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I just borrowed $40,000 and want to start a business. Ideas?

L

Lace

Member
jsnepo said:
This. I'm amazed the banks even gave you a loan. Just return the money then make a solid business plan.
Click to expand...
Not really to me. He's a CPA with years of experience, who pitched opening up a firm in a growing market. He likely guaranteed the loan through his homes. If he fails to pay back the loan they seize his assets. There is no reason for the bank to realize he wouldn't follow through with the firm he pitched.
 
N

nbraun80

Member
old said:
Make and sell those little circular bandaids again. I couldn't find any at Kroger or Walgreens last week.

24/7 Spa club. All the best parts of a good gym without exercise stuff. Free coffee, wifi, hot showers with seats, hot tubs, heated pool, steam room, and sauna. Members only to keep out the riff raff.
Click to expand...
Or what about a spa for you and your pet, like a couples spa, but activities for you and your cat.
 
R

RustyNails

Member
OP's avatar with the subsequent replies is cracking me up

image.php
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
TheChewyWaffles said:
MTG futures....ahaha I've heard it all.
Click to expand...

Randolph Freelander said:
Futures market.

On magic the gathering cards.

I don't even.
Click to expand...

I don't know how much you guys keep up with Magic finance, but there's a very active community of card speculators out there. Right now their only options are to scramble to buy cards from whichever websites have them in stock.

Despite what my OP makes it look like, I put a lot of thought and did a lot of research into this. My business plan and cash flow projections look good. If I could actually get this thing started then I think it would be successful. The factors working against me right now are not really under my control, though, so if it falls apart then I can at least say I gave it my all.

FUME5 said:
Hold on, your big business plan was to speculate on Magic the Gathering cards?
Click to expand...

No. It was to give other people the ability to speculate on Magic cards much easier than they can currently.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
Lace said:
Not really to me. He's a CPA with years of experience, who pitched opening up a firm in a growing market. He likely guaranteed the loan through his homes. If he fails to pay back the loan they seize his assets. There is no reason for the bank to realize he wouldn't follow through with the firm he pitched.
Click to expand...
$40k isn't worth another add in NPL number in the book, imo
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
StrategyFan said:
pay someone $10/hr to update card prices manually until you get it programmed to update automatically ?
Click to expand...

There are around 20,000 unique Magic cards, and most speculation targets tend to be cards that fly under the radar, so I couldn't use algorithms to only pay attention to the most popular cards or anything like that. It just isn't viable. But thank you for the suggestion.
 
Mr. PlayStation

Mr. PlayStation

Member
ThLunarian said:
I had a business idea and borrowed money to get it started, but right now it looks like my idea might not work.

So now I have $40,000 that I borrowed from banks and, assuming that I'm right and my original idea won't work, I am looking for other ideas.

I like to play board games and puzzles. I've been into Magic the Gathering for 23 years. I follow politics very closely and consider myself a left wing social justice warrior. I am a licensed CPA but I don't have enough experience to open my own firm and I'm starting to think that it was the wrong career for me because accounting is boring. I like musical theory but I'm not very talented at performing. I really enjoy ballroom dancing and spent 9 months as an instructor at Arthur Murray. I am not very charismatic in person usually. I am an okay writer, but not good enough to make a career of it. I currently own three houses, two of which I am renting out at a tiny profit, and I am interested in eventually acquiring more real estate but I don't think I have enough capital to actually do that. I think I would make a great director for either movies or theater but I have no idea how to hone that skill.

I am paying interest on this money so I can't just give it away.

I don't want to invest it in some other business because I can't make a living off of that.

I am not a rich man so $40k is just about all I'll be able to spare.

That's all. I'm just looking for ideas here. Thanks folks

Edit: since many people have asked or have not realized that there was an idea originally, the idea was to start a futures market on Magic the Gathering cards, letting people buy options for them so they can speculate without actually buying the cards.

This may not be viable now, for reasons involving vendors and card pricing APIs.

And the reason I typed that long paragraph talking about myself was to help people come up with ideas related to things I enjoy. It was not intended as a display of relevant skills. But that doesn't seem like it's going to happen, and it's looking like I might just return the money. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Food truck business? If you can find Indians or Mexicans who are good at preparing their respective countries food, then this might be a good start for you?
 
dickroach

dickroach

Member
Prash said:
Food truck business? If you can find Indians or Mexicans who are good at preparing their respective countries food, then this might be a good start for you?
Click to expand...

to start a food truck from scratch you're gonna need a lot more than 40k
 
F

FUME5

Member
ThLunarian said:
I don't know how much you guys keep up with Magic finance, but there's a very active community of card speculators out there. Right now their only options are to scramble to buy cards from whichever websites have them in stock.

Despite what my OP makes it look like, I put a lot of thought and did a lot of research into this. My business plan and cash flow projections look good. If I could actually get this thing started then I think it would be successful. The factors working against me right now are not really under my control, though, so if it falls apart then I can at least say I gave it my all.



No. It was to give other people the ability to speculate on Magic cards much easier than they can currently.
Click to expand...

Well, shit, if there's a demand for it...

Far less shady than these motherfuckers who keep calling asking me to invest in forex trading through them.
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
kess said:
If you don't have control over your own API this is over before it even begins.
Click to expand...

I can't control market prices but I can control volatility/risk. If my API lags in updating prices, I can ratchet up the volatility value in the formula to essentially make the options cost as much as the real value of the card.
 
K

Kimawolf

Member
Hrm... I work in the banking industry and your story sounds suspect. most banks will not even think of underwriting any kind of business loan without an actual business plan (just having good credit won't cut it for large business loans. But 40k isn't large.) and it sounds like you walked into a bank with an "idea" (a very risky one at that) and asked for money and they gave it to you. As a CPA you HAVE to know that's a horrible idea.

I will say as well pay it off ASAP and prepare an actual business plan.

Also btw, 40k is not enough to start a business. You'd need far more, I can't see a bank just giving you 40k on hopes and dreams to be honest. Is it an actual business loan or a personal loan/Equity loan of some kind?
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
You really should've made a basic functional prototype of this to ensure it was a viable thing you could make before taking out a $40k loan.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Buy $40,000 of litecoin and cross your fingers for 6months
Bet fails? Declare bankruptcy

This doesn't sound like a business loan to me, but just a personal loan.
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
kendrid said:
Page 4 and this doesn’t seem like an option to him.

OP return it!
Click to expand...

I said on Page 1 that I'm just going to return it if my idea doesn't pan out :p

Guess Who said:
You really should've made a basic functional prototype of this to ensure it was a viable thing you could make before taking out a $40k loan.
Click to expand...

This is a fair criticism. Unfortunately, I don't have any web development skills at all, so I have to hire someone to do this, and the programming behind it is surprisingly complex, so there was just no way to test it out like that. So I went for it. It's risky but it's the choice I made.
 
B

Baraka Obama

Banned
Lace said:
Not really to me. He's a CPA with years of experience, who pitched opening up a firm in a growing market. He likely guaranteed the loan through his homes. If he fails to pay back the loan they seize his assets. There is no reason for the bank to realize he wouldn't follow through with the firm he pitched.
Click to expand...
So you're saying he's risking everything for Magic the gathering? Geez
 
V

vern

Member
Some quick ideas:

- Hire someone in the developing world to make an app.
- Buy a good domain name and flip it (pets.com maybe)
- Become an angel investor in Bodega, a promising startup
- Donate to Donald Trump's reelection campaign
- 'Round the World Ticket and blog/vlog about it (youtube money bro)
-
Return it
 
B

BladeoftheImmortal

Member
Do you have any student loan debts? Pay this off because if you have to go bankrupt, that debt won't go away. But bank loans will.


Otherwise I got plenty of ideas I'd be willing to share if you'd like.
 
Clockwork

Clockwork

Member
ThLunarian said:
This is a fair criticism. Unfortunately, I don't have any web development skills at all, so I have to hire someone to do this, and the programming behind it is surprisingly complex, so there was just no way to test it out like that. So I went for it. It's risky but it's the choice I made.
Click to expand...

How much do you think this will cost?
 
M

massoluk

Banned
ThLunarian said:
I said on Page 1 that I'm just going to return it if my idea doesn't pan out :p



This is a fair criticism. Unfortunately, I don't have any web development skills at all, so I have to hire someone to do this, and the programming behind it is surprisingly complex, so there was just no way to test it out like that. So I went for it. It's risky but it's the choice I made.
Click to expand...
I am not piling on you man, but... How much were you expecting infrastructure to cost when you pitched this?
 
S

Slo

Member
ThLunarian said:
This is a fair criticism. Unfortunately, I don't have any web development skills at all, so I have to hire someone to do this, and the programming behind it is surprisingly complex, so there was just no way to test it out like that. So I went for it. It's risky but it's the choice I made.
Click to expand...

When you return the money, please also recommend that your loan officer be fired for incompetence.
 
Vic_Viper

Vic_Viper

Member
Op I know this Nigerian Prince with Millions and if you just send me a couple thousand he will pay you back 10 fold!
 
L

Lace

Member
Baraka Obama said:
So you're saying he's risking everything for Magic the gathering? Geez
Click to expand...
I was under the impression he pitched opening opening up an accounting firm and decided against it later. If he pitched the Magic the Gathering scheme and got the money I'm lost for words.
The interest rate must be absurd
 
T

ThLunarian

Member
Clockwork said:
How much do you think this will cost?
Click to expand...

massoluk said:
I am not piling on you man, but... How much were you expecting infrastructure to cost when you pitched this?
Click to expand...

The web developer quoted me at $31k to build the entire site from scratch with all the functionality I'm looking for. When I got that quote, I started looking for funding. I found it partially through a personal loan and partially through an SBA-backed loan. I submitted my detailed business plan and one year of cash flow projections, and I was approved.

I know my OP makes me seem like some kind of irresponsible loon, but I actually do have some idea of what I'm doing.
 
P

Plumbob

Member
I'm not going to be as down on OP as everyone else.

I think the fact you want to open a business badly enough to take out a loan is a good sign about your motivation.

I would read several books and try to connect to friends-of-friends who are small business owners to start learning what you'll need to do. In the meantime though, return the loan.
 
godhandiscen

godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
Dude return the money or yolo that money and put it in cryptocurrency.
 
S

Slo

Member
ThLunarian said:
The web developer quoted me at $31k to build the entire site from scratch with all the functionality I'm looking for. When I got that quote, I started looking for funding. I found it partially through a personal loan and partially through an SBA-backed loan. I submitted my detailed business plan and one year of cash flow projections, and I was approved.

I know my OP makes me seem like some kind of irresponsible loon, but I actually do have some idea of what I'm doing.
Click to expand...

I'll do it for $25k. I need the money up front.
 
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