This website is not like all of the others. Since 2001, we've posted 15452 different business opportunities and ideas, so you're sure to find something here to inspire you!
Parents of recent college grads are concerned about how recent their children will find a job in this economy. Pamela Slim on Escape From Cubicle Nation has some very interesting thoughts on graduating in this economy that I couldn’t agree with more.
The first thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a perfect job. It does not exist, there will always be some sort of disadvantage in any job you go into. So stop looking for the perfect job, you wont find it out there.
You are always self-employed, no matter your tax designation.
The job market today is radically different than that of your parent’s generation. No job is guaranteed, and no company can promise stability. So the best way to create long-term income security is to manage your career at all times as if you were self-employed.
Big Idea Group announced a new product line idea hunt. Arthur Blank is seeking innovative concepts for either their existing lines or new but complementary lines. Royalty potential for winning concepts is tremendous.
Innovation Criteria for New Product Lines
* Can be produced Dec.-July
* Fit ABCO’s manufacturing and distribution capabilities
* Innovative and unique
* Defensible and extendable
* Offer at least average gross margin
* Provide revenues of at least $5 million per year
* Be easy and inexpensive to roll out
ABCO’s Current Products
Loyalty and frequency cards, security cards, membership cards, T&E cards, phone cards, e-cards, signs, rulers, key tags, point of purchase displays, calendars, luggage tags, custom die-cut shapes.
Possible New Categories
Other products that might fit ABCO include home goods, kids’ products, labels, magnetic sheet products, mats, office supplies, outdoor/garden items (e.g., plant tags), packaging, posters, promotional items, school items, sheet plastic products. Other categories that fit our criteria are welcome.
Deadline is July 29, 2009. Click here for entry forms and complete guidelines.
Businesses are jumping on twitter right and left and that’s probably a good thing. But, businesses are also jumping on thinking that’s all you need to do. Create a twitter account, create a bunch of followers, and start tweeting out this week’s lunch special.
However, it is not that simple because you can’t just simply create all of your followers. You have to earn them, as explained on Open Forum. You will need to have a reputation for providing great content for your readers. People want to follow someone worth their time; someone who will provide them with some insights, ideas and resources.
Try giving on Twitter as much as you’re getting. Remember to help others. Provide them with some support, answer their questions and talk them through something they are concerned about.
With nearly $18 million in annual revenue and 31 employees, ShoppersChoice.com, a Baton Rouge company that operates a handful of e-commerce sites, is substantial — but it’s no Wal-Mart.
Yet for just $2,500 to $3,500 a week, commercials for BBQGuys.com, its online store for grills, run alongside ads for Wal-Mart on the Food Network and a few other channels.
Mike Hackley, founder and CEO of ShoppersChoice.com, launched his low-budget campaign using Google TV Ads, which lets businesses buy advertising time on national cable channels and the satellite service Dish Network. Google TV Ads essentially works like AdWords, except that instead of bidding on search terms, you bid on airtime.
After hiring a local production company to produce a 30-second spot for $2,500, Hackley began planning his TV strategy. Internal research had shown that most BBQGuys.com customers are 35 to 65 years old and make more than $80,000 a year.
Hackley entered that information on the Google TV Ads website, and, using data from Nielsen and other sources, the site suggested shows, times, and channels that matched the target audience — including programs on the Golf Channel, ESPN, and HGTV. Using a keyword search, Hackley also found shows about grilling.
For instance, a search for barbecue grill comes up with programs like Food Network’s Boy Meets Grill as well as an episode of Family Guy on TBS, in which the world’s dictators attend a barbecue.
San Francisco SBA District Director Mark Quinn and Linda Russell, owner of Mugshots School Photography, will host a press conference June 3 at One California Bank in Oakland to highlight how small businesses are taking advantage of the changes SBA made to its loan programs as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The SBA provisions in the Recovery Act were designed not only to help small businesses keep the doors open, but also to help them grow and create jobs. The Recovery Act programs are now reaching the small businesses and beginning to have an impact, helping them retain and create tens of thousands of jobs nationwide.
Average weekly SBA loan volume is increasing and more lenders are responding by making SBA-backed loans to small businesses.
Russell received a $300,000 loan from Oakland’s One California Bank to market her company, expand its online presence, and potentially franchise it in other parts of the country. Russell, who was homeless with two young children 20 years ago and living in a women’s shelter, started Mugshots Photography in 1993. Her first job involved photographing 200 students for one school in Marin County. Today, she contracts with several photographers and shoots over 17,000 students a year in public and private schools throughout the Bay Area. The Recovery Act saved Russell about $8,100 in fees to reinvest in her company.
When Marie Zinno was a new mom she taught herself how to sew.
At the time, the Jackson Township resident couldn’t have possibly imagined she was laying the foundation for a successful at-home business.
But that’s exactly what she did, one stitch, one project, at a time.
“I started to sew when my son was a baby,” Zinno, 42, explained. “He was a good napper, and I didn’t want to clean all day and I didn’t want to watch soap operas, so I taught myself how to sew. It kind of just mushroomed from there.”
Zinno’s business, Sew Creative Embroidery, was born out of those early days. She is quick to point out that she never fancied herself a sewer, especially in high school economics.
“I am not very good at following directions,” she noted, with a smile. “I’m more visual. So, (when I was sewing) I would look at the pattern and then say to myself ‘I will figure it out on my own.’ That has caused a lot of mistakes, but you learn from your mistakes and you never do it again. That’s what’s so wonderful about embroidery. There are not a whole lot of directions, so I can just embellish and have fun as I want.”
I had an informative conversation with Rob Gainer and Patti Tucker from DECKStraordinaire this morning. They build custom decks in Michigan. Since the winters there are long, and it’s difficult to build a deck when you can’t use a when the ground is frozen, they used their winter months to document their system and package it all together into a business opportunity. I’ll profile their bizop more fully later, but take a look at some of their decks. Even if you’re not interested in building decks for a living, you have to marvel at some of their custom designs.
If you’ve been holding out for just one more reason to list your small business in Google’s Local Business Center, you’ve got it. Google is now offering a full dashboard of information to small businesses who are proactive enough to verify their company’s listing.
Most small businesses often have a problem trying to figure out who their followers are online, where they are located and how they found the business online. Now starting this month small businesses who register with Google will now have access to their new dashboard feature, as stated on SmallBizTrends.
Google will require that the business register their business as well as verify their listing information, this way the business information is more complete and therefore more accessible to the searchers online.
The dashboards offered by Google will offer a short lesson in Google analytics without stressing them out, providing understanding to the owners on what is going on in their site, where their followers are coming from and more.
The IPO market has all but disappeared, and lofty merger and acquisition deals are unthinkable. So entrepreneurs, as well as their employees and investors, are left with few opportunities for unloading their stock.
In April of this year SecondMarket launched a new site called Private Company Marketplace where businesses get to set their own terms on the stock that they own themselves and are trying to unload. Inc.com reported that this new site reaches over 3,000 investors and buyers to match up the sale.
Xavier talked about building the company that he founded in 2002 that has grown to become one of the world’s largest online used bookstores. The company’s HQ is in Atlanta, but the heart of the operation is in Mishawaka, Indiana, where the warehouse is located. They receive shipments of 200,000 books every week, and have an estimated 2M titles at any given moment.
Yunsuk Im is translating and posting some of our articles in Korean on her blog.
I asked him about her plans:
My name is Yunsuk Im. I have been a reader of your site for a while.
My blog introduces interesting articles, business ideas and success stories etc. Things that are related to making money and businesses. Things that can be inspirational to people who want to get out of 9-5 jobs and achieve financial independence like me. Since not many Koreans are exposed to the articles and stories from USA, I thought my blog could help people and myself.
It’s not all bad news for the auto industry. The repair shops are booming with older vehicles needing work done to keep them on the road.
At Exhaust Pro the owner, Eddie Lynch, says business is steady, if not on the rise.
Lynch says the average vehicle coming into the garage is 8 to 12 years old.
He says people used to get rid of a car with 100,000 miles. Now, he does work on cars with 150 to 200,000 miles on a regular basis.
Older vehicles on Kentucky roads are also being noticed by the Fayette County Clerk. The office, which is normally busy transferring car titles, is not as busy as in years past.
County Clerk Don Blevins, says there were 10 percent more new cars on the road last year than there are today.
Entrepreneur are born, not made. MBAs are just the opposite.
This old adage explains one of the most commonly-held differences between entrepreneurs and those with an MBA. While entrepreneurs typically have a drive and ambition that may also be present in those with an MBA, they usually are willing to take risks in order to succeed that stands them apart from others, and this risk-taking character trait is typically not something that can be taught.
There is still money to be made despite the economic climate according to industry research firm IBISWorld. The company identified the leading start-up opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors to potentially make a profit in 2009 and beyond.
When working online with the public, being nice and professional is very important, and sometimes slightly difficult as the tone of “typing” is different from that of “talking” in person and can often times be read the wrong way. Below are a handful of tips on being professional and nice online located on SmallBizTechnology.
First things first, keep all personal topics such as family, religion, sex and politics out of your online work. Always remember to imagine what a potential employer or prospect would think about you when you write about those topics.
Always remember to tell the truth! Don’t exaggerate what your work related accomplishments are, don’t make it sound like you are the inventor of the light bulb when all you really do is sell discounted light bulbs.
Fourth, decide on what your “friending” policy is going to be and be consistent, at least for inside each social site that you frequent. For example, I am most stringent with the people that want to network with me on LinkedIn, and only accept connections with people that I have actually met face to face, or who have been long-time email correspondents.
The recession has spawned a new generation of self-employed microbusiness entrepreneurs.
But they are not typically the innovators that many hope will lift the country out of choppy waters. Rather, they are what economists call “forced entrepreneurs” — like Staci Byers.
The Hartland, Conn., mother of eight — with four children still at home — lost her job as a trucker six months ago. Her husband, also a trucker, lost his job at the same time.
“You’re working one day,” said Byers, 50, “and, all of a sudden, you’re unemployed by no fault of your own.”
Byers is throwing all of her time and money into making and selling herbal medicine and teas — a hobby she had taken up over the years.
They are the face of this new, yet familiar, generation of microbusinesses. The housecleaners. The handymen. The home-based retailers. People who have fallen on hard times and see no other way of keeping afloat than to create jobs for themselves.
This rise has Jim DeBetta’s phone ringing off the hook. The Marietta, Ga., business consultant, who coaches start-up business owners, said he has been so swamped with calls from people who have lost their jobs that he hired an assistant to handle the flow.
“In a way, there are a lot of good things that’ll come from people looking to take control of their own destiny,” he said. “That kick in the butt is just what they needed.”
Need a door to door salesman? The NY Times suggests that you hire a Mormon:
Six days a week, in fair weather and foul, two-dozen door-to-door salesmen, all of whom live clustered together in an apartment complex in this suburb west of Chicago, pile into S.U.V.’s and cars and head into the big city, bent on sales of home security systems.
And on Sunday, their one day off, they drive together to the nearest house of worship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The salesmen are mostly former Mormon missionaries from Utah who cut their teeth — and learned their people-skill chops — cold-calling for their faith. In Chicago and in its suburbs where their employer, Pinnacle Security of Orem, Utah, has shipped them for the summer sales season, they are doing much the same thing, but as a job.
“It’s missionary work turned into a business,” said Cameron Treu, 30, who served his mission in Chile and was recruited into D2D (that is door-to-door in sales lingo) by another former missionary.
Earlier in the week we talked about the possibility of mandated health coverage for all employers, the thought of this I’m sure sends most employers into a frenzy wondering how they will be able to afford this proposal. However, a recent study posted on New York Times reported that the Obama administration is looking into signing new bills that could end up saving the small business community tens of billions of dollars even if that mandate goes through.
It is reported that more than half of small businesses who employe 9 or fewer people do not offer health coverage to those employees, it is simply to expensive. Think of it as buying in bulk, the more you buy the more you save, in health coverage the more employees you ensure the less you pay on your end.
It is not that small businesses don’t want to provide the coverage, they do, they just can not afford it due to the high costs of health coverage these days. So in order to correct this problem the administration is attempting to come up with two ways small businesses can save on coverage.
One way provides tax write offs to help lower the cost burden of health coverage. And the other way is the administration containing the costs of health coverage to begin with. No one wants to pay into the system when it is broken, meaning the costs continue to inflate to the point of not being able to afford them.
Over all, the study estimates that the proposals under debate could save small businesses anywhere from $546 billion to $855 billion over the next decade.
Twitter applications are tools that help you efficiently get the most out of your Twitter activity. They can save you time and effort while streamlining your marketing and social networking efforts.
New apps are popping up constantly.
Tweetr – This applications allows you to share files up to 10MB via Twitter. Tweetr will upload your file and covert it to a short URL. One other feature of Tweetr is that you can use your webcam to share images with your followers.
Twellow – In short, a yellow pages for Twitter users. This directory service enables you to easily search, find and follow people that interest you most. Registration is free.
Twitalyzer – Use this application to evaluate your impact and success of your Twitter activity. This tool measures your clout, generosity, influence, velocity and signal to noise ratios.
Twitter Job Search – Looking for work? This app searches and sorts available job positions discussed on Twitter. You can browse the jobs by category or use their helpful map of jobs tweeted within the last 72 hours.
Tweetmeme – This site tracks the most popular links found on Twitter. Search the business category for the most recent news and trends for your industry.
For 26 more apps, go here. An additional 27 twitter apps are here.
According to Wikipedia, and Len Barry who coined the term, “relationship marketing is a form of marketing which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on point-of-sale transactions.”
Contrary to the title “relationship marketing” is not about the relationships themselves, it is about the marketing. The relationship part of this is based on your customers buying habits and their want to continue buying from you. As suggested on Coppyblogger it is not about making a deep connection with your customer to ensure that they keep buying from you repeatedly, it is about listening to your customer long enough to know what their likes and dislikes are in order for you to sell to them correctly.
Now just because you do not know the names of your customers relatives and their life stories does not mean that your customer is not going to buy a vacuum from you today. Customers buy products everyday that are not communicated to them, I buy cheese every week, that doesn’t mean someone had a long and deep conversation with me that made me buy the cheese.
Relationship Marketing is simply about marketing in general. Knowing your customers well enough to be able to sell to them, knowing them well enough and being nice enough to ensure that they will continue to shop at your company rather than someone else’s.
Parking garages are notorious for being grim and grey affairs, unadorned by any significant form of decoration. That’s due largely to fire code regulations, but a new, patented technology now allows large-scale ads to be created on the walls of such garages, essentially transforming them into immersive, branded environments.
Carspaze has created a new advertising platform for parking-garage walls centered on the ability to digitally print photo-quality images onto specially developed fire retardant materials.
Developed three years ago, the process has undergone technical trials and improvements in Germany over the past two years.
Now, focusing on garages near retail centers, Carspaze creates branded zones 10 to 20 parking spaces wide bearing advertising on the walls in front of parked cars. Only sustainable materials are used in the production of such advertising, including recycled panels and frames, wheel stops made from crushed rubber tires and lighting units made from recycled fiberglass and plastic.
In addition to creating a more cheerful, safer-feeling parking place, the ads have been found both to give consumers a way to remember where they parked their cars and—no doubt as a direct result—to dramatically increase top-of-mind awareness for the brands advertised and boost purchase likelihood.
Garage owners, meanwhile, receive revenue for each installation.
Tim Berry recently had a few thoughts on hiring new people for your company during its growing days. Obviously as your company grows bigger you will be in need of some new employees. Many business owners however often have reservations on hiring people and often times don’t even know where to start or look for them.
Many times owners reservations are due to them wondering what kind of an impact the new hire will have on their company. Because lets face it, if you have say only 5 employees than hiring one more has a much larger impact than if you have 100 employees and are hiring one more.
Sometimes you run into somebody who you want involved in the company, and you adjust the job description. For example, one person was hired to do tech support, but ended up as documentation manager.
You can most definitely build your company’s employees by shedding some of YOUR job functions. Think about how many different job functions you have, and then make a list of the ones that you can shed off of your load and hire someone new to take over for you. In the end your company will not only run smoother, but you will gain back a large amount of your own time in the process.
What if your newest income source lay right at your feet? Panting, say, and begging for a treat? Fido, Snowball, or even Ted the Tarantula could be a potential new income source. Here are five ways people make money off their pets.
1. Model Them
Animal models rake in fees of up to $200/hour, with dogs grossing the most pay. Cats, birds, lizards, and other pets trail behind in terms of demand, but the opportunity still exists.
2. Milk Them
If you happen to have goats or cows in your backyard, milking is an obvious, if not lucrative, way to make money. However, if you’re tight on space, other critters’ fluids can actually pay quite well. Take Chuck Kristensen, who has about 50,000 spiders living in plastic cups inside his basement. Kristensen runs Spider Pharm, one of the world’s biggest spider venom producers.
3. Have Them Play
You never know–your Sparky could be the next Air Bud. Or Lassie, Benji, Morris, Spuds MacKenzie, or, heck, even the Taco Bell dog. Once you build your pet’s resume with a list of awards, certifications and acting classes, the sky’s the limit.
4. Show Them
If you’re passionate about your breed, and willing to deal with big overhead and time commitment, showing could pay off.
5. Sell Their Goods
Sell milk or organic eggs to your neighbors or local farmer’s market; sell wool to a guild or fiber co-op, or make your own cheese, yogurt, or yarn to sell.
New York loves local businesswoman, Donna Bliss. Not only has Bliss enjoyed one of her most successful years, but had the honor of being a special guest on WOR 710 New York, http://www.wor710.com/pages/3600293 the top talk radio show in the country, boasting such greats as Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs. WOR has continually made history with its award-winning broadcasts and Bliss was fortunate to be interviewed by Joan Hamburg, often referred to as the “First Lady of Talk Radio.” The importance of the segment can best be realized when considering the other guests on the show that day included Marie Osmond and Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser.
Bliss loves being a part of the magic of New York. As Bliss states, “New York is the shopping capital of the world. Customers have so many options at their fingertips – Malls, high end stores, department stores, discount outlet warehouses and the garment district–you absolutely must provide your customers with the very best shopping experience or they will simply go elsewhere.” That’s why she takes such pride in her company, My Miracle Baby, http://www.mymiraclebaby.com. With a safety record of 100% five years in a row, and record sales this year, it proves businesses can succeed, no matter what happens in the economy.
In addition to her recent radio segment, Bliss also received a great deal of praise in an article that appeared in the New York Daily News outlining her success as a leading mompreneur juggling family and business. But probably most noteworthy is the prestigious Long Island ‘Fortune 52′ Award she received, an honor bestowed on the top businesses in New York.
The article continues to share how My Miracle Baby is also more than an online baby-clothing store stating how Bliss wanted to connect with other mothers who have gone through similar experiences of infertility. Bliss encourages clients to tell stories of their miracle babies, join in parenting discussion groups, and network with other families. The website now hosts over 100 verified personal stories and encourages more to submit.
Felicity Chapman had a newborn, a design business in its infancy and a problem.
They did not get along.
After the birth of her first daughter, Chapman decided she would only work part-time, but found it all but impossible to juggle both her clients and childcare. Chapman knew she needed to find some flexible childcare that would allow her to accommodate her clients’ needs, without shortchanging her daughter.
“I didn’t want to leave her with just anyone and I couldn’t tell my clients that I can only come from Monday to Wednesday from 9-12, because that’s the only time when I have childcare,” she said, echoing the sentiment of many working mothers. “I thought there has got to be a better solution.”
The seed that began as a line in Chapman’s notepad has grown into Cubes & Crayons, a hybrid business offering moms a place where they can literally take their kids to work.
One part office space provider and one part daycare, Chapman believes her Silicon Valley-based business is the answer for working moms, or dads, who are finding it impossible to get the job done from home and look after their children at the same time.
Chapman has attempted to create a space where kids can play on one side and parents can get down to business on the other. The daycare side accepts children ages 6 weeks to 7 years and has multiple packages to accommodate parents who only need an hour here and there to those who require between 10-60 hours of childcare a month.
photo credit: chispita_666
The SBA provisions in the Recovery Act were designed not only to help small businesses keep the doors open, but also to help them grow and create jobs. The Recovery Act programs are now reaching the small businesses and beginning to have an impact, helping them retain and create tens of thousands of jobs nationwide.
At the time, the Jackson Township resident couldn’t have possibly imagined she was laying the foundation for a successful at-home business.
the top talk radio show in the country, boasting such greats as Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs. WOR has continually made history with its award-winning broadcasts and Bliss was fortunate to be interviewed by Joan Hamburg, often referred to as the “First Lady of Talk Radio.” The importance of the segment can best be realized when considering the other guests on the show that day included Marie Osmond and Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser.
After the birth of her first daughter, Chapman decided she would only work part-time, but found it all but impossible to juggle both her clients and childcare. Chapman knew she needed to find some flexible childcare that would allow her to accommodate her clients’ needs, without shortchanging her daughter.
