The next Hope College entrepreneurs

My friends are weird, but I love them and this means we have weird conversations. One topic that arose was the choice that if you could start your own business, what would it be? I was put on the spot and I arguably chose the most ridiculous business to run. As an Economics major, I look back and laugh at my choice, thinking I could do better.

My friends had pretty great ideas and while they were common, they were also unique. Three of my friends would decide to run a house-flipping business together, with one being the designer, the other being in charge of demolition, and the third being in charge of finances. Of course, they admitted that HGTV was their go-to on slow evenings, which made us all laugh. Apparently from rumors, the equity ends up being quite generous even though it’s a large risk and time investment. However, if you work hard, create and plan accordingly, you could go big with this.

My roommate got into this conversation, and knowing how crafty she tends to be, she explained that she would start a party planning business. All of us agreed as she’s known to decorate our dorm room with glitter and pom-poms. How fun would that be, to decorate events for a living? I’d honestly pay someone for my future parties that I’ll have to host, since I don’t carry an artistic bone in my body.

My other friend, who’s a year older than the rest of us, quite possibly described heaven in its finest form. He said he’d run a doggy-daycare business. Without the thought of how unsanitary and loud this job would be, shots of dopamine would fill your mind daily, because who wouldn’t want to play with puppies and get paid for it. Everyday would be different because the puppies would want to play with everything they saw. However, this definitely isn’t for everyone since several people lean more toward cats and the problem with allergies might scare them away.

Another ingenious business that would be delicious would be a grilled cheese restaurant. My friend who tends to be overconfident at times, explained every detail ranging from the fact that he’d want to locate it somewhere in the UP on a lake, with no franchise, and every type of bread, cheese, toppings and spreads. He’d make the sandwiches to help allergies, such as with gluten-free bread, low fat and all organic. We all felt a little warm-hearted when he told us he’d name each sandwich after us all, making each sandwich to describe our personality.

And finally, what did I choose? I don’t know what crossed my mind, but I thought it was a good idea to make a car renovating business where I could buy and sell used car parts. I don’t even have an interest in cars, nor do I know anything about the mechanics. I guess it just popped in my mind that I tend to focus on the weaker pieces of life and transform it into a silver lining. I want to fix things and restore them to their finest to make the world a brighter place.