The small business owner needs to scale her business of turning distressed homes into rental properties in order to sustain growth during hard economic times with limited resources. Some of the proposed solutions include: 1) Developing one of her commercial properties into long-term rental property through a land lease to accelerate retirement savings with minimal investment. 2) Creating a repeatable acquisition, renovation, and sale business model along with a long-term profit-sharing model for employees. 3) Outreaching to institutions and offering unpaid internships to students to gain skilled labor while helping revitalize blighted areas.

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT
Small business owner (turning distressed
homes into rental property) needs to scale
her business for sustained growth in hard
economic times with scarce resources
(money and skilled workers) so she can
revitalize blighted areas and ensure
her retirement viability.
Play and win the lottery!
Get short-term angel investors (Father).
Create an outreach program with like-minded
institutions and offer unpaid internships for
students in sociology, real estate, building, urban
planning, architecture, Habitat for Humanity, etc.)
Devise a repeatable and tax-friendly
”acquisition, renovate and flip”
business model.
Create a long-term (10 years) “profit-
sharing” model with her worker(s).
MOST PRACTICAL: Develop her one
commercial property for the least amount
of investment (and get a viable, blue chip
lessor in a long-term land lease) to
accelerate retirement savings.
Create webisodes of her day-to-day activities
featuring products (tools, home reno products).
Get paid advertisers.
Do ALL the reno work herself.
MOST FAVORITE: Pitch a network and
helm a reality show (“Rigged to Rent”
or “Tore Up from the Floor Up!”).
Duck Dynasty meets Income Property
meets Flip This House meets
Renovation Addict. Merchandising
and licensing are limitless additional
income generators (t-shirts that say:
“Oh Hell No! That’s BLACK MOLD!”
and “Permit? I don’t need no permit!”
Get MANY micro-loans via the Internet.
Use social media: blog about experiences and sell advice
to interested parties looking to get into the field.
Write a best-selling book and bank the
money from the proceeds.
Work a deal out with Home Depot or
Lowes that would put more money back in
her pocket.
Create a national reno workshop program and sell tickets.
Research applicable Government grants having to
do with employing parolees, war vets, etc.
Consider “closed loop” alternate businesses or sources of
income: Part-time employment, realtor, property manager, etc. Recruit, train and employ young adults
looking for minimum wage work.
Partner with “known entity”
already in reno field (celebrity
like Holmes on Homes).
Create a market test pilot for
new tools: ease-of-use and
durability (get the tools for free).
Partner with other third parties
(sponsors like Lumber Liquidators,
etc.) Receive materials for free
advertising space within the project.
Gamble and WIN in Las Vegas!
Find a treasure map and
locate the treasure.
Do a late night info-mercial on fixing up
distressed homes and rake in the $$$$.
Get a dealer license and sell cars on one of
the properties.
MOST DISRUPTIVE: Sub-let
multiple properties to be used
as community or urban farms
(membership-driven).
Create a “white trash” water
park (sprinklers, plastic pools,
slip ‘n’ slides) on one property
and charge admission.
Attract film-makers looking for sets to shoot in and charge fees.
Secure SMALL loan and tear down one
house in the best area and build small,
multiple (8 units), senior housing.
Attract a tenant looking to operate a day care on the
property and take some of the monthly revenue + rent.
Partner with one of the local
universities and rent out property
for tech lab at a premium price.
Drill for oil on all properties!
Partner with SCAD (Savannah
College of Art and Design) and
allow one property to be a test
house of interior designers.
Charge $$.
Partner with a non-profit and create a
program that allows for unemployed and
homeless to live in and fix up homes in
return for meals, clean laundry, etc.
Write a screenplay based on experiences
and sell rights to Hollywood.