My wife, also, wants to start a business after she retires. Her passion is cooking - more specifically baking - even more specifically baking cream pies. Chocolate, butterscotch, coconut, banana, lemon, lime, peanut butter, if it can be made into a cream pie she makes a delicious version of it. We live in a small town, though, and the local market for baked goods is limited, even for those as good as hers. So, the logical step is to expand the market by using the internet to sell region-wide, even nation-wide. Polly has a friend who has gone this route, developing a successful fudge business with customers in several states. Our problem is, though, that fudge ships fairly easily, cream pies, not so much. An equally significant problem is that to sell cooked food you must have a health department-approved kitchen, which basically means a commercial kitchen, and we don't have one.
So, our plan is to start small, first by creating a product that ships easier and cheaper than cream pies, then by finding a commercial kitchen to rent. Once we establish a market, we can then expand into the business we envision.
There comes a time in every small business that in order to grow beyond a start-up, capital must be raised by taking on debt such as a small business loan or second mortgage, or bringing in equity investors. Assuming of course, that most stroke survivors don't have personal savings to inject into the business. If you do, you have my admiration; you are a better manager of your personal finances than I am. We are far from that point in my wife's business, and in mine, but it doesn't hurt to discuss possibilities, and besides, it's just plain fun to envision what could happen if you plan well, work hard, and stay smart. I love the idea of starting my own business, and I think more stroke survivors should consider doing it.
