Author Archives: Angela Shupe
Is Your Biz Holding You Prisoner?
As every entrepreneur knows, you must be dedicated to your business if you are going to succeed. Sometimes a good business can take a lot of time to build an run. So, at what point does it begin to hold you prisoner? At some point, business owners must take some time for themselves. However, the [...]
OnGard Guards Against Lint Fires
Every year over 15,000 dryer-related fires occur. Often these statistics would go unnoticed, except one man, Gerry Flood, took notice and decided to do something about it. So he created the OnGard dryer vent fire suppression system. With an easy setup system and basic instructions, the OnGard can quickly turn a life threatening possibility into [...]
A lot occurred during the 1900′s. Many notable businesses launched, and some failed. Here are three well-known companies that got their start during last century. What would you add to the list? Hallmark gets its start: Jan. 10, 1910. Joyce C. Hall, a teenager (and a guy, by the way) from Norfolk, Neb., arrives in [...]
Don’t quite have social media down for your business? Why not get some help from the 14 year old guru, Lane Sutton. Like many people from the younger generation, he has beaten his own path to success using the various services, reports The MetroWest Daily News. Sutton’s rise to whiz-kid status began two years ago [...]
It seems so simple, how could no one have thought of it before? That was the thought that crossed through Jessica Mashkevich’s mind when she created a unique robe that can be taken apart piece-by-piece. The OmniRobe can be worn four ways. The garment goes on like a regular robe, but portions of it easily [...]
Solar Sister Helps Women In Africa
Huffington Post: Katherine Lucey is the founder of Solar Sister, a social enterprise devoted to equipping women in Africa to solve the epidemic of energy poverty through a community based model of entrepreneurship. Beginning with a seed investment in an individual entrepreneur, the women are given training, marketing materials and a solar lamp inventory. As [...]
Section Of Canadian Highway Dedicated to Alexander Graham Bell
Mr. Bell was an amazing inventor and an important piece of history for Brantford. The actual name of the highway will not change, but signs will be places along it displaying the dedication. “This will be used as a marketing tool for us to draw people to the Alexander Graham Bell Homestead,” Levac said. “It [...]
Making Something Sweet Out Of A Sour Market
When the real estate industry began to suffer, Nikki Lewis knew it was time to bail for a better business. That is whens he turned a sour market into sweet opportunity with her Mallow Munchies. “I have always loved making Rice Krispie treats—I made them with my mom as a kid,” she said. “I’ve been [...]
Finding Comfort In The Dog Business
Amy Parsons used to work as a telecommunications executive, but the stress was eating her alive. Diagnosed with an autoimmune condition aggravated by stress, she didn’t let it frustrate her when she was laid off. Instead, she picked herself up and started a business, reports Philly.com. “It’s a different type of stress,” she said during [...]
A lot of work goes into planning the perfect day, so it comes as no surprise that the new bride does not want to spend hours trying to officially change over her last name. It was that type of problem that inspired Danielle Tate to launch her business, reports Financial Post. MissNowMrs.com has helped some [...]
Find An Opportunity In Hurricane Grill & Wings
Franchising is often compared to the wheel. If you have a good design, why bother reinventing it? This idea fits well with Hurricane Grill & Wings. With over 40 locations, this franchise is growing fast. From their signature sauces and relaxed atmosphere to their family-friendly pricing, Hurricane has quickly become a restaurant people can enjoy. [...]
At $20, it may not seem like a light bulb worth buying. However, when you consider its solar-powered abilities, it’s hard to believe no one thought of it before! The solar-powered light bulb by Nokero holds roughly enough energy to power the bulb for 4 hours. According to The Washington Post, the bulb is perfect [...]
Niche Biz: Baby Safe Photo Albums
Babies love photo, but their parents are not crazy about letting them get ruined. It was in there that Laura Miranti saw a need for baby-friendly photo albums, reports BND.com. “Kids love photos, but most parents aren’t going to hand over their photo albums to their little ones. They don’t want them to get messed [...]
Creative Ways To Use The iPad In Business
We’ve often shared ways the iPad can help you manage your business, but what about using it to attract customers? Some places like Tenoverten, a nail salon, are using iPads like magazines. They make them available to customers, so they can surf the web while waiting for their manicure or pedicure to finish. However, Butter [...]
Teen Battles Kudzu With Helium
For his sixth grade science project, Jacob Schindler wanted to find a way to prove that kudzu could live on Mars. He is now 17, and his plans have shifted. He’s not experimenting with a unique reaction he experienced when dosing kudzu with helium. Now he is hoping to eliminate unwanted kudzu in an environment-friendly [...]
Not sure what you should do? Maybe it is time you sat down in front of a mirror and asked yourself exactly where the business is going. Here are a few questions to ask yourself. The answers you give will help guide your business in the right direction. Question One: How much sales revenue do [...]
Replacing Gasoline With Thorium
You may find yourself spending a lot of money on gas for your car today, but the car of the future may only require 8 grams of thorium. Thorium is abundant and radioactive, but much safer to use than an element such as uranium. When thorium is heated it becomes extremely hot and causes heat [...]
Financing During A Tough Economy
Need to raise money for your business? Here are a few tips from entrepreneurs who have been there and funded that. Micro Loans If you are looking for a loan under $50,000, a microloan may be the way to go. The Small Business Administration’s Microloan Program provides small, short-term loans through specially designated intermediary lenders, [...]
Agro Co-op was facing a serious problem. Before having their molasses tank filled, there were no apparent leaks. After it was filled, it wouldn’t stop leaking. Worried about how they were going to get the mess under control, they called a local inventor — Glen Cox. Glen is the president of Zengo Inc., and he [...]
Business owners often learn from their mistakes, but it doesn’t hurt to learn from the failures of others, too. Forbes has pulled together a list of expensive mistakes you should avoid. Don’t make wildly optimistic sales forecasts. Test and adjust your projections, based on experienced advisor input and industry norms, rather than the Google high [...]
Hand Turn Signals For Cyclists
Whether it is to safe money on gas or a need for exercise, cyclists are popping up everywhere. It was when Jack O’Neal was stuck behind a cyclist signaling with his left hand that he was struck with inspiration. That inspiration became YouTurn. He has created unique gloves cyclists wear that help signal their intent [...]
Lessons Learned From Summer Jobs
Do you remember a particular summer job that helped inspire your interest in business? Richmond BizSense has 6 stories from entrepreneurs who were inspired by the jobs they worked during one summer long ago. One of those people is Jennifer Whitlock. She now owns a help desk company, but she still remembers the job she [...]
Kid-friendly business ideas are everywhere. With a little imagination and time, kids have been finding unique ways to make money for many years. Cole Amyx is one. At 13 years old, he currently runs a dog toy business that sells through an online website, dog parks, and street fairs. This line of dog toys by [...]
What do you do if you were once an aircraft mechanic with a passion for space shuttles? You create a unique baby walker, of course. Samuel Odwalu Mayson has had some trouble working his way off the streets. Jobs seem to be scarce, but he was determined to do something. So, he is working on [...]
‘EZ-Out’ Easy Way To Profit For Inventor
Hate trying to pull your credit card out of that small wallet slot? John Higgins has created a little slide in holder that makes credit card removal easier. Now he hopes to market it as a cheap gift credit card companies and banks can give to their customers. Inserted into a wallet compartment, the EZ-OUT [...]
Berks-Mont: As you research franchises, ask about the required experience, if any, as well as the expected hours and personal commitment necessary to run the business. You also should learn about the franchisor’s background. For example, what is the company’s track record and how are other franchisees in the system doing? The upfront cost of [...]
Mom Owned, Mom Approved Taxi Service For Kids
Sometimes parents can feel like a taxi service, but Sharron Gay really is one. She is the founder of Mom’s Taxi Service. Whether you don’t want your kids riding public transportation, the school bus, or you need someone to drive your kids from school to their sports practice, Mom’s Taxi Service does it all. Inspired [...]
Caramels For Every Sweet Tooth
In Janet Shulman’s caramels, you’ll find local ingredients. Whether it is Schlafly beer or bacon from Missouri-based pigs, reports Ladue-Frontenac Patch. Shulman, the mother of two, is a self-described “mompreneur.” As her children went off to school, she worked at various jobs and became known as a never-say-no volunteer. But she always felt it was [...]
Minneapolis has launched a unique service that helps connect inventors with lawyers who will work on their case pro bono. Each participant needs to attend a training program on intellectual property and is required to do a patent search to see if their ideas are new. Inventors also will have to file a provisional application [...]
Some companies offer their employees paid sick leave as a part of their benefits. However, should small businesses be required to pay for sick leave when their employees need time off? That is a part of the debate happening in Seattle between the city and small biz owners. Under a Seattle City Council proposal, Proios [...]
Google created App Inventor so people could create their own apps. Now they are preparing to shut down the service. The service launched in private beta last summer and opened to the public in December. But it hasn’t progressed very much since last year. It’s still fairly difficult to create complex Android apps using the [...]
Google’s First Self-Driving Car Accident
According to Jalopnik, Google has had its first fender bender with its self-driving car. Exclusive photos on the website show the car after the small accident. Will this cause a hiccup in the future of driverless vehicles? The Prius — recognizable as a Google self-driving prototype from the roof equipment that’s smaller than a typical [...]
Women In Charge: Catherine Cook of myYearbook
The Huffington Post has the profile of a successful woman and the co-founder of myYearbook, Catherine Cook. I worked with my brothers Dave and Geoff to create myYearbook in 2005 to be the best place to meet new people. We added 400 members in the first week, and today we have 32.7 million members, $23.7 [...]
GPS Sneakers For Alzheimer Patients
eTurboNews: GTX Corp. is introducing new shoes, loafers, and sneakers, with GPS built into them. Using a downloadable app, caretakers can track and be alerted if patients and loved ones wanders out of a pre-set safe zone. The GPS Smart Shoe will provide millions of caregivers the means to help easily find those afflicted with [...]
What good is it to bake something amazing, if you can’t store it to take with you to parties and events? That is the premise behind the Baker’s Sto ‘N Go. It allows people to easily store their goods, like brownies, to take on-the-go. I recently spoke with the inventor, Angela Horevitz, about her creation [...]
Women-Owned Businesses Gearing Up For Gov Contracts
Bialek Environments has been taking on government contracts for years. With the new SBA program for women, the president and CEO, Joan Bialek, looks forward to bringing in some more work for her company. The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program kicked off in February, with the goal of ensuring that federal agencies issue 5 [...]
What happens when you can’t sleep? For Dennis Linton, that is the perfect time to invent. According to North Harbour News, it is during that time when he comes up with most of his innovations. That’s what led to him designing new types of hydraulic jacks which helped save the life of a man in [...]
Inventor Develops Flying Sphere Drone
At approximately the size of a beach ball and completely black, the Spherical Air Vehicle looks likes a miniature Death Star that can transmit live video from a camera. The drone can fly down alleys, hover, take off vertically, and it can even bounce on the ground, reports AFP. The latest model, the seventh prototype, [...]
Sick of messy yogurt containers in her lunchbox, Madison Alexander decided it was time for a new option. Her idea is to make yogurt containers edible, and it has grabbed the attention of a kids TV show. With her parents’ full support, Madison registered her idea on the Let’s Get Inventin’ website in March last [...]
Snap Fitness Giving Away A Franchise
CNN Money: Participants in the contest — which ends Aug. 15 — will win a new Snap Fitness franchise — a windfall estimated at $250,000. The challenges associated with the business have done nothing to deter people from entering. Since the contest’s launch last month, nearly 1,000 people have entered by submitting 250-word pitches to [...]
If you’ve ever had to use caulking at one time, you’re probably familiar with how easily it dries up within the tube. Sean Dubé also noticed the problem, but he decided to create a solution. It is called SmartCap. By October, his invention will be in over 500 stores across Canada. SmartCap is a small, [...]
Niche: Party Planning and Decorating Supplies
As Kim Stoegbauer discovered, a strong passion is sometimes enough to help set the entrepreneurial spark. It was that spark that helped lead her from real estate to party planning and decorating, reports My Fox Phoenix. That was 2 1/2 years ago and now she’s built a thriving business that has caught the attention of [...]
Last In Entrepreneurship: South Carolina
In a recent raking of all the states, South Carolina took last place as a state for entrepreneurship and innovation. Economists at University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics developed the index to measure states’ business formation and innovation by combining five components: a state’s percentage growth and per capita growth [...]
Better Cloth Diapers For A Happier Baby
New parents have enough to worry about with a new baby, but what about all the baby products they are bombarded with? It can be confusing, and BetterClothDiapers.com helps parents sort through that mess. BetterClothDiapers.com offers parents and relatives a one stop shop for quality products, with some organic options. Based around the idea that [...]
What if you only needed a generator made up of magnets for electricity? That is an idea inventor Jim Moe has been considering with his own magnetic energy generator. He’s far from the first to create such a contraption. A quick Internet search finds dozens of entrepreneurs selling plans for magnetic generators promising to power [...]
Evan Savar has been inventing for as long as he can remember. At the age of 21, he has already found some success with a trophy picture stand, a talking gift wrap bow and a silicone flat-screen TV effect, reports Las Vegas Review-Journal. Inventions, he said, just come to him. Take his latest one — [...]
Making A Million With Alpaca Fur Clothing
If you live in the Northern part of the US, you’re probably very familiar with snow and the cold. People in these areas want to stay warm, and Mary Ann Weerts found a way to do it. She sells alpaca-blend clothing woven by artisans in Peru. Sold across the U.S. in gift shops and museums [...]
He Needed Custom T-Shirts, So He Started a Company
If going to college isn’t hard enough, have you tried running a business at the same time? Raymond Lei is one such young entrepreneur that is doing just that. For Raymond it all started with a t-shirt order. As he shopped around at different printers it soon became obvious that all of his options were [...]
No one wants to believe their children or grandchildren will get into their medicine. Unfortunately, it happens. Michael Rebando’s daughter was only two years old when she climbed up to where he kept his medicine, chewed the safety top off, and ate some of the pills. Thankfully she survived, but something else happened that day. [...]
The label may tell you how many days after opening the food will expire, but how do you keep track? People have tried every trick in the book to remember expiration dates. Some people write the date on the jar, some may keep a list on the fridge, and some like Pete Higgins just invent [...]
