Archive for March 2009
Teens Get Taste Of Entrepreneurship
The Buffalo News: Nicole Rhynes had a bounce in her step as she hustled from one workshop to another at Erie County Community College. The sophomore had just left a workshop led by Tony Magiotto, owner of local fashion boutique CityLove Clothing and was feeling inspired as she rushed to a discussion about business ethics. [...]
Running A Biz After Doing Time
The New York Times: This year, nearly 700,000 people will be released from state or federal prisons. They will join the worst economy in decades, many of them with limited education and little or no legitimate employment experience. And a criminal record will make it that much harder to find a job. Yet newly released [...]
Geoff Karlavage had just landed in Las Vegas in August 2007 when his Blackberry buzzed with an message saying that the mortgage lender he worked for was shutting down. There’s no place like Las Vegas to drown your sorrows, but before long Karlavage was back in Florida looking for a job. But at every job [...]
Student Creates Micro-Lending Team To Aid Entrepreneurs
College Media Network: I often heard from people that the poor need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” said Amihan Makayan, senior in the Hutchins program. “The reality is, in many places in the world, people do not even have boots!” Eager to help others succeed, Makayan has created the SSU Kiva Team as [...]
Survive and Triumph in Recession
photo credit: Snap® In these dire days, doing nothing is not an option. Passivity will only make things worse. But what can we do when there is little or no new investment? Here are four useful actions I’ve seen work effectively. Make your moves while everyone else is distracted. This is the time when you [...]
ars technica: Creative Commons has officially launched a Web tool to aid content creators who want to publish material under the highly permissive CC0 license. The tool, which has been under development for over a year, has now reached 1.0 status and is accessible from the Creative Commons website. In December 2007, Creative Commons launched [...]
A Look Into Max International Through The Eyes Of A Direct Sales Representative
Brenda Crompton ran a successful company for 20 years when she decided she wanted to do something new. While she did want to move into something different, starting fresh with a new startup was risky and not exactly what she wanted to do. When Brenda found Max International she knew that she had found the [...]
Bizymoms Introduces Franchise Business Site For Moms
PR-USA.net: Bizymoms announced the launch of the new “Franchises for Mom” a Franchise Business site at http://www.franchisesformoms.com, which gives moms access to a large variety of resources when looking to start their own business by franchising. The site contains informative articles, interviews with over a hundred CEOs of various franchise companies, and a list of [...]
Move to Georgia and He’ll Pay Your Franchise Fee
A reader named Tomas Jorglewich wrote in with an interesting offer for Business Opportunities Weblog readers: I have been a loyal daily reader of your blog over the past few months and have gotten some very good ideas from it. As such I have an offer and was wondering if it would be something you [...]
Bad Economy: Start a Business, He Did!
photo credit: foundphotoslj The current economic situation is giving birth to new businesses everyday. One new small tutoring business is the brainchild of Indiana college student Matthew Fouts. Last year, we linked to a story about his business, but I thought I’d ask him the inspiration for starting his business. Dane: Matthew, why’d you start [...]
Wired: The iPod was not invented in 2001 in Cupertino, California. It was invented in England in 1979, by “serial inventor” Kane Kramer. This is not a story of intellectual property theft, or of big companies putting the screws on the little man. Instead, it is just the retelling of another old story — the [...]
photo credit: eye of einstein While many business people may feel that the weekday are for hard work and new ideas, and the weekends are for rest and play time, you may want to re-consider how they delegate their weekday’s versus weekends. In a recent article, it was suggested that weekends should be used for [...]
Make An Honest Living Out Of Your House
NBCDFW.com: Working from home for extra cash is very attractive for people short on money, but some pitches will only lead to disappointment. The Better Business Bureau recommends people look for companies with a good reputation and real people. “You can find a good one by asking questions, being wary if they want a lot [...]
App Turns iPhone Into Credit Card Terminal
Springwise: As if phones didn’t already do enough, one of the latest mobile apps transforms iPhones and iPod Touches into portable charge card terminals. ProcessAway plugs into Authorize.net’s payment processing platform, allowing entrepreneurs to accept credit card payments anywhere they can access the internet. After downloading the app and (separately) setting up a merchant account [...]
Fast Company: Innovators don’t invent all by themselves: To paraphrase Isaac Newton, great inventors see further than others because they stand on the shoulders of giants. Researchers at the Center for Technology Assessment hope to use that insight to clear out the enormous blacklog of U.S. patent applications, which is stifling American innovation simply because [...]
Peanut Recall Swamps Small Bizs
The New York Times: Big food companies were not the only ones troubled by the peanut recall. Small businesses in all corners of the United States bought potentially tainted peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America and are now part of one of the largest food recalls ever in this country. There is the [...]
photo credit: Matt loves kicks Martin Lindeskog is definitely in authority to talk about mistakes that can be made during starting a business. He made a few himself and recently posted an article that may help you stray from his mistakes along your new adventure. Lindeskog states a few mistakes he made. Make sure you [...]
Avoiding Pitfalls of Social Networking
photo credit: jelene Many entrepreneurs are involved in several personal and business for many purposes. But these forums, even personal ones, not only generate a status for you personally, but can reflect on your business as well. Many people will google someone’s name to find information on them before associating with them or even before [...]
Training: Get Your Piece of the Government Pie
photo credit: net_efekt Joanna Kenworthy sent in this note: In a statement released in October, President Obama said “small businesses are the engine for economic growth.” He has since unveiled a multi-billion dollar stimulus package part of which will help small business owners grow and create jobs. American Express OPEN, the small business division of [...]
They're Going To Work On Their Own Terms
The Boston Globe: In a failed toy store in Hingham Square, four women are taking on the recession in style. Their brainchild, which opened in December, is a cooperative shop that the four “mompreneurs” hope will weather the recession and serve as an incubator for other mothers with business ideas. “We wanted to do something [...]
How A Valley Mom Went From A Swim Coach To Millionaire
ABC15: Why do some women make big bucks in their home-based businesses while others don’t? That’s the question internationally renowned author/speaker Maureen G. Mulvaney, aka MGM, set out to answer when researching her latest book, The Women’s Millionaire Club In the book, readers learn the secrets of building and owning a successful million dollar home-based [...]
photo credit: pheezy Independent Street: 400 customers each night. A wait of sometimes two hours. For a taco? Yes, this is the frenzy that accompanies Korean taco trucks in the Los Angeles area. And the reason is the way it gets its word out. Starting last November, Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go, the vendor that sells the [...]
Look Beyond Email and the Phone
photo credit: geishaboy500 In a world of high technology and so many different forms of communicating, email and the phone should not be your only resource for getting in touch with clients, business colleagues and more. So what are your other choices for communication today? You can send messages via IM’S, twitter, text messages to [...]
How Obama’s Plans Could Affect Entrepreneurs
The Wall Street Journal: President Obama mentioned “entrepreneurs” and “small-business owners” – “the hardest working people on earth”- several times in his first address to Congress. The U.S. economy, he says, relies on innovation and small businesses continuing to hire workers to stay strong. Though the President didn’t offer new proposals geared directly at entrepreneurs, [...]
GetEntrepreneurial.com: Having a tough time finding a job? Unfortunately that’s not surprising news due to the fact that this current recession has already to near double digit unemployment rates in some regions. One viable alternative that has always been available to workers who either want to leave the restrictions of the corporate world, or can‘t [...]
photo credit: mccun934 A recent article explained how differently a corporation plans out their business from the way an entrepreneur does. For example, in a large corporation it is entirely possible to obtain enough resources to run a project for a long period of time before anybody every goes back to check the actual plan [...]
How To Reach Baby Boomers With Social Media
ReadWriteWeb: A new report from Forrester Research revealed some surprising information: apparently Baby Boomers aren’t exactly the technology Luddites that people think they are. In fact, more than 60 percent of those in this generational group actively consume socially created content like blogs, videos, podcasts, and forums. What’s more, the percentage of those participating is [...]
Downsizing the Corporate World
photo credit: MK Media Productions Downsizing is becoming more and more common to people today. With corporations and companys all over cutting their costs (a nice way of saying they are cutting out jobs), and lowering their revenue expectations franchising and entrepreneurship is rising. However, people are being a lot more cautious this time around [...]
Turn Customers Into True Believers
CNNMoney.com: Businesses, if they are lucky, can have a lot in common with cults. Apple Computer, Harley-Davidson and Trader Joe’s are all examples of companies that inspire fanatical loyalty in their customers. If you live in or near California, you probably know that In-N-Out Burger has inspired the same kind of devotion. Customers line up [...]
Little Caesars’ Veterans Program
Franchising.com: The Little Caesars Veterans Program continues to exceed expectations and is making a difference for U.S. veterans as they become independent business owners as Little Caesars franchisees. The program was launched in 2006 with the intent to review the level of interest and results after two years. Nearly three times the expected number of [...]
Healthy World Environmental is a turnkey moisture inspection and mold remediation business opportunity. Their process is safe for the environment.
photo credit: Spigoo When we become parents we soon become glassy-eyed, sleep-deprived and the smallest thing amuses us for hours. As parents however, we have just as much to learn from our children as they do from us. If you really watch them and their lives, they actually have some good points that you can [...]
Recession Opens Up Opportunities For Women Entrepreneurs, Freelancers
PR Web: PriceWaterhouse Coopers released a study in 2007 that reported a 40% drop in the number of women holding senior management positions. They attributed a large part of that shift to rising childcare costs and the fact that many women were choosing to work for themselves. Fast forward 2 years and statistics show that [...]
Lisa Druxman Has Taken StrollerStrides From Idea To Full-Blown Success
If you’re a mom who recently had a baby, there is a good chance you’ve heard of or been to a StrollerStrides class near you. Known for their ability to work children into the workout, this is one company which has been an open secret for many women as they work to bring back their [...]
Mompreneurs Breaking Hearts Of Corporate America With Launch of MOMEOCommunity.com
PR Web: Sorry corporate world, but your flexible work weeks, “forgiving” policies on child sick days and extended parental absences aren’t enough. Moms everywhere are turning to the home-based business model for much more than a bit of “purse money.” This Valentine’s Day marks the official beta launch of North America’s first social network just [...]
photo credit: juanma. We all want to sell more, I mean, that’s what all this marketing stuff is about. There is a secret to selling more of just about anything to just about anyone, but it’s not really about your product or service – the secret to selling anything to anyone is to help them [...]
photo credit: Mat Honan Would you like a way to get instant access to what’s being said, this minute, about your organization, people, products, competitors or brand? It’s a good tool for that. More and more businesses are beginning to jump on the bandwagon of twitter for their business. While other companies feel it is [...]
Using Beer To Stimulate Small Biz?
Reuters: The U.S. public is bubbling over with ideas on how to spend the billions of dollars set to flow to states from the federal stimulus program — including six-packs of beer, airboats and bathtubs. Thousands of suggestions have poured into websites states have set up to give residents updated information on the money and [...]
Biz Resource: Postage Price Calculator
Makeuseof.com: Postal Price Calculator is an online tool from the US Postal Service that lets you quickly determine the cost of sending parcels, letter or postcard to any location worldwide. All you have to do is select destination, package type, enter weight and click on “Continue”. In return you will get list of available options [...]
Entrepreneurs Find Upsides In Home-Based Biz
Associated Press: For many of the millions of Americans who lost their jobs over the past year, the next step is starting a business. And many of these enterprises are being launched out of the entrepreneurs’ homes. Owners of new home-based businesses find there are pros and cons to running a company out of a [...]
How I Made My First Million on the Internet and How You Can Too!
Anna Barton takes a look at Ewen Chia’s latest book, How I Made My First Million on the Internet and How You Can Too!: Ewen Chia is a smart guy. The question is: Is this book for you? This book is what you’d expect. It’s very similar to other books released in this genre. Info [...]
Scam Artists Already Using Stimulus Plan As Bait
The Boston Globe: Some people just can’t help themselves when they see an opportunity to make money off those who can least afford it. When times are tough, people tend to be a bit more vulnerable when someone is dangling the idea of free money in front of them. Scammers being who they are – [...]
Update: This was for last year and so is no longer applicable. Sorry. photo credit: alicepopkorn Today we have been seeing a lot of people starting up their own business wether it be accidental or on purpose due to needing more income. A recent article was posted by myself regarding how women have a higher [...]
photo credit: Arturo J. Paniagua When we become business owners, it is very easy to get burnt out really quick. This happens for many reasons, we take on too much, we never take a break for fear something bad will happen while we are away, we don’t trust others to do anything major in the [...]
Family Rules for the Home Office
photo credit: powerbooktrance While we all love the idea of working from home, it is not all fun and games like some people think. There are rules that need to be set for the home office, guidelines that need to be followed, certain balance, etc. For those of you who are struggling with your family [...]
Toddlers’ Tips for Salesmanship
photo credit: JasonTromm Surprisingly we can learn quite a bit from our little toddlers at home and use it effectively in business. Toddlers require the exact same needs such as food, clothing, amusements, etc that us adults need, they just can’t usually speak well enough to let us know that’s what they need. Consider some [...]
Here’s a story real life company that’s doing the equivalent of selling ice to eskimos, selling bottled NYC municipal water to New Yorkers: Two teachers on their lunch break scanned a refrigerated shelf inside a Manhattan coffee shop lined with drink bottles: Naked Juice, Perrier, Smartwater, New York City tap water. “Tap water?” said Alison [...]
