Dion

Anyone got any successful stories of making it good here (I'm in Florida) with a new business ... i have bought into a pest control business hoping for a good return but not sure if it's the right move....maybe a bar or cafe? ... appreciate any feedback.

dbj1000

Viable businesses in Florida? Perhaps you could open a British Foods store to cater the the endless whingeing Brits who want to live in Disney World but can't go without their mushy peas, brown ale and Tetley teabags?

Or perhaps a drive-thru mortuary to cater to those retired folks too fat to leave their Cadillacs when another blue-rinse pops their clogs?

Hardboard wholesale in the hurricane season and gator-wrestling in the summer?

Ah, such endless possibilities in the state where all right-minded Brits want to live!

Still, I guess if the cockroaches in FL are anything like the size of the ones in TX your pest control business is a pretty good bet

TouristTrap

Shouldn't you have looked into this BEFORE buying in?

I guess if you provide a good service and are cheaper than Terminix or the other big boys you will do okay, but you'll have to hustle your butt off for it.

Bob

Cafe and bar's are gonna be hard work, and the success rate on those aren't normally that good, loads go out of business within 18 months...and there are loads of them around, unless you out in somewhere quiet or can offer something different.

franc111s

I started my business in 1988 in the UK, started a US office in 1995 (that's when I moved to the USA and travelled a lot back to blighty) - I sold it in 2001. I am part now of a new startup and I'm helping the founders...

Being a successful businessmen for me was as number of things. (doesn't matter if it's Florida or Alaska). Some of these things were ;

1. Surrounding myself with great employees whom were better then me areas I was weak.
2. Surrounding myself with employees. You can only make so much money from yourself, there are only so many hours in day. People make the mistake of starting a business and expect it to grow by doing all the work themselves. It rarely works. You can make a lot more money off of other people and give them a job too.
3. An awesome wife who put up with the bad days (weeks, months, years !!).
4. By the grace of God and a lot of prayers and foregiveness.
5. Allowing my employees to be a part of the company - they also became part of my family.

The problem with "food" (bar/restaurant/cafe/chip shop) is that unless it can sustain paying you a profit AFTER you have paid someone else to manage it for you, you are ALWAYS going to be doing all the work. This sentence is probably the number one reason "food" businesses fail. You can't grow it and end up getting stressed as you are the only one that can run it. Unless you own a franchise - these business are rarely successful to even be a lifestyle business.

Pest Control - well as you grow, you can hire people. Learn to be competitive - by that I don't just mean cost - I mean provide better ; Customer services ; offer fees to people whom recommend you ; make Great customer service your mission statement ; set a goal to not lose a single customer based upon poor service. Pay a little more to good employees ; give them a share of the profit ; spend time promoting your company ; get free press from the locals ; be trained in the changing technologies (yes even in pest control) ; go after the big guys by being "personal" (heck, I'd say go work for the big guys for 3 months to learn their "marketing")....

I hope some of this advice applies - not all things do...

Good luck and God bless.

TouristTrap

Great advice, only one problem :

Doesn't work in FL.

Dion

I did look into it as much as someone could and it all looked great with good potential...my problem lies with how much is pressure selling and how little people like to pay for a service which i thought would be a necessity in Florida.... still i'll be here for a while yet and intend to give it a good go.

scrubbedexpat099

We have these Black and Red Bugs, I can not remember their proper name but according to my neighbour, in Nebraska they are called Democrats, lots of them, they get everywhere and you can not get rid of them. Perhaps you need to have a word with Jed, see if he can give you some business.

PS my solution was the shop vac.

Ray's site is good for Florida E2, if you have not been there;

http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/floridadays/index.cgi

Patrick

There is a six foot rat in Orlando that needs to gotten rid off!

Pulaski

You've missed the point there - people always want to pay as little as possible for necessities, but will pay as much as they can afford for luxuries.

The service you are selling is more or less invisible - as long as your treatment keeps the bugs away your customers neither know nor care how your service works - if it involves chicken entrails, leg of toad and eye of newt they'll still pay for it as long as it (i) works and (ii) is competitive on price.

E.g someone who is on minimum wage will want a "reliable" car for as little money as absolutely possible, whereas someone who has millions doesn't care about saving money when he is shopping for a Ferrari.

peacelover

[QUOTE=Pulaski]You've missed the point there - people always want to pay as little as possible for necessities, but will pay as much as they can afford for luxuries.

The service you are selling is more or less invisible - as long as your treatment keeps the bugs away your customers neither know nor care how your service works - if it involves chicken entrails, leg of toad and eye of newt they'll still pay for it as long as it (i) works and (ii) is competitive on price.



I was willing to pay any amount to keep the damned bugs out of my house when I came here. After a while I felt safe enough to shop around for the best deal on bug control.

TRPardoe

Lawn Service, Pool Service.

It's amazing how many people are too lazy to do their own.

dbj1000

Quite a judgemental term, "lazy", isn't it? I have a lawn service because my time is worth much more to me when spent with my family doing things we enjoy than spent mowing the lawn.

I'd have a pool service, but we found that they typically give such bad service that it's not worth the trouble.

Still, you can call me lazy if it makes you feel like a lawn-mowing hero

Tone

Harsh but fair enough....

emmals

can't get rid of him i'm afraid he pays most of floridas taxes