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My first post on Leofinance: Do you think it is a good time to invest now and start my own business?

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@zkalemiss
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Hello leofinance, my name is Stelios and I am from Greece and I currently live in Athens. Entrepreneurship has always been an area of interest to me, so I will be very happy to connect with some respectable entrepreneurs here.

As I remember myself in all the jobs I worked in, I observed very carefully the movements of each entrepreneur, such as the advertising campaigns, the expenses incurred by the company and generally everything in terms of its operation in order to create my own profitable business one day.

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The business ideas that have crossed through my mind are endless, some with great risk and some with less. From the age of eighteen, I have been working in the field of catering and hospitality, so most of my business ideas are related to this business category. I was always thinking to open a takeaway coffee shop because the expenses would not be high comparing to a cafeteria with a big lounge. I have never done this business movement because after the economic crisis of 2008 a lot of businesses of this kind opened, so I reconsidered my mind and started to look opportunities at the internet.

For many years I have been searching in many areas of internet marketing and ways to set up an internet business. But every time I waste my time learning many information about different kind of internet businesses and in the end I do nothing. The only thing that has kept me going is my blog on Steemit/hive which I consider as a business also.

Last year I rent two small rooms by the sea at my hometown Rethymno in Creta which gathers thousands of tourists every summer season. I spent some money renovating the rooms and I put them on airbnb. The results were very good, in 6 months of operation I succeed paying all the rents to the owner, I paid for the renovation, I paid the taxes that were 15% and I made a small profit which made me very happy because the next year I wouldn't have the expenses of the renovation and I could rent them for a higher price because my reviews were very good and airbnb made me a super host. Unfortunately coronavirus emerged and I lost profits of 3 months. Thankfully at July, August and September both of the rooms are reserved with 20% higher prices than last year. Hopefully If I manage to rent both of them at October and November at airbnb my profits will be about 30% better than last year. At the winter seasons I rent them by month at a very lower price which is almost 1/3 of the price I am renting them at airbnb.

Now I would like to talk to you about my big dilemma and I will be obliged whoever can and has business knowledge to give me some advices. 1 month before the lockdown I had found a shop rented at Pagrati of Athens in a square full of coffee shops, a supermarket and many shops around. I want to open a restaurant at this shop which will serve 10 to 15 different cooked food everyday and I aim as customers the employees at the shops and the coffee shops around also the customers of the supermarket thinking that my restaurant will have a lot of visibility to the customers of the supermarket and the other shops around.
My idea at the beginning was to sell quality food a little more expensive that my competitors and socialize with the neighborhood and offer them discounts in order to make them think that they get better prices than the other restaurants around which are not many. But then the lockdown came and for 3 months now all of my plans have been frozen. Some days ago I contacted the owner of the shop and offered me a 50% discount of the rent due to the situation of the lockdown and its impacts at the economy. This is very encouraging but some rumors say that the gorvernment will lock us again in our houses at octomber. If that happens and I have opened my restaurant till then I am afraid that I will be destroyed financially because I won't have income until the lockdown finish.

I have read at many business articles that the best time to invest is during the economic crisis and indeed if you think that the rent will be 50% down for 3 years it is a very good opportunity. I will take a loan of 100.000 thousand euros and I will mortgage a building which its value is more than 300.000 euros so here is the moment I am asking about your opinion. What do you think should I open the restaurant now which the economy is uncertain and I will risk a lot of money or should I take the risk to wait and see what will happen with the economy the upcoming months and maybe someone else rent the shop that I want to open as a restaurant. The price is very good and someone else which have an available capital will rent it. What do you think I should do?

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I know that in business is very important to take risks, but I am not an experienced businessman so I΄d love to hear your opinion. Thanks for stopping by, see you at my next post!

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