Archive for May, 2011

8 Small Business Opportunities For the People Person

May 20th, 2011

Do you love to be with people? Are your best days the ones on which you get to interact with others, even if they’re strangers, asking questions, learning things that you never knew, exchanging stories, telling jokes, and just sharing life? If there is nothing you can think of that quite compares to the exhilaration you feel when you’re with others, you may be what the rest of the world calls a “people person.” These folks are able to talk with anyone about anything and convey a sense of understanding, care, and joviality that has the power to brighten just about anyone’s day. It’s a great trait to have in general, but it can be particularly handy in the business realm. If you are indeed a people person, there are some great business opportunities that may be right up your alley.

Business to Business

One of the best professional environments for a people person is in a business to business franchise. What makes them so successful in this arena is that businesspeople like to feel that the person they’re dealing with recognizes them as a person instead of simply business opportunities, which is something that those with a love for human interaction do exceptionally.

Global Broker Systems and 360 Solutions provide great opportunities for the natural people person. Global Broker is one of the leading providers of various kinds of business loans to a variety of clients in varying industries. The essential service that the franchisee provides is not the money itself, but the work of being a middleman between clients in need of funds and the lenders who supply those funds, making this the perfect position for someone naturally skilled at listening attentively and responding professionally and empathetically. Likewise, a people person would do very well in a 360 Solutions business coaching franchise. If you like to get knee deep in the problems facing other companies and their leaders to help them navigate a way out, and you can do so with tact and compassion, this home based business is right for you, and your clients will more than appreciate your services.

B2B sales businesses also provide an exceptional opportunity for the talented people person. A great example is Vehicle Tracking Solutions, a work at home small business on the cusp of an industry that has barely been tapped yet. Delivery vehicles are everywhere, but hardly any are wired for GPS tracking. VTS franchisees approach delivery companies to sell them the equipment to solve that problem, and with the right people-minded franchisee, sales could be so very easy. Similarly, Snap-On Tools provides a great work from home business opportunity in every one of their van-based sales franchises, selling some of the greatest tools in the world. The only thing that could make the business even better would be a talkative, friendly salesman behind the steering wheel. And if you’re a people person who also benefits from having some time of solitude as well, Flicko’s is a great franchise opportunity. On the one hand, you deal firsthand with businessmen as well as retail clients to rent out film equipment and filmmaking/editing services. And on the other hand, you get to retreat to your workshop to actually do the edit work, which should adequately fuel you up for the next day’s interactions with your clients.

In-Home Services

Some franchise businesses are built on services that require the franchisee to enter a private client’s home, and for some people, the home is a very personal, almost sacred place. It’s for this reason that a business owner needs to be capable of making clients feel comfortable and entertained as they bring him into their home.

A few of these kinds of franchises in particular benefit from a people person. For instance, Mr. Handyman franchisees visit new homes every day, talking with new clients about new household problems. Each time, they have to prove to a new set of people that they are trustworthy workmen: something that a people person is instinctively good at. The business is one of the most highly regarded handyman services in the world, and that is precisely how they keep it that way. Canine Dimensions In-Home Dog Training is another franchise that works in other people’s homes, but this one trains dogs, and some people care even more about their dogs than they do their homes, which makes a friendly and empathetic demeanor even more important. And the one thing that the average parent cares about more than both his house and his dog is his child. That means that a Tutor Doctor franchisee entering a new client’s home to provide tutoring services is going to have to display a genuine concern for both the wellbeing and the education of the client’s child. Being an easygoing, conversational, yet business-minded people person is vital to any client interactions, but particularly when dealing with the things they care about the most.

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Private Investigator Small Business Opportunity

May 18th, 2011

Private investigator jobs are forecast to outpace the growth of all jobs in The United States for at least the next five years. Private investigation is a great small business opportunity. Not only are more people seeking to enter that line of work but it also provides a level of excitement that a regular corporate job cannot ever hope to match. Perhaps much of that is thanks to Magnum P.I.?

The type of person that would be attracted to a private investigator job is someone that enjoys and seeks out a certain level of danger. Private investigators do have to deal with certain threats as that is the nature of their job. If your day-to-day work involves things such as investigating and spying on cheating spouses or white-collar criminals, danger is bound to happen.

Using state-of-the-art technology such as forensic accounting, digital cameras, GPS tracking systems, and infra-red night vision private investigators routinely handle cases such as:

  • Divorce
  • Infidelity
  • Background checks
  • Identity theft
  • Insurance fraud (Workman’s comp)
  • Personal injury
  • Stalkers

If you enjoy busting criminals and cheaters, this just may be the perfect job for you!

Becoming a private investigator is a great business opportunity as it does not require any formal training. However, it is specialized work so you do need to know what you’re doing. If you have no experience such as police, detective, or insurance experience, you could look into taking formal training or, even, opening a franchise where the franchisor will provide you with all the equipment and training necessary for you to do your work.

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Favorite Children’s Small Business Opportunities

May 16th, 2011

Children often have the ability to remind us how simple and wonderful life can be. It’s no wonder that so many people are interested in making their living working with kids, serving them and their parents in various ways, and getting to play as much as work. If that sounds like something for you, take a look at some of the best children’s small business opportunities available.

Kid’s Nite Out Across America

The name is a mouthful, but this is certainly a job that involves a whole lot of play. This home based business is built on the notion that kids deserve a safe place to meet, hang out, play games, and have a good night of activity each week. Franchisees make deals with local community centers and other public facilities to provide a night of entertainment for neighborhood kids. For a small $10-15 fee, kids can come partake in a host of fun events ranging from scooter hockey to human slingshot to dancing. Kids love it because it’s fun, and parents love it because it’s a safe place for their kids.


Guard-A-Kid
The sad truth is that there are sick people in the world who seek to harm children, and despite parents’ and caretakers’ best efforts, child abduction does happen. Guard-A-Kid works to give parents the best chances of recovering their child should the unthinkable ever happen. At franchise kiosks, clients build full child profiles that law enforcement agents say are critical in ensuring the quick and safe recovery of kidnapped children. There are various educational and child tracking devices available as well, giving children every possible opportunity for a safe and happy childhood.

Grins 2 Go On Location
Not all kid-friendly business opportunities are quite so serious though. Grins 2 Go, for example, is all about snapping pictures of life’s memorable moments. As a mobile franchise owner, the franchisee is constantly on call for on-site photo jobs at school parties, celebrations, bar mitzvahs, family reunions, and youth sporting events. The overhead is next to nothing, and you get to help capture some great memories.

CompuChild
Today, giving a child a jumpstart with computer technology is key to their future success. CompuChild work from home franchisees give kids just that opportunity, providing preschools and daycare centers with on-site computer tutoring for preschool-aged kids. Depending on what aspect of business the franchisee is most interested in, either engaging the kids personally or running the operation from a home office, he can decide to either own and operate or simply manage other computer tutors who actually visit the work sites.

Kumon
This is quite possibly the best child education business for sale today. Founded in Japan 50 years ago, the business is based on the notion that any child can academically succeed, period. Their tried and true method is not only tutoring students in the tutoring center, but also sending them home with weekly practice lessons to ensure that they not only understand the concepts, but can reproduce their success over and again, because practice makes perfect. 50 years ago, that very same method was used to teach the founder’s son calculus by the time he was in 6th grade, and students working at the 1400 US locations today still confirm that the approach works.

Tutor Doctor
Because there are different styles of learning, though, some students need more focused attention than most tutoring centers can provide. Tutor Doctor is a work at home franchise that sets you working not at your home, but at the home of your students. Using a one-on-one approach to learning in the environment in which the student is most comfortable, student tension is decreased and tutor attention to the student is increased, making for optimum learning potential for the kids who need it, because not everyone is wired to learn best in a classroom of 30 students and 1 teacher.

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Find a Small Business Opportunity on Any Budget

May 14th, 2011

If you are looking for a small business opportunity, you may be amazed at the options available. There are business ideas you can implement for as little as $500 and up. Depending on what type of business you want to get into and how many employees it will take to operate, there is a wide range of budgets you can work with.

Some small business owners have no limit as to the capital they invest in their business. Perhaps they are wealthy and need something to do with their time. Unfortunately, this is not true for most people interested in becoming an entrepreneur and opening up a small business of their own. Most small business owners start on a tight budget, but even so, there are many opportunities out there for motivated individuals who want to work for themselves.

A good place to look for opportunities is on the internet. There are entrepreneurial websites that offer pages upon pages of businesses you can get started with today. Some sites will break them down for you by industry, business size, and even cost or investment required. Franchises are among some of the costlier options for business owners, though a local “sitting” service can be started for as little as the cost of business cards and some local advertising.

Subscribe to a few home based business magazines and you will find many businesses advertising their program or opportunity. Be careful not to be pulled in by gimmicks and promises that seem too good to be true. As with any business venture, it is important to do a little research on the opportunity so that you are aware of any reports of scams or poor reputations.

If you are lucky enough to have an unlimited budget when it comes to starting a small business, your options are wide open. You will want to consider what you enjoy doing in your spare time — though it might not be a money-maker, you can spend each day doing what you love and sharing it with others. When picking the business opportunity for you, keep an open mind and think of the possibilities. Some of the most successful small businesses sell products or services that are unique and out of the box.

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3 Eco-Friendly Small Business Opportunities

May 12th, 2011

You are probably already familiar with most of the benefits of having a home-based business. A home based business puts you in control of your income, allows you to work from the comfort of your own and gives you the flexibility and freedom to attend to your family’s needs.

But did you know that a home-based business could help you reduce your carbon footprint? This is especially true if you run a business that consumes very few resources and generates minimal waste. Here are three eco-friendly small business opportunities that are kind to the environment and your bank account.

Small Business Opportunity #1 – Life Coaching

Life coaching is the art of helping other people achieve goals in their life. This small business opportunity is a perfect match for people who are self-motivated and love helping others better themselves. You get to help someone turn his or her life around and make money in the process.

What makes this small business opportunity eco-friendly is that you really don’t need much to run it. You can use a computer to keep track of your customer’s progress reducing your need for paper. You can also do much of your coaching over the phone, which will eliminate the need to spend gas driving to a mutual meeting place.

Small Business Opportunity #2 – Eco Consultant

People are feeling the pressure to go green but switching to an environmentally friendly lifestyle can be intimidating. People just don’t know where to start. This makes being an eco consultant an ideal small business opportunity for those of you who want to make a bigger impact on the environment and put a little green in your pocket.

Since your business is based on being environmentally responsible, naturally you will want to be doing all you can to reduce and reuse as an example to your clients. Save paper by using email as much as possible instead of a fax machine. Since you may be doing a bit of driving, investing in a hybrid car will save gas and reduce carbon emissions.

Small Business Opportunity #3 – Internet Home Based Business

If you love being on the internet or you prefer a small business opportunity that provides you with a little more personal freedom, then a home based internet business may be right for you. There are many Internet businesses, such as web programming or owning a shopping portal, that use minimal resources to own and operate.

In fact, the internet offers such a multitude of applications for handling customer accounts and managing your business that you could even run a paperless office. Just be sure to back up your information to an external hard drive in case you experience computer troubles.

Saving the planet requires each of us do our part to reduce our consumption and waste. You can join the eco revolution by running a home-based business that gentle on the environment.

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Flexibility of Small Business Opportunities

May 10th, 2011

Many couples are pursuing joint careers and also trying to raise a family. Unfortunately the demands of family life get in the way of these careers and suffer as a result. Many moms and dads have made the choice to make their families the priority and as a result have had to give up their careers. There are other choices that also have flexibility built in which allow both to coexist. We will review this concept in more detail throughout this article.

You are in a staff meeting with your boss and suddenly the phone rings. One of your children needs help at school or day care. Of course there is no hesitation, since your family comes first, you leave the meeting to deal with the situation at hand. As you are leaving, you glance at your boss who is wondering why you have rudely left his or her meeting. You wonder, will this be held against me? Will my next raise or promotion be delayed? Will that plum assignment go to the next person?

Many people have experienced this situation and realize that families come first and they just have to take their lumps as they come, negotiating the best deal they can relative to employment, raises and promotion.

A small business on the other hand offers much more flexibility, especially one that you operate out of your home. There is flexibility regarding when you do your work as long as you meet your customer’s deadlines. Now you can take the kids to school, dentist and doctor appointments without a seconds thought. Catching up can be done anytime, even after the kids have gone to bed. This flexibility provides many people with much more peace of mind and an overall improved quality of life, which is almost unknown for the corporate employee.

There is a down side, which must be managed of course. With your office in the next room, there can be a tendency to work longer hours even if they are early morning or late at night. Many small business owners, while enjoying the flexibility they have to work when they want actually find that they are working more hours than the average employee would. Finding the right balance between your personal life and work life is always a challenge even for those folks who enjoy the flexibility of running a small business out of their homes.

The best part of course is that you are the boss and when one of your children calls, there is no hesitation to help out and certainly no concern about what the boss is going to be thinking!

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Small Business Opportunities – Ideas That Are Off the Wall

May 8th, 2011

There are many small business opportunities ideas out there, but there are some that many are not capitalizing on because they think they are strange or that there is no place for them in the marketplace.

For example, a person may choose to be a “green consultant.” What this means is that a person comes into the home of another person, assesses the place, and tells the homeowner what they can do to make their home more environmentally friendly. They will assess the habits of the family and tell the family what they need to do to save on utility bills and so much more. If this is an area you are knowledgeable in, this may be something you want to do.

Another example is that you can create personalized sports scorecards. For the bowler and the golfer, this is something that they would love. They pay you the cash and all you have to do is create the cards to their specifications. This is something that you can do right off of the Internet. There is no need for you to open up a shop or visit with your customers.

As you can see, these are pretty unique. You have probably never heard of doing such things. Then again, you may have, but you don’t know anyone who actually does these things. It definitely gets interesting.

So be unique. Go with ideas that are off the wall. So many individuals crave the unique, so you might as well give it to them.

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

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Small Business Opportunities – Tutor From Home

May 6th, 2011

Are you looking to start a small business with nearly no start up costs, one where you can make money fast? Well, if you are someone who values education and you have a special talent for a particular school subject (or several!), then why not consider tutoring from your home?

This is the type of job that would best suit someone who is responsible, has no criminal record that would prevent them from working with children, and has a higher-education degree. Or, if you are an outstanding student yourself, you could even tutor those in your own class. This is an excellent small business opportunity that you can start….right now!

Make sure that you have the time and energy to devote to tutoring from home, and brush up on your math, or English, or American history. Then, advertise locally via the newspaper or internet. If you have a working relationship with a local school, or know a teacher, you could even ask them if they could help give you tips or word of mouth advertising to get your business started. All you need is one or two students who show improvement to begin to build off of your reputation. Be sure to charge fair fees too, ones that are comparable to what other tutors in your area are charging per hour or half hour.

Tutoring takes patience, but aside from earning an income doing it, it can be very rewarding in other ways. Seeing a student you have helped improve their grasp of a subject can be a lovely and unexpected return on your business investment.

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

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Unusual Small Business Opportunities – What Works the Best?

May 4th, 2011

Anyone considering selling online may be curious about unusual small business opportunities. There is one referred to as “niche marketing.” Niche marketing can be defined as a special interest segment of the marketplace. Usually this is based on a topic you know a lot about and love to share amongst others. Examples of niches may be coin collecting, Cocker Spaniel dogs, World War II memorabilia, etc. Niches often cater to specific lifestyles as gardeners, fishermen, hunters, etc. They also pertain to any hobbies you have now or those of good friends or family.

Approaching niche marketing may seem intimidating to some. To potential sellers several questions are likely to arise as: Are there really many people who would have an interest in what I like? What if bought a bunch of stuff and I put it up for sale and nobody buys it? What would my family or friends say if they saw me trying to sell this stuff and I failed? Who can even afford to buy these kinds of things in a bad economy?

Therefore, new sellers see ads for drop shippers and conclude that everyone nowadays is interested in things like stylish clothes, iPods, laptops, iPhones, Xbox, Nintendo, HD TVs, etc, so they sign up with one of the first drop ship sites they see and have high hopes of making big money. Realistically, they become another small “me too” store lost in a large sea of competition, unaware of the big boy’s they’re competing with.

Surprisingly, niche selling is more successful on eBay and one of the many unusual small business opportunities. According to Best Affiliate Products bestaffiliateproducts dot com, “Creating Niche web sites is currently the hottest topic on the Net today.” In reality, there are too few sellers in many particular niche markets because people are rather wary of them and doubt they’d be successful. Truth is, these are rather underserved markets and thus have much less competition than common markets. Little do they realize how excited web surfers would be if they could find more products for sale that pertained to their deepest niche.

So I say to anyone wondering what products to sell on eBay, make a list of items that relate to your niche and research the online marketplace. This will work best if you put your list in writing. See if others are selling these same items. See what prices these specific items are being sold at. You may even want to do an “Advanced Search” on eBay and check the checkbox for “Completed Listings” and see how others done trying to sell them. If others were successful selling them, you may want to see what drop shippers offer these particular goods. Many drop shippers cater to niche markets. To find some simply put one or more relevant terms or even a brand name plus the word “dropshipper” in any search engine and see what sources come up (ie. Raleigh bicycle parts + dropshipper). You may also consider garage sales, flea markets, or thrift stores since these are more apt to have products no longer sold in stores.

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Two Great Ideas – Small Business Opportunity Ideas

May 2nd, 2011

The business market is flooded with opportunity. Anyone with a little creativity that is willing to put forth an effort has the ability to succeed. There are lots of small business opportunities ideas. No business is too small if there are potential customers who need your service. Just remember, a business that may seem too trivial to bother with may become the greatest success.

Choose something that you like to do, or something that you have a talent for. It is much harder to be successful if you hate your job. Are you one of those people who loves to shop? You know all the best shops to visit to get a great bargain, and if you could, you would spend all your time shopping? Why not open a personal shopper business? You’ll be amazed at how much business you’ll get.

Do you love being outside? Love to garden and have a green thumb? How about starting a business for lawn services? All you need are some well placed ads. There are lots of people who enjoy a well kept lawn; they just don’t want to be the one to do the work. Some people are not physically able to keep up with the yard work. Work as much or as little as you want, you’ll still make good money and you aren’t cooped up in an office all day. Whatever you choose, be sure to set up a website you may be amazed at how much traffic you get.

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

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