Featured Business Idea
Start Your Own Coffee Shop
Morning commuters, stopping in for their first cup of coffee for the day. Friends pausing from the bustle of life to enjoy lattes and catch up. Students burying themselves in their studies, mugs of coffee and tea in hand. In the evening, an acoustic band plays for a packed house of coffee consumers, each enjoying a brownie or lemon bar or slice of pie on the side. That is the magic of a coffee shop. It can transform a storefront into a neighborhood anchor where people converse and share and learn, all while enjoying the nuances of their coffees or teas or espresso-based drinks. Learn more about starting a coffeeshop »
Entrepreneurship Blog
NOW is the Time to Start a Business
Many people are doubling down, expecting the worse from the economy, and hoping to just ride out the storm. I'm here to tell you that... the time is NOW to start your next venture! I know, all of the economic geniuses on CNBC are predicting a recession and things are tight. Believe it or not, the true business visionaries and geniuses are taking the time now to invest - because the bottom is the right time to build, not to retract. If you build now, you will catch the economy on the upswing and your investment will return far greater than you would ever expect! 
Warren Buffet is taking an opportunity now, in this economy, to purchase companies, move further into bond insurance, and invest while the market is cooled. The epitomy of value investors, Buffet is a good sign that as the economy retracts, entrepreneurial visionaries will be setting in place their growth plans for their businesses and new ventures. I am not offering this advice lightly or without skin in the game - along with the economic retraction which is occurring, my own business's revenues are falling - quite a bit off from last year. I am reliant on ad revenues and they are soft right now, but instead of pulling back, I am pushing forward with new site launches, an expansion of ExploreStartups, and a new venture to be launched shortly. The softness in many areas of the economy right now provides the perfect backdrop to launch new businesses and stake out new business territory. Been thinking about putting off that next investment? Considering holding back for a couple of months, quarters, maybe until 2009?
Invest at the Bottom, not at the Top of the Cycle
It is ... Read More >>Email This Post | Add to: 
Digg ~ 
Del.icio.us ~ 
Reddit
Start Your Own Home Cleanup Business for Foreclosed Homes
Two blocks away from our house sites an empty, foreclosed home. The side fence is falling down. A realtor we know showed the home and she said it is an absolute mess. This is just one example of thousands of bank owned homes across the nation which need cleaned up and sold.
Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business
Business for cleanup companies is booming as thousands of people default on their loans and the home becomes owned by a bank - a very motivated seller. For every home cleaned out, there are a dozen others the bank hasn't gotten to, or just doesn't want to deal with.
The Real Cost to the Bank - and the Cost to Homeowners
The bank desires to unload the property and not lose any money on the transaction. Unfortunately, leaving the houses in the condition they are in will not result in a sale near going market price and the bank often cuts the price of the house to unload. The house in our neighborhood is priced at 25% less than the market value of the property. If the bank hired a cleanup company to recondition the property, it would probably make significantly more on the sale and not further depress home prices in the area. What is the Business Concept?
You will be leading a crew to cleanup and prepare a house for sale. Your services would typically include cleaning all of the belongings and junk out of a house, but could also include services such as small repairs (e.g. holes in the walls), wall painting, new carpets, or landscaping. Most companies who perform this service dispose of any junk from the house, but keep things of value (such as furniture, lawnmowers, or appliances) for 30 days before disposing of them. There is an added ... Read More >>Email This Post | Add to: Digg ~ Del.icio.us ~ Reddit
Start Your Own Publishing Business
In 1998, I started my first website, Romancetips.com. Romancetips is a collection of romantic tips, romance advice, date ideas, and all things romantic. Romancetips.com has grown into a site with over 1,000 romantic tips and ideas and I used this as a platform to write a book, Creative Romance. 
Creative Romance was published in 2004 and has enjoyed decent success with a good community of visitors to Romancetips.com. Now, as Valentine's Day approaches, I am reminded of my roots in the web business with Romancetips.com and how it has launched a dozen sites in a variety of topics.
Start My Own Publishing Business
One business idea I recently updated on ExploreStartups.com is How to Start a Publishing Company. If you currently have a book written, or have a platform to provide credibility, you can write a book and self publish it. The finances are such that it works out very well.Print on Demand Economics
The improvements in print-on-demand technology has resulted in the ability to self-publish at a very affordable rate. Let's look at the costs to setup a book and how much money you could potentially make. Your setup charges as a publisher are about $150 to get a book ready with a ... Read More >>Email This Post | Add to: Digg ~ Del.icio.us ~ Reddit