I have half a million liquid. Is there any standard business I can start that gets me 10% to 20% returns?

[futurePorscheDr]

I initially had the money prepared for housing purchase. But now my situation changed b/c I was laid off.

I was working as corporate software engineer, so really no business experience.

But say, I'm willing to invest half a million in capital. And willing to spend the time and efforts into the business, same or more than a full-time job. And I'm only expecting almost a normal salary type of return. Say 80k a year.

Just wondering if people have experience with this. I'm going to do more research in the meantime.

 

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[Johnny boy]

My buddy owns a headstone business. People are dying to do business with him. Open up a location with him, it makes a lot more than 80k.

 

[Kevin88660]

I initially had the money prepared for housing purchase. But now my situation changed b/c I was laid off.

I was working as corporate software engineer, so really no business experience.

But say, I'm willing to invest half a million in capital. And willing to spend the time and efforts into the business, same or more than a full-time job. And I'm only expecting almost a normal salary type of return. Say 80k a year.

Just wondering if people have experience with this. I'm going to do more research in the meantime.

Sounds like you are a perfect candidate building saas business.

 

[WillHurtDontCare]

I initially had the money prepared for housing purchase. But now my situation changed b/c I was laid off.

I was working as corporate software engineer, so really no business experience.

But say, I'm willing to invest half a million in capital. And willing to spend the time and efforts into the business, same or more than a full-time job. And I'm only expecting almost a normal salary type of return. Say 80k a year.

Just wondering if people have experience with this. I'm going to do more research in the meantime.

Edit: Apparently Colin Keeley ripped off Ryan Kulp's course which you can get for free here: Acquire.com Academy - How to Buy, Grow, and Sell Startups .

I just found this out after I originally recommended Colin's course (which I did buy, watch, and enjoy), but after recommending it in a slack channel, Ryan messaged me and told me how Colin copied him years ago.

My thoughts below are on the idea of you buying a software business.

This guy colin has a course on buying small software businesses: [Link Removed] it's cheap and decent and will give you an idea of what to consider when buying a small business.

You can then look at marketplaces like Acquire.com, the #1 Startup Acquisition Marketplace to see what businesses are available. Ignore the multiples - a lot of those guys are just trying for the most absurd amount of money they can get.

Also, don't think about trading your entire $500K for a business. Think about creative deal terms - You could do something like seller financing where they agree to give you the money in exchange for monthly payments of whatever 90% of the average monthly net income over the last year, then you just increase the profit somehow and pocket the difference. You could also take out a loan since you have a big stack of capital. It's probably a bad time to do that, but it's always an option if you can find a way for it to make sense.

You might find someone who is working on a business that they want out of because they want to move on to a bigger venture or because they just don't want to work on it anymore. The reason that they are leaving is crucial - if you think that they're leaving because the market has tanked or because it's a horrible business, then DO NOT BUY IT.

Also, study the hell out of marketing. Tech is usually the easy part of running a tech business - don't just assume that your software expertise makes you a good software business owner. The hard part is getting people to hand over their damn money by providing them with something that they want, or better yet something they can't live without.

Also, do some napkin math on what you expect the business to give you over the next 1-3 years. Have a clear financial plan on what you need the business to do in order for it to be worth your time - don't just buy the business because you're infatuated with the idea of owning a particular business, do it because you ran some cold blooded calculations and it's a sensible investment for your investment and risk tolerance.

 

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[parabolic]

You can easily get 5%+ from a CD in a year or less by doing nothing but depositing the money.

~$25k guaranteed for doing nothing seems better to me than working 2000+ hours and risking your $500k for maybe ~$80k if everything goes well.

If you're willing to learn how to run a business and make sales, there are plenty of businesses that can yield 10-20%. Software seems like the obvious choice but there are also plenty of unsexy options that you could do.

 

[Bence Ur]

no business experience.

So don't sink half a million in your first business. Start a business which requires little to no capital and learn the business fundamentals first. You don't want to lose your money quickly. Most businesses don't work. Only invest money when you have a validated business idea, meaning you already have customers and positive cashflow. For the same reason don't buy an established business, because you mentioned that you have "no business experience".

 

[SEBASTlAN]

I'd take a look at what businesses are for sale on BizBuySell or similar, see what margins/returns companies are getting, and see if you could acquire one that fits your criteria/budget.

I wouldn't do it alone if you have zero experience as you noted.

 

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[BizyDad]

You can easily get 5%+ from a CD in a year or less by doing nothing but depositing the money.

~$25k guaranteed for doing nothing seems better to me than working 2000+ hours and risking your $500k for maybe ~$80k if everything goes well.

If you're willing to learn how to run a business and make sales, there are plenty of businesses that can yield 10-20%. Software seems like the obvious choice but there are also plenty of unsexy options that you could do.

Um... Who is THIS guy?!?!

10 years in finance and another 15 running businesses and I have literally never heard someone actually recommend a CD for $500k. This is comedy .

 

[parabolic]

Um... Who is THIS guy?!?!

10 years in finance and another 15 running businesses and I have literally never heard someone actually recommend a CD for $500k. This is comedy .

I'm not recommending it. The point was to show that working full time in a business that OP has no experience or knowledge to MAYBE make 80k if he is lucky vs doing absolutely nothing to make 25k is not good. It was just the first example that I thought of.

Of course there are many better options than CD. Feel free to share yours. I'm here to learn.