Posted by on 03 Dec 2008 at 1:20 pm under Ideas, Advice
Canadian Business:
Ontario accountant Brian Allward turned his love of Elvis Presley into a global memorabilia business based in the appropriately named King City. In Burnaby, B.C., new mom Sandra Wilson transformed a pair of non-slip shoes she’d sewn for her infant son Robert into a full-time business called Robeez Footwear. And my brother opened his own bookshop after Mom told him to get his darn book collection out of the house before the bedroom floor collapsed.
Businesses big and small can grow out of simple pastimes. But do hobbyists make good entrepreneurs? Can people who are passionate about Elvis, sewing or old books become excited about marketing and cash flow?
It all depends on attitude. If entrepreneurs can subordinate their love of the hobby to the needs of the business, their energy and passion can go a long way. But you have to start making decisions with your head instead of your […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
Los Angeles Times:
Painting a jungle mural from a kit in the bedroom of her new twin grandchildren was giving the artist in Patricia Newton a pain in the neck.
Why was the lion frowning? What was with the toucan’s backward ankles? And, darn, that monkey was ugly! The former Walt Disney Imagineering designer couldn’t help but paint over the offending primate, put a smile on the lion and fix the bird legs.
Wowed, her son suggested she start a business of her own to design murals aimed at parents looking to create some low-cost magic in their kids’ rooms.
Four years later, Newton’s Elephants on the Wall business sells about $100,000 a year worth of paint-by-number kits. Her 96 designs include pirate ships, princess castles, mermaids and inquisitive mom-and-baby blue dinosaurs designed to look as if they are peeking out from behind a room’s door.
The designs, which cost $29.95 to $124.95, have been […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
The moment cellphones started coming with cameras and video, anyone who owned one suddenly had the ability to grab candid shots of any moment. This opportunity has spawned a variety of websites which offer people a chance to send a photo text message to a special email address or number which will publish that photo to their account automatically.
Built for competition, Moborazzi is a community made for those who can’t live without their camera phone. By clicking and sending the photo to the specified email address, it is then uploaded to your account and displayed for others to view. Although the website is less than a year old, Tom Boilard has continually worked to build Moborazzi into what he hopes will become a widely used service.
What inspired you to launch Moborazzi?
Just about everyone has a mobile phone these days and very few know what to do with […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
nwlanews.com:
For most people, juggling is difficult. For 20-year-old Ashley Carpenter, she juggles raising her daughter and running her own thrift store.
Those who stop by Beautiful Bowtique will find a shopkeeper that looks fresh out of high school holding a baby while haggling with them.
“I’ve always been an entrepeneur. Ever since I was little, I was always fund raising, there was a way of making money either through a Kool-Aid stand or washing cars or something,” said Carpenter.
That entrepreneur in Carpenter has caused her to open and run her own thrift and consignment store. After only opening Nov. 12, the store already has 30 consigners.
Carpenter wanted to own her own business in order to spend time with her daughter Mary.
“I did this for her, it’s nice to be with her. I didn’t want to put her in daycare,” said Carpenter.
With her husband several time zones away, Carpenter is essentially a […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
Market Watch:
Approaching the winter of this nation’s economic struggle, Jen Groover, fashion entrepreneur and creator of the handbag company Butler Bag LLC, credits her industry success going into the holiday season by adapting to the trend of consumers creating more worth for what they’re wearing.
Brand evolutionists like Jen Groover are meeting this need by providing solution-driven products like her most popular concept, a completely compartmentalized handbag collection, the Butler Bag. Giants of the fashion industry have been hit by the economic climate resulting in a leveling of the field — a shift in the brands consumers are buying. Jen Groover instantly recognized this shift and conquered it with the Butler Bag, a handbag collection that not only has an aesthetic value, but a functional attribute and a savvy price point.
The Butler Bag LLC became a multi-million dollar company in less than two years and is being tracked as one of […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
The Dallas Morning News:
If there’s a tween girl in your household, chances are you’ve heard of the latest rage: magnetic bottlecap necklaces.
What most Dallasites probably don’t realize is that they’re made right here, the brainchild of a Hockaday student.
Maddie Bradshaw, now 12, was doodling one summer when she came up with creative lapdesks, clipboards and frames, which she pitched to Camille’s Creations owner Camille Murphey back in 2006.
The bottlecap necklaces actually started out as locker magnets when Maddie couldn’t find any she liked for her fifth-grade locker. So she decided to make her own, and her uncle offered up bottlecaps from his gameroom Coke machine. Maddie says she remembers seeing bottlecap necklaces around, but none that were magnetic and could be easily swapped out.
Ms. Murphey, whose store is at 6110 Luther Lane, urged Maddie to sell them at Learning Express in Snider Plaza, where owner Kathryn Cook, a Hockaday alum, […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
We can thank the internet for giving us the ability to offer a voice to those topics which mean the most to us. If it weren’t for blogs and the bloggers behind them, many of us wouldn’t know how to share our thoughts with the world. While some topics are definitely much more popular than others, one thing holds true: if you have an interest, somewhere there is someone who shares it with you.
Loyd Schutte is the owner and blogger for Yosemite Blog, a website which gives its readers an inside look into Yosemite National Park.
Why did you decide to start blogging?
I blame Dane Carlson. He was the webmaster at a place where I started work as a graphic designer and he suggested I blog. I’d previously had over 30 free sites during the dot com era on the many free hosts that were available so blogging wasn’t […]
Original post by Angela and software by Elliott Back
Springwise:
There can be a variety of reasons consumers seek businesses that are open round the clock, whether it’s to pick up medicine for a coughing child or to find someplace to eat in the middle of the night.
Whatever the motivation, 2itch is a new Google Maps mashup that can help, offering a maps-based way to find establishments that are still open.
Launched late last month, 2itch displays all locations open 24 hours a day in many metropolitan areas across the United States.
Users simply double-click on the area of the map they’re interested in, or enter an address or ZIP code.
The ad-supported site includes a variety of hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and activities that are available round the clock, and users who come across others can add their own along with comments. 2itch’s beta version, launched in April, began with some 2,000 locations focused on its home […]
Original post by Rich and software by Elliott Back
Beth Harte At SearchEngineGuide.com:
Thinking about starting up a Twitter account for your business? Or considering allowing employees to use Twitter? Here are 10 tips to consider before getting started.
1. Decide before you join how you want to use Twitter. Will it be used for Customer Support (like Comcast does via @ComcastCares) or will it be used to offer promotional deals (like Zappos the on-line shoe site via @Zappos) or will it be to socially network to build up business?
2. If using a business name be sure to use something like “Name_Business Name” (Jane_ABCCompany). That way more than one employee can use Twitter and represent the company. Zappos does a great job with this one.
3. Be sure to use a photo (and not a logo), fill out the description (tell folks why they should be interested in following) and include a link to the company’s website.
4. Let everyone […]
Original post by Rich and software by Elliott Back
Associated Press:
Several men wordlessly carry out furniture, broken computers and boxes of garbage from a large blue house on a quiet upstate street on a brisk autumn morning. Rusting bikes and an old grill lay discarded in the overgrown backyard which is spotted with empty beer cans and crushed milk cartons. The mood is oddly serene as the men unload the remnants of what was one someone’s home.
Todd Drake, manager of Empire Real Estate Management in Latham, is overseeing yet another eviction. The home’s former owner has long gone, leaving just debris and an old phone number in his stead. After a county sheriff’s deputy checks to make sure no one is inside, crews head in to change the locks and clean out the refuse — also known as a “trashout.” Drake is stoic as he watches his crew.
“We’ve been butt-kicking busy,” said Linda Hall of All REO Preservation. “I […]
Original post by Rich and software by Elliott Back
Comments Off