Business Advise
“Ask an Expert” Business Advice Column by Steve Strauss
Sponsored By:
“Swap Meet”
May 2005
Q: Like many people I suppose, I would like to start my own business. I have access to a product that I think would do well, but I don’t have the money to get started. So what do I do?
Vic, Iowa
A: I have written several times previously about ways to start a business with little money (SBA loans, home-based businesses, and so on.) There are ways to do it. But don’t just take my word for it. Today I offer a new tactic - via lessons from a master at this, Bob Teller.
One weekend 30 years ago, Teller, a new arrival to Southern California, was driving by the huge, empty parking lot at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Being the natural-born entrepreneur that he is, Teller saw something everyone else who drove by the same parking lot had missed, namely, a fantastic opportunity.
Teller thought that the space would be perfect for not just a swap meet, but a swap meet unlike any other, given the demographics of Orange County, California (upscale, discerning, and growing.) Though it took the visionary entrepreneur almost six years to get OKs from city and state entities (the fairgrounds are public property), his perseverance and hard work paid off when he opened the doors to his “Orange County Marketplace” in 1969.
Today? Today the Orange County Marketplace is probably the most unique, and successful, “swap meet” in the country:
- 50,000 people attend the event every weekend.
- They can buy everything from sunglasses to Jaguar automobiles from the 1,500 vendors, many of whom have left their traditional brick and mortar businesses to concentrate of the opportunity available at the O.C. Marketplace (www.ocmarketplace.com.)
- Having been to the O.C. Marketplace many times myself, I can also say that the place is unusual in that it is so safe, fun, clean (attendants man the bathrooms, for instance) and friendly. It fosters what can best be described as a “family atmosphere” and if you have ever been to a swap meet, you know how unusual that is.
So the answer to your question – ‘how to start a business without a lot of money’ – is to Be Like Bob:
- Have a vision. Teller didn’t have a lot of money to start, but he did it anyway. “Stop trying to do the so-called right thing and get out there and do something you love,” he advises.
- Treat your customers well: Aside from offering customers a panoply of choices, Teller makes sure that his vendors stand by their products and keep customers happy. And if they don’t? Then they are not going to be vendors at the OC Swap Meet any longer.
- Do it right: Why is Bob Teller’s once small, but now big, business so successful? Because he did it right. From cleanliness to great food to unique handicrafts to great policies, he gave people what they want.
- Start small, but think BIG: Bob Teller used plenty of pluck and hard work to get started, and then he offered other businesses the chance to get started too. Not a few vendors have become millionaires selling at the O.C. marketplace. So maybe the most unusual thing about this unique swap meet is that it has become a business incubator. Because rents are cheap, because traffic is high, because it caters to an upscale clientele, the Orange County Marketplace offers entrepreneurs the chance to start and grow their businesses with little risk.
So you want to start an inexpensive business? Consider starting it at your local swap meet, flea market, or open-air market (no, it probably won’t be as cool as Teller’s, unfortunately), and be sure to Be Like Bob. Do that, and you can’t go wrong.
Today’s tip: Teller is not only a savvy businessperson, he is an ethical one too. Entrepreneurs in a similar position (i.e., with a captive audience of 25,000 people every day) would likely extract top dollar for rents. Not Bob Teller. Space fees start at $45 a day. Doing so fosters new entrepreneurs, creates good feelings, builds the brand, and engenders loyalty.
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