60 Second Ideas

60 Second Ideas - A Pocket-Size Idea

                                        
                                       

Just how "niche" can the internet be? Well, consider this example. My wife is a medical professional and is always putting her pens into her lab coat opened and thus her coat suffers from the dreaded blue blots.

The simple solution: a pocket protector.

Well, try finding one.

After numerous calls to office supply stores and university stores, I was finally pulled into the search process. And of course, my first response was to hit the internet. A closed quote search on Google for: "pocket protector" came up with the cleverly named www.pocketprotectors.com
How simple was that? And this little site is a prime example of what I'm talking about in my 60 Second Idea. It ain't glamorous but it got our sale by offering a product that we needed. This, my friends, is a niche concept.

Oh, BTW, for those of you skeptical of just how large the "pocket protector" market is, last month on the Yahoo network, "pocket protector" was searched 1539 times!

Juggling The 9 to 5

                                                                      

                                                                     

Domestic Help has been around for centuries, but check out the "lifestyle management company of Burns and Bosett. The company helps clients juggle the 9 to 5 with everything from grocery shopping to full household management, bringing balance back into people's busy lives efficiently and discretely.

People are working longer hours, spending more time commuting and taking on additional work leaving little time for their equally important personal lives, leaving little doubt that services like Urban Angels will continue to grow.

Need more proof? The Mrs. Cleavers of the old, where mothers stayed home to manage children and household is a rarity. Today, of married employees, 78% have spouses that also work leaving nobody to handle the responsibilities of everyday life. Add to that  10 hours of commuting each week, transporting kids, cooking, laundry...well you get the picture.

Indeed, The United States recently passed a Senate Resolution declaring that reducing the conflict between work and family should be a national priority.

Study companies live Burns and Bossett carefully. Consider duplicating something similar in your local area. The market is there and startup costs are low.

All that is needed is you and the courage to act.

Links

http://www.burnsandbosett.com

What Will I Sell?

                                                    
                                                   

Michael Donahue suggests you may not have to look far to decide what it is you want to  sell. Listen to the 60 Second Audio Idea by clicking the play button above.
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An example of someone who hadn't "inventoried" themselves was a customer of mine who called to pay for an eBay purchase. She was a flight attendant and allowed that she was interested in selling on-line but was at a loss as to what to sell.
I asked her about her interests and she said that antiques were her passion. But the problem for her was that she was overseas 2 weeks per month and couldn't see how she could manage day-to-day sales. She also said she knew many overseas antique dealers as well as many dealers here in the states.
I suggested that instead of looking at direct sales, she look into acting as a liaison between the overseas dealers and the stateside dealers. She had a unique advantage that allowed her to be physically present in Europe twice a month and that this was a great business opportunity for her to act as a broker.
She agreed and actually phoned me several months later saying that she had lined up a number of deals whereby she was paid by both buyer and seller for putting the two together.
Often times, its not only what you know but how you think about it that puts you on the right track.