Based on this thread.
You’ve just won the lottery. You have a pile of cash and will never have to worry about your income for the rest of your life.
But you feel like doing something. So you decide to start up your own business. You don’t have to worry about turning a profit, your winnings will keep you and the business afloat.
So what business would you have?
In my case, I think I’d go with a bookstore.
Definitely my own film production company. I’d specialize in unknown writer/directors working on spec scripts. Since I wouldn’t have to worry about profits, I could just focus on quality work.
Sports bar/coffe house/Italian deli/comic book shop/video arcade/laundromat.
It’d be called “Why go home?”
Dental floss ranch.
Soap shop on the Ocean City Boardwalk. No question.
Seriously trying to plan this for my retirement.
Potion brewing.
A game shop that does absolutely no business in collectible card games. Board games mainly. Lots of space for the local gaming community to come play.
A high-end bar. Lots of leather and cigar smoke. Dress code. No cheap drinks. Small rooms for private card games. Quiet live music. No televisions. Etc.
Yep, me too, though I’d specialise in our own projects. All we need is a studio location and some decent quality equipment, and the ability to pay the cast and crew, and other sundry costs like that. We already have the talent and experience, we just lack decent resources.
Mine would be a coffeehouse and bead shop called “The Coffee Bead”, it’s my hobby with my drug of choice combined together.
I’d run a horse riding for the disabled farm.
And I’d also love to build a race track for fun days (not enough supply in my area, but lots of demand).
And if that didn’t make me too busy, I’d buy an advertising company and release parody / charity / statement / anti-ad ads (with me approving the final version, but not involved in the production). I’d especially love to run a series of short ads on viewing ads critically and how to avoid being suckered by ads 
And I’d also love to run a boot camp / farm type thing for problem teens. Get them away from the city, give them things to do and be proud of, then give them training for a career and a life. And maybe a dog / horse rescue too!
But somehow, I don’t think I’d have enough time to do all of it!
Cliche, but so what.
The best coffee shop I was ever in was an older converted house. There were tables/couches/etc set up in all the rooms so you could enjoy your group without having to be disturbed by everyone elses.
I’d have a vintage roaster set up in one corner so that fresh roasting coffee would be one of the major attractions.
And I’d have a huge frickin brass and copper Gaggia espresso machine making drinks. Already have it in fact. That one.
A fantastic Tea Shop that serves little afternoon delicacies and the best tea! It would be bustling and noisy, but homey at the same time.
I’d probably go into producing porn, or start my own tutoring company or private school. Maybe both (not at the same location, I think).
Hugely multidisciplinary arts/crafts/invention/engineering workshop.
A video game addon/mod studio. All for low-cost or free, even if all I did was the check signing, and the “you, ‘Shaka Zulu: Total War’. I want it ready by next Christmas. Get cracking.”
It is a perhaps lesser-known but not unpopular art form, and one that has constantly amazed and delighted me over the years.
I know someone who has an unusual business model: he’s an IT dude and what he does is, you ask him for IT services, if he can do it he gives you a time estimate, you pay him whatever you think the job was worth.
I’d like to do that in association with someone with a better financial background than I have; provide consulting services ranging from helping people figure out which mortgage/house to get (and yes, there are internet comparers out there, but c’mon, there’s people to whom one of those is just a wall of meaningless numbers, plus one of those can’t take into account stuff such as pregnancies or dependent grandparents) to running in-house pre-audits or helping choose software.
A garden resort. Lots of trees, tree houses, ponds, fountains, single-storey pavillons all with nice views of gardened quadrangles. Food will be mainly Cajun, Spanish, Italian, and Filipino.
I’d restore old Porsche 911 longhoods (the models built from 1965-1973) and BMW motorcycles, with a few Italian bikes on the side. There’s a guy in LA that buys old junk 911s and rebuilds them to like new one at a time over the course of a year, then sells them. He doesn’t do them to order, so there’s no deadlines or any supervision - he does it the way he likes, taking his time, then puts it up for sale, usually clearing $100k/car.
Assuming I continued to live here in the UK, I’d like to buy a substantial plot of land and build it up to be extremely friendly to wild animals and insects.
Get local students involved, we could do some experiments on different techniques to encourage wildlife to prosper, etc. Build a visitors centre with coffee shop, walkway around the land, etc and have it as a mix of educational and just a nice place for people to go hang out of an afternoon.
That said, if I won the lottery, I’d want to do a lot of travel, so I’d probably need to employ a manager and take more of a backseat role.
High end quality bakery. No frozen dough crap or pre-made frosting. Most stuff made fresh daily. To salve my conscience at the high prices I’d have to charge, I’d donate bread and rolls and such to a local homeless shelter.
