Archive for 2008
Economic Crisis Turning More Moms Into Entrepreneurs
PR Web: Downward trends in the stock market, housing foreclosures and massive job layoffs are creating a tight squeeze on family budgets across the country and the globe. But while budgets have been reduced the entrepreneurial spirit hasn’t — especially in the growing “mom owned business” sector. As much as one-third of moms recently surveyed [...]
“Wacky” Baker Sends Invention To Celebrity Chefs
BBC News: A Scottish cake maker is hoping to mix it with millionaires with a “revolutionary” take on the wooden spoon – which he insists is NOT a spatula. Instead, “Spon” inventor Neal Robertson is sending his double-backed spoons to celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson in a bid for the baking big [...]
The Sunday Times: Time to buff up your brain, to send your synapses to the spa. How about a couple of hours of sudoku? No? Well, fire up your Nintendo DS and pump up your neurons with Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training games — “Keep your brain sharp and in shape.” “These games definitely work because [...]
After Selling Your Startup To Microsoft? Sell Toilet Paper And Trash Bags
Mashable: In 2007, Microsoft acquired Jellyfish, a social search engine that ultimately became the Live Search Cashback program. The company’s founders – Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire – have since moved on, and are now working on a stealth startup called Alice.com that is announcing a $4.3 million financing round. While the founders aren’t giving [...]
Big Bizs That Started In A Recession
Inside CRM: It might seem counterintuitive to start a new business when the economy is in the dumps. But a recession can actually be the ideal time for launching a company. In fact, many well-known and successful organizations were born during an economic slump. The following major corporations made it big during recessions: Burger King [...]
Springwise: So, you thought the market for reusable bags was saturated? Having found a niche that has yet to be infiltrated, The Green Garmento hopes to help green up dry cleaning. Introduced last month, The Green Garmento is a garment bag made from non-woven recyclable material that can be used as a duffel bag to [...]
Elevation Burger Offers A Dine-Out Healthy Burger Option And Franchise Opportunity
For the health conscious who crave a hamburger, they generally find themselves eating a veggie burger instead. Elevation Burger has created a dine-out opportunity for those individuals that want the healthy hamburger instead of that veggie or tofu alternative. During a time when people care about their own health as well as the well-being of [...]
Mother & Daughter Team In Dana Flourish In The Candy Industry
Terre Haute News: In a little shop in a quiet corner of the Wabash Valley, the delectable smells of fudge and caramel, mint and espresso, waft through a 100-year-old home where two women are realizing an entrepreneur’s dream. Brooke Schmidt and her mother, Donna Thompson, co-owners of Brooke’s Candy Co. in Dana, have seen their [...]
Honeywear, Inc. Advances To Final Round Of 'Forbes Boost Your Business Contest'
Honeywear, Inc., an Asheville, NC grassroots, mom–run, organic children’s accessories and clothing company, is a finalist competing for the $100,000 prize in Forbes.com’s “Boost Your Business” Contest. The contest began in May with 1,500 applicants, and 20 semi-finalists were chosen by contest officials at Forbes.com. Online voting for thirty-second ‘elevator pitches’ determined selection of 5 [...]
Niche Biz: World’s Smallest Postal Service
Leafcutter Designs: Lea Redmond runs the World’s Smallest Postal Service, a teeny tiny letter transcription service. She sets up shop in cafes and stores, and is now available online. Here’s how it works: You write a letter (up to 12 whole sentences!) and Lea transcribes it onto tiny stationary (1 x 1.5 inches) with a [...]
Inc.: Over the past few weeks, economic experts have introduced us to a deluge of statistics and indices to chart the current financial crisis. As a microbusiness owner, however, I’ve found one reliable index that won’t show up on most economic forecasts, one I’m calling the Haircut Index. In my small town in New York’s [...]
Small Bizs Can Help Obama Fix Economy
Rhonda Abrams – Gannett News Service: Like all Americans, we in the small business community congratulate President-elect Barack Obama on your victory and are optimistic about the hope your election brings. Now we’d like to answer your call. On election night, you set out your vision: “There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be [...]
Do You Really Own Your Domain Name?
Inc.: Just because you pay the domain name bill doesn’t mean you own it. That’s right. You may not be the legal owner. Whoever is the legal owner of your domain name, that person has total control over it including – what Web site it points to, what domain name registrar maintains it, changing information [...]
Grameen America Distributes $1 Million In New York City
MarketWatch: Grameen America, a microfinance organization based on the Grameen lending model, announced it has successfully disbursed more than $1 million in micro-loans to low-income women, many of whom are immigrants, in Queens, New York. Grameen America is a microfinance organization with a mission to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship. In January 2008, Grameen America launched [...]
One Moms’ Business Brings Even More Style To Your Childs Wardrobe
When you have children, you end up with an endless supply of clothing. Nothing multiplies like piles of kids clothes when it’s time to do laundry. That doesn’t even account for the variety of styles that the clothing comes in. In this day and age, the children are almost as stylish as their parents. Laura [...]
2 Moms Are Driving Force For Peoria's Farmers Market
azcentral.com: Two stay-at-home moms turned entrepreneurs are responsible for bringing Peoria’s Park West shopping center its first farmers market. Shoppers’ growing desire for local and organic produce prompted managers of the retail center, near Northern Avenue and the Loop 101, to coordinate a market there in October. They enlisted Peoria resident Christa Esquibel and her [...]
In Whittier, Hard Work Bears Fruit For Mother Turned Entrepreneur
Whittier Daily News: Erika Elizabeth Maldonado is living a dream that not long ago she wouldn’t have dared to try. All the unexpectedly single mom had left was a will to work for her newborn son, some food stamps, a van, the counsel of a loving mother and an idea: fruit. That idea became reality [...]
Inventor’s Gum Keeps GI’s Awake
WBBM Newsradio 780: A man from the Chicago area who spent much of his life developing new kinds of chewing gum is now using his expertise to help American troops serving in combat. Retired chewing gum inventor Ron Ream is a former Wrigley Company inventor and Aurora native. He began working with scientists at a [...]
Bubble & Bee Finds Organic Niche
Deseret News: The busy home of entrepreneurs Stephanie Greenwood and Steve Thomas smells of lemon, cloves and lavender. White marker-boards cover walls of the home, which serves as headquarters of Bubble & Bee Organic. On one board is a list: “Due Nov. 15: Pit Putty = 800, Lip Balm = 1,800, Lotion Sticks = 600, [...]
Eco-Friendly Invention Sees Success
Peace Arch News: After investing more than eight years and thousands of dollars of his own money, Kirk Arsenault is starting to see his automotive drip mat design come to life on the market. In 2000, Arsenault left his job with a pavement maintenance company to pursue an idea he had to curb environmental damage [...]
Springwise: Marriage in the Sky is hosted on a platform, where 20 guests are strapped into aircraft-like seats and suspended at a height of 50 meters. As befits an exclusive venue, Marriage in the Sky can be customised to every couple’s wishes, including spectacular elements like bungee jumping off of the platform after vows have [...]
Attract New Biz In A Lagging Economy
Get Entrepreneurial: Have your phones stopped ringing yet? The economy is lagging and dragging. We’ve felt the effects in the United States. Now we’re seeing global implications. Here are eight “Killer Steps” to Attracting New Business in a Lagging Economy: 1. Broaden Your Perspective 2. Be Nimble and Innovative 3. Dazzle Your Current Customers 4. [...]
Target Reinvents The Gift Card
AbsolutelyNew: You see the latest from the “cheap chic” folks at Target – a digital camera gift card? That’s right, they’ve introduced a Target gift card that can be loaded with $50 to $1,000 of store credit… that also features a basic digital camera about as good as the one on your cell phone. Like [...]
5 Daughters, A Mom And An Eating Place
The Salt Lake Tribune: Folks who take a break from Interstate 215 for a bite at Tammie’s Family Diner might do a double-take when they see their waitresses. There’s a family resemblance. If they glance into the kitchen and see owner Tammie Newport, it might start to make sense. Newport, a slender, energetic woman with [...]
Canby Woman Turns Love Of Food Into A Passionate Business
OregonLive.com: Sue Socher can’t understand why her daughter, Melissa Haskell, spends hours making homemade chicken or beef stock or canning tomatoes when it would be easier to buy them at the grocery store. “It sounds like a lot of work to make things homemade, but really it is very simple,” Haskell said. “I enjoy making [...]
LotusJump Puts The SEO Tools You Need In Your Hands
Why do those top brands rank highest in search engine results? It is not dumb luck. They hire SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firms to make it happen. It is important to optimize your website for the best search engine results possible, but many small and medium sized businesses simply can not afford the same services [...]
Naples Daily News: A local inventor and businessman launched a local-based online clue game, Gopher Wit, that is like an online treasure hunt that turns into a race. It’s free to sign up and play, said 44-year-old Kem Gursoy, who devised the game. Three clues are released on the game’s Web site everyday, and each [...]
Economy Stalling Your Small Biz? Shift Gears
The New York Times: These may not be the best of times to start or run a small business, but Christopher Hazlett’s struggle to hang tough through one crisis after another may hold lessons for the legions of entrepreneurs caught between a stumbling economy and crippling credit squeeze. At the very least, his upbeat attitude [...]
Moms Create Bling For Crying Babies
Washington Post Magazine: Kendra LaDuca’s eureka moment came while she was pushing a grocery cart through the aisles of a Costco seven years ago. As she scanned the shelves, her infant daughter leaned over and started chewing on Kendra’s leather watchband. “She was slobbering on my arm, and I just let her because she was [...]
Fresh Thinking For Uncertain Times
Inc.: It’s no secret to anybody running a small or independent retailer that we’re operating in an unprecedented economic environment. Right now, it feels like the only thing that we can be certain about is uncertainty. Credit is extremely tight, and forecasting sales is like throwing a dart. The only bright spot is that gasoline [...]
Kalamazoo Gazette: Tom Raich’s dream about beer has turned into a nice little side business. Raich, a 53-year-old pharmacist and longtime homebrewer, had a dream one night in 1996 that led to an invention, called the Brew Hauler, which is taking off thanks to the recent resurgence in homebrewing. Raich had struggled hauling his five-gallon [...]
Mom's Celebrate 10 Years Of E-commerce For Educational Baby Toys At Genius Babies
PR Web: Started in 1998 as a small online retailer of children’s and baby toys, Genius Babies has grown into a national supplier of developmental and educational toys. Over the past ten years, they have been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine and the New York Times for their high-quality, innovative products, unique web site, excellent [...]
CampaignSeries.co.uk: John Arundel of Quakers Yard grew up in Aberbargoed and has been a lorry driver most of his working life, which equated to 23 years of experience. He came up with an invention to check brake lights without being in the vehicle. At the British Inventors Society Awards, John’s innovation was a winner. John [...]
Small Biz Carving Up Autopsy Trade
MSNBC: Except for a small poster of the Grateful Dead rock band, there’s very little to indicate what happens behind the walled-in industrial compound in East Los Angeles owned by Vidal and Vicki Herrera. The only hint a casual observer might have is when a white Hummer pulls in or out of the driveway, the [...]
Garden Marker Biz Keeps Growing
Courier & Press: Four years after starting her own business, garden marker manufacturer Chris Ingler has found her niche. What started as a way to track her 3,000 day lilies has blossomed into a business that has 500 garden markers waiting to be engraved weekly. “When I started getting so many day lilies, I needed [...]
Washington Post: Bank loans have been harder to come by, but that doesn’t mean companies’ need for funding has dried up. To get cash, small and medium-size businesses have increasingly turned to firms that get them money they are owed more quickly. The firms, known as factoring companies (from the Latin word for “to do” [...]
Marketing Ideas For The Ho-Ho-Ho-lidays!
Small Business Trends: I’m not a big fan of Christmas and Year-end Holiday cards. They are not only expensive, but boring and predictable. Every year I look for creative marketing ideas that won’t break the bank, but will break through the clutter that my poor clients are dealing with. This year, I thought it would [...]
Bugle-Observer: Get your sweet tooth ready, because there’s a new bakery in town, and they’ve got some real goodies. Sweetie Cakes, a cake and chocolate shop, has been up and running for two weeks, and owner Naomi McLaughlin has been baking up a storm. “I’ve had a great response,” McLaughlin said. The military reservist and [...]
Bluffs Mom's Business Is 'For Every Body'
SW Iowa News: At 53, Teresa Young found out she was a “closet” candle person. Young, an in-home childcare provider, stumbled upon her love for different scents – and a career opportunity – because of a gift from one of the children she watches. For Christmas in 2006, Young said she received four candles from [...]
CourierPostOnline.com: In the era of Nintendo’s, Playstations and thousands of computer games, kids are continuing to get lost in a world of fantasy and violence, and experiencing disconnect from their families. One Pennsylvania father decided to do the unthinkable, design and develop an educational board game to make mathematics fun. Flashcar, the brainchild of Matthew [...]
Yahoo Tech: Despite the public shame of driving around with a cell phone jammed against your face and the growing number of laws against it, people just can’t stop dialing and driving, it seems. Could the next step be technology that actually disables your cell phone while you’re on the road? A Canadian outfit called [...]
CourierNewsOnline.com: In a dismal economy, Nickie Olivier says business couldn’t be better. In fact, requests for her Curly Girlz pins are far outweighing her ability to handle the orders that keep rolling in. “Our demand is so great right now, we are almost recession proof,” Olivier said. The South Elgin home-based business makes girl-shaped pins [...]
Frugality Trumps Brand Loyalty
The Wall Street Journal: When Summer Mills visited her local CVS drugstore recently, to save a few dollars she bought the store-brand facial scrub rather than the Olay version she normally uses. “I thought I’d be able to tell the difference, but I couldn’t — I looked at the ingredients and they seemed almost the [...]
Forbes: Mom and pop shops didn’t need the nasty headlines of the last two months to tell them things were bad out there. The National Small Business Association’s annual survey of small-business owners published in August found that 67% of small-business owners are directly affected by the credit crunch–more than double the number expressing those [...]
Super Suppers Comes To Rescue Of Working Moms
MontgomeryAdvertiser.com: Michelle Nix was working in a ministry at Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church when she learned how hard it is for working moms to find the time to prepare and cook a good meal, at home. And then after the meal, there also is the cleanup. That experience, combined with her familiarity with a [...]
Stay-At-Home Moms Create A Little Bling For Crying Babies
washingtonpost.com: Kendra LaDuca’s eureka moment came while she was pushing a grocery cart through the aisles of a Costco seven years ago. As she scanned the shelves, her infant daughter leaned over and started chewing on Kendra’s leather watchband. “She was slobbering on my arm, and I just let her because she was happy and [...]
FlexJobs Bring Employers And Work At Home Employees Together
When you’re a parent, flexibility is important. Children have needs, emergencies come up and kids seem to always have an appointment for one reason or another. If your work schedule is not flexible enough, it can cause a problem which might result in the lost of your job. Even if your family comes first, the [...]
Like many people, Darren Salkeld faced a drop in work, the need for money, and too many business opportunities which just did not work out for him. One evening he was considering all of those ‘at-home biz’ products he had purchased wondering what it was missing in each opportunity that kept them from being truly [...]
In Death, Elvis Makes More Money Than Live Artists
Forbes: While things might be topsy-turvy in the financial markets above ground, it’s still a bull market in the boneyard. The 13 famous names that make up our Top-Earning Dead Celebrities earned a combined $194 million over the last 12 months. Topping the list for the second year running, is the former King of Rock [...]
Keep Your Homebased Biz Running Smoothly
Alibaba.com: Leaving corporate America to run a homebased business is the ideal situation for many people: There’s no boss breathing down your neck, no boring meetings to attend and no 45-minute drives in rush hour traffic. Working from home can be a rewarding experience, but it’s easy to forget the basic rules of running a [...]
