 New Business Start Ups
A Fresh Look at Million-Dollar Ideas
and the Next Big Thing
What will be the next million-dollar idea? Where will the next big thing come from? Here we take a look at fresh, sizzling ideas for new business start ups.The search for new business ideas is intense, but when a stellar concept takes off, it makes for a great ride.
Yes, there are good business ideas everywhere you look. The secret of a successful start-up is to solve a consumer problem, to solve it with finesse and skill, and to develop the tools and knowledge that makes you an authority for the consumer. It helps if the product or service cannot be copied easily, so that there are barriers to future competition. So here we brainstorm new business ideas and opportunities for you.
Start Up Ventures in the Color Green
The first theme of the decade is “green.” Green covers a broad range of environment-friendly products like organic clothing, natural dyes and non-chemicals, green housecleaning, green office supplies and green lawn care. Green products like aluminum water bottles, energy-efficient light bulbs and low-flow showerheads are already on the market. Green marketing emphasizes the social and environmental impacts of the product as well as its economic value. For both personal health and environmental health, more people are switching to green brands.
One potential lifestyle of the future is the green house, which will allow the consumer to be self-sufficient, to live a life without fossil fuels and to live “off the grid.” It will have solar panels, a windmill and a desalinization system. The green house of the future could also have a sustainable greenhouse and an environment-friendly waste disposal system.
Cars powered with hydrogen fuel cells, electric motors or bio-fuels will soon be a fact of life. Corn can be used as a source of fuel, and other plants like marsh grass also have possibilities as a source of fuel. What other plant life could be used as a source of automotive fuel? The infrastructure to support these green cars will require many bright new business ideas.
There are other socially conscious businesses for a startup entrepreneur. Another theme for a startup business is recycling. Recycling is moving in new directions, to inlcude recycled paper and furniture. Recycled copper and other metals are quite valuable in the marketplace. Products that can be recycled will be enthusiastically received by the consumer.
The market is looking for such things as clean air products, biodegradable plastics and better sewerage treatment. Perhaps, in due time, bottled fresh air will become as popular as bottled water.
Other green products are those manufactured without toxic heavy metals. Cadmium, lead, mercury, PCBs, lead, arsenic, brominated flame-retardants, all toxic, are still used in products like batteries, metal coatings, electronics, pigments and plastics. The consumer is eager to bypass these sources of potential contamination, if you can bring them a better product. New versions of conventional products that are manufactured without arsenic, mercury and lead will find a ready market. These products will benefit everyone, including the entrepreneur who brings them to market.
Innovation in Insurance and Real Estate
The insurance field offers innovative products for the entrepreneur. A few companies created a Pay-as-You-Drive program, with a new way of buying insurance. They charge for auto insurance based on how often, and when and where consumers use their vehicles. Consumers buy coverage in advance in increments of as few as 1,000 miles. Then, when their odometer reaches the thousand mile mark, the coverage expires. This plan has the potential to make an environmental impact as well, by rewarding drivers who use their cars less. What other services could be measured and priced by units of use?
Another business theme for the coming decade is the sub-prime mortgage lending scandal and the implosion of the housing market. With home foreclosures and a softer housing market, the falling prices and excess inventory of single-family housing may present investment opportunities. Houses available at lower prices will provide a speculative opportunity for an aggressive real estate investor. There is also likely to be an increased need for rental housing and apartments.
Start Up Business Ideas in Advertising
Although advertising is already pervasive, an excellent business strategy could be providing new venues for advertising placement. Advertising might be placed on airplanes, on floors, sidewalks and streets. There may be novel applications for advertising on buildings and electronic billboards, on napkins, on restaurant menus. We’ve sold the naming rights to our stadiums, and major corporations bought them. What about selling naming rights to our local school buildings and libraries? Could we sell naming rights to streets and highways? I’ve even heard about advertising placed in urinals, to take advantage of a “waiting” audience. How else could you sell advertising?
Starting a New Business as a Service Professional
The next theme for a successful startup business is services. Professional services and specialists are required more frequently in our complex world. Here are just a few of the opportunities for new businesses: college planning consultant, a remedial student teaching service, life coaches, self-help gurus, retirement planners, credit repair specialists, financial planners, therapists and counselors.
There are nail services located in airports and other high traffic area that offer a ten-minute manicure for the person in a hurry. For the person who needs a haircut, there are also hairPODs, portable hair salon units that can be set up anywhere there’s an electric outlet. What other professional services could you offer in a portable POD?
The lovely baby clothes that children quickly outgrow usually have lots of wear left in them. Is it possible to create a rental service for baby layettes? There are already diaper services. The parent could rent a size 1 clothing package. When your darling outgrows it, return the size 1 wardrobe for a size 2 wardrobe. Efficient, time-saving and maybe even a successful business model.
In the business segment of pet services, you could offer doggie day care, overnight boarding, pet hotels, pet-sitting, pet-walking and grooming for the furry and the feathered members of our families.
As baby boomers enter their declining years, senior care will be in high demand. If you enjoy working with seniors, there are many services you can provide for this group, ranging from group day companionship, in home visitation, custodial care, home nursing, and senior group homes.
Start Up Business Ideas in Foods, Groceries and Restaurants
We’ve seen banks, optometrists, and fast food restaurants located inside grocery stores. What other services would consumers use while they do their grocery shopping? Why can’t stocks and investment products be purchased at ATM machines with your ATM card or a bank debit card? The time may come when you get pick up a couple of shares of Google or a 6-month Certificate of Deposit as easily as you order a latte macchiato.
New food ideas are often breakthrough successes. Foods that provide a health boost could be your entry into the business world. Lately there has been much discussion of the health benefits of kefir, a soured milk product. The public is also aware of the benefits of juicing raw fruits and vegetables. Everything natural and organic is popular. The new sweetener Xylitol, which has been proven to prevent cavities, could move into the snacks and beverage market. Private label wineries have been very successful. Hand-crafted beers are brewing up profits with their small batches and unexpected flavors.
Today in the food industry, convenience is king. Very few families have the time or the skill to cook all their meals. They must rely on prepackaged and precooked items. Restaurants and ready-cooked food will meet the need of stressed out, over-booked families. More meals are eaten outside the home. And this trend is likely to expand. In the restaurant business, the selling point is fresh organic food, locally grown and in season. This concept is also making a success of farmers markets and green grocers.
Many successful ideas are modifications of existing ones. You probably know that kids are crazy about juice boxes. What about developing a “water box” of flavored waters, using the familiar box package. What other liquids could be individually packaged in a juice box, do you think? Iced chocolate drinks or flavored coffee for adult coffee boxes? What about adult beverages in a single-serving juice box?
Solar Energy and Home Improvement for Entrepreneurs
Some new ideas in the home improvement field are the trophy kitchen and the trophy bathroom. Manufactured stone in thin sheets for exterior siding is another new home improvement product. Granite, tile and stone countertops are in much demand for the kitchen. High-end kitchen design is another self-employment opportunity.
The most explosive idea for a money-making business startup could be solar power. The concept is still wide open and full of promise. Solar companies have done extremely well in the stock market recently, with some stock prices doubling and tripling. Consumer interest will grow as new solar products become more efficient and inexpensive alternatives for silicon are found. As of yet, few homes and businesses have taken advantage of solar power. Here is an opportunity waiting to happen for the enterprising entrepreneur.
We've talked about many novel ideas for turning a buck. Some people go hunting for diamonds, which have been found lying on the ground in the foothills of Arkansas. Some people base their hopes on buying lottery tickets. But when you start your own small business, you take your future into your own hands and make your own luck. You are more likely to be successful as a start-up business entrepreneur.
I hope life brings you much success. I wish you a very happy day.
----- Surfer Sam
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