Chipwich entrepreneur recruits students to sell the next big thing
A layer of ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies. A good idea, huh?
Richard LaMotta thought so, and in the 25 years since he invented the Chipwich, a billion have sold.
The Chipwich didn’t become a sensation because of TV ads or marketing, but because LaMotta used an army of college students to hawk it on pushcarts on street corners – going directly to the consumer.
Now LaMotta, a resident of Mount Kisco, is promoting another new idea that again bypasses grocery stores and other traditional venues.
His new venture is called myStudentBiz. And, once again, students are the centerpiece of his marketing plan.
LaMotta intends to recruit high school and college students from around the country to distribute novelty snacks in neighborhood businesses, such as Laundromats, dry cleaners, car washes and bridal shops.
The students make $5 for every box they sell. The retailer gets a 45 percent profit, and LaMotta gets a way to put new products into the public eye without spending a penny on advertising.
The students can also win a $10,000 bounty if they discover a food item that myStudentBiz can market.
LaMotta said he has personally invested $3 million in myStudentbiz.
LaMotta, who is 54, said that when he was a young man, he spent 15 years attending college at night. He wants to help today’s students make some money to avoid his experience.
“It harkens back to my own childhood. A lot of this comes from being a poor kid growing up in Brooklyn,” he said. “I want every kid who is interested in this to have an opportunity.”
Rags-to-riches, Lucinda Yates
Yates’ inspirational story has captivated audiences across the country. In the early 1980s, after a divorce and a financial setback, she and her young daughter were left homeless and impoverished. Through hard work and creativity, she was able to get her life back on track.
While homeless in Portland, Maine, Yates taught herself how to make jewelry. With the help of friends and family, she found a home and started over.
In 1983, with a roof over her head and a young child to support, Yates turned a tiny attic above her apartment into a studio, where she launched a line of hand-made jewelry. Over the next few years, demand for her work grew.
In 1989, in a moment of inspiration, she combined a rectangle with a triangle to create a metal pin in the shape of a house.
“I heard this voice go off inside my head that said, ‘wouldn’t this make a great fundraiser for the homeless?’ ” Yates said. “I don’t know about you, but when I hear voices inside my head, I listen.”
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Dog Sleepover Business
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Phoenix residents and pet-industry veterans Maggie Brown and Tina Myers did just that when they launched their canine-care business, Sleepover Rover, in early 2005.
Not exactly your father’s dog-sitting service, Sleepover Rover operates a network of host families who open up their homes–and hearts–to clients’ pooches, providing personalized care in a safe environment.
The idea was fueled by an ad Brown placed in a local paper, asking for someone to take her dog into their home when Brown traveled. She found a retiree who gave her pup the attention, space and security she couldn’t find in kennels and other boarding facilities.
“I thought, there have to be other people out there like me who need a better solution for care for their pets,†Brown says.
Brown brainstormed the idea with good friend and fellow dog-lover Myers, and Sleepover Rover was born. In less than two years, the business has already produced quite a “litter,†with five new locations in four states and more plans for expansion.
Unusual Businesses Ideas That Work
Pant Prank
Make $500,000.00 or More a Year in the Music Industry Booking Shows
In the music industry, competition isn’t just for gigs but for agents as well. “Agents basically work for free until they get commissioned on a show,” says Bud Anderson, founder of InHouseBooking.com. “So it’s hard to invest in a brand-new artist.”
Anderson, 34, created InHouseBooking.com as a sister company to Prince SF, the agency he already owned that couldn’t handle all the talent coming its way. His new company takes a different approach, allowing artists to hire agents to make cold calls, pitching their acts for $1.50 per call. At the end of the minimum 100-call run, the artist gets a color-coded spreadsheet detailing each call and contact information. It’s more than telemarketing, Anderson explains–bands still face a strict review process, but the shortened relationship allows more talent through the door.
Startup was simple. With the agency infrastructure already in place, Anderson paid $50 for a web domain and programmed the site himself. He opened separate phone lines and a bank account, and he hired three agents. As IHB’s business jumped–from sales of $175,000 in 2004 to $500,000 for 2005–the agency expanded into larger offices and hired additional staff.
Tech Toys For Travelers
$2,199, Panasonic Toughbook W4 | At 2.8 pounds, this laptop weighs less than many hardcover novels. It has a 12.1-inch screen, 512 megabytes of memory, a 6.6-hour battery, a 60-gigabyte hard drive and an internal DVD player/CD burner. Its 1.2Ghz Pentium M processor is a bit on the slow side, but that’s a small price to pay for a full-featured PC that disappears in a backpack. Plus, the Toughbook earns its name with a shock-mounted hard drive and an impact-resistant magnesium-alloy case, which comes in four fashion colors. www.panasonic.com
$250, Samsung K5 MP3 player | Digital video recorders such as TiVo have allowed us to record shows while we’re away and watch them later (the technological name for this capability is “time-shifting”). Slingbox, on the other hand, does “place-shifting,” allowing you to control and watch your television, DVR, DVD player and virtually any other AV component while on the road. Slingbox sends the audio and video inputs out over the Internet, compressing the signal so you can tune in on your laptop or even a Windows Mobile cellphone. www.samsung.com
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The 10 Deadliest Words and Phrases in Business
Do a few stodgy phrases ruin a letter? Is this such a big deal? Well, when you consider how many letters are being sent by American companies today alone, you realize how important it is to make them clear, concise, and appropriate to a new Millennium.
By eliminating the following 10 phrases, you can, in a single stroke, make your company’s documents significantly better. Also, you will improve your company’s image, settle claims more amiably, “sell” settlements better, get information quicker, and cut thousands of wasted words.
- “Yours very truly” (also “Sincerely yours” and “Very truly yours”)
- “Respectfully”
- “Please be advised …”
- “Kindly”
- “I have forwarded…” “I am forwarding”
- “Above-captioned” (also: “above referenced”)
- “Please do not hesitate to contact me.”
- “Please note that…”
- “Enclosed please find.”
- Under separate cover”
