Archive for July 2010
When The Folks Give You The Biz
Watching fellow college students working for $7.50 an hour after graduation, Tana Walther, a fashion-design major at Kent State University in Ohio, snapped up an alternative offered by her father—to run a Pita Pit restaurant franchise he would buy. “I guess I bought her a job,” says her father, Jan Walther, of North Canton, Ohio. [...]
Soft Granola Leads Entrepreneur On The Trail To Success
Now that Justin Avery Anderson’s soft granola has made it to the shelves of Whole Foods and Central Market, he hopes to take it all the way to the White House reports The Dallas Morning News. “I have not contacted the White House, but that’s the plan for the next few weeks,” the 23-year-old says. [...]
The Playground Has Gone Indoors
Michelle Christerson would find herself faced with a challenge whenever it would rain. Where would she take her 4 and 12 year old children to play? Between a play structure located at the mall and an arcade, there just weren’t many options. According to the Kitsap Sun, that was when she decided to make life [...]
Ever wonder how even mediocre-tasting pizza can look delectably mouth-watering in commercials? From the perfect cheese pull to tweezing the mozzarella, Domino’s gives us a backstage look at the creation of a pizza commercial. That explains why a large pizza costs $15!
According to The Morning Journal, DesAnn Collins started Design by DesAnn in 2006. The opportunity came after the sale of a family-owned convenience store. Collins is an interior decorator specializing in home staging, making subtle changes inside homes for sale to make them more appealing to buyers. “Most of the time the homes are still [...]
Red boxes, red envelopes and the blue and yellow Blockbuster stores may dominate the movie rental landscape, but according to a recent survey, when Americans want to watch a DVD, they are most likely to turn to their local library. The Hartford Courant reports the survey, released this year by OCLC, a nonprofit library co-operative [...]
4th Annual Houston Inventors Tradeshow
The Houston Inventors Association and the University of Houston Small Business Development Center are having the Fourth Annual Inventors Tradeshow on Wednesday August 11, 2010 from 5 to 8:30 pm. In addition to members of the Houston Inventors Association, we have invited inventors from other surrounding areas. We have also invited representatives from local companies [...]
WomenEntrepreneur.com dishes out inspiration from current mompreneurs. • Royn Pellei of Vive Vita thought she was getting her big break when a big company became interested in one of her baby products. That company soon decided the product was unacceptable. Pellei went back to the drawing board, created an even better product and sealed the [...]
Who needs sleep when there are start-ups to launch? Between endless e-mail conversations and talkative co-workers, getting actual work done during the day isn’t always an easy proposition. The New York Times has an interesting article about a group of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and software developers who have come up with a nocturnal solution to that [...]
Bringing Renewable Energy To The Main Street
The USA Solar Store is a chain of independently run shops that offer alternative energy products. With 24 stores in 11 states, from California to Vermont, it is their goal to help bring renewable energy to everyday people all over the US. Inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing, Dave Bonta and his wife moved to [...]
Did You Hear The One About The Comedian And The Copyright Law?
Ponder the difference between the comedian and the musician. Both create and perform works to entertain audiences, but they go about protecting that work in different ways. The notoriously litigious music industry often resorts to the legal system to protect itself from pirates and samplers. But comedians don’t. So why hasn’t the joke well gone [...]
Jeremy Green, a physical therapist and entrepreneur, had to go through two rotator cuff surgeries so he knows just how important it is to do the prescribed exercises correctly reports NewsOK. Green was studying to become a physical therapist when he had the idea that became Real Time Rehab. He deferred his studies and became [...]
Can Microloans Help American Small Bizs?
Amanda Keppert is convinced that she would have lost her hot dog stand in San Jose, Calif., if she had not received a type of loan that is more common in the third world than in the United States. According to a story in The New York Times, last year, as fewer people ate out [...]
Are we in a cupcake bubble? Why will people wait in ridiculously long lines for cupcakes but not for plain old cake? How soon until the crash? What’s next? Brownies?
Turn Your Phone Into A Radio Studio
Whether you’re a citizen journalist, podcaster or simply interested in sharing some sound with friends, your cell phone can become your mobile radio studio. MobileActive has published an excellent guide to making mobile audio in the field. A few key tips from the guide: Microphone positioning. “Place the mobile phone so it faces your subject [...]
New Program Series Debuts Today
We’re adding another new program to our lineup, THAT’S MY BUSINESS! This week Rich Whittle interviews author Sherry Sexton about her new book on women entrepreneurs.
Franchise Reinvents The Ice Cream Truck
If you’ve ever lived in a neighborhood that had an ice cream truck come through, then you already have a basic idea of what they look like. Basically they are big, bulky vans with a window in the side for handing out the treats you purchase. However one company is out to change your impression [...]
Garage Sale Purchase Worth $200 Million?
Rick Norsigian, a goateed 64-year-old maintenance worker who has spent most of his life living in the same house on a quiet street in Fresno, has long had a penchant for collecting antiques. His hobby may have paid off in a big way. The Fresno Bee reports Norsigian and his attorney announced that 60 glass [...]
Sauceaholics’ Recipe For Success
According to The Florida Times-Union, the barbecue sauces, salsas, mustards and rubs are on the shelves. Now the owners of Sauceaholics just have to hope for business. They opened the small shop in Lakewood, Florida, last week. It’s a simple operation by most business standards – one employee and 900 square feet of jars and [...]
The Happiest Entrepreneurs In Canada
According to a TD Canada Trust survey and BIV Business Today, the top five happiest entrepreneurial cities are Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Overall, high satisfaction levels associated with owning their own business were the main reasons for small business owners having a more positive attitude than those who work for someone else. About [...]
Re-energizing Your Day, Every Day
Numerous research studies show that our bodies operate by 90 minute rhythms during the day. When we’re awake, we move from higher to lower alertness every 90 minutes. Matthew E. May at OPEN Forum says we should try to get things done in bursts of intensely focused activity, interspersed with periods of rest and recovery. [...]
Michelle Staley is watching her online business grow while receiving and offering a helping hand to fellow moms at the same time reports The Fort Morgan Times. She received her first shipment of her Busy Breathers backpacks in December 2008, but has learned more about marketing in the past 1-1/2 years, she said. She’s added [...]
Americans Still Trimming Daily Expenses
One unanswered question posed by this recession is, will we return to our previous buying habits once we believe that it is over? A new Harris poll does nothing to clarify it for us, because it shows that we continue to look for more frugal alternatives in our day-to-day spending. WalletPop reports that one way [...]
Hats Off To 97 Year Old Milliner
Lula Mae Reeves is a 97 year old entrepreneur and the first African American woman to open her own business in downtown Philly reports 6ABC. She became a milliner in the early 1930s making hats and lots of them. “The more I made, the more they liked them.” She opened her first hat shop on [...]
Who first coined the phrase, “Necessity, the mother of invention?” George Farquhar Emily Dickinson William Shakespeare Thomas Edison William Ramsay View Results The answer : Irish poet George Farquhar, 1677-1707. Photo by imagi-nation.com.
Inventor’s Journal: Katherine Huck
Rich Whittle talks with inventor Katherine Huck about her kids’ creative construction product, the Fort-A-Ma-Jig.
Often times when owning your own business it becomes clear that you are bringing in a ton of money/profit, but you are not able to hold onto as much of that profit as you hoped you would. Why is that? Well, this happens for a number of reasons. Look below for some possible reasons and solutions [...]
In a recent article located on Bizbox it was stated that there is money becoming available for small businesses out there more and more each day. This is due to a number of reasons: Small businesses are realizing that we are coming out of a huge recession and therefore there are not as many companies searching [...]
Know any biz owners in NYC? I’m looking for a couple that I can interview at their location, on camera, for a three minute interview about online marketing in the next couple of weeks. Email me dane@danecarlson.com or call me 209-379-5371. Photo by joeywan
Vitamin D: The Supplement of the Decade?
A age old supplement that is delivered free from the sun promises to be the supplement of the decade. How will you profit from Vitamin D? NY Times: Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the [...]
Inventor Missed Out On A Fortune
According to NewsCore, the former eye doctor who discovered the wrinkle-reducing properties of Botox missed out on a fortune after she and her dermatologist husband failed to patent the anti-ageing procedure they discovered in Canada. Dr. Jean Carruthers’ eureka moment came in 1987 when she spotted that the injections she used to stop eye spasms [...]
It’s All Pizza And Car Sales For Young Entrepreneur
The next generation of young social-preneurs may rely on more young innovators like Joey Ronca reports the Cleveland Daily Banner. Although Ronca currently works with his father in their family-owned Italian Bistro, the soft-spoken Italian said his plans are to broaden his economic horizons as a young leader of the social enterprise movement. “I’m currently [...]
Unemployment rates in most states fell in June, which means fewer people unemployed, right? According to the experts, it isn’t that more people have jobs — it’s that fewer people are still looking for work. Apparently if you aren’t looking for a job, the government doesn’t consider you unemployed. The insanity of this logic is [...]
Disabled Vets Head To Business Boot Camp
Sgt. Neil Avant was on his way to a meeting in Baghdad when a man wearing women’s clothing and a bomb blew himself up. The injuries that he suffered were a enough to end his service with the army but they were not enough to break his entrepreneurial spirit reports The Los Angeles Times. Earlier [...]
Who first coined the phrase, “Necessity, the mother of invention?” George Farquhar Emily Dickinson William Shakespeare Thomas Edison William Ramsay View Results Answer tomorrow.
RedLine For Your Garage And Closet
Almost everyone has seen or heard about a closet system that allows you to maximize the space in your bedroom but what about in your garage? RedLine offers both systems. Their RedLine Garagegear line allows home owners to make the most out of the space in their garage. Whether you want a template design or [...]
According to The Daily Grommet, Lexi Glenn was just 10 years old when she invented the Pumponator. She was determined to find a parent-approved way to fill water balloons by herself – without soaking the bathroom floor or leaving a swath of soggy grass by the garden hose. Rummaging around in her grandmother garage one [...]
New Show Looking For Inventors & Entrepreneurs
Stephen Key over at InventRight.com emailed me about a new prime-time show on the Discovery Channel. He’s trying to get the word out to inventors about this opportunity. The program will feature two hosts (who are experts in invention/innovation/product development) who travel around the country meeting people who are working on “the next great idea”. [...]
In business we all know that clicking with our customers is the ultimate key. It’s the key to getting them to come back more then once as well as getting them to refer our company to their friends and family and also giving good reviews. So how exactly do you know how to click [...]
Open Forum: When you’re a small business owner looking to get your company’s message out, perhaps the last thing you’re thinking about is the actual writing of a press release. If your business is not ready to hire a publicist, much less a strategic PR team, then the person who will be writing that [...]
New Bizop Classified Ads This Week
New listing this week on the Business Opportunities Weblog Classifieds. Custom Molded Shoemaker Worlds First And Only Quit Smoking Campaign Month Needs Seed Pick & Mix Candy Ability Wanted, Excellent Product, Earn Income The Day You Get Your Starter Kit Of Your Choice, Low As 49.95 Tired Of Seeing Account Snapshots And Fake Testimonials? Tired [...]
New Advertiser: Maid to Sparkle
We’re excited to have a new advertiser onboard today: Maid to Sparkle is a new residential cleaning franchise. Look for a future post about what makes this low startup cost, high profit franchise unique.
Terror-Free Oil Gas Station Closes
Omaha World-Herald: When it opened to national hoopla (and some skepticism), the Terror-Free Oil gas station in southwest Omaha was supposed to be the beginning of a movement to end American consumption of foreign oil. Backers of the station said they would sell only gasoline that did not originate in Middle Eastern countries. It didn’t [...]
What is Property Field Inspection?
A reader asked: I have so enjoyed your website, and wait for each new emailed updated information. I have been trying to research ( I am one of those people) more about Property Field Inspection. First I am a woman, second every thing I bring up is about the Mechanical Inspection or Appraisal of property. [...]
Majority of Internet Users Not Willing to Pay for Online Services
Fast Company: This past October, Newsday, the Long Island daily newspaper, was purchased for $650 million, and its website, newsday.com, was put behind a pay wall. For just $5 a week, users could gain access to the site, but after three months on the market, how many had subscribed? Thirty-five people. Clearly, Internet users so [...]
Now Legal: Jailbreaking Your iPhone and Ripping DVDs
Every three years the US Copyright Office reviews copyright law and makes revisions and exemptions. Six new rules out from the office will radically alter the tech landscape in the months and years to come. CrunchGear breaks down the changes for us: Defeating a lawfully obtained DVD’s encryption for the sole purpose of short, fair [...]
New Program Series Debuts Thursday
Join Rich Whittle as he talks with Sherry Sexton, author of “The T-Shirt To Prove It!” The Successful Journey Of 25 Passionate Women Entrepreneurs on THAT’S MY BUSINESS! Thursday, July 29th.
George Washington: Whiskey Entrepreneur
Mt. Vernon is now distilling and selling whiskey according to Washington’s original recipe. Learn the surprising history behind George Washington’s whiskey empire from WalletPop‘s Jason Cochran.
Entrepreneur With An Eye For Outdoor Fashion
Stuff.co.nz: Liz Collins started clothing company Chalkydigits in 2000 while living in Wanaka after seeing a gap for more stylish clothing for the outdoor environment (the name relates to the chalk that rock climbers put on their fingers). Now based in Christchurch, the brand has moved to more of a quality fashion brand. Ms Collins, [...]
According to Wired, fledgling Las Vegas-based Righthaven has begun buying out the copyrights to newspaper content for the sole purpose of suing blogs and websites that re-post those articles without permission. We believe it’s the best solution out there,” Steve Gibson, Righthaven CEO says. “Media companies’ assets are very much their copyrights. These companies need [...]
