Archive for July 2011
The winners of the Candyman DVD and Jelly Belly jellybean giveaway from last week are: Jim Klymus of Pet Food & Treats Juanita Reynolds Congratulations to both of you! If you’r one of the winners, email me your mailing address.
SeacostOnline: The tagline for a new online business, Hoist Away Bags, pretty much says it all: “raising old sails to new heights.” Founder and owner Laura Cleminson began dabbling in recycling sailcloth into bags in the fall of 2010. “I got serious in the first quarter of 2011,” she said. “I had the idea to [...]
GlowCap: Internet Connected Pill Bottle Caps
Vitality makes a cap for prescription pill bottles called the GlowCap: The device is simple. When a patient is prescribed a medication, a physician or pharmacy provides a GlowCap to go on top of the pill bottle, replacing the standard childproof cap. The GlowCap, which comes with a plug-in unit that Rose calls a night-light, [...]
Change Making: Business Opportunity in Cuba
Havana Times: “You lose 20 and win 40,” touted this almost 50-year-old man. Nice looking and well dressed, he was standing at the stop for the “P line” bus, the heaviest trafficked route in the capital city. What he was offering was a chance for each individual to change 1.00 peso for 0.80 cents, which [...]
Thinking Inside The Vacuum Box
Most people would take their new vacuum out of its packaging and throw the box away. Jake Tyler used the packaging to make a vacuum instead, reports The Daily Mail. Jake Tyler’s innovative machine so impressed cleaning giant Vax that it intends to put the model into production. Mr Tyler developed the ‘ev’ model for [...]
SBA Program For Female Entrepreneurs
If you’re a female entrepreneur interested in taking on a government contract, the SBA has recently earmarked some contracts just for you under the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program. What this means is that federal agencies are now permitted to restrict competition for a particular set of government contract and direct them exclusively at [...]
Summer Mowing Turned Big Business
In almost any neighborhood, people will see a teenager mowing a lawn for some quick summer cash. Not long ago, that teen was Wade Martinez. He was on his way to college, and he needed some quick summer cash. No one expected him to turn the short summer job into a ssuccessful small business. Wade [...]
Divorcing With Pomp and Circumstance
A new business in Japan let’s divorcing couples celebrate their change in a ceremony not unlike a wedding, except instead of publicly tying the knot, they cut it. After one of his friends was going through a painful divorce process, Hiroki Terai had come up with the idea of holding divorce ceremonies to help couples [...]
Fashionable Products For Kids With Diabetes
Diabetes is hard enough for adults to control, so imagine how a child must feel. Insulin pumps are often necessary gadgets for people with this problem, but for a child that means standing out from classmates. When Julie DeFruscio’s daughter was diagnosed with diabetes at three years old, she instantly saw a need to help [...]
Entrepreneurs need the right tools to succeed. Noobpreneur.com has pulled together a list of iPhone apps that will help you run your business on the go. Dragon Dictation The software allows you to speak into the phone and then it writes the words into a text file of some type. From there, you can text, [...]
Camp Invention Inspires Innovation
Kids may not show much interest in math and science in a traditional setting, but Camp Invention puts a whole new spin on the idea. The camp was created to help inspire children to open their minds and become innovators, reports Bonner County Daily Bee. “The main mission here is to get kids interested in [...]
Young Inventor Challenge Back For 5th Year
The Chicago Toy & Game Fair (ChiTAG) has always encouraged innovation among children. With the relaunch of the Young Inventor Challenge for its 5th year, they are doing it again on November 19th. Kids ages 6-18 are invited to participate in this fun and exciting event that brings together imagination, play and inventive thinking with [...]
Calling all regular readers of Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog: What would you like to see added? Changed? What do you like most? Least? What’s missing? Send me an email or leave a comment below.
Franchise Gives Entrepreneur A Clean Start
How man exec’s will clean windows? Probably not many, but Robin Handy will. According to StarTribune, Robin is an entrepreneur at heart. That is why he would rather demonstrate his cleaning product as the president of his own company than work as an executive in an office. As the state’s master franchisor for Heits Building [...]
Extended Battery Life For Wi-Fi Devices
A student from Duke University, Justin Manweiler, has come up with a unique device that will help extend the life of devices using wi-fi, reports IT Pro Portal. It is called the SleepWell. The invention by Manweiler is primarily based on how the battery life of Wi-Fi enabled devices, like laptops and smartphones, heavily depends [...]
Everyone has different interests, but mom’s still share many of the same needs. After their day is done, mom’s are ready to relax. Juice in the City has the deal for them. For Sarah Eisner, it started last Mother’s day. Instead of receiving an hour of peace, she started a business with Philippa Smith. Together [...]
Entrepreneur Educates Entrepreneurial Women Using Life Lessons
Rachel Young has seen both sides of business. She was once homeless, running a business out of her car. She has even experienced the joys of success. Now Rachel believes it is time to share her lessons with fellow female entrepreneurs, and help guide them to their own success, reports KnoxvilleBiz.com. “I’ve broken everything that [...]
Functional Metal Art Made With Imagination
It takes a creative mind to see the art in a few pieces of metal. Often a really creative person can create a functional piece of art that people will love. However, it takes a great business mind to see the opportunity these pieces hold. Vladimir Gendelman is that man. Vladimir was first inspired when [...]
Having trouble finding a way to thank employees for their hard work when your business is having trouble getting by? USA Today has some advice from SBA head, Karen Mills, that may help. Many employees understand the financial constraints that come with running a business during bumpy economic times and appreciate creative efforts to recognize [...]
Every time the price of gas spikes, so does everyones interest in bicycling instead of driving. The Commercial Appeal reports that a company dedicated to the great outdoors, Outdoors Inc., is ready to prove to the world that cycling is back in Memphis by starting a bicycle shop in their town. Is this an opportunity [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: July 3-5
Today in Entrepreneurial History: July 3 1884 – Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average. 1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile. 1886 – The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand. 1938 – World speed [...]
Women Bring Social Media Conference To Utah
Rachael Herrscher and Jyl Johnson Pattee have attended a lot of different conferences on social media, but none of them have left either person feeling fulfilled. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, they are doing something about it. “We wanted to build a conference that we wanted to attend,” said Herrscher, CEO of TodaysMama.com, a [...]
You may be ready to do whatever an investor wants if it means they will put money into your business, but don’t act too quickly. Business Insider considers the bad behavior of one investor, and why you should be careful. In my email exchange with the entrepreneur, I asked two questions. The first was “is [...]
Who knew that a toilet seat could produce so much inspiration? However, that is exactly what it did for Steve Toll, reports My Fox. “I was sitting in the bathroom reading one day, and I was sitting there for about an hour, and I realized I was more comfortable on my toilet seat than I [...]
Entrepreneur’s Declaration of Independence
When in the course of business as usual, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the economic bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Natures and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to [...]
Candyman DVD Review and Giveaway (Plus Free Jelly Belly Candy!)
Candyman is a documentary movie about the rise and fall of Jelly Belly inventor David Klein. In 1976 all jellybeans pretty much tasted the same and sold for less than $1 per pound. A small candy distributor named David Klein had an idea that would change the face of jellybeans forever: he invented a premium, [...]
Small Business Lending On The Rise
INC: The good news: Recently, government initiatives, such as the Small Business Jobs Act, have bolstered small businesses and freed up lending lines—and the proof is in the numbers. In Capital One Bank’s 2011 survey, 85% of U.S. small business owners said they were able to get the financing they needed. But experts are still [...]
Building A Better Antenna Topper
Nothing is safe from decoration, including car antenna’s. Obviously these devices are nothing new, but one inventor saw an opportunity to give them a makeover, reports Flea Market Zone. One night three years ago, Dewayne Lytle was sitting in his car when lightning struck. “I was in a drive through, and I saw a decoration [...]
Who knows your community better than you? If you know where all the great places to visit and eat are at in your town and city, why not start your own tours for tourists? That is exactly what Julia Segal is doing with her own business, Kingston By Fork. According to Frontenac EMC, she started [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: July 1
1874 – The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale. 1881 – The world’s first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States. 1890 – Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable. 1908 – SOS is adopted as the international distress [...]
