Hi Everyone!

I have a new business idea and I'd like to know what the operating costs might be and the potential income I might receive in the first year or so.

I am a male working in an engineering industry. I don't earn a lot of money compared to most people my age. I like my job but I don't love it and I don't like the salary I am earning. My job is stressful and the work load is huge. I want to be out of this industry 5 years from now. I'm a hard worker, I work so hard that I haven't taken annual leave so far this year.

I've spotted a small gap in the market and I feel I can close it. It basically involves me speaking in front of people and giving advice. There are already a few people doing workshops and giving talks to employees of businesses. I've briefly researched a few individuals off the internet and they are good at what they are doing. I can offer the public what those speakers are offering but I can offer something a bit different.

Let's assume I quite my job and I have enough money to last me 6 month's worth of my expenses, i.e. I can support myself for 6 months without an income. The way I see this business operating is as follows:

Marketing
- Make phone calls to businesses to advertise my services to them.
- Advertise at local newspapers.
- Have an IT company host a website for me.
- etc

Personnel
- For the first year or so I can work alone. I can do all the bookings myself. Answer phone calls and respond to emails myself.
- Work from my flat (if that's allowed) on a complex. I live in Pretoria so I'll be close to a lot of clients.

Operations
- Receive phone calls or emails from clients. Make arrangements to perform at their venue.
- Request 50% deposit before going to their venue to do the speech.
- Travel to the venue (in my paid up car) with a projector, laptop and a 'white sheet thing' whereby one projects a presentation to.
- Perform the speech.
- Receive the rest of the money from them, and then that would be it.

Charges
Professional motivational speakers can charge as high as R35 000 per performance. The ones I have researched charge about R15 000 per performance. Because I am new to this industry, I can charge maybe R5000 when starting out. Let's assume I do 10 speaking engagements per month, this means I can make a R50 000 revenue per month. Since I will be the only employee, what costs am I looking at? How much might I pay for tax? What might I pay for a website hosting company? What might my personal income be?

If I get very busy and let's assume I become very good at my work and start charging R10 000 per speaking session and make R100 000 a month revenue. What might operating costs be if I hire a personal assistant? What might the cost per month be if I rent an office for myself and my PA? What might the costs be for electricity, water, internet connection, telephone bills, etc? What personal income might I receive?

I know there are a lot of unknown factors and I am asking too much from you guys. I just want to get an estimate of how much I might get if I decide to go this route.

Thanks!