[BurnoutBinLaden]

Does anyone here invest in commercial? That could be opening a smoke shop to something on a larger scale.

I see a lot of businesses for sale in the Business Exchange, and I always wanted to start my own enterprise. But I want to know what pitfalls and traps to avoid, and what kind of research I should do before investing.

[Jayboogz]

get the capital first before you do anything. no point in research if you aint got dat loot.

industry canada resources..

Home - SME Benchmarking Tool (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/pp-pp.nsf/eng/home)

[BurnoutBinLaden]

Thanks for the tip.

I don't think I'll have enough cash for a large business (eg $30,000 for a smoke shop) but some of the work-from-home businesses that only need $500-1000 of startup capital are more attainable.

[4444]

Am I missing something, are u talking about investing in commercial real estate or a small business, usually small businesses (smoke shop, subway restauarnt) don't own their property, they lease

If ur talking about owning a strip mall (which said small businesses would lease), totally different requirements for financing, knowledge, day to day involvement

[BurnoutBinLaden]

The former.

[4444]

Usually for a franchise or simple smoke shop, you will earn a salary, but will quite quickly be capped income wise, with no real capital appreciation (there will never be barriers to entry for subway restaurants)

Don't get me wrong, if u manage them well and reinvest your money into more, you can make a lot of money, but that'll be the very few, not the majority

I think u need to change the thread title

[Manic!]

You will not make money running a smoke shop. The market is way to competitive and customers are very price sensitive. Plus the number of smokers is declining.