Start-Up, Existing Business and Franchise Ownership Options

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A new focus on start-up companies - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

An important strategy for job growth in Wisconsin is increasing our support for high-potential entrepreneurs and the businesses they start and grow. Wisconsin's dedication to keeping our best and brightest talent and business growth opportunities within our borders is seeing some early positive results. But while we make progress, there is still much more we need to do to support entrepreneurial business growth in the state.

Other states throughout the United States are actively developing support and investment programs recognizing that almost all net new job growth comes from new companies. They are competing with Wisconsin to develop their entrepreneurial ecosystems to attract and retain talent and jobs to build industries and economies for the future.

Wisconsin had the fourth-best improvement in entrepreneurial activity in the nation in 2011, according to the Kauffman Foundation's annual index of entrepreneurial activity, moving Wisconsin from 47th to 40th in the performance of starting new businesses.

Wisconsin also dramatically improved its ability to incubate businesses, moving up to 29th among all states from 43rd in 2010, according to an annual competitiveness measure released by the Beacon Hill Institute.

While these improvements are solid indications of the improving climate in Wisconsin for new business starts, all measurements of our state's competitiveness identify the need for increasing the availability of much needed capital for seed, early and mid-stage companies. Gov. Scott Walker and legislators on both sides of the aisle recognize that we need a proactive, strategic and rapid approach to increasing this investment capital to spur high-growth, entrepreneurial business and job growth opportunities.

To accomplish that, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is proposing for the coming legislative session early next year to repurpose a portion of unused investment tax credits previously authorized in a creative and high-impact way.

The Wisconsin Angel & Seed Acceleration Program - or ASAP! - will be leveraged with private-sector investments to significantly increase funding to talented entrepreneurs in a much more timely manner than what presently exists. Rather than grants, the leveraged co-investment from ASAP! will be in the form of equity with profits returned directly to the state. This will facilitate a much more efficient path to getting promising opportunities launched and growing.

WEDC will continue to pursue broad policy initiatives that in clude ASAP!, along with a venture capital-level strategy to support emerging early- and mid-stage companies by providing expansion capital for when companies have proved their products and markets and have begun ramping-up manufacturing and shipping goods to customers.

The WEDC, created last year through Walker's job growth initiative, has a comprehensive strategy for fostering start-ups and spurring investment in growth-oriented businesses, especially in high-tech and other high-potential industries, where accelerated job growth and high job multipliers are most likely to occur.

One tactic includes aggressively utilizing the successful Angel Investment and Venture Capital Tax Credit Programs to encourage investment into high-tech businesses that have strong growth potential. Since 2005, 195 entrepreneurial companies have been certified to receive tax credit for their investors. This has leveraged more than $163 million in private-sector investment into those companies creating over 900 new jobs in our state.

WEDC also utilizes the Technology Development Loan Program, which supports companies through their research and development and provides funds targeting the commercialization of innovative technology products. These programs, tied with others that support new and expanding businesses, have all helped to change the course in Wisconsin to a place where entrepreneurs can have confidence in starting and building companies for the future.

WEDC is taking other innovative steps to support new business growth, such as partnering with VETransfer, Inc., a one-of-its-kind incubator/accelerator based in Milwaukee to help Wisconsin veterans start businesses. WEDC is also developing plans to support technology accelerators to provide businesses model training and knowledge that entrepreneurs need to create a sustainable and profitable businesses.

Wisconsin is positioned for continued success for entrepreneurial growth. We have the entrepreneurial spirit. We have tremendous research and idea development through our academic systems. We have a growing angel investment community and entrepreneurial support network. We have the capability for innovative leadership through the WEDC and its partners throughout the state. And we have an improved business climate.

The time is right for Wisconsin to step up its investment in our innovative and high-potential entrepreneurs. The return potential is great through job creation, added tax base, growth in our state's GDP and financial return on investments made directly back to the state. The WEDC is taking a leadership role in making Wisconsin a great place to launch and grow innovative businesses. We look forward to collaborating with our partners throughout the state as we continue to make improvements in our business climate and realize our potential as a leader in creating opportunities for our citizens.

Paul Jadin is chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

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Hot Dog Carts Sell Two Billion Hot Dogs a Year and Are a Prime Business Startup Opportunity, Says Shoestring Publishing in a New Course - YAHOO!

According to research from Shoestring Startups, there are some small businesses which defy the recession.

(PRWEB) April 25, 2012

Hot dog carts sell two billion hot dogs every year, according to Shoestring Publishing, and a single hot dog cart can make thousands of dollars a month part time. This is the basis for a new course from Shoestring Publishing that teaches anyone how to start a hot dog cart business easily. The course is called "Hot Dog Cash" and sells for only $17, including over ten free bonus courses for startup entrepreneurs, all designed to prepare the person taking the course to start a hot dog cart business in a very short time with very little startup money.

The course was created by millionaire entrepreneur Perry Wiser, who created the course “Hot Dog Cash” along with several other successful hot dog cart operators who found the business to be easy and recession-proof. The teachers have experience with many types of startups and put their experience into their courses. What is a hot dog cart? Mr. Wiser says the hot dog cart business is a startup that allows the individual to take a cart anywhere there are people and sell hot dogs, which are low enough in price that they sell even during a recession. “People have to eat!” Mr. Wiser reminds his students. The course is called “Hot Dog Cash” and is a complete guide to starting a hot dog cart business startup from scratch.

Mr. Wiser says, “Hot dogs have been sold for hundreds of years and will be sold for hundreds more. The hot dog has become an American standard and everybody loves one, especially from a good hot dog cart vendor. Works even when the economy sucks - because the price points are so low on hot dogs, it's pretty much a recession proof business. And in the kind of economy that we're in right now you just can't afford to be in anything else.”

The methods in the course tripled Mr. Wiser's revenues and are more than just instructions on how to start a hot dog cart business. Mr. Wiser says, “These methods are insider secrets that reveal how to get the maximum income from this hot dog cart startup business. Nobody has ever went broke selling hot dogs. Almost two billion hot dogs are sold every year from hot dog carts. You'd never think the hot dog business could be that big of an industry. I started my first hot dog cart business over 20 years ago in Orlando, Florida. Over the years I've operated, owned, bought and sold several hot dog cart businesses. I've become the top dog in the hot dog cart industry, as a matter of fact, in the United States.”

The course teaches that the hot dog business has many benefits, Mr. Wiser explains. "You can be 100% recession proof, fast to start (About 2 Weeks), dirt cheap start up costs, no special education or experience is needed, hot dogs are always in demand, and it is very high paying. You can be your own boss, have flexible hours (work when you want), move and setup wherever you want, grow it however big or small that you want, and it's easy to sell when you're ready to move on."

For more information about the course “Hot Dog Cash - How To Start A Hot Dog Cart Business,” visit the webpage.

About Shoestring Publishing

Shoestring Publishing brings the very best in business startup courses to the public. The recession has increased the number of people wanting to start their own businesses and Shoestring Publishing provides the books and courses to help people setup their own startup business, and to explain how to start a startup. Shoestring has many courses that are easy for most people to implement.

Justin Douglas
Shoestring Publishing
512-410-0161
Email Information

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Cal Poly online business startup Haberdash aims to help users pick a wardrobe - San Luis Obispo Tribune

Mike Viheula is working on a project that combines online clothing shopping with social networking. The company’s logo is something like this.

Since winning San Luis Obispo’s first ever Cal Poly Startup Weekend in late January, the Haberdash team and its founder, Mike Viheula of Paso Robles, have been working to get their intuitive “fashion DNA” online application up and running.

More than a month has passed since the Haberdash team beat 11 others at the startup event, where the team developed a program that would help people pick a wardrobe.

In the meantime, Viheula and his team have learned how meticulous starting an online business can be.

More than 80 participants on 12 teams presented their prototypes at the three-day January gathering, which is planned as an annual event, according to Cal Poly officials.

A panel of four judges — faculty and local business executives — critiqued teams on customer validation, business models and execution. Mentors worked during the weekend to coach teams and guide them through problems.

As the winner, the Haberdash team will have the opportunity to continue to refine its product through the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac program, thanks to a donation by the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Viheula and his team, four of whom are freshmen engineering majors at Cal Poly, have run into many of the obstacles new companies face.

Examples include locating funds, balancing schedules and working out the quirks on the technical side of things, but Haberdash hopes to have the private data it needs to run by the end of April.

Haberdash, which will be developed into an online, iPhone and Android application, can initially be understood by its slogan, “Discover your fashion DNA,” but most may need a further explanation.

“In the presentation, I described it as solving the same problem for your wardrobe as Pandora solves for music,” Viheula said, referring to the online music-streaming service.

Pandora picks music for its users by starting with a single song or artist as a style reference, then fine tunes the selections.

Haberdash’s functionality as a digital wardrobe is largely based around Pandora’s structure.

By feeding off user-provided data, the team’s own “intelligence apparel algorithm” will be able to suggest which styles of clothing best suit individual users.

It is an industry with unlimited growth potential because a large percentage of shopping is done online these days, Viheula said.

Although women’s apparel will remain the dominant demographic of the industry, Haberdash will market its product to 18-to-40-year-olds who are computer savvy.

Last month, a marketing opportunity presented itself in which Viheula — founder of Viheula Winery in Paso Robles — spent several days in New York City meeting with investors, designers and fashion bloggers.

Although the winery is not this entrepreneur’s first priority (he has sold it to his parents), he admits that it was, and will continue to be, a great way of getting his foot in the door to the fashion community.

Since his trip to New York, Viheula has been working on an executive summary that he hopes will attract investors.

The summary includes: what the Haberdash product is, who its competitors are, what the market opportunity is, who is leading the team, how much money it is seeking and how the team would be using that money.

Viheula said his startup would probably seek between $300,000 to more than $1 million from investors.

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Startup Weekend Bahrain Providing Business Opportunities for Aspiring Entrepreneurs - Zawya.com

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First event of its kind for Bahrain organised by BATELCO
Manama, Bahrain: Bahrain Startup Weekend, organised by Batelco in cooperation with Tenmou, is attracting much interest from aspiring entrepreneurs and skilled professionals of all ages, with many participants already signed up to participate in the event.

Startup Weekend Bahrain will take place on November 17, 18 and 19 at the Batelco Staff Centre in Hamala and form part of Global Entrepreneurship Week with more than 40 StartUp Weekends taking place globally to mark the occasion. The focus of the event is to discover entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs and assist them on the road to establishing successful ICT and e-business enterprises. Participants with marketing, public relations, business development, web design or application design skills are also required, as a wide range of skills are needed to form teams to develop the variety of business ideas.

The teams will have the opportunity to win cash prizes, funding and technical support to put their business plans into action. The winning team will receive a cash prize of BD4000, second prize is BD2000 and third prize is BD1000. Additionally the first three teams will be given free enrollment into Bahrain Development BankBahrain Development Bank's (BDBBDB's) Entrepreneurship Development Programme. Furthermore, all teams will have the opportunity to benefit from funding from Tenmou of up BD20,000 and BDBBDB will be evaluating the projects during the judging session to see if they qualify for the Pre-Seed Capital Support Scheme, that is jointly run with Tamkeen and which includes a grant of up to BD5000.

Participants of all nationalities and ages are invited to visit the Startup Weekend Bahrain web page (bahrain.startupweekend.org) to learn more about how Startup works and register to attend and participate. Interested parties may also keep up to date with details by following the progress on the Facebook page (facebook.com/StartupWkndBH) and Twitter (@StartupWkndBH).

Startup Weekends are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if their ICT or e-business ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business, marketing or non-technical backgrounds.

Beginning with brief pitches to outline their idea on Thursday, attendees aim to inspire other participants to join their team. Over Friday and Saturday the teams will focus on customer development, validating their ideas and building a minimal viable product before presenting their prototypes and receiving valuable feedback from a panel of experts who will select the winning ideas.

Batelco Group General Manager Media Relations Ahmed Al Janahi explained that it's not necessary for participants to have a business idea or plan of their own in order to enter the event as everyone will be placed into teams on the first day of the event.

"Many skills such as marketing, public relations, business development, web design, and application design etc are required to get an idea into plan; therefore a wide range of skills is needed as part of each team, which can have up to ten members."

"It has been found in numerous events that have taken place all over the world that about half of Startup Weekend participants attend the events to learn a new skill, learn how to develop a product, or learn how to start a venture--there are many opportunities to share experiences and learn from each other and from the mentors and judges who will be on hand," Mr. Al Janahi said.

Bahrain Startup Weekend has attracted excellent support to date with speakers and mentors from leading companies including Mumtalakat, Microsoft, Ericsson, BDBBDB, O2, Venture Coms, Dynavate Technologies, 4 Spots and Batelco, all volunteering their time to support the teams in developing their business ideas.

Batelco has also received an outstanding response from local companies who have pledged their sponsorship and support to ensure the success of the Bahrain Startup Weekend.

Platinum Sponsor: Mumtalakat

Silver Sponsor: Ericsson

Bronze Sponsor: The General Organization for Youth & Sport (GOYS)

Technology Partner: Microsoft

Strategic Partners: Bahrain Development BankBahrain Development Bank (BDBBDB) and Tamkeen

Contributing Partners: Gulf Air, Nescafe, Red Bull, GMI, University of Bahrain, Expression Computers, Mathias Tourism, Aries Designs &Trading, Union Press, Palace Enterprises, Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa and the Intercontinental RegencyBahrain.

Media Sponsors: GDN, Gulf Weekly, CoEds, Business In Gulf, Al Watan, Al Ayam, Akhbar Al Khaleej, Al Wasat, Daily Tribune, Radio Voice and Amwaj TV.

"We extend our great appreciation to the companies that have committed their support to help us deliver such a worthwhile event that will undoubtedly benefit all the aspiring entrepreneurs who take part," stressed Mr. Al Janahi.

Organisations such as Tenmou, BDBBDB and Tamkeen , who are participating in the event, hope to find new startups to fund and support. These organisations have established programmes to offer advice and support to innovative entrepreneurs to help bring business ideas to life and in doing so enhance the economy of Bahrain. Furthermore, Batelco, through its newly established Innovation Centre, hopes to select a relevant project to offer its financial and technical support to, following the weekend.

More information on Startup Weekend including video clips from previous events is available online at bahrain.startupweekend.org

-Ends-

About Batelco
Batelco Group, listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, is the leading integrated communications' provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain and a company of reference among the region's key telecommunications players for innovation and customer experience.

Batelco serves both the corporate and consumer markets in the most liberalised and competitive environment in the Middle East region. It delivers cutting-edge fixed and wireless telecommunications services to its customers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and India.

The Batelco Group of companies offers end-to-end telecommunications solutions for its residential, business and government customers in Bahrain on Next Generation, all IP fixed and 3.5G wireless networks, MPLS based regional data solutions and, GSM mobile and WiMax broadband services across the countries in which it operates.

This press release has been issued by Batelco Corporate Affairs department.

For further information, please contact
Batelco Public Relations Office
Public.Relations@btc.com.bh / Fax +973 17611898

© Press Release 2011

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Twitter Startup Seppuku Gives Way to a Less-Ironic Actual Business: Tech - Businessweek

Ted Tobiason, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)’s head of equity capital markets for the technology industry, is doing something that would get most investment bankers fired: tweeting about work.

Tobiason is the only investment banker authorized by the German firm to have a business-related account on Twitter Inc.’s website, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its March 5 issue. While he’s no Ashton Kutcher, who has 9.6 million followers, Tobiason has attracted more than 100, including executives at Silicon Valley startups. His first tweet, in January, predicted that there would be more than 40 initial public offerings by technology companies this year.

“I want venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to know that our bankers love technology, that we are evangelists and not mercenaries,” said Tobiason, 43, who is based in San Francisco. “Tweeting is a way to show that we are part of the game and that we understand the changes in technology and we are using them.”

With his @TedTobiasonDB account, he’s trying to reach more potential clients after Deutsche Bank climbed to second place behind Morgan Stanley last year in Bloomberg’s global ranking of underwriters for technology IPOs, from the fourth spot in 2010. He is a rare bird on Wall Street. Investment banks tend to use social media for marketing and recruiting purposes only.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Barclays Plc (BARC), and Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the banks Facebook Inc. (FB) chose to underwrite its $5 billion IPO, ban investment bankers from using Facebook, Twitter and other social media on their work computers. One reason: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires banks to monitor and archive employee communications, and doing so on third-party platforms such as Twitter and Facebook is much harder than on corporate e- mail programs.

Banks sometimes permit financial advisers to have business accounts, and investment bankers can have personal social-media accounts. Those advising technology companies have found ways to use clients’ products to build professional relationships without violating their firms’ policies. Michael Grimes, global co-head of technology investment banking at Morgan Stanley (MS), plays Zynga Inc.’s “CityVille” and “Empires & Allies” games on Facebook with company founder Mark Pincus. Zynga chose Morgan Stanley to lead its IPO last year.

Deutsche Bank started using Twitter in 2008 to promote a golf tournament it sponsored in Boston. Tobiason raised the idea of having a professional account in the fall of 2011 and eventually won approval from the communications and legal and compliance departments.

“He happened to be at the right place at the right time,” said John Tracey, head of the bank’s brand communications for the Americas. The bank expects to say yes to other executives who have asked for permission to tweet, he said.

Tobiason’s tweeting is not off-the-cuff: He can’t write about share offerings Deutsche Bank underwrites, he must clear his tweets through the firm’s communications department and the bank has software that records his posts.

“For Deutsche Bank, it is a great PR and marketing opportunity,” said Joe Ciarallo, vice president of communications at Buddy Media Inc., a New York firm that develops social-media advertising software. The bank should let Tobiason tweet on his own, without prescreening, he said, which slows down his posts and keeps him from being part of the Twitter “conversation.” For companies, Ciarallo said, making full use of Twitter is “all about training and trusting employees.”

Tobiason’s sporadic tweets -- fewer than 40 so far -- focus on the IPO market, commenting on whether the latest offerings are pricing above or below what’s expected. On Feb. 17, when Brightcove Inc., the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based provider of cloud-based services, rose 30 percent on its first day of trading, he wrote “Congrats Brightcove #IPO.”

He also maintains a personal account with fewer followers and only four tweets to date, compared with 38 for his work account. That barrier between personal and professional will eventually go away, and financial services firms will come to fully embrace social media, said Jules Maltz, a general partner at Institutional Venture Partners, a Menlo Park, California- based venture capital fund and a Twitter investor.

“Tobiason is an expert on tech IPOs and the fact that he embraced Twitter to share his notes with the market shows that Deutsche Bank is forward-thinking,” said Maltz, who follows him on Twitter.

That’s exactly the message the firm wants to send after its technology team capitalized on relationships it started in 2008 and 2009, when business in the U.S. was slow and China’s growth presented better opportunities, said Emmanuel Desousa, Deutsche Bank’s global head of Internet and new media banking, based in San Francisco.

Four of the fifteen technology IPOs Deutsche Bank helped manage in 2011 were Internet Chinese companies, such as Tudou Holdings Ltd. and Renren Inc., according to the bank. Deutsche Bank was among advisers of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., China’s biggest e-commerce company, in its $2.3 billion offer to take its Alibaba.com unit private, the biggest announced technology deal so far this year.

“Our social media and e-commerce clients are changing the way the world communicates,” said Desousa. “We have to change the way we communicate to stay relevant as Internet and tech bankers.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Eric Gelman at egelman3@bloomberg.net

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Computer Repair Is A Wide Open Opportunity For Starting A Startup Says New Report From Shoestring Publishing - Houston Chronicle

A complete blueprint of how to start a computer repair business is included in the course from experts who have had major success with computer repair shops.

Austin, Texas (PRWEB) February 27, 2012

Anyone with basic computer tech skills can start a computer repair business, if you have this course from Shoestring Publishing, says Justin Douglas of Shoestring. "$75 to $150 an hour is realistic in a local computer repair startup business," Mr. Douglas explains. "Because computers are in every business and almost every home these days, the computer repair business startup is an almost guaranteed success, especially if you use our course to give you all the information you need to get it right. The course teachers have already been down this road and started the computer repair business startups in the past, and they are here to teach you exactly what you need to do to be successful if you start a startup business with a computer repair focus."

Mr. Douglas says that the course gives you comprehensive technical training videos and a manual. "Here you will discover the most common and profitable computer repairs that will make up 98% of your profits in the computer repair businessas you start a startup business of your own," Mr. Douglas says. "These are simple step-by-step videos and a 309 page manual that anybody who has ever turned on a computer would understand in minutes. You should actually be ready to make repairs in just a few hours, really! You will get technical videos on computer building, troubleshooting, and networking. This is a 1-2-3 system that has worked time and time again in small and large markets alike.

In addition to the training, the student also gets an intense marketing plan. "This is where the course really shines," Mr. Douglas says. "Our marketing plan was developed by one of America's most famous and most expensive marketing consultants, he charges $1000 an hour to talk on the phone. Our marketing plan automates the entire process and insures you will never have to cold call sell your services. Instead you'll have a steady stream of qualified clients calling you and even delivering their computers for you to work on."

According to Mr. Douglas, "The course teaches:

    How To Carve Niche Markets Out Of Your Area
How To Avoid Pitfalls So Common In This Business
How To Analyze The Needs Of Your Customers
How To Retain The Client After The Initial Sale
Which Customers To Look For
How To Maximize The "Lifetime Value" Of Your Customer
How To Become Known As "The Expert"
How To Obtain Your "Unique Selling Position"
How To Communicate "Personally" With Your Client Base
How To Bump Your Up Sells
How To Use Promotions and Special Events To Gain Business
How To Use Back End Sales To Make Hands Free Income
How To Use Public Relations To Maximize Your Profits
How To Use Word Of Mouth Advertising
How To Use Sales Letters And Their Value To Your Business
How To Use The Free Recorded Message As A 24 Sales Person
How To Keep Your Clients Loyal
Additional Prospecting That Is Effective
Customer Consumption Trending"

For more information on the course, visit the course website at http://www.startcomputerrepairbusiness.com.

About Shoestring Publishing

Shoestring Publishing is the premier online publisher of "extra income opportunities" that anyone can use to earn additional income. Unlike 99% of the so-called "opportunities" that promise to make millions overnight, the Shoestring Publishing mission is to show legitimate methods to earn a little extra income in a short period of time. Shoestring Publishing brings the very best in business startup courses to the public. They don't promise to make their students millionaires, but they do promise to show REAL strategies for earning extra cash that don't involve any special skills or a massive learning curve. All students need is an internet connection, an open mind and a willingness to learn. Shoestring Publishing brings the very best in business startup courses to the public. The recession has increased the number of people wanting to start their own businesses and Shoestring Publishing provides the books and courses to help people setup their own startup business, and to explain how to start a startup. Shoestring Publishing creates courses on how to start a startup business.

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/2/prweb9210765.htm

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Startup Business Myths: Online Business Myths Part 2

http://www.businesspirate.com/

There are soo many startup business myths. Entrepreneurs tend to think starting an online business is easier than other types of businesses. Sorry to say but that is plain stupid!

The best way to start an online business is just to dive in. Commit to spending 2 weeks and for $500 or less get the site up. Start selling your rough product within two weeks.

I say this because the sooner you launch the sooner you learn. Once you get something out there people will begin linking to you if you have a cool company/product.

These links will help with SEO.

If you have any questions about online businesses I'd be happy to help. Just email matt @ businesspirate...

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Startup Business Myths: Online Business Myths Part 1

http://www.businesspirate.com/

There are soo many startup business myths. Entrepreneurs tend to think starting an online business is easier than other types of businesses. Sorry to say but that is plain stupid!

Starting an online business or startup business is no different than starting any other type of business. You need to know what you are doing!

Online businesses are NOT...

1) Cheap
2) Easy
3) Fast Growing

etc

Realize what you are getting into before you invest all your financial and mental resources into a new online business.

If you have any questions about online businesses feel free to email me matt @ businesspirate...

View the original article here

Green start-up business opportunities revisited - Examiner

, West Palm Beach Green Business Examiner West Palm Beach Green Business Examiner

Robert Stricklin is an author and free lance writer whose articles, short stories, critiques and commentaries have appeared in more than 100...

Grammy-winning musician Branson Marsalis dishes on his new album.

Did Steven Tyler botch the national anthem?

Joe Paterno has died after a battle with lung cancer.

Your votes will decide who shares $100,000 in prizes.

The Patriots and Giants are heading to the Super Bowl.

It's time to surprise your sweetie with a romantic escape.

Newt Gingrich has been declared the winner of the South Carolina primary.

Slideshow: See Heidi Klum and Seal in happier times.

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Startup Business Ideas 2012 - Buzzle

The following article lists some of the most successful startup business ideas 2012. Read on...The economic recession, which saw many people being terminated from their long held and high paying jobs, has shaken many corporate professionals. Now, many of them, in order to secure their financial future, are contemplating starting a business. This change in the mentality of people coupled with the amazing different business opportunities that the internet has opened up, is propelling many people towards starting their own businesses. So, for all those men and women who are thinking on the same lines, here are some lucrative startup business ideas 2012.

Top Startup Business Ideas 2012

Education Technologies
The interactive white-board industry is booming like never before. In the recent years, as online education becomes an integral part of academic curriculum, technologies related to online education is gaining immense popularity. Many companies have already started grabbing the opportunity to provide better and user-friendly services to the students, teachers and parents. So, get all your geek and tech wizard friends together to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.

Energy Related Businesses
The mantra today is go green and the number of startups related to energy industry has also shot up significantly in the recent years. How to save energy, effective means to conserve it, education about energy, alternative energy sources, carbon footprints, carbon credits agencies and the list goes on. This industry has tremendous potential in this energy starved era. So, if you are able to figure out what is needed in this field, you are there for a long term business and of course, decent money.

Home Healthcare
For many people this may appear a mundane business. However, let me remind you that the American population is getting older with every passing day. The number of elderly people in the USA as well as all across the world is going to increase at an unprecedented rate. The complex urbanization and modernization of our cities is also interfering with our priorities related to families. Care for older people is especially turning out to be one of the most complex challenges for the government. A home care facilities business catering to this segment of population has tremendous scope. There is a lot to explore in this sector. Providing care and love to older people is immensely satisfying besides the obvious merits of making some money. Remember that doing this type of business may not be very rewarding for you monetarily but it will for sure help you live an enriching life.

Tech Applications
With the software, gaming, web designing and technology world producing something new and unique everyday, those with good programming skills and a flair for creativity have the chance to come up with mobile or web-based applications that can prove to be a useful tool for billions of users all across the world. Even starting a website catering to the ever increasing needs of technical assistance for several businesses is a great idea!

Internet Affiliate Marketing
If you are looking for startup business ideas from home, then you can consider Internet affiliate marketing. The basic concept behind this online business is that you help a manufacturer or marketer of products to sell his products online by promoting them on your website. So, understandably, you must have your own website or web page, with quality content, that pulls the traffic to it. Whenever a user of your website clicks on the advertisement of products to go to the marketer's or seller's website, you earn some money by way of agreement between you both. This profit sharing arrangement is called "pay per click". Sometimes, profit sharing is done on the basis of the number of sales made through your website, this is known as "pay per sale". To know more of such Internet based businesses, go to making money online.

Event Planning
To become an event planner, the only qualifications required are superb organizational skills, ability to pay attention to detail and excellent public relations skills. If you think you have it in you to become an event planner, talk to your acquaintances if they have any function or party coming up. Initially, start with organizing small functions and if you are able to arrange them well, very soon you will start getting business through word of mouth. You can even venture out to organizing corporate functions at a later stage. Event planning is indeed one of the most profitable startup business ideas for 2012.

Virtual Assistant Services
One of the startup business ideas for women is to offer their virtual assistant services to corporates. To start this business, you will need a computer with high speed internet connectivity. Some of the services which a virtual assistant provides to corporates are administration, email and telephone services, writing services, data entry services, secretarial services, bookkeeping and account services.

Life Coaching
In this time of recession, when so many people are facing the stresses of life on their own, you can offer them a helping hand, by becoming a life coach. For this of course, you should be good at understanding human nature as well as empathizing with people. Good communication skills, listening skills, a positive attitude, being well-read and experienced are some other requirements of such lucrative businesses to start. Most importantly, you should be able to offer solace as well as practical solutions to people's personal problems.

Freelancing
If you are really passionate about something, be it photography or writing or interior decoration or exercising, you can convert it into a successful low cost startup business. These days, with so much importance being given to health and fitness, there is a great demand for personal exercise trainers. If photography is your passion, you can offer to cover weddings or business meetings. For those of you who are good at writing, there is a huge requirement for content writers, bloggers as well as editors on the internet. Freelancing in any field has many perks besides the money.

You can take up assignments as and when you want to. The kind of flexibility such a business provides, is second to none. The only challenge in converting these hobbies into a career is that you have to invest your heart and soul into them, backed by a properly executed plan. Moreover, you have to ensure that initially you're not completely relying on them as your sole source of income. Only after you have been able to place yourself firmly in this field, you should follow them full-time. Nevertheless, there a large number of people who have followed their guts, quitting their jobs and following their passions. So, in the end, the decision is yours and you have to trust yourself.

For the above mentioned startup business ideas to be successful, you need to be very good with your planning. You should have ready finance available to make the initial investment and some contacts as well, to get you the first few assignments. Remember, fulfilling these work assignments with full focus and dedication will help you get repeat business as well as new clients. All the best!

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