Exponential money generation is an old idea. Barely noticed by the average person, it is still the single most utilized concept by rich Entrepreneurs the world over.

When we put an amount of cash in the bank, the bank will offer us an interest payment for the use of that money usually in the range of 5-10% depending on the current level of the over night cash rate. This passive income is very useful on a large scale. For example a person with million dollars would be offered quite a bit more for the use of that sum however, at 7% the annual return is around 0,000 per year. That is a very useful sum to be able to utilize as discretionary income. Indeed one could live very well for the remainder of their lives with such a comfortable return simply by keeping their money with a bank.

The problem for most people with this desirable mechanism is that they don’t have ,000,000 in the first place. They don’t have nearly that much.

So the question becomes how to get it in the first place so money can be a concern of the past so we can get on with the more interesting activity of living.

If we put ,000 into a bank account and watched it grow exponentially at 10% we would at the end of 10 years be underwhelmed by the results. We would be the proud owners of ,000 Not bad, but certainly a long time to wait and not a particularly useful amount of money.

What if we tried 100% The result would be more astonishing I assure you. In ten years at 100% we would have over million dollars. OK this is getting fun. Lets try 500% how long would it take for it to get to million dollars at 500%? About 2 and a half years.

What about 1000%? around a year and a half.

What about if instead of annual we focus on monthly? But the second question is where are we going to find someone willing to pay us 100% per month for example. Nobody wants money that bad that they will be crazy enough to offer that sort of compounding. Or will they?

Exponential money generation is a concept that deals in found or created excess intrinsic value. Is the value of a dollar note any different to the value locked in the dollars worth of chocolate you just bought? No, its exactly the same. Except you can consume the chocolate but you can’t consume the dollar note. So the chocolate actually has more worth depending on circumstances and needs.

The point is that its value that we all want and need. Money is a numerical commodity that helps make value portable. But here is the thing that makes exponential money generation so lucrative. When value is stored in investment objects or assets, its measure is generally a perception. Unlike value when its stored in money itself, which because its numerical, it can be counted and has a fixed number that everyone can see. Would you swap 00 for 2? You wouldn’t specifically because you can see without difficulty that the trade is uneven. In fact you can see to very fine levels indeed. Even 9.99 is not a fair or even swap for 00

But what happens when you trade value in the form of an object for value that is in the form of money? Emotions and human perception has a large role to play.

You can definitely make a 100% return on your money per month if you so choose, this is the typical way entrepreneurs make their fortunes fast. Whether trading in boats, luxury cars, precious stones or property, the concept remains the same.

One million dollars in for example 12 months is not only possible but its quite likely using money leverage. Anyone can do it starting with virtually nothing. Its the decision to try that generally stops the non-believers.

To your health and rapid success,Martin Thomas(c)

About the Author

Martin Thomas is a professional investor. 5 years ago he was a broke insurance salesman but then he was given a book that changed his perspective. The book was given to him without hype by a friend. The book taught him how to make his first million in under 14 months. The book can be found herehttp://www.opportunity-investor.com

• ISBN13: 9780749460532
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

In this book, 30 successful entrepreneurs explain how they turned their dreams into reality. They tell how they decided what to do, how they got started, how they found the money they needed, and how they went about it. But they also reveal how they had doubts, made mistakes, and encountered frustrations along the way. Importantly, they also explain how they overcame these difficulties and turned a dream into a commercially viable reality.

List Price: $ 19.95

Price:

• Learn how to raise capital
• Write a business plan
• Create your own financial statements
• Worksheets included on decision making and management control

Become your own boss and realize the profit potential of your own ideas! 3.5 & 5-1/4″ disks.

Price:

1. A website where users can submit original songs and other users can listen, rate, comment, share, and chat with other users. Users can also create pages where they can post info, keep track of favorite songs, and find new band members. I have no coding experience. I would have to hire a web design firm, a elance person, or my cousin. I am limited with cash. I would make money by selling ad space and selling a pro membership if the site gets big enough. I like this idea!

2. I would create a website where people can buy, sell, trade, or auction off their websites. There are not many marketplaces for selling and buying websites except for a few that aren;t very good. Sitepoint.com does have a section on the site for selling and buying sites, but it is not their main focus. I think this site could be huge. I would hire a web design firm, and elance person, or my cousin to create the site. It should be easy since there are a lot of marketplace scripts around. I would make money from selling ad space on the site, and charging a small 4% fee to the seller once a sale is made. So if he sells his site for $20,000, I would take $800 and he would get $19,200 for the sale. I love this idea! I think it could make me six or more figures a year.

3. My last idea is to become a dealer of Kaeser and Blair. They sell promotional products to businesses like pens, hats, shirts, mugs, etc. with company logos on them. It costs $85 to become a dealer and you get a website, catalogs, and example items to show your clients. You then try to sell as much as possible, you get 50% of sales, and Kaeser and Blair makes and ships the products to your clients. They have been around for over 100 years. I know they are legit since i called the Better Business Bereau BBB of their location and the Chamber of Commerce. They were also featured in Small Business Opportunity Magazine SBO Mag for one of the best business to start up. I think this idea could make me some good profit.

Which idea do you think is the most profitable. I love all 3. I probably like the last two the best, since www.purevolume.com already exists for #1. Which idea should I do? Even if you dont think any would be good, which would you pick if you had to?

Thanks!

1. My first idea is a website where users can submit original songs and other users can listen, rate, comment, share, and chat with other users. Users could also create a page where they could post info, and find new band members. I like this idea since the only competition is www.purevolume.com. PureVolume is making $300 a day! If I make a better site, why can’t i make that or more? I would sell ad space on the site. Accounts would be free, but if the site became big enough, I would create a pro membership that costs money in addition to the free account. If you think this idea could be profitable, how should I go about creating the site? I got quoted 40-50k to build by a web design firm. Should I use Kickapps which lets you create a social network site where user submit content (videos, MUSIC, videos etc.) for a small fee? Should I hire a developer on rent a coder?

2. My second idea is a website where users could post, list, sell, buy, auction, and trade websites. An ebay or amazon marketplace for websites. Users would post the site link with info and a snapshot and price, and other users would buy the site if they wanted to. I would take a small 4% commision from the sale. I would also sell ad space on the website. This website has some competition such as websitebroker.com, flippa.com, and sitepoint.com, but the potential is huge, and there is room for another player. If you think this site is profitable, how should I build it? Should I hire someone or build it myself. If build it myself, how should I build it?

3. My third idea is to sign up for resellerdynamics. You pay $1000 to them and they give you liscense to re sell there website building software on your own website and charge fees per month. they were reviewed in small business opportunity mag as a good opportunity and bbb says they are legit.

4. My last idea is to make a website with lots of articles, reviews, comparisons, etc. on cell phones. I would also sign up to be an affiliate with verizon, att, sprint, etc., and sell phones on my site. I know there are a lot of competition out there such as phonearena, phonedog, cnet, and mobiledia, but each site doest the same thing as the other site, and they all are making great money. By the way, is a website like this or a website in general considered a company? Could you be a CEO of the company that runs the website. Like if I call the site www.sprocketfish.com, could I make a company called Sprocketfish Inc. that runs the website and could I be CEO of Sprocketfish Inc.?

I really want to make one of these websites with as low startup as possible. I know I would have to market like crazy and do site matinence, but please help me. My parents think i should do a business like normal teens where you mow the lawn, babysit, etc, but I really want to do online business and hopefully make a good living. I think my sites ideas have potential. Which idea should I do? Which idea is more profitable? Even if you think they are not profitable, which would you choose if you had to? How should I build it?

Thanks!

PS, I am becoming a dealer at Kaeser and Blair and selling promotinal products to get me some startup cash for my online companies (websites).

Thanks!!

For more details please email me at Collector4good@yahoo.com and reply to this question

Thank You,
Can anyone help me become an entrepreuner

There are many options available today for the new entrepreneur.  If you have a good investment set aside, you may consider franchising.  It is always better to go this route as your success potential is far greater than if you had to start a business from scratch.  You would obviously need a large amount of money for this as most good franchises don’t come cheap.  You would probably only start to see your profits after a couple of years, once all your start up costs are paid off, but if you are in this for the long term, in most cases it will pay off handsomely for you providing you have chosen the right business venture.

Once you’re an entrepreneur, you will be self-employed.  First and foremost, you must be able to work alone.  Your whole mindset will need to change.  Only you can make it happen, and you have to have the right attitude to make it on your own, or you will fail miserably.  Try hanging out with successful people for a start – this will motivate you to do better for yourself.  It would obviously be an added bonus if you have the support of your loved ones.

Research can be carried out with ease these days, thanks to the power of the internet.  If you conduct your search online, you will find many business ideas to start off your journey into Entrepreneurism.  One also has to be careful, as there are a lot of ventures and scams out there that just don’t work.  If the heading reads – get rich quick, or make 10 000K in your first month, don’t even think about it – most legitimate Business ventures require an initial investment, and then hard work and motivation to get to the top.

It’s easier to choose a business venture if you know what you would like to promote, or by using something that you have a vast knowledge on.  Investigate all your options fully before making a final decision.  True enough, franchising is a great idea, providing you have a lot of money set aside to invest.  By choosing this business alternative, you can be boss of your own destiny, and you can earn unlimited income, although it might take a couple of years before you see the rewards.

The smart entrepreneur, who has the funds at his disposal, will choose franchising, as it will require less work to get up and running.  An established business undertaking is less expensive and less risky.  But before you make a final decision, you must be able to weigh all the advantages as well as disadvantages.  This is an essential part of choosing the best business idea.

There are of course other options to buying a business.  If you don’t have thousands of dollars to lay out on a franchise, you could buy yourself a business with an already well known and lucrative company.  You would only have to pay your start up costs and monthly membership fees, and of course layout for any paid advertising you would like to do.  The payouts will be minimal when you start to see your hard work pay off ten fold.

Who We Are, What We Do and How We Do It?

Nowadays, it is possible for anyone who has the desire and the will, equipped with the proper education and training, to become a successful Internet-Based Entrepreneur.

Started as a single individual’s pursuit of secondary income, we are now one of the worlds fastest growing Internet Marketing, Education and Resource Company’s.  Found in well over 100 countries across the globe, we have organically grown by exercising a commitment to selfless sharing that has allowed us to leverage the business creativity of our greater community.

We start all new business owners off with a highly specified and acute marketing education curriculum not found in any traditional classroom.  We empower anyone with the capacity to turn desire into action to build a successful Internet based business.  A virtual university comprised of other like minded, self taught and tested entrepreneurs, who have extended their expertise and experience for the benefit of our members.

If you’re ready to see how joining up with this revolutionary partnership, and being a part of the most successful group of entrepreneurs in the industry is going to benefit you, visit http://ashes2riches.com

1. A website where users can submit original songs and other users can listen, rate, comment, share, and chat with other users. There will also be a page where users can keep track of their favorite songs, post info, and find new band members with the band member finder. I would make money from the site by selling ad space, and if the site gets really big, i could create a free and pro level membership (pro costs money). Pro members would get extra features. The problem is, since i have no coding or programming experience, I would have to hire a web design firm. A site like this, though, could cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, which I don’t have! My other options are hire a coder/designer/programmer from elance for a nice price, or hire my cousin who is at RIT for web design and programming. I think this idea could be profitable. There is not really competition execpt for www.purevolume.com I like this idea a lot!

2. A website where I would sell musical instruments. I would buy the instruments from a wholesale/dropship company and when i get an order, i give the order to the company who will send the item to the customer. I would buy them wholesale and sell them for profit. I, however, think this business is bad since i would be competing with guitar center, sam ash, www.musiciansfriend.com, amazon, ebay, and more.

3. There is a website called www.remote-backup.com. They provide people options to start their own business providing online backup services. They sell you a license to sell their software for $750 and you re sell the software on your site. You could charge a customer $25 a month for 10 gb of storage, and you would make some profit. Many people lose data everyday from viruses, hard drive crashes, theft, etc. This business would provide a solution. But, some huge competitors are mozy and snapfish and verizon’s new storage service. This could end up costing me 750 for nothing in return.

4. A website where a user can start/create a debate on two topics such as mcdonalds vs burger king. Other users can join the debate by posting arguments under the side they think is better. Example, if i like mcdonalds better then burger king, i post my reasons under the mcdonalds column for why i think it is better. This site could be usefull for many people such as shoppers who want to know what brand they should buy. I would sell ad space for this site.

5. I was reading Small Business Opportunities SBO Magazine, and they had a huge article on a new business opportunity. It is a company called www.resellerdynamics.com. They have a software that lets customers create their own website. They custom brand the software and give you liscense to resell the software for only $999. Once you pay you get a resellers liscense to sell the software, a custom website/hostin/and domain to promote the software to potential customers. You could charge $30 a month for the software and resllerdynamics only takes $10 for server stuff. thats $20 profit a month per customer. If you have 400 customers paying you $20 bucks a month, thats around $100,000 a year! This company is not a scam or pyramid scheme since I called the local BBB Better Business Beraue of the location, and they say the company has good reputations. I like this idea a lot since small business are looking for cheap ways to get a nice website up and running.

6. This last idea is one of my favorites. It would be a website/marketplace where people could buy/trade/sell/auction websites. The user could post a picture of the website, post info, and chose to either sell the site for a flat price, or start an auction for the site by placing a base price. There are already some sites that do this, but they are not that good function wise. www.sitepoint.com does have a feature where you could buy and sell websites, but that is not their main focus. I would make money from selling ad space, and charging the poster a small fee once a sale has been completed. I would hire my cousin to create this site, since it would not be hard to create since many auction and marketplace scripts are out their.

Which ideas do you think are most profitable? Which idea should I do? I love the music sharing site, website reseller, and the website marketplace idea (which is my favorite).

Even if you think none of these are profitable, what would you pick if you had to choose?

Thanks!

Can any one advise me on how to go about getting enough money to start up something small scale.

Between £5000 – £8000.

I know that there is a market for what im planning on setting up which is why im trying to take the opportunity to do it while i can its just i really don’t have the cash to start it up.

The economic recession is pushing more and more people to consider self-employment. Starting an online business is a very low-risk way to put your toe in the entrepreneurial pond because the start up costs are minimal, the overhead is low, and the returns can be high. Despite these benefits, however, an online business is just like any other and needs to be thoroughly researched before starting to determine if there’s a need in the marketplace and how viable the business idea is.

The Internet is rife with exorbitant claims of how much money can be made as an online entrepreneur and that you can be rolling in the dough by next week. Remember, most “overnight” success are 1, 2, or more years in the making, and online businesses are no exception to this rule.

How do you determine if your online business idea will sink or swim? Here are 10 steps you can take to test your idea without breaking the bank:

1. Research. Comprehensive research is always the first step for any business idea. Brainstorm a list of keywords someone might use to find the product/service that you’re offering, and then use a keyword tool finder to see how many searches have been done on these keywords. The keyword tool will also make suggestions of related keywords to try. Once you have a list of keywords, conduct searches (use quotation marks around your search term for stronger results) in Google, Yahoo, and MSN to see who else is out there. Evaluate the popularity of the sites you discover by checking out their Google Page Rank and Alexa ranking. Use the same keywords to see if articles have been written about your topic in the major article banks. You’ll uncover your competition in this research, as well as potential strategic alliances. Employ a powerful bookmark program to help you track your research results.

2. Monetize the idea. After completing your research, have you discovered enough competitors in the marketplace who are making money from doing something similar? If so, how are they making money — is it from the sale of info products, consulting services, subscription to their site, advertising, etc? If you don’t see much competition, that usually means one of two things:

a. There’s not enough demand for the product/idea or

b. You’re ahead of the curve in seeing the profit potential.

Unfortunately, in most cases, that result means that there’s not enough demand for your idea in the way that it’s been presented.

3. The “so what” factor. From your research you should be able to clarify what it is that you’re offering and what group of people need what you’re offering. In order to be successful, your offer must pass the “so what” factor in light of your competition. To take this test, you must successfully be able to answer the following question after telling someone what you do, “So what? How is that different from what x, y and z are offering?” You can answer these questions best if you review the benefits of what you’re offering (the What’s In It For Me) rather than just a listing of the features, and if you can speak from the heart about your idea. An online business will take time to manage and develop, so you want to settle on something that you love. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you quickly become a prisoner in a prison of your own making.

4. Industry information. Set up Google Alerts for your industry keywords and track them from info posted on websites, blogs, and newsgroups. Reviewing the alerts you receive over the next few weeks should help you expand your view of the problems/issues with your subject, help you see the “movers and shakers” in the industry, and help you discover other places (blogs, discussion forums, social networks) where your target market hangs out online.

5. Test the waters. The easiest way to test your idea is by creating a blog. Buy a keyword-rich domain name for the blog and map your blog to that domain. Then begin to blog about your insights on your topic, or reprint articles others have written on your subject. The idea here is to begin to establish your online presence and your online brand.

6. Build a list. Once you’ve got a blog set up, you need to begin to build your marketing list. The easiest way to do this is to create a free giveaway on your site (ebook, video, report, audio recording) and a form for the visitor to input his name and email address to receive your giveaway. Your privacy policy should be readily available to them and outline how you’ll use their info and what they can expect to receive from you. You’ll also need an email marketing service or shopping cart service to manage your list.

7. Crown yourself the expert. The only way to become an expert in an area is to believe that you are one. By virtue of the research you’ve already conducted, you know more than a large percentage of your target market. Therefore, don’t hesitate to begin to refer to yourself as an expert in your industry

8 Drive traffic. Once you build your blog, they (visitors) won’t come without some encouragement. Create profiles on prominent social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Start writing articles about your topic and submitting those to article directories. Discover if your target market hangs out on niche-specific social networking sites and start networking there. Interview experts in your industry and release the interviews as a podcast. Create a weekly email newsletter to stay in touch with the prospects on your email list. Create powerful inbound links by getting your blog listed on various blog and website directories.

9. Implementation time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a successful online business. Allow at least three months to give your idea a test run and evaluate it after that time. Have you been able to build a list? Are you getting traffic to your site? Are you attracting attention of others in your industry? If so, you’re ready to move to the next step.

10. Move forward. If you determine that your idea is viable, what’s next? Creating info products or a membership site? What are your longer terms goals to develop this idea into a business? The best way to harness all the info that you’ve collected thus far is to create a business plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated — it can be only one page, in fact. What you need to commit to paper is your offer, your target market, your ongoing goals for how to monetize the idea, and an outline of how you plan to grow the business over time.

It’s not too late to get your start in an online business. Don’t be distracted by the false promises of quick wealth overnight. Success takes time and planning, so invest some planning and research time into your business idea. That’s the strongest foundation you can create for yourself to become a successful online entrepreneur.

If you can form a business arrangement with the Russia business that is one more stream of profit that can be applied to doing similar efforts in war torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebenon, Jordan, Isreal, China, Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Checnia, Bosnia.

Who else wants to live in peace and prosperity?
ABE FOR PRESIDENT

I AM SERIOUS. SEE MY OTHER Q & A
How could I forget Palistine.

When I first started my little business from my spare room at home, I wanted to find a way of TESTING  my proposed news products and getting some quick feedback. So I decided to take a small stand at a trade show and meet my prospective niche market customers – to go where the demand was and see if the products were likely to get customers to part with their cash – by asking them face to face for their opinion. My assumption was that if I could find a trade show where people flocked who were actually in my target market – if my product was any good, I would make some sales and if it needed changes I could get on the spot feedback.

In fact I got far more use out of the trade show than I ever imagined. I had put together my first product, which I intended to show at the trade fair – but in addition, I had recently bought a license to some video tapes of a Bootcamp seminar that had been held in the USA  - an event called, if I recall correctly,  The Newsletters For Profit Bootcamp, hosted by some American Entrepreneurs. This was the overall video set’s title, but interestingly, in addition, EACH tape also had a different title of its own … just as a book has individually titled chapters.

I took a set of those tapes along and stuck them on a shelf at the back of my display – not really the actions of a supposed ‘Entrepreneur’ who should have known better-  but I’d come along looking for feedback on my main new product and that was my main focus. Now all I did … remember, having never done anything like this before … was to basically stick the full set of all those video tape boxes up on a shelf on the back wall of the stand I’d been given.  In fact, looking back I’d almost hidden them away from passing visitors. D’OH!!!

Not the brightest thing to do at a place where you have the opportunity to display your products to a hungry audience – but I was starting out and had no idea what I was doing. However, despite this something happened at that trade fair which made me begin to think differently.  I guess it was the seed of the whole cash-on-demand business model that I have since developed,  which from those early days as a pioneering, start-up, Entrepreneur, over 10 years ago, has gone on to make me a Multi-Millionaire.  So for that fact alone I’ll always be eternally grateful for trade shows.

Here’s what happened.  From all the video tapes I had on ‘display’ … and there were about 21 from the original Bootcamp set, if I recall … ONE seemed to catch everybody’s attention. Passers-by would often stop and say to me:- 

“What’s that?  That tape called “The Lazy Mans Way to Make Money? How much is that? Can I buy just that video?”

They were questions I was repeatedly asked over the 3 days.  Visitors to that exhibition – aspiring entrepreneurs looking for business start up products and services, wanted that one tape. They had NO idea what was on the tape. There was NO sales material. There was NO promotion of it. In fact, it really was just hidden away amongst 20 other tapes … and yet everyone wanted to buy ‘The Lazy Mans Way to Make Money’ tape.

I was amazed!  And it’s this which actually gave birth to my cash-on-demand marketing mindset… The first realisation of the power a title has … the power of the headline if you like … to draw in people like a magnet even when they don’t know anything about the product itself.

So what happened?  Well a few months after that trade fair at the NEC, I edited together some different video content…. only this time guess what I called the set? You’ve guessed it – ‘The Lazy Mans Way to Make Money’. It was a real no brainer.  After all, I ALREADY knew that the market would buy it. My experience at the trade fair told me that – it was definitely a hook. 

I knew DEFINITELY that there was a demand … almost irrespective of what was on the tape … all I had to do was offer it to the right audience and I’d have an instant winner! To cut a long story short I went on to sell thousands of that tape set … and have used similar titles on numerous products over the past few years.  All of which have also been incredibly successful too.

And all thanks to the fact that… Niche Trade Shows give you instant feedback…In fact, before I continue that’s an important point to remember.  Besides the obvious point of being able to place your niche product in front of a highly targeted audience who are already interested in the kind of thing you’re offering, there are some extremely important added benefits.

Niche Trade Shows offer you a fantastic opportunity to test products, to gauge reaction and, as in the case of my video tape, to uncover a little gem.

• 293 pages

Product Description
1,000 Dollars & An Idea – Entrepreneur to Billionaire by Sam Wyly – Expanded 2009 Edition – Hardcover – Copyright 2009… More >>

1,000 Dollars & An Idea – Entrepreneur to Billionaire by Sam Wyly – Expanded 2009 Edition – Hardcover – Copyright 2009

If you choose to try your luck at having your own business, start right by keeping your business idea fountain flowing. The many enterprises you see today, from the ones you see in your neighborhood to the ones you read about in the business section of various broadsheets, are once merely ideas; they are products of one’s fertile imagination and spirit of innovation.

Know Thyself

First things first, to be an effective business owner someday, you must know yourself. Ask yourself if you have even the smallest trickle of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. While not everybody can be a businessman, the good thing is everybody can learn the skills of how to be a good businessman.

Do you have foresight? Are you creative or imaginative enough to come up with new ideas and products? Are you courageous enough to face the challenges of running your own enterprise? Can you endure criticism and instead channel your frustrations to churning out more innovative business ideas?

Being an entrepreneur is not easy. And the very first step is to know yourself so that you can adapt your ideas to your personality. Thus, you will be able to upgrade your skills or choose a business that suits your character.

Be In The Loop

You would not want to offer fire proof paints with asbestos! Asbestos has been banned for decades now because it has poisonous side effects. To have great business ideas, you should know a lot about what is happening around you. Read the papers or visit trade fairs; this way, you will be sensitive to what is current and what could be the trend in the future in terms of products and services to offer.

Do Not Reinvent The Wheel

You can not offer baked goodies with holes in the middle and call them bread wheels. What you can do is try to improve or create unique toppings and syrups for your goodies and still call them donuts. Forty years ago, computers are found only in science fiction comic books. But today they are as essential as the cooking stove.

As much as your creativity can take you, come up with ideas of new products and services to offer. Nothing beats being the first in an industry. If not, your ideas should try to add more value to existing products and services. Like the story of cellular phones and cameras; they used to be two different gadgets, but now it is not uncommon to see camera phones.

Force yourself to think of new ideas and concepts. This will keep your idea fountain alive and flowing. Besides, it is always a good business sense to venture into new or improved product lines.

Join The Club

There is no point in having excellent business ideas without having the heart to start your own business. Turning the business switch on is different from just having the famed light bulb flashing inside your head. When you are actually starting and running your business, you get the feel of the industry you are in; more and more business ideas will pour out.

Always be aware and prepare yourself when that light bulb in your head blinks. You might never realize it but you will be at a crossroad between living your dreams and living in mediocrity. Good luck on your venture!

Picture it: 1838, London. M. CHARACTER has always lived a charmed life. He is the son of a nobleman, who’s also one of England’s finest entrepreneur, and he himself had been blessed with both brilliance and relative kindness. Thirteen years saw him a small, slender boy, with a constant smile on his lips, blah blah blah. Then, after running away because, despite being a nice guy and all, he’s a spoiled rotten, arrogant, naive, cry-baby, sore-loser, selfish brat, he gets attacked and is given a choice to live or die. He chooses the obvious one, but it’s not what he first thought. After two weeks of painful illness and transformation, he finally becomes a blood-thirsty, raging monstrosity who goes around killing orphan children and other easy targets and throwing their bodies into the River Thames. The story is basically about him trying to control his blood-thirst, falling in love with a human, and trying to avoid the Scotland Yard and keep them from incarcerating his ass Mild gore, some dark themes, told in third person, with a somewhat distant, semi-formal voice.

My vampires are: not sparkly, blood-thirsty, stronger, faster than humans, infertile, cold, deathly pale (save for after a fresh feed ;D), have a dulled conscience, have no reflection, are repelled by garlic, can be killed with a stake, can (after MUCH training) control wolves, bats, etc (think Dracula), can’t enter a house without permission, CAN go into the sunlight, though they can’t do anything and it’ll hurt like hell (parasol, please ) can’t enter churches, can’t touch holy water/crucifixes/any other religious artifact/ hearing prayers hurts them, they can eat regular food, etc.

No flames please, but any sort of criticism is respected and desired.
Also, please don’t steal my idea if you like it.
Miss Carrisa: This is true. But at least while taking advantage of the success, I’m doing it in a way that’s not pathetic and a complete disgrace, right? Plus, I wouldn’t say that. There are tons of people I know who actually like vampire books… just ones more along the lines of Rice and Stoker.
@ Michelle: the main “plot” of the story is running from the Scotland Yard (murder is BAD, says they), and I was considering whether to throw some badass vampire slayers in there. You’ve convinced me. The “romance” thing isn’t really romance… think of it as a strange, stalking obsession that’s portrayed as exactly that: a sick obsession that is morally corrupt and disgusting, even to the character himself (think Humbert Humbert from Lolita) it’s supposed to be a dark, sick obsession… not romance xD

These visions are wonderful and, in many cases, attainable.  In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are over 17.6 million businesses with one or more owners but no paid employees.      

So why are so many aspiring entrepreneurs left on the sidelines? 

It turns out, there are three reasons.  One, as you can imagine, is good old fashioned fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of failure.  Believe it or not, fear of success.  The second reason is a lack of knowledge.  “Where do I start?” “I don’t have enough resources.”  “I don’t know anything about marketing.” And the third reason, which I will be discussing in this article, is about the business idea, itself. 

Business Idea Paralysis

What is business idea paralysis?  Quite simply, it’s a condition that prevents people from starting a business because they get held back in the idea generation stage.  Basically, they are stuck in neutral.  Below are the two most common reasons why:

 The Pet Rock Syndrome

In 1975 a gentleman named Gary Dahl created a product called the pet rock.  Many of you have probably heard of it.  In case you haven’t, it was nothing more than a rock set in a box on some straw.  Within 6 months, Dahl had sold over 5 million of these pet rocks for $3.95 each.  It cost him less than 30 cents to produce the rock.  So, when you do some basic number crunching, he made over 15 million dollars in just 6 months – selling rocks.   

What does this have to do with anything?  Well, quite a bit actually.  Imagine how much your life would change if you could sell something as simple as a rock and become a multi-millionaire in just 6 months.  Pretty tantalizing isn’t it?  Unfortunately, it has tantalized people so much that they never end up starting a business.  They only end up chasing their own “pet rock” gimmicks that never catch on.

The reason is simple.  Some people just haven’t been blessed by the idea gods.  The gods have failed to spring upon them the multi-million dollar idea that they believe they need.    No matter how hard they try to come up with the next pet rock, they can’t.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at how many get-rich-quick schemes are being sold today.  If people can’t think of the next great idea, then they will buy the idea from someone else.  Well, guess what?  It doesn’t work.  Mr. Dahl was an aberration.  He hit the winning lottery ticket.  Chances are you won’t.

After you have wiped the pet rock syndrome from your head, beware of the next, equally as paralyzing syndrome that can keep you from getting to business with real, tangible ideas. 

Peace, Love and Happiness Syndrome

On the other end of the spectrum we have the peace, love and happiness camp.  This group is a little more realistic in their pursuit of a business idea.  Their problem, however, is that they love too many business ideas.  In fact, they love them so much that they can’t decide on the best one.  They become paralyzed by trying to figure out which idea is best, and ultimately, never try any of them.

These types of people, I have found, are extremely visionary.  They love to explore all of the different business angles and long term visions.  The problem is they don’t take action because their heads are filled with amazing ideas and forecasts for success.

If you fall into this camp, I have bit of advice.  Stop it!  You need to choose an idea and then let your mind run wild within the boundaries of that idea.

How Do You Find the Right Business Idea?

There are two schools of thought on how to come up with the right business idea.  I’ll discuss them below:

The Traditional Approach

The traditional theory for finding the right business idea states that you should find a need and fill it.  In other words, you need to pay attention to your surroundings and look to see where there might be an opportunity to offer a new product or service that people may need.  Once you do, that’s what you will build your business around. 

There is no question that this method of generating business ideas work.  It has led to many great inventions and innovations over the years.   It is for this reason that pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars.  They develop new drugs to satisfy a need, such as a heart condition.  You can also see the traditional approach at play with today’s green technologies.  New, “green” businesses are trying to fill the need for clean, renewable energy.

There is one problem with this method, however.  It can be quite expensive and time consuming.  First, you have to develop the product or service.  This includes spending a lot of time and money on market research and sampling.  Second, you have to spend a lot of money on marketing to not only introduce the product or service, but to also convince people that they really do need it. 

If you’re a typical entrepreneur with limited funds and expertise, this may not be the best method of generating business ideas. 

The Give Them What They Want Approach

There is a second school of thought about coming up with a business idea that in many ways is far less risky and is much less expensive.  This theory is based on the idea that you should come up with an idea that already exists.  Or, simply put, offer people a product or service that they are already buying. 

Wait a minute, you may say, but doesn’t that mean there is more competition?  Isn’t the market already saturated?   Um, I would reply, tell that to Netflix. 

In 1997 the originator of Netflix reportedly hit upon the idea for movie rental-by-mail when he was forced to pay $40 in fines after returning an overdue videotape of the film Apollo 13.  Renting movies was not a new business “need” that needed to be satisfied.  In fact, Blockbuster had been renting movies for over 10 years, and in 1998 had served nearly 60 million people who rented more than 970 million movies and video games.  Netflix took a proven market (movie rentals) and simply enhanced the service by offering movie rentals by mail, with no late fees.  The result:  today, Netflix has over 10 million monthly subscribers while generating  an annual revenue of over 1 billion dollars.  Blockbuster, on the other hand, is struggling to stay afloat. 

The point is that if you know what people are buying, a good business idea is nothing more than simply enhancing the product or service and/or marketing message.  It’s a lot less risky and more often than not, a lot less expensive. 

So, what is a perfect idea?  Each individual entrepreneur has their concept of the perfect business.  While Google is a great business for the founders of that company – it may not be a great business for others that are non-tech savvy or who do not want to run such a large organization.  

Therefore, each perfect business is defined by the business owners.  Keeping this in mind, let’s start on my five concepts of finding the perfect business: 

Number One – Understanding your customer:  This might seem strange to start here as how do you know your customers before you have a business idea in place.  The answer is simple – your customers make the business, therefore without customers there is no business.  If you have a business idea don’t try to develop the idea around what YOU think potential customers will like or need, but find out what your customers actually desire.  Too often business owners get an idea in their head and jump right in with both feet.  However, they soon find out that their target market does not want what they are offering.  Spending both time and money on a project just to see it languish is not the perfect business idea. 

Moreover, let’s say you don’t already have an idea – getting out and understand consumers (those who will eventually become your customers) may lead you to the perfect idea.  Knowing what potential consumers need and building products to meets those needs will get customers beating a path to your door – that is a perfect business idea. 

Number Two – Passion:  Passion here does not mean being fanatical about your product or service.  But, it does mean having some interest in what you do. More times than not, you will be spending 15 to 18 hours a day working on your business in the beginning – usually for the first 12 to 18 months (more like 2 years in this economy).  You have to constantly be thinking about ways to improve and grow your business as well as be out talking about it to everyone, everywhere. If you end up starting a venture that you don’t have passion for, something that does not make you jump out of bed each morning, it will be very hard to put in the hours and energy to make it successful – thus not a perfect business idea. 

Number Three – Understand Your Competition:  Every business has competition – either direct or indirect.  Think about movie theaters.  They have direct competition from video rental stores or at home television.  They also have indirect competition from any other activity that consumers spend their disposable income on like bowling, paint ball, golf, etc.  Anything that people do in their spare time. 

Further, some competitors are ruthless.  Meaning that if you promote and offer a product that is similar to theirs but at a lower price, these competitors will just lower their price to match or beat you.  If they are already established businesses – they may be able to undercut your price enough to drive you out of business.  

If you don’t know your competition – what they are willing to do to keep you out of their market – you may be spending more of your time in a pricing war then growing your business – not the perfect business idea. 

Number Four – Cash Flow:  Lots of entrepreneurs enter the business world with great ideas but very poor understanding of the capital it will take to get their venture off the ground.  Most will prototype their product or service and understand what it takes to make the product or provide the service but they don’t understand the capital it takes to manage the rest of the organization – including marketing (very expensive but extremely necessary), employees (more than just salaries or wages), insurance or supplies and all the little miscellaneous expenses that add up very quickly like phone, internet, computer services, etc.  Knowing your total cash flow will help ensure that all of your costs (variable and fixed) can be covered by the business – the perfect business idea.  I have seen way too many businesses with great products fail because they could not cover simple expenses like rent or utilities. 

Number Five – You:  Know who you are.  Know your strengths and weaknesses.  Know that you are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to make your venture a success.  I have worked with many business owners in the past that think all they have to do is hang out their shingle and they have it made.  Thus, when it comes down to actually running the business day-to-day – they are unwilling to invest the time, energy or money necessary for success.  Thus, know how hard you are willing to work. 

Moreover, know your personal financial situation and what you need the business to generate to cover your lifestyle.  If you think your business will pay you a great salary from day one – it will not.  And, if you need it to, it is not the perfect business idea for you. Take away outside distractions like your personal financial situation – get those in order – thus, when your business concept does materialize – you will be able to solely focus on its conception and growth.  In the end providing you the financial security you are seeking – it will be the perfect business idea. 

Regardless of the level of your desire for your business – a lifestyle mom and pop operation or a multi-national conglomerate – if you develop a business idea with these five concepts in mind – your idea will be the perfect business idea for you.