Bengaluru techie wants to start side business with Rs 3-5 lakh capital. Garbage recycling or courier franchises, tea, pani puri, momos stalls?

Wanting to open your own business while working full-time as an engineer is a tale as old as time. Taking to the subreddit Bengaluru, one Reddit user asked the netizens to suggest what business he could start in the city with just Rs 3-5 lakhs. The engineer said he was eager to start a side business in Bengaluru along with working full-time. He said he was considering opening a small eatery but was open to suggestions provided they had low initial risk but a market demand and potential for growth. The post invited some good suggestions as well as some jokes. One Reddit user suggested he could open a Xerox shop near a college. However, another warned that Xerox businesses could soon be rendered redundant, as so many assignments have become digital.

One Reddit user warned against trying to open a business and shared his own failed initiative: “Absolute Red Flag: Do not get into any business unless you have 10L in hand and additional money to survive for 2yrs. This riding two boats does not work for everyone and never for growing a business. Rare ones get it right – most of them accidentally! The very smallest one in a 2-tier city cost me 6L++ to get started. Forget that in Blr. I shut it down in months.”

Another Reddit user asked him to look into opening a paani puri stall. Others suggested a courier business or launching a tea shop. While unglamorous, a successful tea shop could make an individual well-off if not outright prosperous over time. Another commenter asked the original poster to consider garbage recycling.