Notes from the Journey of the Radio 702 / Cape Talk Money Show R1000 ($100) Business Startup Challenge
How I made a Profit in just 6 Weeks and How You Can Too
Tips for Micro-business Entrepreneurs
Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts

Friday, November 16, 2012

Brilliant Business Blogs

I believe it is important to gain inspiration and wisdom by continuing personal education through reading books, blogs, websites, and keeping oneself updated in whatever your chosen field by continuing to attend seminars, conferences and possibly continued further studies.

One of the people I am inspired by is Peter J Daniels, a billionaire Australian who made most of his money before 1990 in property. At that time he owned more property and employed more people in Australia than any other individual. He is now a philanthropist. I heard he never borrows money, he LENDS money to banks! He has written a number of books, the one I enjoy the most is "How to be Happy though Rich".

Here are a few Brilliant Blogs written by women entrepreneurs that are inspirational and have great tips for small business:
The Suitcase Entrepreneur Natalie leads an inspiring business, generously gives practical tips and travels the world, while continuing to be a motivated ambassador for women around the world
She Takes On the World An award winning blog written, named by Forbes.com as one of the Twenty Best Marketing and Social Media Blogs by Women. This blog is written by a team of women who do an amazing job of supporting and inspiring women entrepreneurs. It features interviews with fabulous women entrepreneurs, business resources, and a free directory for women-owned businesses.
Women on Business Reading Women On Business is a like having your own personal mentor. It is written by powerhouse entrepreneur and author, Susan Gunelius, along with other guest contributors.
The Boss of You Co-written by successful entrepreneur duo, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears, The Boss of You is all about learning to run a business doing what you love.
Successful Blog Liz Strauss delves into one of the most important parts of building a business –building a base of loyal customers. This woman has heart and reaches out to people in amazing ways.
Market Like A Chick Coree Silvera, tells it like it is and examines marketing from a female perspective. Great tips on social media marketing although the last post was in 2010 and the info may be a little out of date (things change so rapidly in the social media spectrum!) She focuses on internet marketing but also writes about business and interviews top women in the marketing industry.
The Barefoot Executive's Blog Carrie Wilkerson has built several successful businesses and now coaches others to do the same. Her blog is a must read for work-from-home women.

I am inspired by these writers and I hope some of them help you too! Although it isn't easy to find time in a busy schedule to read, if you can, they could be a source of great advice, humour, learning, help you grow your business and may provide you with a wonderful network of entrepreneurs.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

77 Low Cost Business Ideas


  1. Adventure Tours
  2. Airport Shuttle
  3. Antiques
  4. Arts & crafts business
  5. Bookkeeping
  6. Business support
  7. Caregiver for Handicapped or Elderly
  8. Cart/kiosk (e.g. roadside hotdogs, boerewors rolls, samoosas)
  9. Child-care
  10. Children’s Fitness
  11. Children’s Theme Parties
  12. Children’s Transportation
  13. Cleaning Offices or Homes
  14. Computer Repair
  15. Computer Tutor
  16. Consulting
  17. Custom Jewellery and Accessories
  18. Desktop publishing
  19. Direct sales
  20. Dog Day Care
  21. Dog Obedience Training
  22. Dog Walking Service
  23. Drycleaning/laundry pickup and delivery
  24. eBay, BidorBuy, Alibaba
  25. Espresso/Coffee Cart
  26. Event planning
  27. Executive Search
  28. Financial Advisor
  29. Fitness Training
  30. Food (eg cupcakes, sweets, etc)
  31. Freelancing your expertise (eg social media consultant)
  32. Gift basket
  33. Golf club cleaning
  34. Grocery Shopper
  35. Handyman
  36. Hobby business (e.g. jewellery making courses)
  37. Home and Office Organiser
  38. Home Decorating
  39. Homestaging (Preparing a house for sale)
  40. House Cleaning
  41. House Painter
  42. House Renovations contractor
  43. House Sitting
  44. Interior designer
  45. Landscaper/Garden services
  46. Language Translation
  47. Manufacturer's rep
  48. Meal Preparation
  49. Medical claims
  50. Mobile carwash
  51. Mobile Massage
  52. Mobile Mechanic
  53. Mobile photography
  54. Office Relocation Service
  55. Organizer
  56. Personal Chef
  57. Personal concierge
  58. Personal shopper
  59. Pet Care
  60. Pet Sitting
  61. Picture Framer
  62. Pool cleaning services
  63. Relocation Services (liaising with International Trade / Embassies)
  64. Restaurant Delivery
  65. Seamstress/Tailor
  66. Security specialist
  67. Self-defence instructor
  68. Seminar production
  69. Shopping Shuttle for Retirement Homes/Villages
  70. Sports business (e.g. “Walk/Run for Life”)
  71. Sports Instructor (Tai-Chi, Kickboxing etc)
  72. Transcription service
  73. T-shirt Design
  74. Tutoring service
  75. Wedding consultant
  76. Window Washing
  77. Windscreen repair

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

How to get an Idea for a New Business


The first thing when starting a new business is to have a great idea. But how do you get to that? There are two ways (of many, I’m sure). One way, is to find your passion. What are you passionate about and love doing? Very often if you pursue your passion, the money will follow. A school friend of mine loved running (in fact, won the Comrades Marathon at least twice and started a Running Franchise). Secondly, find a problem to solve. The bigger the problem, the greater the reward.

Another friend of mine found himself a number of years ago in a place where quite a few of his friends were unemployed. So a group of  5 or 6 of them decided to lock themselves away in a room for 4 days and the objective was to brainstorm and get an idea for an online business, have set up a website with credit card facilities, and sold ONE item off that website within the 4 days. But they had no idea yet what business it was going to be. By the end of the 4 days, they’d achieved their objective, and sold 1 product online, off the website. That website was www.bugzapper.co.za 

This experience made them realize that it works, and very soon they opened another website. In the first year they only sold 1 item off the website. But things have grown exponentially since then, that company has become quite well-known in South Africa (and is selling internationally too), they now source their products from all over the world and were one of the sponsors for MasterChef South Africa which aired recently. Yes, it’s www.yuppiechef.co.za a company that is experiencing exponential growth!

There are so many ideas out there. I believe that in the next 5 years there are businesses that will start with technologies that we haven't even heard of yet.