Business Opportunities Weblog

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• Build-Your-Own Locket Design
• Niche Biz: Metrodome Roof Pieces
• Get Your Idea Made: Telebrands
• Stop Watching TV and Make $10,000 More Per Year
• Bad Business Ideas Are All Around Us
• The Treadmill Was Only Patented in 1985?
• Vacuum + Trash Can = Cuum
• Super Expensive Car Wash for Super Cars
• Scenic, South Dakota for Sale: $799k
• Job Destruction Isn’t Bad: It Makes Us Richer
• How to Sell an Invisible Pen
• Vending Machine With Healthy Snacks
• Steam Cleaning Trash Cans
• The 8 Biggest Mistakes I’ve Made

Build-Your-Own Locket Design Posted: 28 Jul 2011 04:15 AM PDT Young teens are usually spending time with friends or thinking of boys, but Isabella Weems was already running her own business. She is the proud owner of Origami Owl, a business that sells personalized lockets and charms. Her business began when she decided she wanted a white pickup truck like her friend had, reports The Arizona Republic. “I wanted one, too, but my mom said I had to earn the money,” Weems said. “I tried baby-sitting, and that didn’t work out.” But she saved $350 from her baby-sitting jobs, which her parents promised to match dollar for dollar. While brainstorming money-making ideas with her family, the idea of personalized lockets came up, and the name Origami Owl had a good ring to it, she said. With the savings, Weems bought 10 lockets, customizing and selling them at a neighborhood beauty salon and at in-home parties. She took her products to the annual Belief Boutique at Cornerstone Christian Church in Chandler in November and was amazed at the demand for her product. “That’s when we knew we had something special,” Weems said. With the money from her sales, Weems then leased a stall at the Chandler Fashion Center in December, where she sold out during the holiday season. The eldest of five children, Weems employs three people to help run the business. Heidi Nunnally, 40, has been Origami Owl stall manager since it opened in December. She listens to customers and helps them design the lockets that best tell their stories. “It is like the build-a-bear concept, and people just add the things that are important,” Nunnally said. Origami Owl lockets are sold at the store and online at Origamiowl.com. The lockets start from $12, and the charms are $4 each. Logo from Origami Owl

Niche Biz: Metrodome Roof Pieces Posted: 28 Jul 2011 04:00 AM PDT While most fans were still in shock over the roof of the Metrodome collapsing this past winter, Guy Nelson was preparing his next business venture. He was buying the broken roof, so he could sell pieces from it. His online venture is selling cut-out pieces of the teflon as memorabilia in the form of rectangles (8-by-10-inch or 3-by-4-inch), state outlines, pennants and bracelets. The cost: $10 to $35. A press release stated that more than 300 pieces were sold in the first 72 hours they were offered. "Much of the roof had to be destroyed by demolition due to safety and logistics, but a great portion of it was still salvaged," he was quoted in the release. "I just couldn't believe I got my hands on this material, it is pretty exciting to have a large piece of Twins and Vikings history and be able to share a piece of it with fans across the world now. This is a keepsake that doesn't come along that often." Photo from The Metrodome Roof

Get Your Idea Made: Telebrands Posted: 28 Jul 2011 03:30 AM PDT Often, an inventor with a limited budget may never see his or her invention go anywhere. However, if you have a little time, maybe you can grab the attention of Telebrands. Everyone knows the As Seen on TV logo that has graced many products (like the one above). Those same products have also made millions. Telebrands launches a minimum of five products per year, and each one is a hit. They can help you turn your invention into the next As Seen goldmine. Process: Submit your idea to InventorsDay@Telebrands.com. If it’s good enough, you’ll be invited to give a five-minute pitch at an Inventors Day, which is held in various cities every six to eight weeks. “It’s like a book deal,” Khubani says. “We’re the publisher, the inventor is the author. If we like your idea, we’ll contact you.” Royalties differ depending on patents, uniqueness and other variables. You keep the rights, but Telebrands licenses them until the contract expires. Products: Telebrands test-markets dozens of products–items that solve everyday problems, retail between $10 and $20 and have a “wow” or “aha” reaction–and whittles it down to the five best. That takes a few months, and then it can take up to a year to ramp up manufacturing. Photo by Tim Boyd

Stop Watching TV and Make $10,000 More Per Year Posted: 27 Jul 2011 08:52 PM PDT How much do you value your time? How much television do you watch per day? Multiple those two numbers together and then multiply that number by 365 and leave your answer in the comments. I got the idea from this.

Bad Business Ideas Are All Around Us Posted: 27 Jul 2011 08:05 PM PDT I asked, the other day on Google Plus: Have you seen any good business ideas in your local newspaper or in any of the sites you read today? A reader responded: No, but I was too busy at work to really do any reading. Which reminds me, I saw lots of bad business ideas when I was at work today. ;-) Isn’t that the truth?

The Treadmill Was Only Patented in 1985? Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:20 PM PDT Today, people patent esoteric things like 1 click checkouts and user interfaces, but it wasn’t that long ago that many items you use every day were patented. I just discovered that the inventor of the treadmill was granted a patent in 1985!

Vacuum + Trash Can = Cuum Posted: 27 Jul 2011 04:35 PM PDT The Cumm, from designers Jun-se Kim, Yonggu Do & Eunha Seo is a prototype design for a trash can on top of a vacuum cleaner. You just turn the device on and sweep dust and debris towards it. What do you think? Perfect for the kitchen?

Super Expensive Car Wash for Super Cars Posted: 27 Jul 2011 03:21 PM PDT Daily Mail: For most people washing your car involves a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and chamois leather. But for some drivers with top of the range sports cars that simple method just doesn’t cut it. Now though, those owners can treat their Ferrari, Lamorghinis and Aston Martins to ultimate all-star treatment – a [$16,421] ‘car spa’ which is the world’s most expensive car wash. The week-long treatment uses the latest in nano-technology with a ‘no-touch’ technique – where no bare human finger will be laid on the precious cars. The Dubai-based car wash, is called Monza Ultimate Detailing and Protection. (Price converted from British Pounds to US Dollars.)

Scenic, South Dakota for Sale: $799k Posted: 27 Jul 2011 03:07 PM PDT The entire town of Scenic, South Dakota is up for sale, and boy is it scenic! The property is posted on buyscenicsd.com, which offers video tours of various locations. Cow skulls adorn the sign for the Longhorn Saloon, which advertises tobacco, lunch and dancing — in that order. 46-Acres (approximately 12 acres in town-lots & 34 acres surrounding) U.S Post Office Land Lease…..Longhorn Fuel & Food Convenience Store, World Famous Longhorn Saloon, Very Large Dance Hall with basketball court, Large Museum with knotty pine interiors, Bunkhouse sleeps 8-10, 2 freestanding Retail Stores, Historic Train Depot, One Working Jail, One Abandoned Historic Jail, Many Out-Buildings, Residence Home, Residence Modular Home. Township of Scenic, SD Governing Boards: Volunteer Fire Department, Community Board, Township Board Departments: Scenic Water Department (Rural Water System) Fees: $15/mo Water for home, hydrant , store, hookup $ 6/mo Sewer for home, store, hookup (sewer is piped to a lagoon located on the north side of town) Utilities: Township Sewer & Water, Golden West (Electricity, Telephone & DSL) Unfortunately, the website is a bit overloaded right now with potential buyers, so I’m sure it’ll be off-the-market soon. In the meantime, you can watch this video report from CNN. More details about the town after the jump. The majority of platted lots and commercial buildings are owned by Longhorn Enterprises. The Township is platted for home lots and commercial lots. Approximately 8 families reside in the township, 12 lots are owned or occupied by homes or commercial buildings not owned by Longhorn Enterprises. The remaining platted home lots and commercial buildings (approximately 37-40) are owned by Longhorn Enterprises. A school is located in the NE corner of town and has been leased to a church. The are two other old and very old school buildings that have been abandoned….one on Main Street and the other is one block south of Main Street. The old abandoned original gas station was located on the south end of Main Street where the concrete columns still remain for the above ground tanks. There are seven or eight old abandoned homes still remaining in town. Located at the Junction of East Hwy 44 and Bombing Range Road. 21 Miles to Sharp's Corner. 50 Miles to Rapid City. 75 MILES TO THE STURGIS RALLY. 75 Miles to Mount Rushmore. 32 Miles to Interior. On the edge of the beautiful Badlands National Monument.

Job Destruction Isn’t Bad: It Makes Us Richer Posted: 27 Jul 2011 01:58 PM PDT In 1900 there were 100,000 horses in New York City. That many horses required a huge number of employees of a wide variety of industries to maintain, feed and clean up after them, in addition to any of the jobs created by the horse-power itself. With the rise of the automobile, the horses have all but left and with them probably tens of thousands of jobs. Do we mourn that? No, that’s progress. Walter Williams opines that all such job destruction makes us richer. In 1790, farmers were 90 percent, out of a population of nearly 3 million, of the U.S. labor force. By 1900, only about 41 percent of our labor force was employed in agriculture. By 2008, fewer than 3 percent of Americans were employed in agriculture. Through labor-saving technological advances and machinery, our farmers are the world’s most productive. As a result, Americans are better off. In 1970, the telecommunications industry employed 421,000 workers as switchboard operators, annually handling 9.8 billion long-distance calls. Today the telecommunications industry employs only 78,000 operators. That’s a tremendous 80 percent job loss. What happened? The answer: There have been spectacular labor-saving advances in telecommunications. Today more than 100 billion long-distance calls a year require only 78,000 switchboard operators. What’s more is the cost of making a long-distance call is a tiny fraction of what it was in 1970. Can we say these technological innovations made the nation worse off? Photo by jorgedbbt.

How to Sell an Invisible Pen Posted: 27 Jul 2011 01:14 PM PDT A new fad, when interviewing candidates for a potential job, is to ask them ridiculous questions in an effort to figure out how they think. For tough or oddball interview questions, it's not always about getting the right answers it's about how you tackle a challenging problem. The question for employers may be really about how fast you think on your feet. Shine recently posted twenty different questions that are supposedly used by various companies. You can read them here. A writer for The Morning News, recently took the challenge of answering all 20 of the questions. Most of his answers aren’t very good, and some are downright vulgar, but his answer to Proctor & Gamble’s request to “sell me an invisible pen” is spot on: Imagine that pen you loved. Remember? It was a great pen. Then that jerk in the office asked "Can I borrow that for a second?" and it was gone, never to be returned. You still see that jerk every day, but have you seen your pen? That need never happen again with the invisible pen. It's a pen only you can use, because you're the only one who knows it's there.

Vending Machine With Healthy Snacks Posted: 27 Jul 2011 12:54 PM PDT Tennessean: A Franklin mother found inspiration for her new business venture while begrudgingly purchasing a bag of Skittles. Christy Sykes found zero healthy options in a vending machine when she wanted to purchase a snack for her 3-year-old daughter at her son's soccer game. Sykes, a pharmaceutical saleswoman, decided to purchase a franchise of vending machines in Nashville and Franklin to give more moms and kids healthy options while on the go. "I just started to think there has to be a better option," she said. "I wanted to be able to grab something quick and convenient but also nutritious." Sykes owns the Fresh Healthy Vending machines at Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Showtime Sports Academy, Battle Ground Academy, the Brentwood, Franklin and Maryland Farms YMCAs, Let It Shine and Life Point Hospital. The machines offer a variety of 100 percent fruit juices, yogurts, fresh vegetables, pop chips (potatoes cooked without frying or oil) and other snacks, Sykes said. Photo remixed from salimfadhley.

Steam Cleaning Trash Cans Posted: 27 Jul 2011 12:42 PM PDT Steam & Clean, is a new business in Redmond, Washington that steam cleans trash cans, windows, driveways and holding tanks. The Seattle Times has more: Emily Wiewiorka, the company founder and president, said the business is going well and expanding as she finds new uses for her system. One company recently told her they had estimated it would cost them $200,000 to clean some oil tanks but she said Steam & Clean can do the job for much less, at $360 per hour. The business uses vehicles that look like garbage trucks. Rather than holding garbage, they hold 1,500 gallons of water, vacuums and filters. Trash containers are lifted into the truck and steam cleaned at 250 degrees Fahrenheit without chemicals or detergents. Wiewiorka said germs and bacteria are destroyed by the high temperature and the surfaces are left sterile. Wastewater from the process is filtered and cleaned in the truck, and then reused. The trucks can also handle small oil spills, window washing, flood waters, and cleaning tanks, barrels, driveways and walkways. Wiewiorka said brake dust, spilled oil and other pollutants can be sucked up by vacuums and cleaned inside the truck. Cleaning a trash can costs $3 per week per can. Windows cost $60 a month for a one-year contract, regardless of the size of the house. Steam & Clean charges by time.

The 8 Biggest Mistakes I’ve Made Posted: 27 Jul 2011 07:20 AM PDT The following is a guest post by Brian Hamilton, CEO of Sageworks, Inc. Running a business should earn you an honorary graduate or even doctoral degree given all you will learn. For those just starting out, here are the CliffNotes, the mistakes you should hear now and avoid. Hiring in advance of revenue. There is a common expression: "Don't count your money until it is in the bank." There is great wisdom in this. Many times in business, we receive contracts or the promise of revenue. However, there is a major difference between having revenue and almost having it. Until revenue actually hits the bank account, you don't have it, and you must overcome the tendency to be optimistic and hire too many people before the revenue is real. This one principle or mistake could be its own manifesto. Borrowing money when I did not really need it but when the bank was willing to lend it. Just because a bank is willing to lend you money does not mean you should accept it. The bank is in business to collect interest and not to optimize your financial performance. Sometimes these two goals meet somewhere near the middle, but it is not as often as you might think. It's not that bankers seek to take advantage of businesspeople; it's only that their objectives and yours are very different. In general, borrow as much as you need to grow your business. The problem with credit is not that there is too little available; it is that people get too much of it. Borrowing money adds a huge burden to your business, a stress that can often cascade into your personal life. Not paying payroll taxes on time. I have known few businesspeople who have completely avoided this mistake, but it always creates unnecessary anxiety. When you pay employees, you collect a portion of their money on behalf of the government. Essentially, you are a collection agent. This is a tremendous liability and responsibility for employers that did not exist years ago when employees had to deduct their own taxes and pay them to the government. Alas, these days are over. When you hire an employee, you are also agreeing to help them pay their personal taxes, a major responsibility. Here is how this problem crops up. The employer cuts payroll checks but does not immediately set-aside the payroll liability in an operating account that is separate from the account they use to pay other operating expenses. The funds are mingled, and the person running the business has an inflated view of his or her cash balance. It is not that the employer is being dishonest or intentionally withholding the tax revenue; they lose track of the liability. Later, employers try to play catch-up, but because there is almost never as much cash available as you would like in a privately-held company, the taxes accrue and problems start severe penalties and interest. One solution is to keep two, separate accounts: one for regular operating expenses and the other for payroll taxes. Another solution is to simply use a payroll service that will give the liability its due attention. Pricing too low. Unless you are Walmart or are trying to be (and have a real hope of achieving this), it is almost always better to sell fewer units at higher prices than to sell more units at lower prices. High prices protect your margins and also enhance your brand. Even 5-10 percent price increases can make a significant difference to the bottom line. I believe that, at any given time, 20-30 percent of businesses in a given market cannot possibly make a profit at their current prices—they are simply too low. In a way, these businesses have set themselves up unknowingly as nonprofit organizations. Conduct deep industry research on pricing, and then price at or near the market average—maybe even a little above it. When people start a business, they tend to price low to differentiate their offer. Instead, spend time and develop a real product or service differentiator so you can command higher prices. If you price low at the start and then later have to charge more as your operating costs grow (which they always do), you will offend and lose many of your early customers who think the increase is unfair. Price for decent margins, build and protect a real brand, and maintain your customers to build your franchise. Permitting accounts receivable. Unless there is a good reason, you should not offer credit terms to customers. When you offer credit, you are now a bank and a service or product provider rather than just a service or product provider. It is rare that businesses fail because of profitability (most entrepreneurs know they need revenues to exceed costs); more often businesses fail because they cannot collect receivables and manage cash. Offer credit only when you must do so, and many businesses don't need to. This goes against commonly accepted practices, but I have seen so many businesses fail due to poor cash flow management that I flinch every time I see smaller businesses offering credit. I realize that everyone reading this will think they need to offer credit to customers, but probably only 25 percent really need to. There is an old inventory management maxim: "Inventory kills." This is wrong; it should be: "Inventory hurts, but accounts receivable really kill." Counting on one major source of revenue. It is best to assume that, unless you are proactively building revenue, it is contracting. You should look at your revenue as if it were a portfolio; you do not want all or a majority of revenue coming from one or a few sources. Of course when you start out, you are often so busy serving your first few customers that it is difficult to build other accounts or business. But, with time, you should build alternative sources of revenue, so when major revenue streams die off (which they tend to), you are still building your overall business. Hiring too much overhead. People at companies bring in sales, build products, or serve customers. You can justify employees filling these roles. The real challenge is when you hire "overhead" people, who cost the company money but don't sell or produce anything directly. It is best to keep this cost as low as possible. Of course, the real magic is created by properly deploying overhead people because they can help you get your business to the next level. Not really listening: trying to be right. When I was younger, I read many books on entrepreneurship, and I tried to implement the lessons I learned from them—I really tried. However, I was not able to succeed as much as I wanted because I was not willing to listen and learn. I looked and acted as if I were listening, but, down deep, I was more interested in being right and proving people wrong. Now that I reflect on it, my real goal was not to build my business; it was to prove how smart I was (thought I was). I'd like to say that I overcame this mistake through some kind of personal transformation, but I really only learned to listen when I realized I would never attain much success until I was willing to listen to others. You need to surround yourself with people who can help you, and these people will/should be people who won't always agree with you. For this reason, all businesses, now matter the size, should have an outside Board of Directors or group to advise the entrepreneur. Brian Hamilton is the co-founder and CEO of Sageworks, a financial information company, and Inc. 500 honoree. Hamilton is an original co-developer of "FIND" (Financial Information into Narrative Data), Sageworks' core artificial intelligence technology which converts financial numbers into plain language.  FIND is the basis of the ProfitCents and Sageworks Analyst applications that are used by financial institutions and accounting firms throughout North America and the United Kingdom.  Brian Hamilton holds an MBA degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart University, where he graduated summa cum laude. Brian is a noted expert in finance who has been published and quoted in most major national media outlets. Photo remixed from opensourceway.

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