If I gave you US$400,000 ...

[TA1LGUNN3R]

A strip club or two.

-TG

[Lootifer]

mods, please edit "Lootifer's" reply to -

spinning club / smoothie bar

Next?

I shall call it Meester Twinks.

Named after the staff or the customers?

Well the staff obviously but it would also be my target demographic, we'd hide the bears out back.

Something boringly bluechip (or as bluechip as you can for 400k free capital, which is surprisingly a lot - youd be able to leverage that up quite significantly with little in the way of risk).

Please explain exactly how you'd "leverage up" (great verb by the way) your capital with "little risk".....been running small biz for 25 years and was a commercial lender before that....teach me seymore!

Well you are talking about something that doesn't (or very seldomly) exists: the free lunch.

With a decent business model you would be easily able to attract some dabbling interest in the form of equity from solid investors that won't ask a lot.

I also imagine you'd be able to negotiate a nice low interest rate on your debt, again it'd require a decent business model and the aforementioned free lunch.

Hell you could probably setup a crowd source model that might work.

Now I am not directly involved with this process, so please correct me if I am wrong. But from my crude understanding of how things work the free lunch should unlock cheap interest rates and generous investors.

[KoolBak]

OK...I am confoozed....I am talking about TANSTAAFL? Ok....

Having been a commercial lender (lending to small - med biz from large commercial banks), I can tell you, guaranteed, that any loan to small biz requires a personal guaranty / asset pledge by the principal(s). Your "business model" is blue sky....your assets and future are real. Been thru too many collection / liquidations that broke families..the old biz model didn't work out..horrible thing to do. But when you're loaning out other peoples' money (yours, mine), it WILL be collected.

As far as generous investors that don't ask for anything (due again to your awesome biz model), well....they don't exist, unless it's family.....anyway, thot I'd clear that up for you ;o)

[Lootifer]

OK...I am confoozed....I am talking about TANSTAAFL? Ok....

Having been a commercial lender (lending to small - med biz from large commercial banks), I can tell you, guaranteed, that any loan to small biz requires a personal guaranty / asset pledge by the principal(s). Your "business model" is blue sky....your assets and future are real. Been thru too many collection / liquidations that broke families..the old biz model didn't work out..horrible thing to do. But when you're loaning out other peoples' money (yours, mine), it WILL be collected.

As far as generous investors that don't ask for anything (due again to your awesome biz model), well....they don't exist, unless it's family.....anyway, thot I'd clear that up for you ;o)

Good job on the condescension

Anyhoo... So a loan backed by some poor guys house and a loan backed by a magic 400k from Saxi carry the same amount of downside risk for the business owner? That was my point. Business model not meaning dick sure, probably more relevant to equity.

Now moving onto equity, I can only speak anecdotally for a couple of things I have seen locally, but it would certainly look like investors are much more willing to get in early (long before revenue starts rolling in) due to the high returns on tech companies (large and small). That means that business models/concepts are much more important than they used to be. Think of it like a horse race, except instead of fixed odds, the winner has a 5% chance to return $1,000,000,000 on every dollar bet. You'd bet on the whole field right? (minus the horses that have broken legs). 400k would go a long way to preparing your horse to win the race. (apologies for the terrible analogy)

[KoolBak]

Condescension? Thanks for your inanity....why do I even bother?

*here I thot kiwis were supposed to be nice*

[BigBallinStalin]

I'd setup an LLC called "GFY 100%," raise my salary to $400,000/second, and then declare bankruptcy on the 2nd second.

[riskllama]

i would buy a hot dog cart and sell hot dogs, i'd spend the rest re uniting kyuss to play my 40th birthday.

[DoomYoshi]

$400 k isn't enough to do anything. I could pay some people to play board games with me.

[mrswdk]

A business which invests in buying luxury handbags and coats for Chinese women who don't have very many.

Any girls who want to use this donation service will first have to apply, with all applications reviewed by me.

[dakky21]

... to start a business, would you accept it and - if so - what business would you start? I will take no equity in your business.

believe it or not, I need just like $4k to start a business here. And I'd start a bar also, and your picture would hang on the wall.

[saxitoxin]

... to start a business, would you accept it and - if so - what business would you start? I will take no equity in your business.

believe it or not, I need just like $4k to start a business here. And I'd start a bar also, and your picture would hang on the wall.

intriguing ... we may be about to have a Conquer Club version of Shark Tank

[demonfork]

I would accept the money.

I would start a company that would manufacture RO membrane.