Business Opportunities Weblog

March 23, 2012 by Dane Carlson | Administrivia

Dear Readers,

I need your help.

It is impossible for me to read every newspaper and news site in the world. And yet, my goal is find the most interesting business ideas and opportunities and present them to you everyday.

Can you do something for me?

If you find something interesting, even if it’s something that you’re going to try yourself, can you send it to me?

You can either include a short note with your link, or not. Either way, be sure to send a link to something that you’re doing and I’ll mention you and your business if I use your post.

Send your contributions to dane@danecarlson.com.

Thanks,

Dane

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March 23, 2012 by Dane Carlson | Ideas

WSJ:

Long a cultural icon, the vending machine is fading from the American landscape.

The numbers are bleak:

Traditional vending machines disappeared from 134,000 locations between 2007 and 2010, according to the latest available data from Vending Times, an industry publication. Sales from vending machines sank more than 11%, to $42.2 billion in the same period.

Amid the changes, a new group of entrepreneurs is trying to build a new vending industry, outfitting machines with high-tech features, and filling them with live bait, prescription drugs, electronics and even art.

Photo from VCI, Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa who sell live bait vending machines.

1 Comment
Tags: Vending

March 23, 2012 by Dane Carlson | News

Do you want to start a liquor store in a big way? If you want to get into the business in a really big way, the Washington State Liquor Control Board has put all 167 of their state owned liquor stores up for auction. According to the state, the 167 stores do $888 million in annual sales with a 14 percent profit on net sales.

Bids may be placed on one or multiple stores. There will also be an option for a bidder to make a single offer on the entire store network. This would secure the exclusive rights associated with all 167 state store locations. This simultaneous auction approach accomplishes multiple objectives. It lends itself to small entrepreneurs as well as larger entities that may have interest in this unique business opportunity. Additionally, it optimizes the opportunity to obtain maximum reasonable value for the assets being sold. Finally, the simultaneous approach allows for this to be completed within the tight timelines that were required by law.

You’re not actually bidding on the physical stores, though, so you’ll need to find a place to them.

A successful bidder owns the exclusive rights to apply for a spirit retail license associated with the location of the former state liquor store in its current footprint. This is a special right that allows those who are separately licensed to sell liquor at a retail location that is less than 10,000 ft2. By law, this is a special exception that has been granted on a very limited basis. In addition, the owner of the rights may establish a liquor retail business at the original state liquor store location without challenge by the local jurisdiction. This right may be sold or transferred at anytime.

The current high bid, as of this posting for all 167 locations is $550,100,00. Do I hear $550,200,000? If one store is more your speed, the current high bid for store number one, in Seattle, is $36,700.

0 Comments
Tags: liquor, Retail, washington

March 23, 2012 by Dane Carlson | Ideas

NY Post:

A plan to put vending machines – selling energy drinks, snack bars, breath mints, gum and even pain relievers – inside yellow cabs won rave reviews yesterday at a city-sponsored contest for new business ideas.

“New Yorkers demand convenience. They want to be as effective with their time as possible,” said Brian Shimmerlik, an NYU Stern School of Business student who incorporated the company TaxiTreats in January.

Mounted next to the Taxi TV screens facing the back seat, the mini vending machines would be serving an all-too-captive audience.

“Who hasn’t flown into New York, grabbed a taxi, and had a terrible headache? Who hasn’t been late for a meeting, immediately regretted skipping breakfast, and suffered for the rest of the day? Who hasn’t left a meal and thought, ‘Wow, I’m self-conscious about my breath?’ ” Shimmerlik said.

Shimmerlik selected the products he plans to sell based on the most popular items at convenience stores.

Photo by SVLuma/ShutterStock.

1 Comment
Tags: cabs, nyc, Vending

March 23, 2012 by Dane Carlson | History

• 1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
• 1857 – Elisha Otis’s first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
• 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
• 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
• 1962 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace initiative.
• 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

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