Author Archives: Angela Shupe
11 Year Old’s Eco-Friendly Fashion Accessories
Starting a business is hard enough if you’re an adult. If you’re a child, the complications only increase. However, many children succeed in business. Some mow lawns, walk dogs, or baby sit for a living. Maya Penn runs a fashion accessories business. Maya Penn, CEO and owner of her own online boutique “Maya’s Ideas,” started [...]
Artisan Creates Glamor From Grocery Bags
While many people argue whether plastic bags should continue being used, one woman is upcycling them into unique products. Based outside of Washington, DC in Stafford, Virginia, Tina Dean Designs is owned by Tina Dean Allen. No one will guess that these stylish accessories were once grocery bags. Plastic bags are prepared into plarn (plastic [...]
Walter Hunt was trying to find a way to repay a debt. While nervously wrapping a wire around his finger, the idea suddenly hit. It soon became the dress pin, later known as the safety pin. It was one of many Hunt inventions, including the sewing machine, knife sharpener, a streetcar alarm bell and a [...]
The inventor of the digital camera, Kodak, is now leaving the camera business, reports Reuters. Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month, said on Thursday that getting out of cameras would result in “significant” job losses. Most of the 400 people in that business are based in Rochester, New York, and work in research [...]
OC Register: More than one in five small-business owners (22%) expect to add jobs over the next 12 months, while 8% expect to eliminate jobs, according to the new Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll. This is the most optimistic owners have been in four years, Gallup says. Small-business owners tend to be optimistic. Otherwise, [...]
Heart Catheter Decreases Health Costs, Save Lives
Chicago Tribune: Reavill won a prestigious contest in London late last year called the OmniCompete Health Pitch Battlefield, whose independent judges said his invention is a simple way to catheterize the heart. It reduces risks to an “absolute minimum” by moving the catheter insertion to the arm, the judges said, replacing a complex wire-guided procedure [...]
Apple, Inventor Face Off Over driPhone
Apparently one “I” can make a big difference if you choose to name a product with the word phone in it. At least, that is what driPhone recently discovered. Apple, through a Wellington-based patent firm, told Hayden Crowther it was opposing his application to trademark the driPhone name in New Zealand because it is too [...]
StepNpull: Open Doors Hands Free
Our next interview in the Get on the Shelf series features Mike Sewell and his product, the StepNpull. What product did you submit to Wal-Mart’s Get on the Shelf contest? We submitted StepNpull which is a hands free door opener designed for commercial latch less doors. It gives the user the option of pulling the [...]
How Healthy Is Your Small Business?
Not sure how healthy your small business is? Take a look at some advice from the Herald Sun. IS YOUR BUSINESS UP AND COMING? A NEW business needs a proper financial, operational and legal structure to chart its early days, including market research and a monthly or weekly cash flow projection and budget. IS IT [...]
From The Shed To Internal Combustion Engine Wizard
NZ Herald: Shepherd was always bothered by the inefficiencies – especially the lack of leverage – in the internal combustion engine. With the overall idea in his head he began to sketch out an engine design, which was built into a prototype and exhibited at the Hutchwilco Boat Show and is now on display at [...]
Debbie Pifer never imagined her doughnuts would go to the Superbowl, but this year they were delivered to the NY Giants. The mother-in-law of Jim Cordle noticed her blueberry doughnuts and ordered dozens for the team. “We were just a little excited,” said Debbie Pifer, owner of White House Fruit Farm. “Here we are in [...]
Stride Rite Seeking Mompreneur Ideas
Boston Herald: Stride Rite hopes to reach a wide audience of “mompreneurs,” according to product line manager Kate Cox. “Robeez by Stride Rite was created by a mom for moms, and we wanted to continue in this tradition as we look to add new ideas to our celebrated footwear brand,” she said. Stride Rite is [...]
Japanese Entrepreneurs Dream Of Silicon Valley
Manufacturing.net: Small but growing numbers of Japanese entrepreneurs are jumping into the startup scene in northern California, particularly since the earthquake and tsunami last March. They include Naoki Shibata, who took the plunge by giving up the sort of life many Japanese in past decades spent their lives trying to attain. Only 30, Shibata had [...]
Small Biz Optimism At Three Year High
Fox Business: Three out of four (75 percent) small-business owners in the U.S. are confident about the future of their businesses, a new economic report shows. This is the highest level of small-business optimism in this country in the past three years and a jump from 64 percent of owners giving future prospects a thumbs-up [...]
Spin Mail: The Mailbox That Pivots
Ever wonder about your safety while stepping out on the side of a busy road to remove your mail from the mailbox? Spin Mail has created a simple solution by making it easy for you to turn your mailbox around to face you, without you having to step out near traffic. Reed Holmes of Chester, [...]
Parenting Advice That Works In Business
Who wants to learn the same lesson twice? Forbes has a list of advice that works for parents and entrepreneurs alike. Don’t lose sight of who you are. The experience of owning and running a business can be all-consuming – and so too can having a child. But be careful; don’t relinquish all of your [...]
Boy Scouts of America and Edison Nation’s Innovation Challenge
The Boy Scouts of America and Edison Nation have come together to challenge kids between the ages of 7 to 21 years old to participate in the Boy Scouts of America Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge is looking to today’s kids to develop tomorrow’s products. Whether the invention solves a problem around the house, the [...]
Health Drinks Have Gone To The Dogs
According to WalesOnline.co.uk, Brian Conlon didn’t intend to create a health drink for dogs. He happened upon the idea by accident, and Woofit was born. We had built a new shed onto the old one in the garden, but there was a crack in the perspex roof so when it rained little drops of water [...]
GoPillow: The Baby Pillow That Travels
Next in our series of interviews with the contestants in Walmart’s Get on the Shelf contest we have Tangela Walker-Craft, the inventor of the GoPillow. What product did you submit to Walmart’s Get on the Shelf contest? The GoPillow!- Uses include, but are not limited to: Breast feeding pillow with built-in privacy cover-up Pillow and [...]
Superbowl Ad For The Little Guy
Superbowl ads may represent the largest companies around the world, but one ad this Sunday will be for the “little guy,” reports OC Register. Kauffman says that the ad, which employs the same animated illustration style used in the Foundation’s popular Sketchbook series, outlines the growth of a simple idea into a successful business. It [...]
Potato Farmer/Inventor Makes Sorters Affordable
The Packer: Jones said he was motivated to create the E-Sorter because he wanted to give growers a better option at a better price. He said there are a of lot high-tech sorting/grading machines with expensive computerized scanners and cameras that were designed with the process in mind, but not the grower. “I started working [...]
Musical Tool Land Inventor In The Shark Tank
Dothan Eagle: Thirty years ago, Travis Perry watched as guitar students of all ages became frustrated during lessons. Many would give up within 60 days – a time Perry calls the “two-month hump.” Perry eventually stopped teaching guitar and went to college. He played with the band Silverado, lived in Nashville for a while, owned [...]
Sherpa Carry: Professional iPad Case
Next in the Walmart’s Get on the Shelf series of interviews, we have Jay McGinnis with the Sherpa Carry iPad case. With the introduction of the iPad, business men are constantly bringing the device to meetings. In many ways, it has replaced the briefcase. It can be used to do so much, but it requires [...]
MarketWatch: For the period spanning Dec. 24 to Jan. 23, Intuit reported small business employment inched up 0.2%, equating to an annual growth rate of 2.9%. During the month, small business hourly employees worked an average of 107.5 hours, down slightly from 107.6 hours in December. Average monthly pay for all small business employees slipped [...]
Teenager On Forbes 30 Under 30 List
If Forbes 30 under 30 list wasn’t interesting enough, they made it even more interesting by listing a 17 year old as one of the successes. A 17-year-old inventor from Texas, Javier Fernández-Han, the son of immigrants from China and Mexico, was named one of “Forbes’ 30 under 30″ this year, for his inventive use [...]
People in most countries may never see it, but Africa has welcomed a new competitor for the iPad. The tablet computer was invented by one of their own citizens. The tablet is called the Way-C – “the light of the stars” in a dialect of northern Congo. It measures 19 x 17 x 1.2 centimetres [...]
Small Biz Advantages In The Cloud
If you haven’t jumped on the cloud bandwagon yet, The Washington Post has a few reasons why you should. Take computer backup, for example. The old way of backing up computers was to purchase an external hard drive and a software program, install the software, physically connect your computer to the hardware, then run the [...]
Inventors Celebrating Thomas Edison’s Birthday At Free Invention Expo
MarketWatch: Sarah Miller Caldicott, the legendary inventor’s grand niece and author of “Innovate like Edison” is among an illustrious roster of speakers from 10 AM to 6 PM. Attendees will be treated to a phantasmagoric display of remarkable inventions stretching across a wide spectrum of creativity. Attendees also have a chance of winning a valuable [...]
Thomas Edison: Most Iconic Inventor
The Huffington Post: Even the Apple generation doesn’t favor Steve Jobs over the most iconic inventor in U.S. history. Young Americans overwhelmingly chose Thomas Edison as the “greatest innovator of all time” in a new MIT survey. That doesn’t mean Jobs lacks for fans in the wake of his death last year. The man who [...]
Entrepreneur Creates His Own Stonehenge
The more money some entrepreneurs make, and the more money they have to spend on their hobbies. For Edward Loyst, that includes $65,000 on carving and building with stones. “Nobody is going to rush up and say, ‘Here is another Rodin or Henry Moore. But it’s interesting to build something that people will wonder in [...]
People have been trying to create a portable phone since Alexander Graham Bell first attempts. So, just how early on did someone finally succeed? According to The Daily Mail Online, W W McFarlane’s creation in the 1920′s was one of the earliest in portable phones. The device, invented by Philadelpia experimenter W W McFarlane required [...]
The Last Lid: Kevlar Garbage Can Cover
LoHud.com: The problem: You put out your garbage cans, the wind knocks them over, the lid pops off and everything that was once inside is now blowing down the street. “Physics makes the lid fall off,” he said. “Not me.” Then someone drives over the lid and now — because you can’t buy lids separately [...]
FBI To Use Social Media To Predict Crimes
The Telegraph: The Bureau is asking companies to build software that can effectively scan social media online for significant words, phrases and behavior so that agents can respond. A paper posted on the FBI website asks for companies to build programs that will map sentiment and wrongdoing. Although the software would only be able to [...]
Veterans Small Biz Conference Visiting Detroit
Detroit Free Press: The National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo will be held at Cobo Center in June, bringing an estimated 6,000 veterans, small-business owners, federal employees, and advocates to the city, Mayor Dave Bing and U.S. Veterans Administration officials said Wednesday. The conference will be June 25-29 at Cobo. The event is billed [...]
Creating Electricity With Bicycle Power
Bicycles has been used to wash laundry, power the TV, and as an alternative form of transportation. A man in Seoul has now made it his main source of electricity, but creating a bicycle generator for his own home. [Interview : Moon Jang-man, Inventor ] “The generator is attached to the bicycle so that electricity [...]
UK Inventors Need More Support
Trevor Baylis has seen success with his inventions like the wind-up radio, but he cannot help but wonder why the government isn’t doing more to help inventors get going. So, he is doing something about it. He set up Baylis Brands to help inventors to patent their ideas and get them to market, and he [...]
Business Insider: “I’ve found that entrepreneurs, unlike smart people, get focused on working with whatever they have at hand and doing one important thing at a time. Smart people tend to enjoy thinking about a lot of things at once.” Perhaps all entrepreneurs are smart people, but not all smart people are entrepreneurs. In order [...]
At first people wondered if the iPad would be undercut by competitors with a cheaper tablet, like Amazon’s Kindle, but it appears the opposite has happened. Not only are iPad sales on the rise, but they have also had an effect on the sales of regular computers, reports Apple Insider. Demand for iPads helped to [...]
Furniture Maker At The State Of The Union
Instead of going to China, Bruce Cochrane set up his business in the US to give Americans jobs. His actions grabbed the attention of the President, and he was invited to the President’s recent State of the Union address, reports KTVZ Bend. Cochrane interrupted years of business consulting in Asia to reopen a furniture factory [...]
Website Helps Homeowners Keep On Track
Sacramento Business Journal: The new enterprise is HomeZada, an internet site and a mobile application that helps homeowners organize and protect household inventory documents and receipts. The interactive software also sets checklist schedules for all types of household maintenance, such as when to change heating filters, clean the chimney and other duties.
Low Cost Startup Biz Ideas: Image Consultant
Fox Business: If you want to start a business as an image consultant, you need to have an understanding of color basics, textiles and clothing silhouettes. Reed, who has a master’s degree in theater make-up and costume design, suggests taking courses in color theory and retail merchandising to sharpen your skills. She started out in [...]
Google+ To Welcome Nicknames And Pseudonyms
Google has announced that it will begin supporting nicknames and pseudonyms for user accounts on its Google+ social network. This has been a sticky subject since the network launched seven months ago with a strict real name policy that saw violating accounts flagged and deleted. The revised Google+ name policy will begin rolling out this [...]
Small Invention Soothes Big Jaw Pain
rrstar.com: Clayton received his second patent in 2011 for the Temporomandibular Disorder “Ear System” — TMDes. It is a custom-fitted prosthesis placed in a patient’s ear canal to relieve the pain from temporomandibular joint disorder pain, better known as TMJD. The temporomandibular joint is the hinge linking your jaw to your skull and is responsible [...]
Low Cost Startup Biz Ideas: Jewelry Designer
Fox Business: People like handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and this hobby is a good choice for a home-based business. Settle on your signature style or specialty — whether you’ll create pieces with bead design or design molds for silver and goldsmithing or stainless-steel items. Then you need to name your business, create samples, produce high-quality photos [...]
Just as Google creates a new service, it seems to trim away a couple they no longer want. The reported success of Google+ is no different. They have announced a new list of services they plan to eliminate in the coming months. Google acquired Seattle-based Picnik in 2010, saying it would integrate the photo editing [...]
Kodak may be facing bankruptcy at the moment, but this once glorious company has a rich history. The London Evening Standard takes a look at their past. He was a high school dropout who teachers described as “not especially gifted”, but in founding Kodak, George Eastman went on to make photography accessible to all and [...]
Low Cost Startup Biz Ideas: Social Media Assistant
Fox Business: The social media world is growing, and most business owners don’t have time to keep up. You can create a business as a social media marketing assistant or strategist if you have strong writing skills and a working knowledge of the major social media networking sites. Copy editing skills also are in demand [...]
Low Cost Startup Biz Ideas: Personal Organizer
Fox Business: Clutter is stressful for everyone, and you can make a living helping people get their homes, offices and lives in order. Professional organizing is a perfect business for people with a knack for neatness and developing systems. You can charge hourly or set half-day and full-day flat rates for your time. Not all [...]
Inventor Creates No-Frills Water Heating System
BBQ: In pursuit of such goals, Capetonian Roger Matthews, a master plumber, retreated to his study for two years to devise a system that could help the poor, travellers or even the elite. He has recently invented a gas heating system that generates unlimited hot water – requiring neither municipal pressure nor energy in the [...]
Inventor Creates User Friendly Weightstack Machine
As an avid gym enthusiast, it didn’t take long for Scott to notice that weightstack machines, some of the more popular exercise devices used, did not make it easy for people who wanted to change the weight during their exercise. He saw an opportunity, and he decided to fill it by creating a machine of [...]
