Looking for a Business
 

We've owned property in the villages for several years and finally moving full time next year.
Being that I will be 55, I would like to continue working for a few years. I have owned several businesses from restaurant/bar, retail, etc.

I am looking for either a current business in the Villages or suggestions for a needed business in the Villages.

We REALLY need a REALLY good Pizza place!

Bagel's & Bialy's

I believe any person who is honest and fair will do well. If you aren't, people will figure it out and post about it.

And long before the few post about it most will not deal with such folks.

Lol, you don't have to sell me (or not) on the Villages, lol.
I'm just looking for a business for sale and or ideas..
We've bend loving the Villages for several years...

You don't have to sell me (or not) on the Villages.
I'm just looking for a business for sale and or ideas..
We've been loving the Villages for several years...
We understand it's not for everyone.

What ideas are you considering?

Self serve Car Wash or car wash period

A good restaurant will make money here. But there are a lot of them. I would steer clear of leasing from the developer, though. I heard they don't negotiate, and it's their way or the highway. A business just off the TV property, but still accessible via golf cart would be a plus but not essential. You could still tap into the TV residents and also have the surrounding population.

I like that idea. I thought of it too. Some people just love keeping their car perfect. And I'll bet quite a few never had the time to do that properly while they were working.
I have a small car and a wand that I could aim at my wheels that get so dirty so fast would be perfect. I don't feel like buying and storing a power washer.
Do you even have to hire anyone at a self serve place?

The topic was ideas for a new business. Many off topic and inflammatory posts have been removed.

Please stay on topic.

Moderator

You are right. I apologize for the posts I wrote !!

I also like the idea of self wash car wash. I don't want to always use the drive through ones.

I'm open to anything really.

Yes, I have noticed the need for a self service car wash.

What about a night club catering to the 45+, High end, Something you would find in Vegas.
Open after 9 and stays open until 12-1. I know, most Villagers go to bed at 9, lol, I think there are a good number that would like a place to dance into the night. mostly Friday and Saturday crowd.

Brownwood/Wildwood area for a restaurant. Good buffet restaurant. Meeting room for clubs, seminars, etc.

At night?

I'd suggest a combo self-service full service wash. Have a full serve bay and 2 self serve bays. The only real full serve wash is up by Spanish Springs. I'd guess there are half of TV residents from Lake Sumter south. I'd use a full serve wash at least once per month if one was closer to where I live - south of 466A. As it is, I use self serve about 3x per month.

By the way, my car manufacturer recommends a "soft touch" self serve wash. The "touchless" washes use stronger chemicals that will damage the finish and paint.

Ditto that! A really good pizza place would clean up. There is nothing like what we had in the Chicago area down here. Aurelio's Pizza (from the Chicago area) has two franchise locations in Florida (Estero and Naples I believe). It's an outstanding product. You may want to look into a franchise with them.

Car wash is a great idea.

I agree with Goldseekur~ pizza pizza!

I second the idea for an Aurelio's Pizza. Either that, or a Hungry Howie pizza take out a little closer to the center of The Villages (e.g. maybe along 466). There are 2 Hungry Howies, one in Wildwood and one at the corner of 441 & 42 so both the south and north ends are covered but the center of TV is open. And the only Aurelio's in Florida is in Naples and Ft. Meyers. With all the people from the Chicago and Indiana area that are in TV, that would surely be a hit.

Looking for a Business
 

I love pizza, but I do not include Hungry Howies in that category. I have not been exposed to Aurelio's since I'm from Boston, but it sounds like it might be worth a try.

Is Uno's worth considering?

I would suggest you don't listen to any of these suggestions. Do your own research and good luck!!

Looking for a Business
 

Isn't there anything you'd suggest? The OP asked for suggestions as part of his/her research.

The answer is driving everybody up the wall. Incentivize a driver's safety school. Save on your policy if your past a certain age and graduate from a driving simulator without running anyone over and of course several hours of book learning skills. Can you imagine the pride this could build in people and the chance to teach them in an orderly fashion how to properly negotiate different Villages road situations without blowing someone's wig off. And even though they have to pay if they save on their insurance...Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You'll be a billionaire. Open this next to a carwash where the people drying the car are clothed, topless, wearing a speedo. Have a menu. mix & match. Best of luck to you. Probably better off putting your money into Lobster futures.:1rotfl:

Thanks I will look into them

A refreshing and interesting topic. I agree it is difficult to find a good pizza here....although a "good pizza" is different for folks, contingent on where you are from. N.Y.C. folks want the thin style, while folks from Chicago want a deep dish.

There are not a lot of ice cream places around. Also, not a lot of coffee/donut places around. Both would be wonderful.

I like the driving school idea....you can focus on "how to drive in roundabouts" and "how slow vehicles should stay in the RIGHT lane", etc, etc.

Perhaps a "Camp Bow-Wow"...a fancier place for folks to keep pets when they travel. The ones up north are very successful...

Perhaps a mobile car/golf cart detailing service where one comes to the home to detail a car so the homeowner does not need to drive it anywhere.

Anyway, just a few ideas....perhaps more will come after I had some coffee. I have found that if one is honest, provides a good service and does what they say and say what they do, returns calls and actually shows up when promised you can do well. Good luck! Frank

A Planet Fitness would do well anywhere near The Villages

A self-service car washes in multiple bay configurations where the customer washes their vehicle using wand technology.
This is a vacation resort. People are always drivng into town and everything is clean and rosey. Why not your car?
It's a warm climate. And best of all you can be open 24/7 without any employee. You could have cameras all over so if there is any problems you would know about it.
The location is important.
The advertising is important.
Maybe you could even set up the automated system so that off hours are less expensive that popular hours.
Maybe you could set up a golf cart bay. I'm not sure yet what would be different.
I wonder if you could recycle the water? Most of it goes down the drain. Could it be filtered? Does that mean it's a green business? You might be able to get some kind of assistance. This is just brainstorming, nothing more.

A Donato's Franchise, Please.


A year ago I would have said Chipotle's....but not now.

Isn't that interesting? The franchise best known for local ingredients, freshness, preparation in front of you and now it's crashing and burning.

Why not make a Chipoltes knock-off and side-step the franchise fees now that the name is tainted. After all it was what they served that was appealing. I don't think they had any secret sauce that could not be replicated.

And I think our restaurant club said Tomatoes had the highest rating. How about a Tomatoes down the other end of town? I don't know how close to the turnpike you could be but when we are traveling we would go out of our way for a fresh buffet.

Car wash/quick oil change combo place, I agree we need good pizza, a good convenience store open past 9pm, could tie in with the coffee/donut/bagel place. I contacted WAWA a while ago and suggested several location just across the roadways from Village property (on Village property would be great but not sure they would go for that, but locations like Powell & 466A, across Powell in Brownwood, on 466A by Colony... A place like Jersey Mikes further south than current location (I'm not a Subway fan), a Boston Market, Home meal delivery service(but would be better if tied in with some place like Darrel's Diner).

Who wants real ice cream??
 

A real ice cream store would be welcomed. We have the frozen yogurt places here but no real, rich ice cream. Oddly enough, in my home town,,which had a population of about 45,000, within about 5-7 mile there were 5 real good soft ice cream shops. All thrived in the short warm months for getting ice cream. It was seasonal up there. Here in Florida, where on most any given day, the weather is hot and a nice, cold, creamy ice cream would be great! Ice cream sundaes, shakes, cones, banana splits....etc. It could be a booming business provided the location was good. When I go to Hobby Lobby either in Ocala or Eustis, they have an old ice cream shop really close By. The shop is a free standing building that is in the shape of an ice cream cone. We always stop there as part of our trip. It would be a great business to get into in Florida!

a brazilian bbq would do well here the closest is ipanema in ocala.

Dairy Queen is nationally recognized, but missing from TV. My understanding is that there was one on 466, but it was poorly managed and failed.

We had 2 of them. One on 441 & one on 466. I really miss DQ. We liked their burgers & I loved a banana split once in awhile.

Car washes use water and water is very expensive in the Villages...just saying..

How about another Chick-fil-la on the south side. there is one on 27 but thats the only one......they do a great business....and they close on sunday.....