New Dallas Thread

[onwardthroughthefog]

Hello everyone. I hope your week is starting out well.

This has been an incredibly stressful time for me lately, and I sure enjoy coming on here to read and share with you all.

I was approached by a good friend awhile back to invest in a business startup he's wanting to get off the ground. The problem is that it would take virtually everything I have to make a go of it. I am a bit of a risk taker, but gambling everything I've worked all these years for is a tough call. His idea sounded good to me at the time, but each day I lean further and further away. I'm such an over-analyzing type of person that I've spent literally hundreds of hours on the internet, reading books, in the county and state government offices, and talking to other business owners for any input I could get. I've also asked the man upstairs for His input as well. He keeps telling me to go with my gut feeling......but all I have is indigestion. :(

Are any of you business owners? I don't expect you to get very detailed, as we all have to be careful on here. Just wondered how many of you go through the gut wrenching stress of risking your money in hopes of making a shiny new dime.

By the way, do any of you have any suggestions for any ideas for businesses that are missing in this area? I'm all ears to your thoughts. I want to go in a different direction professionally and am looking into a few things right now. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

What I'd love to own, but isn't feasible in the good ol' US of A is a bar/coffeeshop where folks like us could meet, talk openly, enjoy good drinks and good food, and not worry about being hassled. Kind of a "burned out old hippie stoner haven" type of place. We could sew our phone numbers and addresses into our shirt collars in case we forget where we live, and have a pickup and delivery service.........we pick you up at your home, take you to our place for the day, then deliver you back home when you either run out of money or consciousness. I guess we'd have to let Torog ride shotgun since he's got all the weapons we'd ever need....lol Anyone want to invest??? :D

Take care everyone and enjoy your week. Hopefully this storm that hit the coast will bring us some cooler weather and maybe even some rain.
Onward!

[LiftUrHead]

Well, onward, here's how I make big decisions: like you, I research until I can't take in anymore. This makes for an "informed" answer. Then I sit back for a few days or weeks and check out my instincts again. If I have any reservations or sense any "red lights" I can trust myself to avoid a dubious situation.

It's easy to get lost in the details but I've learned to trust my sub-conscious to recognise patterns in the data. Also, the older I get, the more I trust this process. Maybe this wil help.....

[onwardthroughthefog]

Well, onward, here's how I make big decisions: like you, I research until I can't take in anymore. This makes for an "informed" answer. Then I sit back for a few days or weeks and check out my instincts again. If I have any reservations or sense any "red lights" I can trust myself to avoid a dubious situation.

It's easy to get lost in the details but I've learned to trust my sub-conscious to recognise patterns in the data. Also, the older I get, the more I trust this process. Maybe this wil help.....

I appreciate the advice LiftUrHead. Sounds a lot like how I have made other business decisions in the past as well. I don't mind taking "reasonable" gambles, but when so much is on the line, I get pretty skittish.

I'm a skeptic by nature, so normally I research like a mad-man (like you) and come to a decision. Then I take a few days or even a few weeks to dissect every possible negative I can think of. That has helped me avoid some first impression mistakes. I'm pretty good at finding fault with things.

This is just a bit over my head in terms of risk/reward factor. I think that's my major determining factor in leaning to a "no" answer. The reward could be tremendous, but the risk is just too great for my comfort level. I'm too old and too tired to be starting over if something fails. I know what he has presented to me sounds like a very low risk, but even a tiny chance of losing so much of what I have makes me too stressed to go into it. I'm sure he'll make a small fortune and I'll kick myself later, but I just can't live with that much on the line. If it was my brainchild, I might feel differently about it. But coming in as an investor without the power of total control makes me pretty leary.

Thanks again for your insight. I hope your day is going great!
Onward!

[funkye]

I'm right there with you... except for my situation I'm putting in more sweat equity than $$$... but it's still a risk.

We found a niche in the industry my wife is in, and started designing the killer app to fill it... now we're 9 months after the first line of code and have 50 some odd users, with the list growing every week- but it's hard nonetheless...

You gotta remember- there is no reward without risk... I'm sure you're old enough to know that from experiance- but it's good to hear someone else say it- it either makes you take the jump or crawl off the diving board and head for the wading pool :)

don't know what the venture you're thinking about is, but take a read at this:

http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html