Small Business Ideas: 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Doing City Tours With Buses | Business Ideas

This type of business can be made in big cities or in cities that are very nice. Also it could be made in cities that you have many things to see or that have many landmarks. I was thinking of buses that are double decked without roof.

Tourists can make pictures from the bus while the bus is moving and could admire the view. While the bus is moving tourists could be presented with a description of each tourist objective or landmark.

This type of business has a couple of inconvenience. The city that you will want to make this business in should have a light car traffic so the busses could drive easily and tourists would not wait in traffic jams. And a second problem would be suspended phone wires, if they are too low, they could bother your clients. And finally the third problem could be the gas price, but as we saw lately the gas price degreased significantly

You could start the business with a single bus, then buying others if the business is growing nicely. I would suggest that you sign different partnerships with travel agencies so the customers will buy the city tour, provided by your company.

The cost of single bus starts from 150.000 $ and could go up to 500.000 $ for an used one. For a new one, the cost could reach up to 1.000.000 $, but I suggest buying a new bus if you are going to start this business in a very big city.

To advertise for your new business you could put flyers in hotels and travel agencies, building up a web site and buy outdoor advertising.

You could also make promotions like: “For groups bigger than 25 people, you get 10 % discount”

Source of photo : http://z.about.com/d/studenttravel/1/0/G/C/original_tour_troc.jpg

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Luxury perfume boutique | Business Ideas

This business idea came when I have realized that an important client of mine did not have a place to buy a good perfume. Of course there are the generalist stores that sell perfumes, but I am talking about high – end perfumes.

If your country has a high economic growth and the population likes luxury (I mean that if they have the money to buy luxury items) I would suggest that you start a perfume boutique, a luxury perfume boutique.

A high –end perfume could cost from 300 $ to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the brand and on the edition (limited edition are more expensive).

The investment in such a boutique could start from 90.000 $ (70.000 euro) and could go up to 260.000 $ (200.000 euro) depending on the location, the design of the boutique and how many square meters it has. Your turnover will be around 200.000 – 500.000 in your first year. Don’t worry about the profit; it will come very quick because the profit margin is very good in luxury commerce.

source of photo : www.clubparfumerie.co.uk

Thursday, December 25, 2008

A new business opportunity, free wireless network

I guess that everyone knows what is a wireless network, so the business opportunity that I have found is very simple. Give free internet wireless access for users. I know that you will ask me how would you get your money back, it`s very simple, by selling ad space.

Let’s say that I use your network and get online using a browser. When I open the browser for 10 or 15 seconds it displays me ads or commercials, and then after that I can navigate for free. From the user it doesn`t imply any cost and you will get your profits by selling ad space. It`s a win-win situation.

You will be paid more for displaying ads if you have a precise target. Let’s say that you will install a network in a university campus. In this case your users will be mainly students. Many companies want to have young people as their clients so their ads will be better targeted and you can charge them more money.

Good luck!!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Finance your business - Problem or Challenge?

"I don`t have money to start my own business", I hear that very often. People all over the world use those words when they want to express their fear of entering in business and becoming a successful entrepreneur. They say it like have everything except money, they have the knowledge, the experience, they have studied the market, they have the rare business sense, but no money.

You need money to start your business? of course you need. A lot? That depends on the profile of your future business, you have to calculate for yourself all the costs that are involved. You may have a surprise to discover that the costs are not as high as you thought and, in fact are relatively small. Your business seems to have a bright future. Why does everyone think that a business can only be started with tens of thousand of $. You are right to say that, if you look at a couple of successful businesses you will see that they didn`t started with a small amount of money.

They have luxurious cars, lots of employees, big office buildings, you see their names everywhere, and you say to yourself that you don`t stand a chance. You are forgetting a crucial aspect regarding those businesses. They didn`t appear over night, they have a history of 10 -20 years, and when they started they didn`t have luxurious cars, big office buildings, they started just like you. They were happy if they didn`t go bankrupt, and their growth was small but steady. If we take a look at global companies like Gillette or Nike we will see that they started with a small amount of money. If they could do it, why can`t you?

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Putting company logos on cars | Business Ideas

You drive your car in the city, when you go to work or simply because you have some business that you have to resolve, why not put your company logo on your car. I think that putting your company logo, telephone number and address is one of the cheapest ways to make your company known. The car inscription business is a good business to start if your country has registered a good economical growth, and many people decided to start their own business.

There are two ways to make custom logos and inscriptions:

1. With cutter plotter, this king of technology is kind of old, but many people still use it. It is harder because you have to cut manually the letters and the logos.

2. With a big printer, that could print large pieces so they could be applied directly to the car.

Using the printer is much easier to make complicated designs.

In many countries you will find families that run this kind of business in their spare time because it doesn’t need much money to start.

The Investment

The initial investment will be around 1500 euro (about 2200 $). With these money you will have to buy a cutter plotter, a used one costs about 500 euro (700$) a new one costs 2500 euro (3500$), a computer, a printer, a scanner, a phone and a drawing licensed software (like Corel Draw - 300 euro (420$)).

Office Space and employees

You don’t have need many employees, 1-2 are sufficient in the beginning (to keep the costs as low as possible and the profits high, you could be the only employee). For running your business you will need a small room in witch to put al the equipment. Also you do not need an office or a garage because the work will be done at the client’s garage.

To make a design, you will need about 30 minutes for a simple one and it could reach 3 hours for a much more complicated one.

Profits

Don’t expect to become a millionaire if you start this business, at least not in the first 5 years :), but the profits are quite good, every square meter of inscription costs about 15 - 20 euro (20 -30$) depending on the design. From that amount half of it goes into your pocket, that’s about 10 euro (15 $).

Monday, December 15, 2008

Rent luxury items | Business Ideas

Everyone wants to be a millionaire but just few succeed. For those who love luxury but they don`t afford buying expensive object, we come with a solution. A business idea that will be a success. Rent luxury items.

Of course the investment will be pretty high, but I will expect you to recover your money quickly because the market wants this king of products. Let’s say that you are going to a party and you want to have a luxury purse but you only will wear it then and you don`t have the money to spend on an expensive accessory that you will use just once or twice. No problem, you can rent a purse to go to the event, it will cost you 100 times less than if you have bought the purse.

You can expand in many domains like rent jewelry, rent cars (Ferrari, Bentley. Maseratti, Rolls Royce), rent dresses for special events, rent watches.

Good luck!!!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Money making adrenaline rush - Zorb | Business Ideas

Zorb is a new way to pump your adrenaline. The Zorb was invented in New Zeeland in 1995 and from then it’s been used all over the world on slopes (it doesn’t matter if it is winter or summer), in any season it will bring you nice money.

This concept is very simple, a sphere, made from transparent PVC, that has a compartment in the middle where one human can stay. People don’t get injured because they are protected by a membrane of about 70 cm. The Zorb rolls over a mountain sloop giving the person inside a thrilling ride (it reaches about 50 km / h).

The rollover is chaotic, any bump may change the trajectory of the sphere, you can go up, down and left in a couple of seconds. For the business to be a success you have to find a mountain slope, with the length of about 50-100 m, and with not so many big rocks. Once you buy a Zorb the company will give you a complete training on how to use one of this "toys".

You will make considerable profits, and make a big splash in the world of extreme sports enthusiasts in your country.

source of photo : www.hakatours.com

Monday, December 8, 2008

Rent a gadget | Business Ideas

Have you ever needed a Gps but you didn’t buy one because you had to use it just once and then probably will have sat in its case, never used again?

Well, this business idea comes in the help of people who needs electronic items to use for a short period of time. The service is very simple, like we have the “Rent a Car” companies; we could have the “Rent a Gadget” concept.

You could rent a GPS, you could rent portable TV’s, portable DVD players, notebooks, and you could practically rent any type of gadget.

Your investment in the company will be very little. Let’s make a short calculation: A GPS gadget costs about 200 $, if you will rent it with 5 $ a day, in 40 days you will get your money back.

You could advertise with flyers and with a web site, you could also advertise in campuses and universities.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Graffiti removal, a profitable niche | Business Ideas

I bet you have seen a lot of walls painted with graffiti, some of them are very nice, but other is ruining the buildings aspect. Some of the times you can see shops that have graffiti on their windows, and that is not so good for the image of the shop. In some times clients may not enter your shop because of the graffiti.

That problem created a niche, graffiti removal. It is a business that you can start with a very small amount of money, under 8000 euro (10.000 $). All you need is a car that carries your equipment, chemical solutions that are environment friendly, 2 workers, and good promotion. You don’t have to start with new equipment, you con start with used equipment, and then extend your business.

Graffiti can be removed with chemical solutions, with water jet, or in extreme cases, sand blasting. You can remove graffiti from surfaces like: brick, glass, and metal, wood. As your clients you can have the city council with witch you can have an agreement to protect the local landmarks, statues and historical buildings. Other clients can be small business entrepreneurs who want their shops to look good.

You can advertise in outdoor media, and with flyers to keep the low cost of the project

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Employees in the crisis, hiring opportunity

With the crisis that we are dealing with many companies that have very competent people are on the brinks of bankruptcy. That is why is a good moment for you to hire excellent and very competent people with minimum costs.

Also is a very good time to try to devote your time and resources to your most valuable employees and try to make your best (if you are a manager) to not let go your most reliable employees. Hard times pass with devoted employees.

If you are a manager it’s a good time to listen to any ideas that your employees may have. You will never know where you can discover a talent. You can implement their ideas and make your business more efficient, they can have ideas on how to reduce the costs or how to be more productive.

Some companies tent to leave all regarding to the company’s management, don’t make this mistake, try to involve all your employees in this process, you will only discover new and good ideas.

Aquatic club for children | Business Ideas

A business like this will need serious investments from you. You don’t have to build you own swimming pool, you could rent one from the swimming federation in your country. You will have to send your employees to training so they could get certified. For the club you will need an about 150 - 200 sq feet.

The market is formed from people who want their child to learn how to swim in an interactive environment, and the children will have maximum 6 years. You make the club according to your future clients, and if you want older children you will have to make the design according to them.

Your clients should pay a fee of about 200 euro (290$) per month, but the fee may rise if the clients will chose to have more sessions. For a club with a surface of about 200 sq feet, you could have about 150 children. Your annual turnover will be around 400.000 euro / year. (570.000$)

I will suggest you should look for an indoor swimming pool so you could have a business not only in the summer but in the winter as well. You will need about 5-6 trainers that will work with the children.

This is a good business if your hobby is swimming or your city or country has a deficit of swimming pools (if you decide to build the swimming pool). Your profits will be around 100.000 euro (142.000$) per year. Good luck!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Bio products - healthier food | Business Ideas

Either you want to produce bio products or just to be the distributor; I think that this is a great business opportunity. Since people have access to all sorts of information (TV, Newspapers, and internet) they think twice before buying a product that is full of additives. So, even though these products will be a little bit more expensive than the normal ones, they will be healthier. You can buy all kind of bio products, from fruits, to bread, to sweets.

The difference between bio and natural in those bio products are made exclusively natural. That means that the plants used have grown on a farm that didn`t use chemical fertilizer and when the plants were processed they didn’t` used additives. You could start this type of business with just a couple of thousand of dollars, if you want to be just a distributer or a small producer, and it could go up to 100 – 200.000 dollars if you want to be a big producer.

I wish you good luck!!!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Make money from dirty toys | Business Ideas

Have you noticed that after a while you kids toys become all dirty. You don`t know how to clean them, and you can`t buy another toy because your child is emotionally attached to it. Usually a need becomes a good business idea.

Have you noticed that after a while you kids toys become all dirty. You don`t know how to clean them, and you can`t buy another toy because your child is emotionally attached to it. Usually a need becomes a good business idea.

That is why I come with a new service: cleaning kid’s toys. Either the toys come from household or from companies. You can set up a monthly fee for the companies and a price per toy for the households.

When I say companies a mean: kindergartens, medical cabinets for kids, kid stores, stomatology cabinets. They pay a monthly fee and your employees will get the toys and clean them back so other kids can enjoy them.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Rent a bike | Business Ideas

With all the migration to the big cities, people are finding much harder to get from point A to point B without running late. The car is no longer an option because of the traffic congestions and the roads are not getting bigger. So if you are a tourist or just being late and the subway or the bus doesn`t help you get a bike. It`s a healthy and fast way to get around in a city.

This could be a very simple business. Let’s take for example Berlin. In the major intersections, there is a place from where you can rent bikes. The bikes are looked with a special locking mechanism that only opens after you pay a fee. The fee costs in sending a text message to the company and the company send you back a code that will unlock the bike. The price is 3, 5 euro (5 $) for an hour, is not much if you think how much easier you can go in traffic.

You return the bike, not necessarily from where you picked it up, but from anyplace you could find a company’s “rent a bike” center. The company has between 500 – 1500 clients daily, and the length of a rental is between 50 – 80 minutes.

So, what are you waiting for?

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Free info kiosks for tourists | Business Ideas

A new business made for tourists, which will help them find landmarks more easily. If you live in a city that is regularly visited by tourists, you can make an arrangement with the local authorities to allow you to place info kiosks.

The concept is very simple; thru the touch-screen technology the tourists may find information about different places to visit, landmarks, restaurants, hotels, bars, events, concerts, the weather, buses and train schedule. The system shows contact information for these places, prices, a map of how to get there and even the buses you will have to take to make your journey easier.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Words, a powerful tool

Words are not just a way of communicating, there are instruments that can help you close a deal, or not. Good words used good times can get you a closing deal, but when you negotiate with someone, a wrong words can change the whole negotiation in a bad way.

That is why I have tried to make up a list of words that you should avoid when you are making a sell:

1. “Yes, but….” – You have to avoid this phrase because it produces a negative connotation in the buyers mind. Let’s say that you are trying to sell him an expensive TV set. The buyer will say that is has the same characteristics with a cheaper model. You CAN`T say “Yes. But it has a different start button” If you say this, than the buyer will understand that you agree with him that is expensive and don`t worth to spend money on it.

2. “We have a team of experts” - When a customer asks you something about the product and you don`t know the answer, don`t say that you have a team of experts that will contact him in a couple of days and explain everything to him. In 90% of the cases the customer doesn`t return to hear the experts explications.
3. “To be honest with you” – Bad expression used by many sales agents. When you talk to a client and in the middle of the dialog say “To be honest with you, I would …..”, that is practically saying that have lied to him until now. Until now you haven’t been honest, but now you are.

4. “I will try” – “I have tried, but it wasn`t possible” - This expression doesn`t bring much confidence to your customers. Have you ever heard a surgeon say “I will try to make the operation”? He inspires a lot of confidence in the eye of the relatives, doesn`t he?

5. “I am sorry” – This is a phrase that that is very used by sellers. Don`t use it. Try a different approach if you have made a mistake, like: “It`s a very unpleasant situation, let’s see what we can do to fix it”.

Automatic bike wash | Business Ideas

You could say that people would wash their bikes at home. I am not so sure of that. In our days people prefer to not get their hands dirty in any way, and prefer to do it as quickly as possible.

Bike wash, can bring you revenue of over 20.000 euro (27.000 $) per year. You could have this business as a secondary job or as a secondary business, that would fill your pockets with about 1500 (2000$) euro per month.

The system is automatic and works independent, like a vending machine, people put 3 euro (5 $) in a slot and then the system washes the bike. If you live in a city that has a lot of bikes, this could be a good business, around 20-30 people would use your bike wash. The system need just 30 minutes of maintenance a week and you will need to fill up the system with detergent once every 400 washes.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A sports gym for children | Business Ideas

A think this is a great business idea for parents who want their children to exercise, but not necessarily in a competitive way. You will need to hire specialized trainer for kids so they would not do wrong exercises. To find clients, you can advertise in kindergartens and schools, and you should not forget word of mouth, that could be very helpful.

You can combine the gym service, with after school service. Children can do their homework, let’s say 2 hours and exercise 30 minutes.

In this times when children prefer junk food, and not healthy food, I think that a gym would do well children, and parents will be happy.

source of photo :www.my-gym.com

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A new business opportunity - Dating services for animals

Many people buy different animals and they don`t think on what responsibility this brings them, and what trouble they to put up to in order to mate them. If you have an animal you know how it is. When you wanted to find a partner for your animal, you couldn`t find one. I am sure that you have tried at your local vet and your friend and neighbrow, but no luck.

Basically it is a relatively simple business idea. You could create a web site or a local agency, where people who want to mate their animals could find their animals “soul mate”. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a low cost business that could bring you decent profits with minimum effort.

For each owner you make a sheet with the animal’s data, and then when a customer comes you have already a database. That database should contain the animal type, female or male, age, the dog owner’s address, the price he is asking. You could advertise in specialized magazines, in pet shops, in vetenerian cabinets.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Diet restaurant - Healty business | Business Ideas

At the moment, all around the world, people have weight problems, due to junk food, or simply because they don’t exercise any more, they don’t walk to work, they don’t take walk in the park. They all day sit at a desk, drive, watch TV and eat. Obesity is now a disease affecting millions of people all around the world. I have read an article about healthy fast foods; why not make a diet restaurant?? This restaurants target will be not only people who have weight problems, but people who have hart disease and different other illnesses and need to get on a diet.

Didn’t you feel strange when you went to a restaurant and you ordered stake and some of your friends aren’t allowed stake. This kind of business will need a substantial amount of money probably 100.000 - 500.000 depending on the location, employees, size and quality. It is basically a restaurant, so you have to run it like one; the only difference is the menu, specially made by a nutritionist.

This menu should has to have two parts, for people who wants to lose weight and for people who are not allowed to eat certain dishes. I think this kind of business will be a success and there will be plenty of customers. So, good luck!!!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

4 Golden rules to respect when you make a commercial

I have tried to point out some of the mistakes that some people tend to do when they are trying to make their first advertisement for their small business.

1. Don’t use you face – Don’t use your picture to promote the business, we know that you are a very important person, but let de advertising agency to find a model.

2. Don’t use pets - try to concentrate on the advantages that your product brings to the customer, don’t concentrate on what kind of dog appears in your commercial, Lets say that you are advertising in roof tiles, you want to use a pet for what? They are nice, but they don sell roof tiles (if you know what I mean)

3. Don’t try to copy other, and especially your competitors. Don’t make similar ads. The customer would not distinguish you from your competitors unless you come up with something new and innovative.

4. Don’t put your ad everywhere; you will spend your money for nothing. Try to understand that not everyone is interesting in your product, so instead of throwing money away, try to advertise in places where your future customers are. Let’s continue with the example of roof tiles. For that kind of product you should advertise in DIY stores or specialized magazines.

Chocolate, a delicious business | Business Ideas

Chocolate will always sell, because it`s too good to not eat it. Besides, it`s a medicine and can do good to your health. That is if we are talking about quality chocolate, not the one that is sold in retail chain stores that contains a lot of additives.

The chocolate that has a high percentage of additives in its composition has a low price and a low quality, but our advantage will be quality. The business that I propose is that to sell quality chocolate. We will sell chocolate that is made from traditional recipes in counties like Belgium, France and Switzerland . The only disadvantage of this business is that the chocolate must be transported in optimum conditions regarding temperature and that the chocolate must be consumed in 20 days (because of the natural ingredients, after 20 days the sweet taste becomes sour).

An investment in such a boutique will be around 50.000 $ and it could reach 100.000 $ depending on the suppliers, location and decorations. The profit margin for such products will be around 20-30 %.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Exotic animal pet-shop | Business Ideas

Today I want to propose you a niche business that is gaining new customers every day. I am talking about exotic animals (tarantulas, snakes, iguanas).

My business idea is that you make an exotic pet shop and not only to sell animals and food, but to make a mini hotel for owners to leave their animal while they go out of town, to sell medicine (if the animal gets sick) and to offer specialize help and consultation from a doctor if the animal is sick.

To make such a business you will need a couple more permits that the regular pet-shop. I am talking about permits that refer to safety in general, because you are dealing with some dangerous animals.

I wish you good luck!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A low-cost selling strategy

Telemarketing was a very good strategy to sell products from big and small companies as well. But this was 15 years ago. Even thought there are not as effective as they used to be telemarketing agents can bring you nice profits. The phone bills will be a small amount to pay when you will have high profits.

I will give some advices regarding telemarketing strategies and methods:

1) Don`t try to sell products over 1000 $, they will be practically impossible to sell, try products under 200 $

2) Try to simple products that the costumer could understand the description over the phone, complex products are not likely to be sold

3) Using telemarketing you can study the market and the trend, you can anticipate the trend and come up with new products that will satisfy your customers

4) Telemarketing will not work if it is your only product for your marketing campaign, try combining it with other marketing techniques

Monday, October 27, 2008

Costume rentals | Business Ideas

Has anyone wished to be Superman or Batman, Snow white or a ballerina when they were kids? Now they can by dressing up. This business idea is a niche business idea, that in some countries other that U.S. or UK is unexploited.

This type of business would not need a big investment from you. For starters if you don’t have a lot of money to invest, you could do a website from where you can rent your costumes. When the business is starting to go well, you can rent a spate to place the shop.

Halloween in becoming a global celebration and everyone wants to rent costumes and have some fun.

For not depending only on the month of October (Halloween) you can rent costumes to multinational companies or to local companies that have costume parties, or parties with themes. They make a lot of parties across the year. Private parties or masquerades can also bring you nice profits. You can also rent tuxedos or evening dresses for special occasions.

Garden landscaping | Business Ideas

A small business idea that can get you high profits since the first month. A business like this cam be started with just 1000 euro (1500 $). The hard part in this business is that you find your first client, because, after that, he will recommend you to other people. Word of mouth is great in this business

Garden landscaping is a great business to start if you live in an area that has a very active real – estate market, with lots of homes. You don’t have to buy, at first, a lot of equipment, buy just the necessary, and if you need a special type of equipment, just rent it.

You can start with just a couple of workers, and then after you get more orders you can hire more, part –time. It will be great if you can make a deal with a real-estate developer in the area to recommend you to their clients, I’m sure that it will boost up your business.

We will buy your groceries for you | Business Ideas

This business idea addresses to entrepreneurs that want to enter the niche of busy people. I have discovered that people are so busy that they have no time for buying their groceries.

So, they make a list of what they want to buy, and send you the list by email or by SMS, and you will do the shopping for them, of course for certain fee. You will deliver their groceries at home, when they are available, with the cash recite.

The best way to make your service known is by word of mouth.

Just think of how easy it is for you to earn money. If you have 10 clients in one day, you make just one trip to the supermarket, and problem solved. It will take you maximum 2 hours to buy everything and another 2 hours in the evening to deliver the goods.

source of photo: www.insidesocal.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Towing company | Business Ideas

I know that this isn’t the most interesting business idea that I presented so far but it is a profitable one. This kind of business is very good to start if your country has a good economic growth and the registration of cars is growing year by year. To that I must add that if your country has bad roads this is a plus :), (I thought I would never hear myself say that).

To start such a business you won’t need much money, but the profitability will depend on your capability to make the company known. That means a web site, flyers, word of mouth, ads in car services, partnerships with car services, or why not make an agreement with the local police (they recommend you to car owners that suffered an accident and in return you tow their police cars for free if they have problems).

To keep the costs to a minimum you can start the business by using second hand cars and platforms (in the future you can buy new ones). A second hand vehicle costs around 15.000 euro (19.000 $) and the second hand platform about 2000 - 5000 euro (2800 - 7000$).

You have to be very careful when you put a car on the platform, especially if it is new, so you don’t scrape the paint. Usually to avoid such situations you will have to make an agreement with a local insurance company.

The prices are usually between 0.50 - 1 euro / km (0.7 - 1.4$ / km). The profits are pretty good if you manage to transport about 30 cars a month. Also you can make profits by transporting boats or other machines that need special care. You can sell ad space on the car, there are insurance companies or services that would like to buy add on your car.

But unfortunately this business has some weak points - price of gas and the congestion in the big cities.

source of photo: www.ahtowing.com

Is it good or not to enter on a competitive market?

A few days ago a friend of mine said that he wanted to bring on the market a new product, that in other countries was a success, but on our market it hasn`t been sold before. He was so excited, that I was a little bit of sad when I had to ask him the next question: “Did you think why that product is not yet on our market?” It’s a very thought decision that you will have to make.

Every situation has ups and downs.

Let’s take for the first example the situation when your company enters a market that is very competitive. You will need many resources, quality products, good prices and a good marketing strategy to success. But because that are so many companies in that segment of the market it means that those services or product have a high demand in the market, and that is very good.

In the second example, when you decide to bring a new product or a new service on the market you will have to put yourself the question “Why does this product is not on the market?” Maybe some other people found out that there was no demand, it didn`t bring high profits, the necessary investment was too big. On the other side if you come out on the market with a new product that is a hit, you will make money very quickly and profits will be very good as well.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

5 mistakes that managers frequently do

1. They don’t have well defined purposes – As a manager you will always have to have clear objectives. If you, a manager, don’t have a purpose in the company, how would you expect your employees to have one?

2. You are not organized - If you are not organized, you will lose important documents, you will lose client data and won’t find what you need in time

3. You are too conservative - Try to think out of the box, try to bring innovation in the company.

4. You don’t assume responsibility for your mistakes - When things are not going as you wanted to, it’s easier to blame someone else for your mistakes, but a true lieder always takes responsibility for his actions.

5. You don’t know how to assign jobs – You have to be efficient and assign the right jobs to the right people that would do the their work in as little time as possible.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Sending cards, a profitable business | Business Ideas

The business idea concept is a very simple one, you send cards from people who are to busy to do it themselves. Let’s say business people, that are always very busy and don’t find time to send a card to a business partner. Your company will come in help, and send cards from them.

Practically you don’t need any money to start this type of business, ok, you need some, to register the company, but that is it, you can work from homeTo offer a complete service you can write a nice greeting for them, make a beautiful signature and use a very special envelope. But be careful and not send the same greeting more than once, you never know how business people can meet and discuss about a beautiful greeting card that they received from your client

As business people keep getting busier, a service like this can come in handy; after all, a nice business card can make a business relation stronger.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Painted chairs, a new business opportunity

This could be an interesting business idea if you think that you could start it with a small amount of money and doesn’t need much effort to make it work. In Greece this type of chairs are sold with about 50 euro (70$), but they could reach 150 euro (220$) depending on the model and the type of wood that it is being used.

The initial investment will be around 3000 euro (4300$), money with witch you will have to buy special wood paint, brushes, wood and a wood cutting machine. The design doesn’t have to be complicated, but it’s a good thing if it has to have live colours.

People who buy this type of chairs are people with medium income, who have kids, or just want something colourful in their home. You can give them away as gifts for your friends and family. Maybe you could sell the chairs to a kinder garden and make cartoon designs to it. To keep the costs as low as possible, you don’t need a classic shop to sell your chairs; you could make an online shop, and sell the chairs all over the world.

To make the chairs popular you don’t have to invest large sums of money, you could make a web site, send companies e-mails and give flyers on the street. Also you could hire Art students to make their own designs and split the profits, even if it a small business you have lots of possibilities in selling them.

With all that said, I wish you good luck.

source of photo : www.tripcart.typepad.com

Friday, October 10, 2008

5 ways to take your business to the next level

Until now you have tried to make your business profitable with steady growth rate. Now when you have passed the first stage in business and have made a successful business is time to expand and take it to the next level. Here are some pointers that could guide you with your expansion:

Expand with another location – First of all make sure that you can financially support a new location. Don’t rush into renting one that is cheaper; find a location that matches your business needs.

You can invest into new domains – Domains that have a connection with your current business or domains that are completely new. For this you have to do a lot of market research.

You can target other markets – Make new products that are destined to other markets, and match consumer’s needs. In this way you can increase rapidly your revenues. But be careful with the market research, it has to be correct.

Franchise your business – In this way you can increase you brands awareness with minimal costs. Be careful, so those who buy your license keep your high standards.

Buy a business - If you want do diversify your portfolio, you can buy a business. In this way you have a client database, already established. The hard part will be to merge the two companies together.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

What do you do with a product that is not selling?

You spend a lot of money and time in the research of a new product and when you get it out on the market, it doesn`t sell as much as you waned, what do you do? Well, you have two options:

1. You change something : design, price
2. You get it out of the market – in the world 30 % of new products are taken out of markets within the first year.

I would suggest a combination: get the product out of the market, is much more cheaper and doesn`t involve as much risks, and then when you revise your marketing strategy and position the product better, with small modifications you release the product again. This strategy is called: “turnaround strategy”, it is believed that a brand restyling is cheaper than launching a new product.

The product must have something new, to attract more clients and to satisfy new needs, people won’t buy a product that has old features. But be careful you could launch a much more innovative product that the market is demanding, you could be ahead of your time, and that is not good either.

Every product has a life cycle, from the day he is launch till the day it is no longer produced. Usually engineers and designers begin work on a new product with a couple of years before launching. In the car industry they start working on a new project before the latest model is launched.

So try to stay in front of your competition, but not in front of your customers.

Monday, October 6, 2008

On call car paint shop | Business Ideas

I know that you are angry when you see that your car has been scratched in the parking lot. A little scratch can make your car lock badly and you will want to repaint the part that has been scratched. But when you go to a paint shop, and see how muck trouble you have to put up to repaint a little scratch, you give up and leave it like it is.

I give you a business idea that comes for this problem; it’s an opportunity for business.

The paint shop comes to you. For little scratches, you can call a company, and they will come and paint your car at your home, or office or right there in the parking lot with a spray, a brush or an aerograph, depending on the scratch. They could make the car color on site, so there are no discrepancies between colors. It is easier, cheaper and doesn’t take for ever to fix it. In 30 minutes the scratch is history.

I think that many people will become clients of yours, because you will save them time and money.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

10 ways to save your business from bankruptcy - Part 2

This is a continuation of my post 10 ways to save your business from bankruptcy

6. Don`t ignore your competitors mistakes - usually in business publication you can only read about successful entrepreneurs and successful businesses, nobody writes about bankrupt businesses because that kind of business doesn`t sell the paper. Try to get in touch with business owners that got bankrupt and ask their advice, I know it is hard to do that but try it; it will help you a lot.

7. Having lots of clients – I know that sound normal, but think of those companies that have exclusive contract with just one client. In the beginning they will think that is going to be easy dealing with just one client, especially if it is a long term contract. But what if your “big” client decides to end the contract because you are not doing your job right? What would you do then?

8. Always get the experts opinion – Most times business people avoid asking business advices from certified companies, because they say it is a waste of money. But trust me a good certified opinion may save you a lot of money, even after you pay the experts fee.

9. Keep in touch with the latest technologies that go around your business – you will lose many clients and most important your competitors will go in front of you if you use the same old products or services.

10. Be careful when you launch new products – if you launch on the market new products that need a lot of recourses from your company make sure that you have studied that market very well and taking in consideration the risks. If the product is not a success your company may have lots of financial problems.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

How to sell

Try not to sell the product, try to sell the experience, the feeling. The item is just a pretext; you sell the experience to your client. If you are a Bentley dealer, you don`t sell a car, you sell the sensation of luxury. Let`s take another example: People who get sophisticated phones, but they have nothing to do with all those features, they just want to seem important and busy. You don` buy a Rolex because it`s a very good watch, you buy one because you want to show the whole world that you are rich.

You should be asking yourself two questions before you sell something:

1) What am I selling?
2) Why would anyone buy my product?

The great psychologist Abraham Maslow made a pyramid of 5 needs that people should be satisfied with.

1. Physiological needs – food , water
2. Security needs – a job, medical insurance
3. Social needs – friend, co-workers
4. Ego needs – respect, responsibility
5. Self accomplished needs – achieving in life

For a sell to take place a certain need from the Maslow pyramid should be satisfied, and before you make you offer it is very important to understand what kind of need motivates the client to buy.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sudden problems in a company

They are very rare the cases when a company gets suddenly in a whole lot of trouble. Usually the sudden crash of some companies is not made by a problem, it is made by lots of smaller problems that managers should see, and take care, like:

- Staff fluctuation – employees work for your company only short periods of time
- Work related expenses rises but your cash-flow doesn`t
- Credit lines are always taken to a maximum and paying them is always done in the last moment
- Similar products appear on the market
- Your business only depends by one or two clients
- You argue with your partners more often than usual, regarding the direction of the company
- You don`t bring anything new

- Your clients pay you late

So, you should expect pretty hard times if some of the elements above are translated into your business. Good luck!!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

10 ways to save your business from bankruptcy - Part 1

A friend of mine, that wants to start his first business, asked me the other day what are the most important things to watch out in order to avoid bankruptcy within the first year. So I came out with 10 factors you should watch out when you start your own business.

1. Watch out about the small loses you have in your company - Over 50% of the companies discover that their balance sheet is not so good as they hoped because of loses that relate with their activity, like: employees that you don`t need or unused space and equipment.

2. Lack of interest for human resources - American scientists discover that the management is so busy to maintain the profitability of the company and they neglect the human resource department. A manager should always take care of his employees, if they are unhappy they wont work as well and the team relations will disappear.

3. Building your business with your family - Don`t get me wrong, it is good to have a family business, but watch out if you hire a family member that is no so good trained as an other candidate for the position, it will drag down your business. You should forget about feelings when you discuss business.

4. Keep your files in order - If you don`t keep them in order you can have problems with the IRS, and you may scare your future clients when they see you have lost their order.

5. Costs - Don`t forget about costs. For a successful business you should always keep your costs as lower as possible. You may find out that by reducing costs, your business may become more profitable.

A restaurant that allows dogs | Business Ideas

Just think of how easy it would be for you, to go out in the evening and get your dog with you. Clients are encouraged to come with their dogs. In the restaurant the dog will have his own special menu, with a variety of dog foods. The dog will be served in an elegant bowl.

Or if you don’t want to make a restaurant only for dog owners, you can just arrange a part of the restaurant, so you can accept clients that come with their dogs.

I think that this could be a good niche business idea, that targets dog owners. In this way the dog can socialize and the owner as well.

source of photo : www.superdog.com

Sunday, September 21, 2008

What does your staff want?

To have a successful business is not just to develop services and products. Many entrepreneurs concentrate on increasing sales and revenues an forget about the human factor. This factor is very important because without out it the business could not run. In this post I would like to show you some suggestions regarding the relationship the owner has with his employees.

1. It is wrong for you to think that your employee cares only about money. He looks for recognition of his efforts, to be appreciated for his work, also he wants to know exactly what he has to do in the company. Statistics have shown that 60 % on the staff complains the lack of communication they have with their boss regarding what they have to do for the company.

Some entrepreneurs think that they could obtain the best results if they adopt a cold and distant attitude with his employees. They want their staff to see them like a rough officer that gives orders to his soldiers. This technique is not good in a company because unlike soldiers that can`t leave, employees can. That is why you should congratulate your staff with every good work .

2. Signs that people from your staff want to quit Do you think that when your employee gives you the 2 weeks` notice before he quits is a sign that he is looking for a new job? WRONG. The search for a new job started perhaps months ago, and now he found what he was looking for.

Some of the real signs are: a newspaper on his desk opened at the small publicity section, the increase of days he spends in medical leave (he has to go to interviews, doesn`t he?), he is not as active in the meetings as he was before (could mean that he doesn`t care anymore about the company)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Get money from "angels"

If you don`t have money to finance your business, you should consider all your possibilities. It doesn`t matter if you need 5000 or 100.000 euro (7200 or 145.000 $), a business angel may help you to start your business.

The business angel concept it`s similar with the capital – venture financing. In both cases, investors and entrepreneurs put their money together in order to get the business started.

Some people may have brilliant business ideas, but if they don`t have any money to start them with, it is no use, like Thomas Edison once said: “An idea is worthless unless you use it”. A business angel can help you to start the business. An “angel” is just like you, an entrepreneur, but one with a little more experience, and a little more successful businesses.

In order to get the “angel” on your side and become partners you will have to know your business very well, because if you don`t, he won`t invest in a person who is not sure what he is doing. Another thing in attracting the investor is that you will have to be completely honest with the numbers and the profits, because before he invests he will make a market research and eventually he will find out the truth. It has both good and bad sides of having an angel as your partner.

The good side is that he has a lot of experience and can help you with different things, and you will learn a lot from him. The bad thing is that he usually expects high profits, and doesn`t struggle as much as you to make the business work.

Monday, September 15, 2008

How do you make a business plan?

Making a business plan can be very difficult especially for someone who has little or no experience at all. You will find on the internet and a lot of books with a lot of models for business plans. You could make your own business plan, but it has to contain some part that is obligatory.

The structure

It is not a standard structure for all models, you should structure it according to the purpose of making it: for share holders, for the management, for getting finance. But all business plan should have the following parts:

The product / services, and what market it`s addressed to.

The competition - What technologies are they using, what is their market share, who are their clients

Clients and suppliers - Who are your suppliers (remember, you should always have more than one supplier because you should not depend on just one.), who are your clients.

Marketing - Market size, the segmentation of the market, who is your product address to.

Risks - You always take in consideration the risks and you should minimize them

Management - Who is the management of the company, what experience do they have

Friday, September 12, 2008

How do you choose betwen a niche and a general business?

Niche businesses can be successful if you chose the right strategy, but also business where there is a high competition can be very profitable and can bring you lots of satisfactions. I will try to present you the pro and cons of each type.

If you are a business man that has already a couple of businesses in his resume, that could invest in any opportunity that the market gives you, because you have fleer, resources and experience.

If you are a young business man that is a beginner, you could have more chances to success if you choose a niche business that needs a smaller investment and fewer resources.
Choosing niche business or a general one?

A niche market is always interesting because it challenges your abilities to find new opportunities and new market demands. If you decide to start this kind of business you should know your clients very well and build long term relations. In order to run a successful niche business you will have to specialize: on a service or product, on quality or price. A niche business can bring you high profits if you run it right, and a general business gets high revenues.

If you decide to choose a general business you have to provide services and products that have something unique, special, that none of your competitors have. You have to stand up with something so the clients chose you over your competitors, like: smaller prices, less time to get the product, post sale assistance.

Usually niche businesses are formed in the shadow of big business, to help customers with a service or a product, that the big companies don`t care because they think that the market is too small.

Either types of business you will decide to start with remember that you should be very informed about that domain, and put passion in it.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

A picture is worth more than 1000 words

Today I decided to talk about the importance of images in the daily commercials. Images not only bring a design contribution to commercials, but it also brings a much important thing, credibility.

You should be very careful when you choose the picture, don’t put a random picture, and put one that your future customer will identify with.

A could recommend you some options that you have:

1. Put a picture with the product you are trying to sell. In the customer mind will form the idea that the product really exists.

2. Put a picture with the qualities of the product - You should publish a picture in witch your product shoes some qualities, qualities that your competition doesn’t have.

And as a last advice, I will suggest you should leave it on the hands of professionals to make the design of the commercial, you did your part in choosing the picture.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Rent a limousine | Business Ideas

Everyone wants to go to a limo, but few do. Renting a limousine can be a pretty profitable business. You can rent limos to newlyweds, to parties, to hotels for their important guests or high school kids that go to proms. You can buy a used limo with about 30.000 -35.000 euro (45.000 – 50.000 $).

The clients are regularly VIPs and business people that want to travel in style. You can start with one limo and you as the driver, and then can buy more when the business rises. The only inconvenience that you will have is the gas price that is rising. You can advertise in hotels, and luxury clubs / restaurants.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Make a mark with your business card

At a first look a business card doesn’t seem like a powerful marketing tool, but it is one of the most an important and cheap parts of the marketing plan. Just think about the production cost of a business card, very cheap, and now think of what an impact it can have. Of course, do not expect to say everything about your company, just to make a very good first impression that will remain in the customer’s head.

Choose a business card with a design that matches your company’s profile. Just think if you are a financial consultant, or a Forex market broker, a business card with pink flowers will end up in the first garbage can. That is why when you choose your design try to choose the image that your company wants to promote. Usually that means you would have to choose from around 5 styles.

1. Simple style - The card in this category is usually printed black on white. You choose this type when your potential clients are serious people that don’t like anything else except fact and figures.

2. Picture style - When you put your picture on the card you will make the client to remember you better. Also you can choose to put on the card a picture with your product, remember, a picture makes more than a1000 words.

3. Multi - functional style - A business card makes more than you show the address and the phone number of the company. You could print on the back a map of the location of the company, or a calendar. In this way you could make it useful for the people who have it and maybe they won’t throw it away.

4. Touch style - The shape of the card could be unconventional or if it is not made out of cardboard, it could be kept because it is special. You also could give it the shape of your product, lets say a car, and the business card would be easier remembered.

5. Crazy style - this style allows you to make anything you want with the card, anything to draw attention on it.

With all that said, I wish you good luck, and remember to verify 10 times the address and telephone number to be printed correctly.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The secrets of top managers

What makes you a good manager? Did you ever think of that? Is it something you were born with or something you learned in time? A recent study made by Gallup showed some interesting things. The study was made with 80.000 top managers from all around the world. The study has shown that they follow a certain pattern, even though they work in different parts of the world.

1) Top managers has to set the financial goal of the company but leaves the decision on how to reach those goals to the rest of the team

2) Top managers try to offer the employees new challenges. They try to make changes so people don’t get bored at the work place and as productive as they can.

3) The top manager has to understand each employee, to know what are they good at, and give them an assignment that matches their working profile.

In conclusion top managers have to understand people they work with and to stimulate them to reach their professional best at their work place.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

How to transform client complaints into a gold mine

Statistics have shown that one client out of four is not pleased with the services / product he receives from a company, at one point. The client that is unhappy usually complaints, in average, to another 12 people, that he didn’t like the service / product.

Also statistics has shown that only 5 % of the unhappy clients report to the company what they did not like. The other 95 % believe that if the notify the company about their problem nobody would care. In conclusion they chose to go to another company that would satisfy their problems. That is why you should always listen to the problems that your clients have. To earn a new client you will have to spend 8 times more than you would have spent to keep one client with the company.

You should ask yourself a couple of questions to anticipate your customers demands

1. How many steps should a customer take in order to get what he wants?

2. The front desk employees do whatever they can to resolve the customers needs?

3. Are they willing do go around the company system in order to resolve client problems without creating an obligation from the company?

4. The business procedures are made for the company or for the clients? In order to get answers to these questions you need to discuss with your front desk staff, they are the best people to ask about the customer’s problems.

Also you should try to make your customers complete surveys about your company. With all of that said, I wish you good luck!

Monday, August 25, 2008

How to get free publicity

Newspapers are always looking for hot new subjects or subjects with what they can fill their pages. They are looking for new products or services that are on the market, so if your company has a new product, you only have to send a press release to newspapers. There are big chances that they will publish an article about you.

Editors get a lot of requests daily from companies that want an article published about them, so the competition in very stiff. Here are some rules you should follow for your press release to be in pole position:

1. Make sure that your article has a lot of pictures with the product and what is the product good for, remember, a picture makes more than 1000 words.

2. Send your article to the magazines that your customers are likely to read. It’s very important that your future customers to learn about your product and to make them want it.

3. The article should de written by a person who has some experience with the press and has knowledge about how it should be written. Also he / she has to know about the product, to point out its best functions.

4. Insist on the qualities of the product. Try to point out as much good things as you can, and how it can improve our lifestyle, remember, people like to hear that.

With all that said, I wish you good luck!

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