We’re Planning Our Future Business Ventures
My partner and I both seem to have fairly entrepreneurial minds. We’ve been brainstorming in our spare bedroom about various businesses, some related to medicine and others which are more consumer driven. The reason for starting a business is to diversify our income streams.
I currently own mostly securities in form of index funds (broad market mutual funds) which I am hoping will in the long-run go up in value. I rely on this investment type to generate income for me once I get too old to work a job or run a business competently.
Besides securities I have faith in real estate and business. I’m still studying up on real estate and hope that in the next few months I can convert my Portland condo into an income-generating piece of real estate, a rental income property that should require a lower amount of work than working a job.
That’s the point isn’t it? Our jobs aren’t really easy and we are constantly at risk of getting sued. Having one’s own investments should require some work, but less than working a job.
Our top options currently include a dental office, a laser hair removal business, an urgent care or a medical weight-loss clinic. The reason we are favoring the medical businesses is because that’s where we have the most expertise.
As far as real estate we both have some interest in residential income properties and could see ourselves combining one of the above medical offices with a commercial real estate purchase.
The non-medical businesses which we’ve discussed include a language teaching center, nail salon, an auto mechanic shop or a cafe. These businesses are more appealing to us if we find the exact right location and circumstance.
Headache and Income Potential
The headache of a dental office or urgent care is not much different from the headache of being a full-time employee doctor in either of these settings. Doing it alone can be intimidating but doing it with another person takes some of the pressure off, more so if each party has a set of unique skills they bring to the table.
We’re in a fortunate place that we don’t need a ton of income in order to live. Both of us are debt free and though she has a more pricey lifestyle than myself we still don’t spend all that much together.
If we can build a medical practice that operates based on our principles first and generates a good income second then I think it’ll be a lot less likely that the stress of the business will burn us out.
Building something that we can sell down the road is really appealing as well. A successful medical practice isn’t hard to sell and if we own the land on which it’s built then it become an even more sell-able business.
I’ll lay out more details once we talk more about it. For now we’re talking about a cash-only model. Stay tuned.
Working Together As A Couple
I can definitely see this being an issue. It could be a total disaster or it could work out really well. I figure if we each take on different aspects of the business and don’t step on each other’s toes we will be fine.
In my previous business venture I did well with my business partner and we were able to communicate well together. The only way I’m gonna know how it’s gonna go is to try it out with my partner. The best thing we can do is have one person step out of the business and just leave one person in charge of it in case it becomes taxing on the relationship.