Business | Ideas, Strategy and Tips

Archive for July, 2009

After buying their first home, Debra Cohen and her husband faced the unenviable chore of finding reliable home improvement contractors. Fed up with blindly picking names from the Yellow Pages and waiting for contractors who didn’t show up, it occurred to Cohen that if she and her husband were having trouble finding contractors, other homeowners in their community must be facing a similar predicament. This bleak reality sparked the creation of a unique service that has since expanded into a profitable cottage industry across the U.S. and internationally.

After extensive conversations with lawyers, business consultants, contractors and insurance agents, Cohen, 38, started Hewlett, New York-based Home Remedies of NY Inc. from her home in February 1997. This stay-at-home mom used a $5,000 loan, a computer and a refurbished fax machine to launch her part-time business. Right away, the response from homeowners was tremendous, and after three months in business, she repaid her loan. Her gross earnings in the first year were almost $30,000.

Today, Home Remedies is a contractor referral service that matches home-owners with reliable home-repair workers. The appeal to customers is that the company takes on the time-consuming task of locating and screening qualified contractors, checking to make sure they’re adequately insured and licensed, and serving as a liaison between the contractor and the homeowner throughout the course of a job. Home Remedies provides a win-win situation for both parties: Services are provided free of charge to the homeowner, and contractors represented by Home Remedies only pay a commission for any work they secure.

At first, Cohen worked approximately 15 hours to 20 hours per week; she now works about 30 hours per week. Last year, sales for Home Remedies exceeded $100,000. Cohen earns additional income by selling manuals and packages on how to get started in the referral business.

Are you stuck for a money-making idea?

Have you been racking your brains out for a part time lucrative business venture that you can build on?

Then, these 10 brilliant business ideas could just be what you are looking for.

1. Produce Christmas cards which are printed on the front with, for example, “Happy Christmas from the Smith Family”. Or, instead of the name ‘Smith’, pick one of the dozens of other popular surnames. Sell packs of these cards by direct mail to people listed in telephone directories.

2. Establish a directory of products no longer made. This directory might include sections on toys, novelties and household goods. Design the directory for business people and inventors who want to know both what has been made before and what ideas might be revived and/or modified.

3. Make cotton gloves especially designed for coin collectors. The gloves prevent the grease and moisture from fingers getting onto coins. Package the gloves and sell them from ads in coin collecting magazines or distribute to shops which sell collectible coins.

4. Begin a business which rents out large and expensive astronomical telescopes to householders who want to develop their interest in astronomy. Publicise your service at the local astronomy society and use local advertising to attract clients.

5. Start a venture which promotes the art and hobby of window painting. On coloured acetate paper have outlines printed for painting pictures by numbers. These acetate sheets are stuck to one side of a window and anyone can paint a picture on the other side of the glass.

6. Make an income by selling lucky charms at car boot sales or door-to-door. Sell, for example: Rabbits feet, horseshoes and four-leaf clovers. Start by tracking down trade sources of lucky charms.

7. Decorate everyday objects with pressed flowers. Add an inlaid design of pressed flowers to trays, coasters, jewellery boxes, paperweights, picture frames, wall-hangings, desk sets and table tops.

8. Make money from renting out expensive children’s toys. The toys you rent out will include remote controlled models and computerised games. Use a little van to deliver the toys to customers. Paint in toy town colour scheme. Call the van a toy mobile or similar suitable name.

9. Bring out a regular publication for ambitious amateur musicians. This publication might include ads from : 1) Employers seeking musicians. 2) Retailers selling equipment accessories and supplies. 3) People selling used equipment. 4) Musicians seeking to make contact with other musicians. Also publish interesting editorials and letters.

10. Design and manufacture kits for making models with cocktail sticks, for example: model churches, castles, windmills, houses, etc. Buy the cocktail sticks in their unpacked state from the manufacturer. Sell your kits by mail order from ads in craft magazines or distribute to model shops.

The world economy is under-going a time of uncertainties. There is no such thing as job security anymore nowadays. It gets even tougher for those reaching 40 and having school-going kids and many bills to pay.

With the knowledge of some feasible business ideas that can be operated from home in your spare time, give you a back-up plan in case you lose your job, it’s like having an insurance against career disaster.

When you work online and start your own home Internet business, you are doing a very simple yet important thing ‘ taking charge of your financial future. It takes courage to do so, for few people can tolerate the uncertainty that comes with the absence of a regular salary. However, if you are serious about fulfilling your financial goals, you definitely have to start a venture of your own. Otherwise you will be tied down to a job for the rest of your life.

One idea on how to work at home is to start a home business providing a service. If you like the Internet freelancing opportunities are everywhere. Here are a few things you could do.

Build websites. There are millions of small businesses all over the world who does not have a website and do not know who to contact to get one built. You could go to Vistaprint.com and get 250 free business cards printed. An at home business that can help others with their various jobs can be very lucrative. One nice thing about this type of work is it never ending and most small businesses will need their site updated and maintained all of the time.

Write blog posts. With a new blog being started every second the number of blogs who need someone to help keep them up to date is never ending. If you like to research and write this may be just the work at home business ideas to get you started. All you need is a computer and Internet access to get started.

Websites like TJobs.If someone’s idea of easy home business ideas means ideas that allow them to make money without a lot of effort, then for them there are no easy home business ideas. Many of these offer benefits along with top pay to telecommute and work at home business ideas. Most will require you to have a quiet place to work and maybe a separate phone line.

Hobbies offer a great way to work at home and get paid for it. Hobbies like working on cars, catering, gardening, baking, walking dogs and more could be the perfect work at home business ideas . If you are a licensed professional then you can offer your services as a doctor, designer or lawyer and work right out of your home.

As you can see the trend now is to start your home based business using the Internet. Even basic skills can be rewarded if you will show up and work. Coming up with an idea that appeals to you is the key. If you are going to work at home business ideas everyday you may as well enjoy it.

Pursuing a hobby is a great source of relaxation and entertainment. It helps you unwind and refresh yourself. But did you know that some of the business ideas in this world have taken birth from such hobbies that common people pursue? Yes, every hobby has an excellent business opportunity hidden in it which can turn a hobby into a great money making machine. In this article we will look at some of the wonderful business ideas hidden in your hobby.

Travel – Travelling is one of the most common hobbies that people from different corners of the world indulge into. This also makes wonderful business ideas for those who want to tap the potential this industry offers. You can start up your own travel agency or you can write travel guides for various online or print journals and periodicals. You can try different options that would contribute to travelling and make good money out of it.

Food – This world loves to eat. And if you are also a great lover of different cuisines around the world or any particular kind of cuisine, then you can express your love for food in different ways. You can have your own restaurant or food joint where you can prepare lovely dishes and serve them to your clients. Or if a restaurant is not your cup of tea, then you can also be a food journalist and write about different cuisines and get them published in online journals or in other media.

Beauty – Yet another passion that is rampant in the whole world. Everybody wants to look good. And you can help them look that and earn from it too. The innumerous beauty parlours and salons that have open up in different shopping complexes and at homes are business ideas that have sprouted from a hobby. With a fair knowledge on various aspects of looking good, you too can began your venture.

Every person now seems to see the Internet as the Business Holy Grail… ha… ha… ha!

What we find when we look deeper is greed… greed… greed. Sorry, no exclamation. If you believe different then you are naive.

The internet first gave us all great hope that a new dawn was beginning. That here was a great place to be, where everyone could be equal. Where every person could communicate honestly with each other. Where everyone could set their stall to making money any way they desired. That certainly holds true for the crooks and scammers. Sorry, but again, no exclamation.

We get bombarded with emails from what are called opt in lists. We see something we like, so we sign up with our email to get a regular sample of a supposedly new product or information that will change our lives for the better. You must be joking!

Our email address then gets sent about the internet to various joint venture lists, known as JV lists. And then we are called the simpleton list. The easy touch list and many other names.

What is happening now, and always has happened with the internet, reminds me of the old wild west of America, during the Gold Rush days. The old pan handlers had this inner desire to strike gold, much the same now with many people having a desire to win the lottery. Or start a home business online with their great idea. Every person wants to obtain great wealth quickly.

Those old westerners went on a great walkabout, searching here, searching there, searching everywhere for the business holy grail of quick, easy money. They were mostly hard working honest men, desperate to better themselves. And that is what made them easy pray to the vultures of greed. Just like now on the internet.

However, where there is money there is always ingenuity and greed. Some people realised that the gold prospectors would need equipment to search for gold. Some realised that tools would be needed, so they started a tool business and made a lot of money. Some realised that food would be needed, so they started a food business and made a lot of money.

But, the person who probably made the most money was the person who invented the trousers, called jeans. Well… except for the odd miner who struck gold. The people who made great wealth quickly and gave the rest of the gold prospectors hope for the future.

Is that now the same with the internet? Do we see, or more likely read about, some person gaining great wealth because they sold their internet business… and then believe we can do likewise? So how do we start to make money online? That is the burning question we would all like to know. Because what will probably happen is that an internet scammer will get us first.

The greatest desire with most modern people is probably to start their own home business. A business working from home that will give them their own financial independence. A home business where they can make money selling internet goods. However, where do we find such a home business idea that can generate great wealth for us? Or even just a regular above average business income.

First, we need to find something to sell. Next, we need to get lots and lots of internet visitors to our website. Oops, I should have probably mentioned the website first. How can we sell goods online without a website? But, then again, how can we sell something if we do not get visitors to our website? How can we sell something if we do not have something to sell on our internet home business? It is all starting to get rather confusing now. What came first… the egg or the chicken? Who cares. We must keep focused on our business idea. What business idea? I have not found one yet!

The above paragraph probably applies to the vast majority of people who have a great desire to break away from their mundane life and start their own business. However, what most people need to realise now is that internet selling does not only apply to the future. It applies to the here and now. If you want to be successful, then you need to learn to sell online. You need to keep focused and hopefully avoid the internet scammers.

Once you have an idea for your home business and have set it up, you then need to know how to get visitors or traffic to your website. The search engine Google seems to have a monopoly in that area. There are other search engines, like Yahoo and MSN, but for now, Google is king.

But for how long, I wonder? Nothing lasts for ever. Most large businesses start to lose a direction from their original roots with their thirst for expansion and over-expand. That usually makes a business ripe for takeover. A rising business will eventually reach a pinnacle. It can either stay there or meet another rising business on its way down.

What makes Google a lot of money is their ingenious Adwords system. You agree to pay Google a certain amount of money for certain types of keywords connected to your business. Then, when people search Google using your keyword a small ad box will appear, describing your product. If they click on the ad box your website will appear, where you can hopefully sell your product. You will also pay Google the agreed price for people clicking on your ad.

Would it not be fantastic if we could find an idea where we could obtain free ads from Google? A business idea that brings us thousands of visitors to our website from Google for free. Such an idea would save us thousands on ads. It could also make us extremely wealthy.

In 1999 a New York physician did come up with such an idea. Although he was a medical practitioner, he always had a dream of having his own home business. He wanted to work from home selling products instead of having the daily stress of attending to public health problems.

The business idea he brought to the internet originated in the offline business world. It was kept secret for many years by a select few business people, to ensure they made millions from it. What those business people did and still do, was use a simple method to obtain free ads in top class magazines. Ads that would normally have cost their business thousands were obtained free! And 100% legal.

By 2007 this New York physician had amassed a personal fortune of $75million with his free Google ads idea. But he always kept quiet about his free ads system.

Now retired from business, he decided to release his idea in e-book form. You can read how his business idea became a reality by downloading his ebook. It contains 124 pages with step-by-step clear instructions on how to obtain free Google ads.

This is one home business idea that turned into a multimillion dollar empire. The real deal.