Today we are going to discuss 4 industries that were severely hit by covid 19 and that a smart and resourceful business owner as yourself might find interesting investment in.
The idea behind this video is buying businesses when the ground is burning underneath them – so you must be tough, clever and you must get it at a significantly lower price than you would have paid for it the day before or the day after covid.
so this video is made for you more experienced business owners and entrepreneurs who would be able to buy, improve the business and in some cases wait some time until you see profits from the business.
If you are looking for a business idea that could be an amazing first business to start right now during covid or if your business has failed and you are looking to change direction – you might still enjoy this video but i’ve got another video for you that includes some of the best businesses to start from scratch right now -> covid-19 business ideas.
There will be a lot of information to handle, so there is a pdf you can download linked in the description so that it will be even easier to stay on point – so if you are in for the dive lets go!
Just to make sure you are with me in it, this is not some theory video – I have made this research and I’m still doing it as we speak, mainly for my own business interest.
I am, right now, on the hunt, I am looking at several businesses in exactly these industries in order to potentially acquire one or two that will pay off incredibly well in the future.
Basic Criteria for buying a business
So as I said The basic concept in this video is to find a business in an industry that suffered from covid with at least 2 basic criteria along with any other criteria you will be normally looking at when buying a business:
- An owner who has had it with the business and really wants to sell so that you will be offered a great deal. You must understand by now that a deal that’s a decent deal in normal times is a terrible deal right now, you need to find an owner that is incredibly motivated to sell and get a covid special price.
- The business MUST have some assets that can sustain value through a relatively long period of pandemic time – even if not making money in this time. Stuff like big lists of paying customers, websites or other online assets with a lot of traffic, strong teams, real estate, powerful and unique product lines and strong brands are all things you are definitely looking for.
The kind of deals we are talking about are of course involving risk, so use this analysis in this video at your own discretion.
Travel Industry
The first industry we are going to discuss is the travel industry, and even though few people are in a position to buy an airline or have the capital to support one during this time, and hotels will mostly retain their value because the real estate value of the property isn’t as volatile as the price of a business – there are other interesting opportunities in this industry.
The first is small and privately owned hotels, motels, vacation apartments or complexes. Those deals might be hard to find and many real estate professionals are on the hunt for these right now, but if you are in a position to find and finance a deal like this – it’s an amazing opportunity.
The second opportunity in this industry is Travel agencies or their alternative online assets, like websites, communities and so on that normally lead travelers to their vacation and make their money on commissions.
These businesses might be in desperate need for cash right now and almost no way to get it. And although the travel agent down the street might not be able to sell his reputation and relationships with his clients as easily, an agency with several or up to several dozens of agents might be and a website or a community referring people to airlines and hotels might be even more easily bought or sold.
You can for example look for the best website for travel information in your country, region or city, that website might normally produce nice amounts of money from commissions but right now cost more to maintain than the pennies it will produces so right now it’s losing money, acquiring something like this for pennies on the dollar and waiting with minimum ongoing investment – will pay back big when the industry will recover – either by generating a new source of cash flow or as a pure flip simply selling it when the industry recovers.
The third opportunity in this industry is reserved to those of you who are experts in logistics and team building. You might want to consider acquiring lines of travel. A bigger investment might be a cruise line, a smaller one might be a bus line or even a small business giving one on one or small groups of guided tours on foot or bikes with just a few freelance guides.
The last type of businesses you might be interested in is partially in the travel industry and partially in the entertainment industry, which is the next industry we will discuss.
And it is small to medium attractions, while some of the bigger attractions are state owned or owned by major corporations, some smaller attractions are privately owned and are now losing money.
By the way, some of these attractions can find a way to earn money online so it could be an extra interesting investment if you find a way to do that.
So let’s get on and start analysing the entertainment industry.
Entertainment industry
Just like in the travel industry, if you can find and finance it, the related real estate deals could be amazing. Stadiums, stages, theaters, show halls and so one are closed and are probably going to stay closed in most parts of the world for the near future.
Even when they will just open, there will probably still be major restrictions on space and amounts of people so these businesses won’t be very attractive in the short term, so if you can think and finance it for the longer term history teaches us that when online technology flourish more people want to get out of the house for a special event.
Things will probably get better and people will want to get out of the house and enjoy some real life entertainment.
The second type of business that might own its real estate but might also be renting and therefore even more easily acquired – are certain social clubs, or small theatres. These businesses tend to be ill financially managed and generally ill managed because they are often run by someone who shares the hobby of the club or is an artist and not a business person – therefore sometimes there are some easy fixes.
The bridge or chess club down the neighborhood for example.
On an entirely different side of this industry there is the behind the scenes side, production companies or the smaller filming, recording or editing studios. If you are an expert at businesses providing services and great at optimizing processes and client relations – that might be a direction to look at.
Lines or brands that do seminars, conferences or exhibitions only working with their brand to bring guest speakers and exhibitors, are also suffering right now, some have tried to do everything online – most failed.
These kind of businesses tend to have “transparent” owner, which is not always an easy thing to find in the entertainment industry – making it easier to change ownership than a business who’s the name of the owner is the name of the brand.
The last type of businesses to consider from the entertainment business is something you probably would only want to consider if you have the specific skills and expertise to manage a business like this and that’s an amusement park, a casino or other major place where people get in masses to have a specific kind of fun.
Fitness industry
The next industry to discuss is the fitness industry, we will keep it pretty short but I have a strong feeling that there is huge potential there right now. On one side of the spectrum if you always wanted to own a sports team that might be a great time to acquire one, i’m simply not sure as its ability to create a great ROI in the foreseeable future, of course i might be wrong, but i’m not really involved with these things so i prefer not to talk too much about it.
There is however a great opportunity in my opinion in fitness studios and centers right now, many fitness centers and studios have strong client bases and great locations but cannot generate enough money to survive right now. Also, if you can, you might also consider acquiring a few of these centers and create a new chain of fitness studios or centers and for a relatively low cost or even almost no money down, you might find yourself owning a really significant business in not so long – or you might even be able to sale it as a chain to an investor who might be looking for a more major investment and overlooks small studios.
Food industry
The last industry for today is the food industry.
To be honest I have a big passion and great fear of this industry, as a teenager i was working at restaurants in several positions in restaurants and cafes from being in charge of washing the dishes, serving coffee as a barista, being a waiter and a shift manager and what i noticed that next to the magic of having a restaurant or cafe this sort of business tends to go big or fail big, often on very small details only real professionals seem to notice.
So, for me, right now, this industry feels too risky, but – of course if you have the experience and the desire – I’m sure you could find restaurant owners who would pay you to take the restaurant away from them.
And just like in the fitness center idea, if you are a complete risk freak or have several good business partners who are as crazy as you are – you might acquire a few and instantly create a chain.
The last thing and maybe the lowest risk option in this list in the food industry are established catering businesses with good contracts that are simply frozen right now, and have very high probability to get back to track after covid.
Conclusion
To finish off this video, of course there are many other options and opportunities, if you feel like there are major ones i missed which is more likely than not – id be glad if you write them in the comments both for me and for anyone else who might be watching
Don’t be cheap with your knowledge or creativity – share it in the comments.
