Hot Home Business Opportunities
Homestead Technologies commissioned a study on home-based businesses and found the following as their list of “hot” opportunities that can be run from home:
- E-Learning: With advances in new web application tools such as podcasts and video blogs, development costs will decrease.
- E-Bay Aftermarket: Helping companies conduct market research, pricing strategies, shipping, and competitive analysis is a great niche business.
- Children Arts Education: There is a major market for teachers of right-brained education who are thought to help foster the development of future innovators.
- Garage Organizers: Just as organizing closets was the next big thing in the 80’s, the messy garage is the final space to clean up.
- Background Checks: Small businesses with limited resources are turning to background check companies to handle investigation and due diligence.
- Pet Sitting: An ideal home-based business where you get paid to walk and enjoy the companionship of pets.
- Specialized Coaching: The coaching market has boomed in the recent years including specialized areas such as life, spiritual, corporate, relationship and business.
- Home-based Debt Collection: Debt has become a way of life for many Americans. Operating a low overhead home-based collection service can serve the niche sections of this market.
- Specialized Outsourcing: The small business market has limited resources and a focus on core competencies. Specialized outsourcing from home to small business will have a solid position market position for years to come.
- Scrap Booking: In today’s easy to save and store digital age, opportunities abound for the home-based scrapbook artist, workshop teacher, or a direct sales rep.
Will you get rich with any of these ideas? Probably not. But, that is not the point for most who choose to run a home-based business. It is to earn income while enjoying the flexibility and freedom of running a small business from home.
Five Steps to Start a Business & Purchase Wholesale
It’s easy to set yourself up to buy goods from wholesalers. You can do it from your home office. Follow these steps and PRESTO, you are ready to go in search of suppliers.
- Apply for an EIN (Employee Identification Number) at The IRS. You can apply for a number online. It’s instant!
- Apply for a Tax ID number in the state you live in.
- Get a credit card just for business.
- Choose Business Name.
- Open a Business Checking Account.
Congratulations! You are now a business. You are free to seek out wholesalers and buy until your hearts content.
USB Coupons
Do you clip coupons? If so, you’re in the minority. Fewer than 1% of coupons ever get redeemed, according to coupon-processing firm CMS.
ScanAps makes a USB scanner that fits on a keychain and lets shoppers scan paper-coupon bar codes at home and download them in the store.
“We’re taking the paper out of the cycle,” says Chetty, 45, adding that today’s coupons pass through eight pairs of hands between the consumer and store reimbursement, a process that can take four months and costs an average of 24 cents a coupon.
In a late 2004 test at the Green Hills supermarket in Syracuse, N.Y., shoppers who used the device spent 8.3% more and used 26% more coupons, Chetty claims. ScanAps, which has raised $2.2 million, is discussing larger pilots with one national and two regional grocery chains.
Why We Want You to Be Rich
Two billionaires and bestselling authors pool their wisdom in Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men, Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump. Examining why some people get rich and others don’t, this book packs a big punch by helping you understand your own financial “personality” and how to leverage it for success.
See review on the book at startupjournal.com
How to Ask for a Fee When Referring Clients
Question: I specialize in handling discrimination and harassment investigations for small and midsize companies. What is the proper etiquette for asking other consultants that I refer significant work to for a percentage of their fees? Are there ethical considerations I should be thinking about?
Answer: See answer at Startup Journal
Marketing Tactics Under $10
No marketing budget? No problem, with these 10 creative techniques for bringing in business.
1. Instead of putting a 39-cent stamp on an envelope, put 39 1-cent stamps on the front of an envelope. One of the principles of direct mail is to stand out to get the attention of the receiver so your mail isn’t thrown away or ignored.
2. Every month, give customers a chance to win a free lunch, compliments of your business. Everyone likes a chance to win things.
3. Make a donation to charity for every purchase made during a particular month. If your orders average more than $100 each, donate $10 per order.
4. Use lottery tickets as incentives for referrals. You could market your giveaway as a chance to win a million dollars (or whatever the grand prize is for the lottery in your area) for all referrals received during a particular period of time.
5. Hold a contest for prospects and customers. How about “Guess the serial number on a $10 bill and it’s yours� It’s not a lot of money, but people who stop by your place of business will have fun and will remember the contest.
6. If there’s still penny candy available, $10 will buy 1,000 pieces. If not, you can still get quite a bit for a small investment. Including candy in your invoices makes companies remember you.
7. For $10, you can hire a student, a niece or nephew, or a friend’s teen to picket your business with a sign protesting something positive. It may sound silly, but having a picketer outside your place of business with a sign that reads something like, “We’re protesting good customer service at this location!†or “This place is full of nice people,†will get you noticed.
8. On a toll road, pay the toll for the car behind you, and ask the toll collector to give your business card to the car’s driver and tell him or her you paid the toll.
9. Show up in person with a cookie for the receptionist at a client or prospect’s office. The thing is, customers and prospects love attention. Drop in and visit a few of your customers and just say you’re stopping by to brighten their day.
10. Advertise using fliers. At an average cost of 2 cents each, $10 will buy 500 printed fliers. You can use them to canvass a targeted area, include them in packaging and delivered orders, hand them to walk-in customers or mail them to a targeted list.
Colorado Ends $1 Company
It has been said, “You don’t get much for a buck.” Well, this will also be true on April 1st, when the Colorado Secretary of State raises its filing fee for new corporations and LLC’s from $1.00 to $50 (for online filings). Since September 2004, Colorado has been offering filings for an absurdly low $1. With filing fees nationwide running from $40 to $500, Colorado has been essentially hanging a sign proudly stating, “Businesses Welcome Here!â€
Also increasing are the annual report fees from $1 to $20. However, even with the increases, Colorado’s business friendly environment makes a compelling argument for filing your entity there over more expensive neighbors.
