New to the Fastlane Forum! Starting a business in Hawaii.

[Ben Tan]

Aloha all,
I'm brand new to the fastlane forum and I just wanted to introduce myself.

My name is Ben and I moved to Maui six years ago after graduating college with an aerospace engineering degree. I never thought I'd use the degree. I still don't really plan to. I started along that path because I was okay at math and computers and there really wasn't anything I particularly wanted to do.

I moved to Maui to live on a little sailboat for the summer. Coming from Iowa, definitely a change. Change in weather, change in pace, change in just about everything. Didn't really anticipate staying on the island longer than a few months, but life happened and Maui has become home.

But it really is expensive and it has become a paycheck to paycheck way of life. It's near impossible to get ahead with the cost of living on the islands. The only foreseeable way is to own a business and leverage the higher cost of living by providing a service to the tourists.

For the longest time, I had tried to stay away from anything technical, as part of the reason for moving to the island was to get away from the cubicle and indoor lifestyle.

I've finally decided to compromise a bit and spend a little bit of time inside, working on starting a business.

The end goal is to have a couple companies; one basically running itself and the other one I would work in, ideally without having to be the deciding manager. I want the second one to be something I enjoy. Like the love-your-job-and-never-work-a-day-of-your-life type job.

I've gotten the ball rolling on a rental company, renting out mainly outdoor equipment with a focus on specialty ocean recreational equipment. The plan is to set up a mobile hotspot, set up on the beach rent out the equipment by the hour or time slots and while people are renting the equipment, build up an online business in some way.

The rental company was inspired by MJ DeMarco's Millionaire Fastlane with the rental, computer/software, distribution, content and human resources industries in mind. The online business I'm planning to build is a travel-based content resource and then monetizing that. Then, potentially becoming the distributor for the specialty ocean equipment that I'm renting out.

I'm here to learn and help if I'm able and I'm excited to be a part of this community.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I've gotten the ball rolling on a rental company, renting out mainly outdoor equipment with a focus on specialty ocean recreational equipment. The plan is to set up a mobile hotspot, set up on the beach rent out the equipment by the hour or time slots and while people are renting the equipment, build up an online business in some way.

Very exciting! Have you checked with the gubbermint on regulations? Many times they have limited licenses available for this kind of thing. So just because you WANT to do it, doesn't mean you CAN.

Welcome aboard and thank you for the intro.

 

[Ben Tan]

Very exciting! Have you checked with the gubbermint on regulations? Many times they have limited licenses available for this kind of thing. So just because you WANT to do it, doesn't mean you CAN.

Welcome aboard and thank you for the intro.

Thanks MJ! It's exciting to get a response from you! At this moment, I'm actually listening to your audiobook.

I have checked on the regulations and if I'm operating a tour company, the permits are more restricted. I've spoken with the head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources and he led me to believe that permits are given out on a case-by-case basis; however, everyone else I've spoken with has said exactly what you have mentioned. He could just be blowing smoke, but I'll find out one way or another.

If I operate a rental company instead of tour company, it would seem that only the basic license requirements seem to apply: Hawaii's GE tax license and the "extras" like business insurance, business structure, etc. It puts restrictions on how I operate, but I was thinking I could make a deal with the owner of the property across from the beach so I could rent on their property, therefore avoiding having to deal with Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources. As I understand it, it would essentially be the same as going to snorkel shop and renting a snorkel mask and a pair of snorkel fins. That would open up a different set of hurdles to jump over, I imagine, but it may be worth it to avoid some of the hoops.

Thanks for the input! I'm excited to be a part of this community!