Entering a completely new industry starting from scratch?

[Haya_Verbena]

Hey all, it's been a while since I joined the forum and wanted to post a little something.

It's been a little over a year and a half since I started my own FnB manufacturing company with a friend. We started a small production facility specializing in making sauces and cooking pastes for B2B. Business has been well enough, in that span of time utilizing what little revenue we had, our expertise and connections made; we had achieved a total revenue of about 250k USD, but close to no profit because of razor thins margins caused by constant under cutting of prices( a typical occurrence in our FnB space), not to mention operating costs as well.

As of now my friend and I, are looking into shutting down our facility. One reason is that my friend is fulfilling a lifelong dream of his of moving to a better country with his family, and the other is that I can't see myself continuing in this line of business without him. Being in the FnB line has disillusioned me from the industry and I'm rather feeling rather burnt out and disheartened. I know this can be true of any industry, but I think I want a breath of fresh air in my life to keep myself going. Not making any profit doesn't help as well.

So do any of you have any advice on how to enter a completely new industry and start from scratch with zero knowledge? Being in FnB for too long has skewed my perception and given me tunnel vision, making it difficult for me to think of other ways of providing value. Any feedback is much appreciated

 

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[Jobless]

Entering something new with zero knowledge is OK. The dangerous combo is if you think you know a lot, when really you know zero, and you go in with all your capital. Often, it's a restaurant, retail boutique, or similar passion project. Leads to ruin. Avoid that, and I think you can do well.

Another issue, is you may rely too much on a business partner that has all the experience. Since you're new, maybe your stake is 20% and 80% for the partner, in exchange for him/her teaching you, but in 5 years, you both have basically the same level of experience, yet ownership does not reflect this.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hey all, it's been a while since I joined the forum and wanted to post a little something.

It's been a little over a year and a half since I started my own FnB manufacturing company with a friend. We started a small production facility specializing in making sauces and cooking pastes for B2B. Business has been well enough, in that span of time utilizing what little revenue we had, our expertise and connections made; we had achieved a total revenue of about 250k USD, but close to no profit because of razor thins margins caused by constant under cutting of prices( a typical occurrence in our FnB space), not to mention operating costs as well.

As of now my friend and I, are looking into shutting down our facility. One reason is that my friend is fulfilling a lifelong dream of his of moving to a better country with his family, and the other is that I can't see myself continuing in this line of business without him. Being in the FnB line has disillusioned me from the industry and I'm rather feeling rather burnt out and disheartened. I know this can be true of any industry, but I think I want a breath of fresh air in my life to keep myself going. Not making any profit doesn't help as well.

So do any of you have any advice on how to enter a completely new industry and start from scratch with zero knowledge? Being in FnB for too long has skewed my perception and given me tunnel vision, making it difficult for me to think of other ways of providing value. Any feedback is much appreciated

Collaborate with old business owners without exit options.

There are hundred of thousands of aging business owners worldwide who have profitable business but their children are not interested in taking over.

Check if you have distant relatives in such a position. Check if the parents of the good friends are in such a position. It is much easier to build trust.

You do not need money down in such arrangement. You can learn the rope as apprentice then take over using an earnout agreement, paid by the future revenue of the business once the boomers retire.