Archive for October 2011
Entrepreneur Keeps Teachers from Taking Away Students Cellphones
When I was a kid, teachers would confiscate all kinds of stuff from unruly students. Knives, radios, yo-yos, you name it. If a kid could buy it, chances are that there was at least one of them in every teachers’ junk drawer. Today, in the age of cellphones, having your property confiscated by the teacher [...]
Niche Biz: In-N-Out Burgers Shipped Anywhere
Eater.com: Hello, In-N-Out fanatics who do not live in California, Utah, Nevada or the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Today is your lucky day: website Midtown Row is offering to overnight two frozen double-doubles — classic OR animal style — to your pathetic, non-In-N-Out-having location for the low (high?) price of $50 plus $6 shipping. Photo [...]
Doing More To Nurture Startups
Every state sets up its own ‘rules’ for business. So, when it comes to a state like Michigan that needs to recover from the car industry to nurturing small business, some people believe the state needs to take more steps. Becoming an entrepreneur is all the rage right now in Michigan. Various business accelerators, also [...]
Interesting in selling or buying an eCommerce company? Shirley Tan describes to Practical eCommerce the process she went through when selling AmericanBridal.com. PEC: How did you find the buyer? Tan: “First, I made a list of who I thought were the most likely prospects in acquiring the business. I looked at which companies online currently [...]
Okay, so it’s not a coupon purchased over the Internet. However, Daniel Parrella talks with people in his community and helps bring them together, so they can purchase solar energy for less. “The logic is very simple,” Parrella said. “By going in as a group you can switch the power to the homeowners and negotiate [...]
Niche Biz: Pay-As-You-Go Office Space
Ever wish you had real office space for just a day or 30? Just imagine how many people wish they could escape the home office, even if it was only for a short period of time. Oficio, a new office rental space in Boston, hopes to tap into those people and give them the perfect [...]
Milford Daily News: Steve Gorham has spent most of his life renovating homes. Now, he restores World War II tanks. “It’s a one-of-a-kind job,” Gorham said yesterday while taking a break from working on a Czech OT-810 halftrack at Northeast Military Vehicle Services in Milford. “I wake up every morning and am excited to go [...]
In space, what happens to the bubbles in a glass of beer? How do you pour it? Can you even drink beer in space? Two beer-preneurs plan to find out when they market the first beer in space. BusinessWeek has more: Jason Held and Jaron Mitchell have a dream. In that dream, you are floating [...]
Farmers Not Cashing in On Pumpkin Shortage
Looks like their might be an opportunity for an entrepreneur willing to buck tradition and transport pumpkins from California to other parts of the country where pumpkins are less plentiful. The LA Times has the scoop: There’s a pumpkin shortage plaguing parts of the country this year, because of drought and storms in the Midwest [...]
His Dad Gave Him a Soda Machine Instead of An Allowance
This sounds like a great idea to try with your kids: After a brief, failed experiment paying me to do chores, my dad tried something really neat. It clearly took a bit of legwork, but maybe there are some transferrable lessons for parents who want to lay an entrepreneurial foundation. He gave me a vending [...]
Wall Street Journal: Sobered by store closings and the rise of online shopping, owners of U.S. shopping centers are filling space and drawing visitors by turning to unusual tenants like gun ranges and go-cart tracks. Mall giant Simon Property Group Inc. opened an aquarium in July at its Grapevine Mills mall near Dallas. Real-estate brokerage [...]
Keenwash: Mobile Waterless Carwash
BusinessWeek: Water is precious in Jordan, where shortages have prompted decades of rationing and exacerbated tensions with Israel. Nader Atmeh and his sons, Hassan and Moutaz, want to do their part by eliminating the traditional car wash in the Middle East. They say their waterless washing business, Keenwash, is saving Jordan hundreds of thousands of [...]
How To Quickly Test and Validate Startup Ideas
David Berube has up a quick method he uses to evaluate business ideas: So how do I test this idea in the market to see how much traction it could get and to see if people really need this? Using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns (AdWords, AdCenter, etc). It’s easy, cheap and will only take you about [...]
Evan Streusand found his path to fashion while visiting Peru. He never expect to end up in that industry, but what discovered while reluctantly visiting a boot shop has helped him become an entrepreneur. Streusand wasn’t so sure about the success of the boot, but the compliments kept pouring in and orders started to pick [...]
The Better Dog Poop Picker-upper
One Israeli who got fined for failing to pick up the droppings decided to contact Prof. Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University, a renowned biotech inventor, for a better solution. And Shoseyov rose to the challenge. His novel idea is AshPoopie, a pooper-scooper with a critical difference: After it gathers the droppings, it turns them [...]
Dream Dinners Founders Become Best Sellers
Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna started by helping families create delicious meals with easy preparation. Now they’re helping them reconnect over the dinner table, too. “The Hour That Matters Most” is an easy-to-read collection of advice and anecdotes designed to help today’s family reconnect over the dinner table. The authors wanted to avoid the guilt [...]
Vending Machine Suggests Your Drink
Japan has vending machines that can talk to you, sell you everything from bags of rice to bouquets of flowers, and recharge your phone. But a new breed of automated seller has smarts, too–these machines can detect your age and gender and offer drink suggestions accordingly. Run by a company under the JR East railway [...]
Become An Online Marketer With WebsiteOp
Ever had an interest in online marketing? WebsiteOp is a company that makes it easy for people to become an Online Marketing Consultant, working from the comfort of their own home. I recently asked Ron Bailey about his business opportunity and why people should give it a look. What is Website Op? WebsiteOp is a [...]
iPod Inventor Reinventing The Thermostat
Tony Fadell didn’t invent the iPod by himself, but he played a major part in its creation. However, since leaving Apple in 2008 he has moved on to the next great invention. It is called the Nest Learning Thermostat. But not just a thermostat–the iPod of thermostats: a device so desirable and intuitive that it’ll [...]
The Perfect Measure Porridge Bowl
Sometimes when people think of porridge, they think of nursery rhymes. When Tim Evans thinks about it, he envisions his special bowl appearing on the table of every porridge-eating family. He has just launched his first product – the Oats Made Easy porridge bowl – to make measuring out the oats and milk a piece [...]
The Search For The Perfect Golf Swing
Jimmy Rosa experience as an inventor began with the Easy Jump. He had wanted a special jump rope that wouldn’t trip him while using it for a long period of time. However, after a failed patent attempt and poor sales, he gave up. So, he was pretty discouraged when the product came out under a [...]
New Orleans Attracting Young Entrepreneurs
Leslie Jacobs started 504ward just three short years ago. His goal: “retaining young talent in New Orleans.” So far, it appears he has succeeded. Though academics and city officials have yet to measure how many young adult newcomers there are (and how many have actually stayed in New Orleans), there is clearly a critical mass. [...]
If you think farmers only grow things like apples, and oranges and peaches, you have no idea. Tablet Magazine (A New Read on Jewish Life) has up an interesting article about a farmer in California central valley — not far from me — who grows etrogs. An etrog is a yellow citron used by Jews [...]
Want to make your food look like a million bucks? The Esslack Food Spray will let you graffiti your food, or make it glitter like a pile of gold. The food spray from Germany is made from edible dye and can be sprayed on anything from pretzels to pot roasts. Unfortunately, it it not yet [...]
Now I Know: David Johnson, pictured, is an allegedly homeless man living in San Francisco. He is also a street performer who makes, in a good year, north of $60,000 per some reports. His instrument? Two branches from eucalyptus trees, with greenery intact, each about five feet high, which he hides behind while sitting on [...]
Making a Business Out of Cotton Candy
The Wicked Witch Cotton Candy Company sells cotton candy at everything from children’s parties to upscale weddings. The Bradenton Patch has more: Unlike processed cotton candy sold in chain stores, Wicked Witch Cotton Candy contains no preservatives and can be prepared with either kosher or organic ingredients. “We offer an array of fully customizable products,” [...]
Miami New Times: Indian River County’s Ian Sidles, age 25, and Dustin Boring, 30, incorporated Pre-Paid Auto Club in August. The company provides “speeding insurance.” Pay dues starting at $9.99 a month, and when you receive a moving violation, the club takes care of associated fines, traffic school costs, and legal fees. It’s like the [...]
New Biz in Japan: Ear Cleaning
Five years ago, the Japanese government deregulated ear cleaning, removing the requirement that the cleaner have a medical license. Since then a new type of business sprung up in Tokyo and other big cities: ear-cleaning parlors: The basic service at Yamamoto Mimikaki-ten lasts 30 minutes and costs ¥2,700 (about US$32). The customer is first introduced [...]
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According to estimates by the financial website 24/7 Wall Street, zombies pump more than $5 billion of life into the nation’s economy and even more globally. Here’s their math: Movies: $2.5 billion. Video games: $2.5 billion. Comic books, magazines, TV: $50 million. Halloween costumes: $500 million over four years. Books: $100 million. Merchandise: $50 million. [...]
BBC: Mark Post has been given €300,000 to make a hamburger, in one year. Easy money, you might think, but try doing that without using meat that has come from an animal. Professor Post is one of the few people on the planet who can. As head of the department of vascular physiology at Maastricht [...]
The Founding of Virgin Atlantic
Richard Branson: “In ‘79, when Joan, my fiancee and I were on a holiday in the British Virgin Islands, we were trying to catch a flight to Puerto Rico; but the local Puerto Rican scheduled flight was cancelled. The airport terminal was full of stranded passengers. I made a few calls to charter companies and [...]
Affordable Instruments: A Plastic Sax
The Vancouver Sun: Billed as the world’s first polycarbonate saxophone, the Vibrato A1 E-flat alto was developed in Thailand in 2008 by inventor Piyapat Thanyakij. According to its U.S. patent application, the instrument is composed of an injectionmoulded body, bell, bow and keys, silicon valve pads, and aluminum rods on which the keys are mounted. [...]
Hiring The Right Employees For Your Biz
Chicago Business believes that entrepreneurs fall short when hiring employees. So, what should you do? 1. Have a clear job description. Robert Half recommends not recycling old ones since chances are the role has changed since the description was written. Take a fresh look at business needs and the skills that should be added to [...]
Passion For Yoga Inspires Business
Monrovia Patch: Gyl Elliot believes the path to good physical and spiritual health is through the practice of yoga and meditation. Elliot has been teaching yoga for 12 years, and learning more all the time. After she studied structural yoga therapy, which emphasizes anatomy and physiology, with Mukunda Stiles, she also learned Sanskrit, and in [...]
Environmentally Friendly Footware
The idea for a quick, portable shoe started with Rachelle Kuramoto’s mother-in-law. Seeing potential in the product and brand, the two women began working on the concept in 2007, at a time when Rachelle and husband Kenji had an infant (Stella, now 6) and a toddler (Sam, now 9) at home. They spent the following [...]
Entrepreneurs, Investors Networking Online
Social networking has become a way of life for many, and a way to promote your business if you’re an entrepreneur. It’s also a great way to find funding. But what Dellorso has constructed is a vehicle that not only helps aspiring businesses find backing, it’s also a pool for investors to select worthwhile ventures. [...]
Out Of Unemployment Emerges An Entrepreneur
Dexter Patch: Begin owns and operates Right Brain Networks in Dexter, a website design and computer network management company that boasts a healthy clientele ranging from small businesses to the U.S. Army. “But business wasn’t always so good, he said. Like most Michigan residents two years ago, Begin, an information technology manager at a microchip [...]
Creating a business out of something you love can be very exciting, but it can also create a lot of stress. Forbes has a few ideas that will help you avoid burnout in your business. Get in the Right Mindset Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. Long-term success depends on your ability to maintain [...]
The “Magic Sauce” Behind Business Success
If the best indicator of a country’s growth is the number of new firms started every year, as Kauffman Foundation research indicates, how do we get more companies to start and grow? What’s the magic sauce? That’s the subject of the latest animated video in the Kauffman Sketchbook series released today. In “Magic Sauce,” Kauffman [...]
We talk a lot about mompreneurs and the work they’re doing, but what about the dads? They are working hard to raise kids and a business, too! Like many women running home-based businesses, Houle wanted to keep working while his children were young, and to be able to control when, where and how much. Around [...]
MC Hammer Takes On Search Tech
The Brain Yard: MC Hammer, entertainer-turned-entrepreneur, demonstrated some of the capabilities of WIREDoo, which Hammer called both “Deep Search” and “Relationship Search,” at Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. Hammer, cognizant of the presence of Google co-founder Sergay Brin in the audience, said that the technology isn’t meant to replace existing search, but [...]
Hulabye Takes The Wiggle Out Of Diaper Changing
Anyone who has ever had to change a diaper knows just how much babies love to wiggle and roll right out of your reach. Erin Kelly knew all too well just how difficult a simple diaper changing can become with an active baby, so she decided to do something about it. The Hulabye Happy Changer [...]
Why You Don’t Want to Start A Coffee Shop
A reader wrote: What do you think about starting a coffee shop? I think that many people think that they want to start a coffee shop, but, in fact, what they really want to do is to hang out in a coffee shop all day and get paid for it. We’re very good at recognizing [...]
11 Year Old Invents Pencil Ruler
An eleven year old named Nathan had a problem. While doing his math homework, he needed to measure something but couldn’t find a ruler. He looked down at the pencil in his hand and inspiration hit. Why not combine a pencil with a ruler? Nathan found a manufacturer, but they require at least a minimum [...]
Writers Don’t Need Publishers, They Need Amazon
NY Times: Amazon.com has taught readers that they do not need bookstores. Now it is encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers. Amazon will publish 122 books this fall in an array of genres, in both physical and e-book form. It is a striking acceleration of the retailer’s fledging publishing program that will place Amazon [...]
Polaroid And The Contact Lens Business
Scotsman.com: An entrepreneur who invented a pre-filled contact lens case after getting sore eyes during a flight to America has signed a transformational licensing deal with Polaroid that will see his creation launched worldwide in March. Knox developed [Contactspod] during his spare time but the invention took off after he was put in touch with [...]
Rob Rowley believes he has found the perfect solution to beach erosion problems and much more. His solution comes in the shape of a pyramid. For years the self-taught engineer has been dabbling with designs to harness ocean energy. Now he believes the time has come to put his theories into practice. “I’ve invented a [...]
While you might visit Match.com to find a date, visitors who frequent Boefly.com will have something very different in mind. These people are entrepreneurs in need of funding. Launched in the spring of 2010 with $4 million in funding from private investors, BoeFly has supported just under $2 billion in transactions and is generating close [...]
How many people have finished that sentence with doctor, lawyer, fireman, or police officer? A new title is making its mark among today’s youth, though. That title is: entrepreneur. A recent released Gallup poll shows that 77% want to be their own boss. Forty-five percent plan to start their own business and 42% said they [...]
