mostly of Home School kids. Working it into Home School Co-Op programs. Had a friend start one in Texas and actually discovered some future entrepreneurs. Sorta like a business 101 forum/group. The group in Texas actually now develops patents and business formats/plans and sells the ideas. Although it has been 4 years since I knew what happened to them.

The Governor and the Legislature need to pass larger tax breaks for movie companies that want to film in Montana. As it is now, companies are going to Canada, Europe, New Zealand to film movies that could easily be filmed in Montana.

The size of the potential industry, the huge number of jobs, especially for Montana, is staggering. Don't think movie stars and extras, or directors and writers, etc. Check out the credits on any movie to see all the jobs that could go to Montana folk. Drivers, caterers, carpenters, electricians, makeup people--the number and variety of jobs is amazing.

There's already a decent infrastructure in the State to build on. Hell, Montana people would be willing to work for less than half the going wage in Hollywood--because less than half is still a most excellent wage in Montana.

Choice of location (country) almost always comes down to the accountants. And the big difference in the minds of the accountants is not wages; it's taxes. This state can afford to grant big tax breaks to companies that will supply a lot of jobs for Montanans. All that needs to be done is to attach strings to the tax breaks that stipulate that if a Montana person can be found to do the job in question, and if that person can do the job as well as anyone else, then the Montana person gets job preference.

It's not rocket science. It just means that the #$%@&*# ing State Government bureaucracy doesn't get the lion's share and, more important, doesn't get to control the action.