Assets:

Assets:

1000 square foot building in town
20,000 cash
Already zoned commercial, 2 friends on variance board too
Property tax is only 500 yearly (about 360 winter, 140 summer)
Parking for a dozen cars, additional parking across street.
New roof

Liabilities:

Only 2700 population in Town, traffic flow of 5k each way per day.
Exterior needs deep cleaning and new windows would help
I have no specific set of skills (like drawing tattoos), but have managed both a retail location and another home business (in a field I can't enter)

Goals:
30k net per year
Low spoilage (time shouldn't cost money for failure... like baking donuts nobody buys, disregarding utilities)

Willing to do the necessary research to make whatever niche I can find work. Just need pointed in the right direction.

What other businesses are in the area?

get us some demographic info about the area also

strip club.

or if you want more serious advice start listing what businesses the town already has. with 2.7k people it can't be that many.

Just out of interest, how do you end up with a building, but not an existing business to put in it?

Ok this is tough but not impossible.

how many can you do a day realistically?

It was leased to a local internet company to house servers, but they moved them out about 5 years ago and it's been empty since.

All of them.

900 households, and 650 families
Racial makeup 72% White (30% hispanic), 1.5% African American, 3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, ~18.5% from other races

45% of households have children under 18.

The median age in the city was 31 years. 32% under 18; 9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27% were from 25 to 44; 22% were from 45 to 64; and 10% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

Bars, grocery stores/dollar stores, and mechanic shops plenty (along with at least 6 churches); Hardware store, indoor "grow" shop, smoke shop, car wash, storage units, fast foods, 4+ small restaurants, barber, salon, mobile phone store, pawn shop, drug store, ice-cream shop, 4 gas stations, car lot, chiropractor, clinic, couple banks, funeral home, couple cemeteries, couple laundromats, fish/tackle shop, vet, auction house, couple metal working factories, cold warehouse, fruit factory, bakery/coffee shop, ... Will let ya know if anything else comes to mind.

NorCal? What is the median household income for the town? What about for the MSA? What are the local employers; e.g. for the 2,700 people who live there, and for the 5k cars driving by per day, what do they do for a living? When are they driving by - on the way to/from work, or other times?

You want to figure out exactly who your potential customers are, and then, looking at the list of local businesses you've compiled, figure our what that customer is likely to patronize that's missing.

Also, i may've missed this above, but how many acres on the site?

well it sounds like a strip club might not be a bad idea. same for a video gaming bar, i.e. casino.

you could also open a gun shop.

Open a liquor store. Long shelf life and you can offer craft items not available at the other stores.

Might need some refrigeration installed for chilled beer, but you can also sell/lease kegs.

Median household income is 33k, Nearby Metros average 42k This is in michigan. Land is roughly 125x100 ft, so a little more than a quarter acre. I'm not sure how you could even figure out who's driving by. That'd be some amazing info. Is there a service that identifies gaps in local markets?

Casino just outside of town. Problem with strip club is the staff and local problems; Every club within the past 10 years get's shut down due to violence. I'd also need at least another 1-2k square feet for the private rooms to upsell. Despite the problems, I discuss this frequently.

Michigan controls licensing and distribution in the state of michigan; I agree that the long shelf life should be great, but every store in town already sells.

how close is the other pawn shop to your property? with the income that low a pawnshop should do well.

Make a little cafe with coffee bagels and donuts

When you listed that demographic and company listings, I knew this had to be in Michigan.

What about a vape shop/lounge? Is there one in your town or not? I don't really see the appeal, but they seem to do well in shitty little towns. I'm not sure if the smoke shop you listed specializes in vaping. You can also use it to sell cheap bongs and other shit like that.

But yeah, make it a lounge and have couches and stuff. Invite people to come in and try out different flavors. Add some TVs.

Or, make it into a grow light shop, sell fertilizer and lights and whatever and find a way to undercut your competitor. Maybe a cell phone shop selling boost or simple or whatever pay as you go plans.

Your market doesn't seem to have a whole lot of opportunities. What part of Michigan by the way? I'm from the UP.

I'm familiar with the area, don't they just call them "party stores" to get away with selling booze?

>Bars, grocery stores/dollar stores, and mechanic shops plenty (along with at least 6 churches); Hardware store, indoor "grow" shop, smoke shop, car wash, storage units, fast foods, 4+ small restaurants, barber, salon, mobile phone store, pawn shop, drug store, ice-cream shop, 4 gas stations, car lot, chiropractor, clinic, couple banks, funeral home, couple cemeteries, couple laundromats, fish/tackle shop, vet, auction house, couple metal working factories, cold warehouse, fruit factory, bakery/coffee shop, ... Will let ya know if anything else comes to mind.

What about servicing businesses?

is there a 24 hour gym in town?

Just hire a realtor on commission only to get you a NNN lease.

Pawn shop is literally visible from my property.

I'm not averse to food, but having to have fresh donuts all the time doesn't sound like low-spoilage. I know you'd "work it into the cost", but...

The smoke shop basically specializes in bongs, vaping, cheap ciggs and cigars. It's a new store within the past 2 years, due to the changes in law. SW michigan

Not saying it's impossible, just that prices are regulated and competition is high.

Lot cleanup/plowing/landscaping? The two main parking lots in town are city owned and cared for. As for the other business, from what I know it takes a lot of insider information to successfully bid and any corporate business will want prove of you being in business for a few years and excess equipment so they aren't suddenly without service. I'd do B2B if I knew enough, but sales isn't my strong-suit either.

1000 sq feet isn't enough for a gym. There's a free community gym in town that's run by a non-profit and half a dozen gyms within ~6 miles. They pop up and out, so I'm not sure the industry is stable.

Wouldn't I be left with a worthless asset when they're done and ready to move on?


I do appreciate all the effort.

uhhh...
Go to loopnet, and look at NNN...
They can vary from dollar stores, to mcdonalds.
They rent the property and use it. You get rent money, and when the lease is up they will demand you improve it, and sign another lease.

with such a low average income in the area the most profitable business would revolve around vices and/or necessities, but it looks like that is mostly covered already.

the pawn shop being so close might not necessarily be a bad thing because that would mean that you both service essentially the same area. people that would be uninterested in what he has to offer would just walk over to your business.

the only other thing i can think of is a beauty salon, but you'd have to hire employees and it's more of a luxury service so in that income range it might not do that well.

If the area is losing population, then the value of the building will decrease. if the area is gaining population, then the value of the building will increase.

Get a complete list of businesses in your town, then for ~50 similar towns (size etc). You'll probably get some cool ideas when comparing and researching.

Sports shop that also focuses on survival stuff. There are insane premiums on kits and emergency rations and anything to do with it generally. You could create custom kits with chinese items sold for a total of $5 and sell for $40. Also print your own books by compiling and rewriting guides people like. Invest a couple hundred in a pro handling your covers and have it on -75% sale most of the time.

if your a newb, franchise.

subway/verizon...

depending on the state looks like it could be a decent place for a headshop/marijuana growing shit.. or just fix the place out and rent it out comercially. i don't have enough info to help you for real. sauce: self made millionaire @ 24. & heir to 30m+/yr building materials company