Crap - It Might Be Out

The pooper-scooper business is not out, but it isn't moving forward just yet either. The owner has received a bid from another buyer, and until that gets resolved, I am not going to get involved. I'm not interested in a bidding war for a business as basic as this. Should the deal fall through, I will again consider it.

But I have all but convinced myself that I want to own my own business...be my own boss.

So I am looking at a slew of other businesses to buy, while waiting to see if the doggie doo business is viable. In addition to the list from the previous post, I am also looking at:

Small Grocery Store
Sign Fabrication, Manufacturing and Install
Vending Route With 42 Locations
Carpet Cleaning for Management Companies
Party Store Including Balloons and Helium Rentals
Pest Control
Billiards/Pool Hall

Right now, the Vending Route is leading the pack. It is very well priced, and would provide income similar to the poop business, however it would be longer hours and more physical work. It is also different in that a lot of the price would be related to buying the assets - 85 vending machines. I will probably be setting up a day to go out on the route with the current owner to see what it is like.

Every business will have negatives. But I am trying to avoid those that are obviously a problem. For example, the carpet cleaning business sounds good in a lot of ways, however, it would mainly require night or weekend work for the cleaners. And new laws in AZ have made it illegal to employ illegal immigrants, which had been the main workers in this industry.

Another important factor is to avoid industries that could be hurt by the presumably upcoming recession. There are a lot of pool cleaning businesses for sale here in AZ, but a recession will likely hurt this luxury industry, and many like it.

So the search continues, but I am beginning to narrow down the types of business that I would get into. And if the doggie business does fall through, I'll be bummed about all the missed joke opportunities like: Q - "How's business?" A - "Picking up!"