Comparing businesses

Hey, thanks for your feedback everyone.

Steaminpile - I do have experience working in a restaurant, though not a quick service food business.  My experience with coint-laundries and self-storage facilities is as an investor not a day-to-day operator.  And unfortuantely, my experience with carpet cleaning and landscaping is on as a consumer.  But I'm coming out of what is primarily a corporate HR background in a number of different industries.  And I'm looking for a major lifestyle change.  I know none of this can replace having to go to work every day in each of these industries and seeing all the ups and downs firsthand, but I don't really have the time or inclination to spend years trying out each of these options.  Boy, I hope that didn't come out wrong.  I don't have a great love for any of these industries.  But they all sound perfectly acceptable to me.  So ergo these questions and a lot of other reasearch I'm doing to try to figure out which industry is the right one for me.

Michael - I do have some roots locally.  And I'm also a real estate investor with a good number of apartments.  So I have relationships with a number of real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and some banks.  If I go the carpet cleaning route, I believe I'll be able to keep myself busy.  But I know I won't be happy with only one van, which of course raises a whole new bunch of issues I need to take into consideration.

Anyway, please keep the feedback coming.  This is just what I need to get my head around the idea of working in these industries.

Catbert, I'm in the middle of trying to get a new carpet business off the ground. I have plenty of tech experience, but I've never been a business owner. I say this just to qualify myself: I'm working hard but I haven't yet "arrived." Regarding competition, it's not really direct among the small guys, at least not where I am. You just need to distinguish yourself and market well. The big boys, such as Stanley Steemer, Coit, and Chem-Dry compete with each other much more directly--they market similarly in the same places and play price wars.

If you have strong roots where you live, then you can build a clientelle fairly quickly. I remember when I was a loan officer--few people were interested in letting me handle their refinance (in So.Cal, there are WAY too many mortgage people--the title is practically synonymous with "used car salesman"), but when they found out I also cleaned carpets, they were begging for appts. But then, in San Diego, speaking fluent English is probably enough to distinguish myself. ;)

Thanks Doug.  I think you're right that a number of these businesses could possibly compliment each other.  And that may very well be a way I'd like to go in the future.  But for now, I'm choosing from one of these five.

Obviously there are both positive and negative aspects to each of these businesses.  For example, it seems that with such a low investment needed in order to get started in the carpet cleaning business, going this route opens you up to a constant barrage of new competitors.  On the other hand, such a low initial investment may also mean that the business becomes profitable much sooner.

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud.

I'm considering starting a carpet cleaning business.  But I'm also looking at a number of other businesses.  So I'm wondering which business would bring the best return on investment.  I know that there are lots of factors that would affect ROI, but I'm just trying to understand which business has better profitability vs. investment.

Anyway, in addition to carpet cleaning, I'm conisdering
- Landscaping
- Coin Laundry
- Self-Storage
- Pizza and/or chicken wing shop

What do you think?  Thanks for sharing your views.