Business owners. Now this doesn’t mean a brick and mortar business and practically all of their businesses are related to some web site.  I guess a Internet site does classify as a business. A lot of the SB’s I meet are in the beauty business which does not appear to be doing well even prior to Covid-19. Just wondered if anyone else had a similar experience.

I did have an SB who ran a child care business with another woman, and another who ran and then sold a fashion business for petite women, but still did some consulting on fashion design. A third SB worked in her aunt's hair salon, but it was the aunt's business. The others were employees in health care and government, students, or both.

... because even if her profile says she wants mentoring on growing her business, or wants an investor for her business, these POT's rarely actually ask for, let alone listen to advice, nor do they have any kind of business plan that could be presented to a potential investor.  
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Yes, a website can be monetized and that can be called a business. And yes, consulting for a fee for her family and friends or even through craigslist on fashion, makeup tips, or offering dog walking can be a business. But that doesn't maker her or her business a good investment, no matter how well she fucks.  
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So maybe it's part of the GPS dream;  "Daddy will buy me the store, inventory, staff, advertising and insurance so I can make my own money. Thank you, Daddy!" After all, why should she risk her cash and sweat equity to be successful (or fail!) when she can use your money?  
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Um... no.  
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Life is good.
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The Cat

Have said they have their own cosmetic or clothing line. So if that’s the case why the fuck do they need a SD. Of course it’s obvious the business is not thriving. Several that I met rent chairs at a beauty salon so I guess that is their business.

And I've often had the same thought.  First of all, even if Pay for Play is illegal, we know that making porn videos is legal.  It's protected free speech.  Crazy, since the participants are doing exactly the same thing, and doing it for money.  I've often said, half jokingly, that setting up a video camera at each session with an escort gives you plausible deniability in case of legal trouble. "No prostitution here, we were simply rehearsing for our next video, getting lighting and camera angles sorted out".

the next questions would be:   Where's your business license?   Is this area zoned for business?  Are you paying wages?  Where are the payroll taxes? Where are your insurance certificates?

All of the business stuff is on HER. Remember from the posts above, "she wants mentoring on growing her business, or wants an investor for her business". I'm just an investor in her growing pornhub channel. I don't expect to be paid for many of my roles (camera, catering, etc.). I'll just be a naive, unpaid intern at her business!

This is actually a path some porn stars are taking to let them "legally" escort.  
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Book her for a "session" and she brings:  
1. Camera and lights
2. Crew to operate the camera and equipment
3. Paperwork for you: model release, shooting contract, her test results.
4. Herself as the female "talent" you will fuck on camera as the male "talent."  
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You show her your valid tests results, sign the docs, pay her and POOF! You are an official porn star making "content" for the next several hours. And you can either let her sell the content (you still have to pay her, no royalties for you), or you can keep it for yourself (you pay her more).  
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The idea of course, is to keep this squarely in the making-porn-so-protected-by-1st- amendment side and away from illegal "hooker" stuff.  
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Not something I'll ever do. It's bad enough I have to see my junk in the bathroom mirror once a day. Never want to see it up close and... slippery. :p  
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Life is good
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The Cat

I generally agree if they are asking for advice. The only one who did (and meant it) was serious and a graduate student in a field in which I am qualified to be her professor. I was helping as her de facto study group and tutor rather than a business advisor. With her brand new MBA from a very top school, she is better positioned than I am to make business decisions anyway.  Other than that, it was just the sort of friend advice that you might ask of anyone (e.g., my friend wants to buy a car with a "salvage" title, and asked me if it was a bad idea. Should she?).

Just food for thought. I had a very rare circumstance that I truly never expect to be replicated. It’s already been well covered by our fellow mongers about the pitfalls of SB’s and businesses but once in awhile you do find the exception. A number of months back I came across a profile and it seemed as though she was looking more for the mentoring route but the pics were absolutely stunning so figured, WTF. Ended up messaging back and forth and honestly was waiting for either a scam to appear or the punchline of “I only need an upfront investment of $500k”, etc. which never came, (nor did any hint of possible BCD. but like I said, she was smoking hot and I am an optimist. After a lot of back and forth, we finally arranged a meeting. She was in fact the person in the pics and was indeed amazingly hot. Still had the spidy senses up but first meeting was a dinner date that was great. Turns out she was really looking for either investors or mentors. I generally keep separation between church and state and told her I don’t invest with SB’s but happy to be a mentor as I generally really did enjoy her company (but was clearly looking like this was the infamous platonic setup). Anyways, fast forward a few months and multiple dinner dates, etc she finally had a bit of a breakthrough (online business  + Covid = opportunity.). She called and wanted to see me right away for a little celebration. Told her that I was actually going to be traveling (yes, some of us still travel thru the Covid insanity) and she said no problem, that she would fly out to me (on her own dime). We ended up at one of my favorite places and she insisted on picking up the tab  After dinner she asked to stop for a few nightcaps and clearly this is someone I generally enjoy being around so why not. After a few drinks, she leans over and says “I feel it’s time I really paid you back”. Given the prior interactions, wasn’t sure where she was going with it and simply said “great, what did you have in mind”. She grabbed my hand and we started walking towards the hotel and suffice to say, one of the best BCD sessions I’ve ever enjoyed. Seems this will continue to be a regular thing. I know this is extremely rare but there are legitimate ladies out there that truly are looking for the true mentor ship role. At the end of the day, it cost me several dinners and a few hours of my time...

A lot of those "business owners" are really graphics sellers.  Nude pictures or cam footage on sites like Chat Roulette (old school) or Only Fans (newfangled), that is.  All in all, take that statement with a grain of salt, unless the "businesses" has some semblance of a brick-and-mortar presence.

I've asked several aspiring SA entrepreneurs, to give me their "elevator pitch" and they didn't know what I was talking about. Another woman said she had a healthcare business and after some probing, it was a pyramid scheme.