I am a not so successful software entrepreneur. Have tried my hands at a few startups but haven't made it yet.<p>I am planning to file for US green card using the $500K investment EB5 visa. The KEY requirements for EB-5 direct investment visa are that:
- one invests $500K in a existing or new business
- generate and sustain 10 NEW full time jobs for 2 years. this is key!
- located in a TEA ( targeted employment area)
- should have active role in management of the business (at least on paper!)<p>I don't want to invest in my own company because - 1. 500K would be insufficient to sustain 10 jobs as tech salaries are too high. 2. 500K is all i have, and with my track record so far, can't risk the startup failing and loosing both my investment and consequently the green card.<p>So any advise on safe business ideas or startups that one can invest in considering the above requirements!
I’m no expert in the area but if I wanted something that was lower variance/expense than a software startup and that might be doable on just $500K, I’d do research on something like a pizza joint, a diner, or maybe a franchise food service place. (Looks like Subway is one of the cheaper franchise food service places to open.)<p>In this case, I’m assuming your real prize is the green card, not the actual business, as I’d way rather have $500K of VOO or VTSAX than 2 Subway franchises.
Tagging so I can read about EB5 and come back later. But at first glance, and with my limited experience in tech as a founder & VP, 500k sounds far too little for 10 FTE for 2 years.<p>Edit -- I'm sure you've looked into it more than I have, but according to the link below, I'm seeing minimum amount for TEA of 900k if filed after Nov 2019?<p><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-the-eb-5-visa-classification" rel="nofollow">https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent...</a>
Thinking about this some more I think your best bet is to start a medical practice with someone. Dentist, physical therapy, psychology, birthing center. Anywhere where you can provide a bunch of folks that are essentially self employed or can be self employed overhead services so they don’t have to deal with it. In many of these the fields are protected from non licensed folks being the main owner so you need to be a 49% partner and have a good contract setup.<p>You could do it in the trades but it’s harder to get reliable folks and steady work.
Can you qualify for a loan? SBA loans require 25% down. 7 year payment plan.<p>That can get you a $2M business. Preferably tech related since you have experience in it.<p>Otherwise, start a tech software consulting business. $500K is plenty to bootstrap, hire a few key employees, biz development… to land some key clients…
Lawnmowers in the suburbs. You will have to sink a lot into advertising. But if you have to hire 10 staff you can get them dropping flyers right away.<p>Getting geographically close customers is key to making it viable.<p>You don't need to pay high wages, the training is minimal , and managing it is straight forward.<p>It's not going to make loads of money but you should be able to get profitable quickly.<p>What ever you do 500k for 10 staff is scary.
Out of curiosity, what is your driver for going to the US? Depending where you go, you can go a lot further on $500k USD overseas than being stateside.<p>A green card opens you up to US tax liability on all of your investments globally.
Gas station or self storage. It’s basically a land squat. A chain of coffee shacks would be viable too. Reselling shoes is viable but not good for getting more laborers.
A child care or tutoring facility would be a good choice too. But lots of work.
Otherwise maybe eth mining would be profitable even on gpu in a year.
Ideally you would buy some equipment that’s easy to move and retains value then sell it off after 2 years with minimal losses.
Aren't there consulting firms that cater to this very need? The informal discussions I've heard around EB5 visa in India are that these firms group multiple such individuals and then start/run a business for this group (something like a medical practice clinic or a hospitality franchise) until they qualify for the green card, for a fee of course.
My understanding is that EB5 program are currently in limbo.
First step is to find a good lawyer. Good luck.<p><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program" rel="nofollow">https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent...</a><p>"Alert: As of Dec. 30, 2021, Congress has not enacted new legislation authorizing the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program. As a result, USCIS is reevaluating the decision to hold, or not act on, any pending petition or application of these form types that is dependent on the expired statutory authority and was filed before the end of the statutory authorization. We will provide additional guidance as soon as practical."
A good place to be right now is in the logistics industry - a necessity that isn’t going away any time soon. And with the current logistics supply shortage in the USA (specifically for trucking companies) it won’t be hard to compete and start delivering shipments.<p>With 500K you can afford to buy several freight trucks. All you would need is 3-5 trucks to start turning over real profit. The rest of the employees can be dispatchers. The trick here is finding drivers as they are in high demand. Dispatchers are easily trained.<p>I’ve bootstrapped a similar logistics business with less than $10,000 USD and had good success within the first 60 days. Licenses and certifications can be done in 2-3 days and is a fast way to have a business fully certified and up and running.
I would say a messenger service. One dispatcher, 9 bikers. In an urban area, I bet you clean up and we have very few messenger businesses here. It's in the logistics area, but more specialized...so you would focus (ie: advertise) deliver of things like prescriptions etc. Drones haven't really taken off in this space and FEDEX and UPS are having issues around theft of medications.
I worked for a company getting EB-5 investors and had to run multiple financial models for potential businesses as a MBA Grad Student. 100% a restaurant will get the most bang for your buck (job wise). I know what a TEA is and how we obtained those to cover what we were working with. Contact me @ raouldukenc@gmail.com and we can work something out.