Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi,
I`m so glad to have joined your community. Please take a look at my SuN introduction and life plan at http://www.startupnation.com/forums/11096/41/1

I have so many ideas for a side business. I`d like to let out my top five ideas and get your feedback.

1. First, I thought I needed to just get going on something - create a product, produce it and sell it on eBay and Amazon. I have an idea for a high-quality, office desktop accessory; it is a perpetual, daily flip calendar that beautifies the environment and shares a timeless advice quote each day. After reading some of the SuN Step-by-Step articles (Open for Business and Creating and Licensing and Invention), I decided to back off from this as my initial attempt. So, my current goal is to create a nearly complete prototype that I can have on my own desk and eventually market when I am better equipped to make it succeed.

2. Still thinking about manufacturing an actual object, I considered my idea to sell plastic origami. Recall the basic origami crane. Now, rather than using the medium of paper, it is a strong, thin plastic. It replicates the thinness and delicacy of paper, but with the texture and durability of plastic. I envision this being sold in places like the Museum Store or Crate and Barrell, and other home decor stores. I also believe it would sell well on Etsy and eBay. Nevertheless, is it worth the time and energy to do? How much profit could I make? It`s not all about money, but this is not something that would sell very many for very much. I would make it just because I want one in my house, which is a pretty good reason, but I want to make a profit on my first try.

3. Another idea I had was creating a "new graduate`s library". Nephew Nathan is graduating from high school and has plans to head off to Texas A&M. As his entrepreneurial, achievement oriented uncle, I want to give him something really awesome. What could be better than giving him all the information he`ll need to succeed in business and in his career? I head to www.graduateslibrary.com . Here I can select one to fifty books individually, or as pre-organized sets, and pair these books with college-specific bookends or bookmarks. So I proudly bring my box containing A&M bookends, and books by Napoleon Hill, Dave Ramsey, and the Sloan brothers. For Aggies, I may also include a picture book. Now my nephew has all the information I wish I`d had when I was 18. Questions here include how to manage the distribution of both books and bookends, especially since I`m in no position to warehouse anything myself.

4. Moving away from physical products, I considered an ebook and coaching service. I`m quite good at helping financially illiterate people (most people) get on a written budget. I learned how the hard way, and I have since showed others how to tell their money where to go and what to do while keeping the process simple. I can do this first by offering an ebook about how I use Google Spreadsheets to manage my income and expenses. Second, I could offer a 2-3 hour budget setup consultation, whereby I and the client sit down at our own computers and each log into the same Google spreadsheet so we can collaborate visually on the same document from our own location. At the same time we would be communicating on the telephone. I would quickly teach them the basics of using Google Spreadsheets, including how to export to Excel, and go over with them my budgeting philosophy. This information could also be on my website for free or as a video or ebook. I hesitate on this because I`m not thrilled about working directly with people, and it does not provide residual income. If I consult, I get paid. Otherwise, nothing. Except for the ebook, but I`m not so sure I have enough information to write anything more than what I could put into one article.

5. My other service idea pertains to helping small businesses. I see so many small company websites that have misspellings, bad grammar, incorrect word usage, and other blatant errors in the use of English. Whatever the reason for such shoddy work, I want to help them improve their image by proofreading their website for them. This one really appeals to me most. I work with clients indirectly. I can work at my own pace. The results of my work are evident and give me satisfaction for a job well done. There is plenty of work to be done! The trick here is marketing. I had considered just visiting the websites of companies I`d heard of, identifying some typos, and then emailing the company directly pointing out how I could specifically help them. Someone said, Who wants to be told their website sucks? So, a big part of this would be marketing tactfully. I`ll really need help with that aspect.

What do you think?
Thanks,
John

Regarding idea #4:
Today a friend pointed out that the only subject they`ve seen me passionate about in the past five years is achieving financial peace for myself and others. Specifically, I`m very excited about Dave Ramsey`s philosophy and strategies. I wholeheartedly believe in it. It works for me. It`s simple to do. Plus, I consider financial freedom to be our generation`s gospel. The good news we want to hear is that we can be free of the stress and fears of being broke.

Is this a financial counselor position I`m speaking of? Perhaps, but not in the usual sense. I won`t be out to sell life insurance, or really even assist with investing. My specialty would be handling financial emergencies and getting people on a written spending plan. IRAs and wealth buiding would not be an issue for my clients, because they are only on the first steps to financial freedom. My role would be to pull them out of the mud pit and set them on a dry rock at the base of the mountain. Create a safe base camp, so to speak. They can climb the mountain to millionaire philanthropist if they like, and I may encourage them that way after the basics have been covered. This is a financial service that is not popular. Most financial advisors market to those who have discretionary money. My job would be to teach people how to find their discretionary money.

I`m currently reading Allen`s book Multiple Streams of Income. He has me thinking about residual income, money that continues to come in long after the hours I put into it are over. Financial counselors are paid for the hour they work. One hour, one fee - linear income. Yet I see the possibilities for residual income. An ebook. A financial formulas cheat sheet. A budget template. These are products I could create and sell separate from the counseling service.

I`m also interested in tax reduction, recordkeeping and accounting software. This could carry me into a larger market helping small businesses (like www.buckcpa.com ).

What is the business model I am considering? Home-based Internet business. Online and telephone collaboration.

Writing about this excites me. Is it a passion? I feel very strongly about this subject. My emotions about it are distinguishable from my reasoning about it. I seem to feel from my heart about it. I am devoted to my own financial freedom, prosperity and generosity, and have been for four years now. I have never been interested in one subject for so long. I have other hobbies that cycle in and out of my life (origami, woodworking, aquariums, personal development, theology, among many others). Finances is not a hobby. It is part of my way of life.

John,
As a young college student I can tell you that the last thing I would want is books to prepare me for college, aside from being super nerdy its just more appealing to a parent than child.

SOLUTION:
Have your website www.graduateslibrary.com have interesting stories of students who started awesome companies on college *cough-Ryan Allis-cough*  then have a `entrepreneurship course load` that is broken into categories with basic books like Rich Dad and Losing My Virginity and Tipping Point added with books that specialize in different markets like Real Estate, E-Commerce, Brick and Morter Businesses ect.

This would be a package deal, with pre-approved books, maybe add in a few ebooks, and an autographed Zero to One Million by Ryan Allis, and info on getting involed in a entrepreneurship club in school.

That would be sweet, let partner and do it. haha

-Aaron Peacock





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Understand the game before you play.

Well, I kept hoping somebody would do something, then I realized, I am somebody.
-A. Huxley

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
–Pablo Picasso

John:

Helping people become financially literate and financially stable is a worthy goal, and I would encourage you to explore this idea. As with many great business ideas, the difficulty is often in the execution and marketing.

Think about your market for a minute. Many of these folks are seeing their savings flow out, debt rising... how are they going to pay you?

One avenue you might explore is going the non-profit route. Many communities and banks are investing in financial literacy classes in a big way. You might be able to get on this bandwagon by hooking up or forming a non-profit.

Good luck!



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Quite awhile ago, Isaac Asimov said that the biggest problem in our modern times wouldn`t be having knowledge; it`d be finding that knowledge. He predicted that librarians would become critical. He didn`t know about the Internet, but we could easily argue that a search engine is the equivalent of an electronic reference librarian.

So to start with, and having experienced eBay, I`d suggest that you don`t try to build a business solely on an eBay marketplace. It`s a fine place to act as a secondary outlet for distribution, and it "might" be useful for some limited market testing. But with the flea-market mentality, you`ll find yourself believing that a great product is worthless if all you have is eBay experience.

On the other hand, having a real product is a lot better than selling someone else`s product, generally speaking. So your idea for the plastic origami tools sounds interesting. The perpetual calendar would be a hard sell, what with so many of them already out there---but it`s doable.

Of all the ideas, I like the graduate`s toolbox the best. In fact, Kathy and I had an idea that we`d put together an actual toolbox for first-time apartment dwellers, dorm rooms and the like. We`d stock it with real stuff, all of which would multi-task, not like those dumb kits you see in stores.

Anyway, we never got around to that, but I`m reminded of it with your library. This would be a highly tailored, niche library, developed from real-world experience. I`d suggest a Web site, which could be much more easily maintained and marketed than a "kit." The shopping cart would offer people the option of buying the "kit" piece by piece, or all at once.

You`d be a broker, so you wouldn`t have to have a lot of inventory, and you wouldn`t have to write the books yourself. However, you certainly could add your own ebooks and content to the library. You also could have an "Advice" blog or wiki, with articles addressing particular student problems. Also a forum, where people could ask for advice or share tips.

You could also offer freebies, such as a downloadable budget spreadsheet catering to students and very-low income starter-outers.

All in all, it seems to be a great way to offer a product, broker (and advertise) other people`s products, and form a central "hub" for specific information that doesn`t seem to be well organized at the moment. :-)

These are excellent thoughts. Thanks everyone.

Hey there!  I first wanted to send out a huge thanks to the developers of this website, because it is such an awesome tool to have available.  It`s nice to see other entrepreneurs sharing ideas, working through problems, and ultimately achieving their goals.  I`ve been reading articles on this site for a while and it helps motivate me to work on some of my own ideas.

However, I`m posting here because I`m just starting out in the world of entrepreneurs and am looking for advice on how to choose a direction.  I`m 27 years old, an aerospace engineer, and have a problem because my mind is constantly going 24/7 and I`m always trying to think of ways to improve products and processes (that`s pretty much what my job is).  This has flowed over into my personal life and I constantly see business ideas that I`d like to work on and I have a list of at least 40.  I`m hoping I can learn from someone else out there that might have had the same problem in the past.  I have so many ideas I`m passionate about, but I become stuck when trying to make a decision on what direction to take.  Does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom on how to properly evaluate your options?

One of the ideas I`m pretty passionate about is a process for treating metallic objects and extending their wear resistance and longevity.  The process has been around for a little while, originally starting in the 60`s/70`s but developed a bad reputation because a lot of mom and pop shops started to open up offering this process and ended up ruining a lot of parts.  Since then, the technology has become very reliable and there are some manufacturers out there that are starting to see the benefits, but 90% of companies that would benefit from this process are still skeptical.  Most small mom/pop shops that offer this service as a business don`t have much data to back up the proposed benefits and most of the employees do not have a metallurgical background.  Most of these companies will advertise with local machine shops and other industrial businesses claiming that their process will extend the life of their tools, which it does.  However, I see a lot more potential for this technology in the way of medical products.  Quite a bit of money is spent on resharpening medical instruments and replacing them.  Health care costs are going up, local hospitals are trying to save money and stay afloat.  Offering products that have at least a 200-300% increase in life would hopefully be of some help to reduce costs for them.  The best part about this process is that it is extremely cheap and environmentally friendly.  I have friends and family involved in the medical industry and medical instrument companies charge quite a bit for seemingly simple instruments.  Offering metallic medical instruments at the same or even lower cost than current suppliers would not be difficult due to the process.  The process would only add pennies to the final cost.  The manufacturing of the instruments would be the difficult part.

I have no experience in the medical instrument mfg industry, but I do have knowledge and experience regarding metallurgy and this process.  How does one take on an industry that they have no prior experience in?

Thanks

The medical industry would be a little careful about taking on products which have been through such a process. Kitchen knives are sharpened routinely. You can look at other industries instead of only at the medical industry.
I am quite sure there would be other industries which would be willing to look at your process. You may have to take a risk and choose a partner industry at first. Only after you get a few trial orders are others going to follow.

Hi Zeek,

We`re seeing an increasing number of posts like this, together with more and more stress in the world. Have you ever considered that this "overflowing mind" might be a reflection of a biochemical event?

For most of my life I had a similar condition, and by the time I reached my mid-40s, I was laid out with chronic fatigue and couldn`t do much about anything anymore. After years of seeing different medical people, I eventually had a cortisol saliva-panel test. That showed massive overloads of cortisol.

By using over-the-counter supplements to reduce out some of that cortisol, I gradually was able to get rid of the chronic fatigue and related problems. And I was able to start focusing on particular ideas without having that high-speed carousel going a hundred miles an hour all the time.

Solving problems is an excellent skill. Not everyone has the same level of skill. But like anything, it can be over-done. When it does, it can lead to bipolar syndrome and work at cross-purposes with your own enjoyment of life.