My bout with joblessness has rekindled a flame that I thought died a while ago: I want to open my own business. I've toyed with the idea several times before but it never went very far. Computer repair shop, comic book shop, bookstore. It seems I'm drawn to industries that are either dying or over-saturated.
The computer repair shop would be most similar to what I've done before but that's a good and bad thing. I like computers, but I like them when they work. Fixing the occasional problem is fine, and I fixed problems all day every day for years, but going to work every day knowing that feeding your family depends on fixing other people's mistakes would be draining.
I love books and I think a love of reading is the most important skill a child can ever develop, but no one buys books anymore. Second-hand bookstores and ebooks have drastically changed the industry. And not necessarily for the worse. Jumping in this industry now would be disastrous.
The craziest idea that ever actually took hold in my brain was the comic book shop. Comics are relatively cheap, on an individual basis. And they are a fantastic tool for getting kids to WANT to learn to read. My son started reading by sounding out the action words (BLAM! KRAKADOOOOOM!!!) as I read comics to him and naturally progressed to other picture books and then on to chapter books. I have all kinds of ideas. Bundled discounts, pre-ordering discounts, cross-marketing with similar/adjacent businesses, kids night (bring your kid to come hear us read a new kids comic and when the reading is done one kid gets randomly selected to take the comic home for free), a good report card means an extra discount on comics, etc. But a comic shop means ridiculous amounts of overhead. New product needs to be purchased every single week. And without going into the details of the vendor purchasing situation in the comic industry I'll say it's pretty unforgiving to newcomers.
So I'm left with an unrelenting desire to strike out on my own, be my own boss, and build a business from the ground up, but I have no smart sounding business idea to pair with the desire. I'm prepared to obsessively work twenty hours a day every day to get my business off of the ground, but nothing to obsess over.
I feel like I'm back in tenth grade trying to decide what to do with my life, thinking "It seems daunting now, but by the time I'm 25 I'll have figured it out and have a few years under my belt." Well, I'm 26 now and don't feel like I've figured anything out. I worked for almost five years building skills and getting experience in my chosen industry, but now it looks like I'll need to start over if I want to stay in the same industry. And I feel like if I'm going to spend another five years starting from the bottom again, pouring every ounce of my passion into a project, shouldn't I blaze a path on my own and benefit in the long run?
So if anyone wants to throw some substantial capital my way I can 100% guarantee that it won't be squandered. You may very well lose every penny you invest, but it will be exciting. The eventual success/failure will be nothing short of spectacular.
(My sales pitch needs some work.)