Oink

You should get some of those activity trackers and charge them so much per 100 steps or something.

magnumpi

Seen worse

Almost Canadian

You can justify your defeatism any way you wish. It makes no difference to my life at all. If a physically disabled person was constantly whining about things in their life they believed were shite and asking how they could change them, and the good members of this forum offered advice, which they always immediately rejected, I would comment exactly the same way that I replied to you.

I am physically disabled. Life isn't a bed of roses for me either but, when I ask anyone for advice, I don't go out of my way to reject it.

Have a look at the posts people have made to this thread and look at how you responded.

I feel like sticking a fork in my eyes every time I read one of your whining posts. I can only imagine what prospective employers think of you when you attend an interview.

You constantly complain about how you don't have time to do this, or time to do that, yet you appear to spend hours on this site.

old.sparkles

I think you keep failing to see how much control you do actually have over the person you could be. You also seem to think that you are the only person who has problems. I think your major problem is that you do not believe that your life cannot be better so fail to do anything.
As I said before, I know you know what you need to do so instead of looking at all the things that you cannot do / you do not like / etc. start looking at all the things that are good, the things you can do for yourself, etc
As long as you believe you will not succeed, you will continue to put obstacles in your way that do not always exist - and even if they do, take the scenic route instead. It may take longer but still gets you to where you want to be!

vanity

thx

vanity

Hi,

Have you considered doing some exercises e.g walking, smelling the roses, consciously smiling and even laughing, laughing at YOURSELF (a good one when we get too serious - yours truly knows this one ) and appreciating the little things

Also the attitude you have you CAN change, to say you can't is already a joke.

Have you seen all the friendship and support you get on this forum? Hey, that's a boon, but you'd have to appreciate it.

Also, some people like to feel that way because it's easier, and perhaps it's harder to hope and be let down again, but at least smile and make those decisions consciously.

Syrians have it tough, as are people who are relentlessly bombed, attacked etc. I'm not saying that life isn't tough but YOU are the only person who can change what that means,

I know people have tried for years with you so unlikely you will change your mind but if you don't remember anything else, remember to smile at least 10 times a day consciously.

good luck JSmth..

vanity

Yes, but it's become zealotry. I have seen absolutely crap MBAs but they get double the pay of a competent, hard worker - the only differentiator is the MBA. Not in their work products, output rate, attitude or professionalism.

This country is obsessed with titles, and my experience is it's not the be all and end all - neither should it be the sole differentiator....

Whereever I look Masters is a miminum - very odd but I already know I am by now

R I C H

Squamish is a veritable metropolis compared to Sun Peaks. There are under 200 permanent residents living here, yet it's still possible to develop a small business that can turn-over $500k.

You've the advantages of a large city to the south, and one of Canada's busiest tourist destinations to the north. Many people would love to be in that geographical situation.

Start small, I've had days of taking just $90 in the till - it's unrealistic to think you can afford or need $5,000 of warehouse space for anything to begin with. If building a business is a goal, work within your means until you can afford to expand. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's daft to over-extend yourself initially or expect to be competing on a large scale from day one.

I know that here many visitors bring their dogs on vacation with them, and I suspect Whistler is the same. Have you ever approached all the hotels and owners of condos and houses that are rented out? Offered dog sitting/walking services if that's of interest? All it'll cost is some shoe leather and effort.

vanity

Great suggestions & support from Rich, old sparkles etc etc...just saying

dbd33

I think this is a winning idea. We often travel with dogs which is fine except that, since you can't leave them unattended in a hotel room and we won't leave them in the car, it's difficult to go to dinner. We'd pay to have them walked/sat for the evening (sometimes we've used the local PetSmart but that's not cheap and rarely convenient).

Ideally you'd want to advertise at the local pet friendly hotels; Holiday Inn, Marriott, Red Roof, Comfort Inn, etc. You probably can't put an advert at the front desk but you could set up a website with keywords such as "pet" "hotel" "Squamish" so it appeared when searching for hotels.

And, yes, I'm sure that there are people who want a qualified dog sitter with vet tech training who feeds only halal treats and that you won't get their business.

scrubbedexpat091

I was bored. I had to use the free options, but could probably make it look better with the paid options eventually, more access to photos, and design templates.

Not as good as someone who knows what they are doing, but not horrible either...lol...Looks like it was designed by an amateur though....lol

scrubbedexpat091

I know small start is an option for some things, I was just thinking of the things I really enjoy like aquariums couldn't start very small because of the need to have a large selection of stock, likely doesn't come cheap to buy it all, and just being in an apartment means can't have a mail order business operating out of here, other then being against the lease, there is also no space...lol

Likely wouldn't be able to make money on aquarium stuff though, lots of competition who have deep pockets and offer cut throat pricing, hence why most brick and mortar shops have gone under, and the big chains nobody can compete price wise with them.

If we had affordable shipping options in Canada, mail order aquarium plants might have a chance, but need to have a space for the aquariums which can't be in the apartment on that scale, but shipping kills any market, who is going to pay 20 dollars shipping for a $5 plant, which is the issue the people before have run into and closed up.

Raw dog food, you need a small space to do it, could do it from home if you had a house but not suitable in an apartment, the machinery is pricey as well, best guess looking at online prices, 10k to 15k minimum. Plus freezers and all the other costs.

Whistler dog walking might be an option, would have to see how many hotels are pet friendly, and how many companies exist already.

Squamish is bigger, but unless you have a real niche here, places open and close like clockwork, here today, gone tomorrow. A few have managed to make it, but those are rare.


I'll see if the dog walking thing goes anywhere, no idea if it will but we shall see. I am a bit concerned having others people's dogs off leash as that is where the demand is, but hopefully people know their dogs and if they actually are capable of being off leash. If it doesn't get anywhere, I am out of idea's but we shall see. I can't compete on service and personality, but I can undercut everyone else since I have no staff to pay.


Suppose part of the problem is fatigue, I am exhausted with no energy and really have to force myself to get up and do things, no idea why the fatigue is so bad. Combined with mindset is all I know, as far back as my memory can go, I have been this way, never been outgoing, never been what most would describe as happy, I was a depressed, suicidal child, teen and adult, combined with an entire life for the most part being told I can't do this or do that, and it's a real uphill battle to fix and change things, that is where the therapy would come in handy. 36 years to reverse is not an easy or quick task.



Ideal life would be just a good job, go to work, come home and not have to constantly stress and worry. I am more of an employee then anything else, just need to figure out how to get a job that isn't low pay, just need to get to the 20/hr mark and I would be happy camper.


Hard to really explain what happens, but if stress and trigger happen to be there, I can and do have a total mental breakdown, and that is where the issue is.

This more or less describes it, only lasts 5 to 20 minutes normally, but it's enough to lose a job.

"Having stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms, such as feeling cut off from oneself, observing oneself from outside the body, or losing touch with reality"

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topic...er/index.shtml


It's all a work in progress, no way to cure the issues, but hopefully with therapy in the future, managing them will be possible.

R I C H

So if it's not feasible or viable, move on from the idea.


I still think you're thinking too big - find a butcher that can provide the product, then see if there's a potential market. Order and supply as you need it, then storage isn't an issue.

Here's an anecdote for you - my first business here was an equestrian property. I took care of 40+ horses. I owned a few wheel barrows to shovel horse shit into for the first 6 months. That was damn hard work. I saved and purchased a John Deere Gator with a hydraulic dump trailer, which made life far easier. 12 months later I had enough money to fund a tractor. You can't expect to start out with lavish/ideal solutions, it takes time to achieve things.


Research like that is easy, it just costs your time.


How's that any different from anywhere else?


Best of luck.

scrubbedexpat091

I couldn't compete on price for raw food doing it to order and people wan't selection so you have to carry several product lines. Buying retail from a butcher (we have none here, so would have to seek a farmer) would be too high priced. I would need to keep the final price in the 3-7 per pound range to be competitive with the existing companies.

It's the machinery that is costly, gotta grind up the meat/bones and organs, you can't just use cuts of meat, you literally take chickens for example whole (minus feathers) and send them through a processor to grind it all up and grind the bone small enough.

I am working on the dog walking thing, so far up to about 1,000 needed for start up (insurance, business cards, web hosting/website) but still need to see what a business license will cost and if its something that can be run out of home.

Technically not allowed to run a business from this place according to the lease, but not sure if a dog walking service that takes places completely off site, would be considered a home business.

I find some of the info, but I just don't understand it all. I need to find someone who does, I don't understand if I need to get a GST number and if so, how does one deal with the GST, does one need to charge GST or PST and so on. Confuses me, it's all very vague and not easy to understand.

Eventually will take a first aid class to be able to compete, since it seems to be the in thing to have, all the dog walking companies have it, so can't be the odd one out and compete effectively.

Appears they all use a marketing company as well, not sure how to market a new business on my own, not like there would be a store front, so I assume most will have to come from people doing google searches, and my attempts to hand out flyers and posting flyers around on community boards.

I haven't even started and I am stressing already....


I'll see how it goes, will take a few months to get it up and running, have to save some money for the very basics, the insurance I was going to skip but after research it appears that is just asking for trouble and financial liability and so it's a must have, especially since ICBC isn't likely to cover dog injuries in the event of a car accident.


I do worry that without having a passion, desire and interest in dog walking it will be doomed from the start, but who knows, it may work out fine and I might like it.

I can't compete with existing on availability since I won't have employees and it will just be me, but I figure I can manage 2 large dogs at once and 3 smaller ones at once.

If I can get $17 per 90 mins (I priced lower then the existing since I can't offer the same level of services.) I only need 2 dogs a day to make it worthwhile.

This time of year, I can probably schedule something like 8am pick up, 10am drop off. 11am pick up, 1pm drop off, 2pm pick up and 4pm drop off.

3 walks per day, if I got 2 dogs per walk would be about 100/day if I did the math right. Minus minimal daily costs, would be mostly profit since there isn't a while lot of recurring costs, insurance, business license is all annual, so monthly cost wise would be minimal.


I am trying to market it as a more niche service where dogs get more personal attention since the others take up to 6 or 7 dogs, but I can't handle or transport that many dogs safely, so won't even try to do the same.


I doubt it will ever get big, or bring in a ton of money, but better then nothing.


This is all assuming I don't find a job, if I find a job, I will have to put it on hold as I won't be able to juggle a job and dog walking, not enough time in the day for both.


I'd be happier doing something I have interests in, but no possible way to do that, impossible to start small in those interests. I just have bad interests when it comes to making money....


Have to see if people will want to deal with the quiet weird dog walker who doesn't have people skills, I really struggle dealing with people in any capacity so it's a concern and worry as well.


Time will tell.

Shard

What inspired you to get into that business ? Did you work with horses before...it seems so different to what you have ended up doing now.