Archive for February 2010
CNNMoney reports that it may not be a gold medal, but don’t underestimate the importance of this little piece of neckwear at the Olympic Games. Every athlete and visitor at the Olympics will be hanging tight to their lanyard and the credentials it carries. Chums, a lanyard-maker based in Hurricane, Utah, sold about 10,000 lanyards [...]
From Selling Mortgages To Selling Candy
CNNMoney reports that Tom Aspirino got so sick of working in the mortgage business that he decided to try his hand at candy making and so far it’s paid off.
Lost Money? Score A Whopping Tax Refund
Sick of sending big checks to the IRS? For some business owners, this tax season will bring a rare reversal: A stimulus-fueled tax change is putting cash back into the pockets of qualifying entrepreneurs, according to a story at CNNMoney. Bill Hewitt, who owns several real estate ventures in Denver, recently collected a $150,000 refund [...]
Under 21? Getting A Credit Card Just Got Tougher
CNNMoney reports that for better or worse, new laws that take effect on Monday are poised to curb the proliferation of credit cards on college campuses, making it tougher for students to get credit cards. Last May, Congress decided to crack down on credit card companies and passed a law ushering in sweeping changes for [...]
This looks like a neat contest that one of my readers could win: If your small business would benefit from working faster and being better connected to your customers, staff and suppliers, Cisco is prepared to help. Simply tell Cisco about your small business and either (1) how technology has helped you to advance or [...]
Inventor Of Easy-Bake Oven, Dies At 83
Millions of young girls baked their first cookies, cupcakes and brownies because of Ronald Howes. According to a story at the Cincinnati Enquirer, as director of research and new product development for Cincinnati-based Kenner Toys in the early 1960s, Howes created what would become a household name and one of America’s most iconic toys by [...]
Products to amuse and inspire. Disposable Sunglasses. Trims your eyebrows as a bonus. Circus Peanut Soap. Now you can get clean with a childhood memory. Math Quiz Wall Clock. You have to figure out what time it is? You’ll never be on time again. The Draft: Bacon Beer! One word….bacon! Photos by redferret/trendhunter/gq.
Entrepreneurial Ways to Make Money
Suite101.com‘s Bonnie Albo asks are there really any easy ways to make money when it comes to owning a business? It depends on how one looks at the process. Either a business is already making money – and therefore can hire someone to bring in business or sales – or a business is struggling financially [...]
If you own a telephone, a computer, and have the will to start your own print and design business, then you might find exactly what you’re looking for with Printing in a Box. Their goal is to make it possible for anyone to start their own home business or to expand on an existing one. [...]
Entrepreneur Closes The Door On Crime
A few years ago Greg Whisenant unknowingly opened the door to his apartment building for a criminal, resulting in several of his neighbors being robbed, reports ABC News. Inspired by his mistake, Greg created an information sharing website for local police that has since turned into one of the fastest growing data mapping services in [...]
Resale Shop Is Family Friendly, Family Owned
At Kaboodles it isn’t just about family but for family too, according to NewsOK. “My sisters and mom (and I) wanted to start a business that we could bring our babies to work with us,” said manager Becky Floyd. “We get to see each other every day.” Owner Beverly Pierce and her daughters, Tara Al-mufleh, [...]
If you’re having trouble finding investments for your business venture then you should appreciate the approach that James Layfield has taken to find financing. Filled with business ideas and frustrated at the lack of funds, James has decided to offer up 10% of himself to investors, reports the Business Standard. That 10% piece will cost [...]
A few weeks back, Popgadget‘s Sherri reported that Mattel was holding open votes to decide Barbie’s 126th career. Among the choices were News Anchor, Architect, and Computer Engineer. I’m happy to announce that the people have spoken and we now have Computer Engineer Barbie. According to Mattel’s site, the doll’s designers worked side by side [...]
Test Marketing Inventions Effectively
Jim Lowrance at Suite101.com says test marketing a new product-invention not only gives potential buyers the opportunity to see how much demand there is for a product, but also gives the inventor the opportunity to determine how much further time and investment an invention merits. Read the article now.
On Monday, we asked readers how much they would be willing to pay for a bestseller quality ebook. 34 percent of those responding said they liked the $9.99 price point. 27 percent said they would pay $4.99 and 23 percent said they wanted something less that $4.99. Thanks to all those that participated. CNet‘s David [...]
Entrepreneur Hopes You’ll Find Her Cookies ‘Plum’ Good
According to Knoxnews.com, Lindsay Beeson has always loved to bake. It’s not just the baking she enjoys, though, she also loves to make others happy. So when the idea to make a business out of it came to her, it was only natural that she try. In a little over a year since she created [...]
If your child is home sick, what do you do? For some it means calling in to work and staying home that day but it’s not always that simple. Jean Kimerling was wondering the same thing one day. When her own children were young she had the option to stay home with them, yet she [...]
Putting The Brakes On Runaway Carts
Shopping carts were made to move. Unfortunately they have a bad habit of rolling away even after you’re done pushing them. After a frustrating trip to the store 4 years ago where he encountered cart problems of his own, Rudy E. Kieselat Sr. went home and formulated a new product that would help put the [...]
Google’s New Billion-Dollar Baby
Google has long been criticized for relying too heavily on one source of revenue, but according to a story in BusinessWeek, it may soon have its first billion-dollar business outside of search advertising. Analysts predict revenues from the company’s display advertising business will rise as much as 40% this year, to slightly more than $1 [...]
America’s New Job Creation Engine
Women-owned businesses will create a disproportionate share of new jobs, according to research from Mark Wolf, who explains at Forbes.com. A remarkable trend is emerging in the U.S. job market–one that will greatly impact the workplace of tomorrow. Women are becoming the nation’s job-creation engine, starting small businesses and stimulating new jobs at a rate [...]
Government Getting More Social
Website magazine reports that a study by the Human Capital Institute and “people management” software provider SABA details the use of social networking within local, state and federal government and looks at its effectiveness in conducting government work. It’s not just Obama embracing social media. The study found that federal agencies lead in using social [...]
Inc. editor-at-large Leigh Buchanan, who has been working from home for the past four years, shares her advice with entrepreneurs (as well as her newly-virtual colleagues) on how to do it right. 1. Language is important. Tell people you “work out of my home office” or that you “work from home.” Never say, “I work [...]
Spanx Makes Its Debut In Menswear
If you’ve been waiting for a man-friendly version of Spanx, those butt lifting pantyhose products that women love, your time has finally come. According to NY Daily News, the new Spanx For Men will be released on March 15th at Neiman Marcus. While this product won’t lift your posterior, it will give your pecks a [...]
HBO Launches Series On Young Entrepreneurs
Inc.com reports that if you ever doubted that it’s incredibly hip to be a young entrepreneur these days, consider that HBO has launched a new Entouragesque series about the travails of aspiring young business owners. How To Make It In America, which aired Feb. 14 at 10 p.m., follows Ben Epstein (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam [...]
New Bizop Classified Ads This Week
New listing this week on the Business Opportunities Weblog Classifieds. I’m Down 15 Lbs & 2 Full Dress Sizes ! With { Trithin Magic !} Best New Opportunity Out There! Unemployed, Looking For A Job, 888*572*7746, Laid-off Do Something That Is Fun! Start A New Career Www.dosomethingthatisfun.com Completely Free Online Business – No Financial Investment [...]
Can I Have Change For A Bracelet?
While charm bracelets are not a new concept, I think we can all agree that a bracelet made up of pennies, nickels, or quarters is definitely different. It is the uniqueness of the idea mixed with the custom options that come with it that has Jeff Byer, the owner of Reminicents, hoping that you’ll give [...]
4 Steps To Prepare Yourself For Self Employment
Are you one of the many people who have thought about becoming self-employed? If so, BusinessWeek offers up a list of steps that you should consider taking now which will help increase your chances of success when you finally take that leap. Start saving now. Having an ample capital cushion is essential for surviving the [...]
Mompreneur: The Toughest Job Around
If you were to ask Tisha Marie Pelletier what the toughest job around is, she would tell you that it is being a “mom entrepreneur”, as reported by azcentral.com. She’s not alone. Many mompreneurs reflect that very same sentiment. “A lot of times, moms are so busy handling the day-to-day, running around here and there, [...]
Our Presidents And Their Businesses
Have you ever wondered if any of our presidents were entrepreneurs? Steve Strauss with USA Today dug deep and found an answer to that question. Yes, many of our presidents were in fact small business owners, but some sure were more successful than others. Certainly our first presidents had, if not small businesses, at least [...]
Sisters Create Custom Cupcake Towers
Early last year, Jennifer Faris was laid off, and her sister Joy Groblebe had her hours taken down to part time. The sisters had been the main breadwinners in their families, and they needed to find a way to keep bringing in money for their young families, according to a story on the Mom Invented [...]
Thanks To Telecommuting, Snow Days No Longer Fun
Faster computers, broadband connections and free public Wi-Fi are taking the fun out of snow days, reports USA TODAY. The federal government was shut down for the second day in a row and many offices were empty in the nation’s snowbound capital, but work continued — in homes across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region. It showed just [...]
She’s Offering Women An Upstanding Opportunity
The Star Tribune‘s Neal St. Anthony writes in his column that after Sarah Dillon sold about 2,000 of her “GoGirls” every day of last summer’s Minnesota State Fair, a friend offered that Dillon was a threat to become the “Betty Crocker of the ‘pee business.’” That remains to be seen. To be sure, Dillon, who [...]
Back-to-back snowstorms on the East Coast have brought a blizzard of sales of shovels, groceries and booze. For airlines and department stores, the region’s wintry weather has resulted in millions of dollars of lost revenue, according to a story in The Associated Press. As businesses tallied up the impact of the second major snowstorm in [...]
‘Future Of Work’ Predicts Jobs And Home Life Will Merge
The line between work and home is disappearing, says former Financial Times columnist Richard Donkin in his new book. “We don’t stop living when we go to work and, very often today, we don’t stop working when we arrive home.” Technology has merged our working and personal lives, creating a more unified experience described in [...]
Crack Down On Independent Worker Status
Associated Press‘ Dave Gram is reporting that the Internal Revenue Service and 37 states are cracking down on companies that illegally try to trim payroll costs by changing employees’ status to independent contractors. The practice costs governments billions in lost revenue and can leave workers high and dry when they are hurt at work or [...]
SmartMoney.com is reporting that Twitter, a site originally best known for tracking the musings of celebrities and sports stars, is catching on with an unexpected new demographic: the serious investor. The site is essentially a vast shared blog where anybody can broadcast short messages, or “tweets,” about anything—and where anybody can follow the commentary of [...]
Budget Crunches Slows Payments
State and local budget crunches mean government contractors will have to wait longer to get paid, the WSJ‘s Marshall Eckblad reports. An Illinois non-profit named Springfield Arc Inc. is doing the people’s work, serving the mentally disabled. Trouble is, the people are six months late in paying. The state of Illinois owes the Springfield-based provider [...]
10 Bizs You Can Start On The Cheap
Ten types of businesses you can start on the cheap, by Anita Campbell at Business.gov. In many cases they can be run out of a home office. Most require minimal equipment beyond a computer, phone, printer, a few tools, and perhaps your car or truck. You won’t need advanced degrees or highly specialized training beyond [...]
Big Problems With Google’s Local Biz
Lisa Barone at Small Business Trends highlights two big problems with Google’s local business listings — including how competitors can hijack your listing. Many small business owners and those that work with them began receiving emails about their local business results for the month of November. The emails contained information about where the business ranked [...]
Teen Receives National Recognition For Safety Gate
A young man by the name of Louis Braille was only 12 when he began working on a system of reading and writing that relied on raised dots. Thomas Alva Edison was only a teen when he got to work on his telegraphic repeating instrument. And Tharon Trujillo was 10 when he came up with [...]
BusinessWeek is reporting that more people are working from home, and more of them are working for themselves, according to Census data released. The chart above compares the growth in the number of self-employed people working exclusively from home to growth in total home-based workers and the total number of people employed. The number of [...]
Are Entrepreneurs Counted Regarding Unemployment?
Question: How are entrepreneurs counted regarding unemployment? Economist Howard Rosen over at NPR Planet Money answers: In order to be considered unemployed a worker must be (1) available, (2) able and (3) searching for work. If your listener starts his own business and stops looking for work, he technically is not counted as unemployed; he [...]
It has been just over 6 years since Jody Hall opened up her business, Cupcake Royale, states The Seattle Times. Since then cupcake craze has grown to include many more bakeries that also specialize in these tasty little bites of goodness. Nowadays, with everyone clamoring for cupcakes, it seems almost incomprehensible that Hall’s friends thought [...]
Entrepreneurs Turn To 401(k)s To Fund Start-Ups
Don Poffenroth paged through a magazine on a flight several years ago when an article grabbed his attention: Entrepreneurs could use 401(k) savings to start a business without getting hit by taxes and early-withdrawal penalties, according to a story in USA TODAY. He and a partner had drawn up plans for a gin, vodka and [...]
Just a few months after Napan Mary Gutierrez had finally moved her business out of her garage and into a retail location, tragedy struck. On Thanksgiving of last year Napan was killed in an automobile accident, reports the Napa Valley Register. As the family struggled to find a way through their loss, Joel Gutierrez found [...]
If you want to succeed in business then you will need your potential customers to know that you exist. If they don’t know you are there, how can you expect them to buy from you? Connie Edwards at the Savannah Morning News shares her list of things that every small business should consider. Advertising How [...]
Entrepreneur Binds Books And Gives Back
When Vahe Atchabahian came to the US from Lebanon over 30 years ago he was hoping to escape the violence that filled his homeland. With little money and no plan, he set out to succeed. Although it wasn’t always easy, Vahe ultimately created his own success through the binding of books, according to the Pasadena [...]
When babies begin to stand on their own and walk their parents can’t help but feel a little excited or even anxious. It is not only an important milestone in their child’s development, it also means the time has come to find that perfect pair of shoes that they can comfortably walk in. Chalese, Jenny, [...]
Imagine Tomorrow Computer Classes For Kids
In a world where everyone seems to be connected to a computer, there is a licensing opportunity that brings together computer technology with education for children all into one place, Imagine Tomorrow. Not only does each class teach young children the basics on how to use a computer but they also teach other technology concepts, [...]
Kitchen Wares Inventor Taps HSN To Build $100 Million Biz
The Wall Street Journal reports that fans of HSN, the home shopping network, might recognize Debbie Meyer, the soft-spoken uber-housewife who sells nifty inventions – say, a device that creates holes in cupcakes, while they’re baking, for no-mess filling – as if teleported from the 1950s. What many may not realize is that behind the [...]
