Thinking of opening a Nissan dealership...

[mcheddadi]

I've been thinking about opening a nissan dealership pretty seriously for a while now. I've already secured a pretty big piece of land right in a spot thats currently empty in a moderately high density population area. it can be reached in less than 20 minutes by half a million people. Also I don't need to find investors so thats a plus.

I'd need to build the place and build the workforce.

cons are that there are 5 nissan dealership at about 15 minutes from where it would be built, it would be kind of like at the center.

what do you guys think about this?should I go on with this or should I think about getting a franchise instead like walmart or maybe just build a residential apartment building on the land I got

[Zerep]

I sAy go with the apartments because the dealership would only work if you went really low with your prices and not everyone need a car but most people need a place to stay. Further more dealerships. Change a man you will quickly notice that youll be selling cars at 5gs over msrp just to cover the operational cost of it.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Shenanigans!

Walmarts arent franchises (and i think mendi is smart enough to know that).

Construction on breaking new ground for a dealership will run EASILY over $1mEmpty your pockets and lemme see your financials!

[Ricko]

Franchise is a good company. Walmart is always busy and you can hire unskilled labor to do simple jobs.

[LongBeachCoupe]

Franchise is a good company. Walmart is always busy and you can hire unskilled labor to do simple jobs.

Guys walmart isnt a franchise, you cant "buy one" or "open one" like you can with a Sonic or a Baskin Robbins...

Franchises are typically a very expensive investment, and they require a large amount of liquidity.

For instance, in NY I was looking to help a wealthy friend open a dunkin donuts/baskin robbins combo store... They wanted around $800,000 for the franchise rights (what you need to pay them to put dunkin donuts outside the store) and then around another $1,100,000 to construct the building and drive thru he wanted. Then you need to have operating capital, pegged at around $400,000....

And Baskinrobbins/dd wants you to have atleast $3,000,000 liquid after you do all of the above. Its a pretty high bar to meet, and often times franchisors want you to sign a committal agreement that you will open 2 more locations within the next 10 yrs or pay a penalty.

Buy a laundrymat(or two) and a carwash... watch the $$ grow

[2008AltiCoupeDan]

yeah- an LBC dont forget the equipment that u have to buy from the company ur paying the rights to. its a timely and lengthy money process.

however- my vote is apartments- cus honestly- if u have a good school or a nice subdivision around u- hell-u can totally be put in a nice financial spot. location location location.

i dont speak a word of french, but Mehdi- i like u so much tht i'd request to be ur first tenant after i get my masters of course lol- so gimme till next may and its a go an hey- i'll be teachin high school english so i'll be able to teach u frenchies a thing or 2 hahaha :P

[pkrutop]

If you're serious about this, go with the apartments. With the land already owned, you can turn the investments from who I'm assuming are your family in no time. Depending on the size of the land, you could also look into getting the permits to build a small strip mall and lease the buildings and open a few shops of your own. In a strip mall, you have the ability to open many different kinds of shops and restaurants or lease the openings. I don't know about the east, but out here, COBS Bakery is one of the most successful franchises at the moment. Many different possiblities but it really matters about the size and placement of the land and the amount that your family is able to back. The more money you have, the bigger the possiblities, the more money you can make, BUT the higher the risk.

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

the best investment you can get into would be real estate...so w/ wat u just said ide go w/ apartments or sometghing on that basis

[mrodrig2]

If it is allowed by zoning, I'd do just like pkrutop said - apartments with retail space on the first floor.

[bunda4th]

I say make an Ice Cream Shop and have LBC drive the ice cream truck! j/k

I say go with the apartment or a mini market type. As said before people are always looking for places to live. Also you can let us Coupe owner stay for free when we come visit or something lol.

Or I can have a place to stay if I do move to Montreal to work for EA there.

[SniperJoe]

Build the apartments .....

[Rob.Vegan]

I would say apartments also

[1125Altima3.5]

You would be better off buying a dealership that goes out of business and renovating if you think the car business is a good one to be in for the long-term. (questionable)

[Andries]

Apartments +1

[LongBeachCoupe]

Guys, do you know how much money you lose with an empty apartment each month? Ever have to deal with a tennant? What about a tennant who just lost their job and doesnt pay?

Dealing with multiple residents is a TASK IN ITSELF.

[saywat]

wow i didnt kno ballers drive altimas. is this a joke or for real

[LongBeachCoupe]

wow i didnt kno ballers drive altimas. is this a joke or for real

Well as you get older, you will realize that its the guy who looks like a schlub whose got the REAL money... The guy wearing his burburry belt hopping out of his leased s500 usually isnt.

Heres one of my favorite pictures Thats one of the richest people in the US, and our best financial investor.. warren buffett.. You wont find him in Haagen dazs, you will find him in dairy queen, driving his prius there, with a pair of JCPenny pants...

Dont judge a book by its cover!

[maxentropy]

I wanna know where this money is coming from....

Honestly, invest in my bar idea...

Basically, its an indoor bar the size of a football field that has a real sand beach with wave machine, lifeguards, and tanning lights (on one side). Bars everywhere, water slides and silly crap all over the place too. Gonna have djs spinning at night and family time with margaritaville music during the day. Oh and really really good insurance.

[Hussain]

I wanna know where this money is coming from....

Honestly, invest in my bar idea...

Basically, its an indoor bar the size of a football field that has a real sand beach with wave machine, lifeguards, and tanning lights (on one side). Bars everywhere, water slides and silly crap all over the place too. Gonna have djs spinning at night and family time with margaritaville music during the day. Oh and really really good insurance.

start a hookah bar

it's HUGE in the middle east and Europe and its starting up in America now... so cal and the bay area got some good hookah spots but most places still dont have any hookah bars.... for those who do not know, hookah is similar to a water bong but you smoke flavored tobacco... like peach flavor, apple, orange, etc. theres like thousands of flavors from several different companies... with orange flavor, you can really taste the orange in the smoke.

[maxentropy]

Hookah bars are everywhere in America. There are at least 4 of them in Reading, PA.

Do something different.

[mrodrig2]

start a hookah bar

it's HUGE in the middle east and Europe and its starting up in America now...

Hookah bars started up in America about 3-4 years ago and here they are not as trendy as you portray them to be. The stigma around smoking is getting worse and worse in the US, unlike Europe where it is acceptable to drink and smoke at what is considered young in the States.

[Hussain]

theres 1 in Sacramento that is packed to where people cant even get in and now like 2 more open and they are just as packed... in Sacramento theirs an excessive demand, just no supply (when i say supply i mean hookah bars, not hookah materials).

[mrodrig2]

Guys, do you know how much money you lose with an empty apartment each month? Ever have to deal with a tennant? What about a tennant who just lost their job and doesnt pay?

Dealing with multiple residents is a TASK IN ITSELF.

As much as everyone says this is a good time for buyer's, that is only partly true. This is a good time for already established people to buy more.... For everyone else, i.e this is a time to rent and will be for a while longer. As long as he doesn't take >5 yrs to build and doesn't build too large, he can still fill plenty of units with ease.

[mrodrig2]

theres 1 in Sacramento that is packed to where people cant even get in and now like 2 more open and they are just as packed... in Sacramento theirs an excessive demand, just no supply (when i say supply i mean hookah bars, not hookah materials).

I go to Sacramento at least 2-3 times a year for work and it's not exactly a bustling trendsetter for America. What may be true locally may not be true regionally or nationally. A better regional indicator for demand in that area is probably SF, not Sacto.

[PHENOMenalVinyl]

wow i didnt kno ballers drive altimas. is this a joke or for real

the average person who makes a million a year drives a $36,000 dollar car the average tens of a millions drives a $46,000 car

my photography teacher told me this today so i told him how much ive spent he said i should be making about $750,000 a yr lol im hood rich son lol

[1125Altima3.5]

Hate to be a d!ck, but I think you need to hear this:

If you have the money to start a dealership, but are asking a bunch of strangers on the internet for advice on how to spend that money, you need to learn a little more about business before you spend a dime. Get a job at your dad's company or get an MBA, and then think about starting your own business.

In the meantime, put your inheritance/allowance into 5-yr T-bill and come back when you actually know something about business. As far as I can tell the best "expert" on here is a guy who spent 1-2 years building spreadsheets at a small investment bank. This is not the type of counsel you should seek when you're looking to spend ~$1-2 million dollars of your own money.

[Hussain]

my friend was just in san jose over the weekend (i was busy) and he was talking about the hookah bars there, my brother has talked about the ones in San Francisco, ive heard of several in so cal... there were even members who wanted to meet up in socal at a hookah bar... me and my friends go on the hookah forums.... sacramento isnt the biggest city (no where near so cal and the bay area) but even sacramento has a huge amount of people who enjoy hookah

[Mr.Coupe]

Dude screw all these ideas and I say open up a STRIP CLUB. BOOOBZZZZ, Alcohol and Plasmas for games.... You can't go wrong there. Shoot you can even throw in some food (Wings, Burgers, Nachos and ECT). Well those are just my thoughts . From your list though I would go with Realty dude. Start an apartment building. Realty goes up in value not down. You can't go wrong there unless you have bogus tenants.

Ricky C.

[mcheddadi]

Hate to be a d!ck, but I think you need to hear this:

If you have the money to start a dealership, but are asking a bunch of strangers on the internet for advice on how to spend that money, you need to learn a little more about business before you spend a dime. Get a job at your dad's company or get an MBA, and then think about starting your own business.

In the meantime, put your inheritance/allowance into 5-yr T-bill and come back when you actually know something about business. As far as I can tell the best "expert" on here is a guy who spent 1-2 years building spreadsheets at a small investment bank. This is not the type of counsel you should seek when you're looking to spend ~$1-2 million dollars of your own money.

true

[LongBeachCoupe]

1125, ill have to scan and upload the picture of me ringing the opening bell at the American Stock Exchange for you lol....

IMO Mendi is sometimes known for posting obsurd questions just to hear what people will say, i think this was one of those moments..

But dont put your money in a T-bill! You wont even stay pace with inflation!