Michael,

Thanks for starting this thread.

I'll add another Method for finding something to sell - someone to sell to. I wrote a Work and sent it to Dien back in 2001, after we chatted about something on the phone. It's a work I've not released, but now. Anyway. Let me quote a few things from that work...

===

"Okay, here's the basis of getting to your financial dreams...

Find an income stream and go stand in it.

That's it. Simple, isn't.

See, you've got to realize that money flows. It flows from one person to another person. Usually it flows from someone who wants/needs somethig to someone who can fulfill that want/need.

When a lot of people want/need the same something a lot of money flows. And just like a stream, many small trickles add up to be a torrent.

What you have to do is identify a stream of money that's already flowing and go and stand in it.

...

identify a possible business to get into is to pick a general market you know spends money. Then think about what they spend money on.

E.g. The market is, Dentists. Now list everything you think a Dentist needs to spend money on to stay in business. Your list might look like this...

Drills
Drill Repairs
Work Chairs
Sinks
Mouthwash
Office Cleaning
Bibs
Delivery

So that one market, Dentists, has many little streams of money radiating out. You pick one with repeat sales and stand in it.

...

Write down a list of as many businesses as you can think of. Then break down that list ..., the sublist should contain items you think the business spends money on to stay in business.

===

I wrote the above in 2001. But note that Richard Branson takes this idea to the extreme.

Whatever YOU spend money on is also a Market. Branson realised His Business spent money on things. So he created businesses that provided the items his other business spent money on.

Some music companies in Aust realised they all delivered to the same music stores. So they joined forces to create a Delivery Company that would deliver their music, instead of each of them Paying to have a different company deliver it. They then let other people know this company existed and it now makes a profit in its own right.

Next...

Yellow Pages. Following on from what you mentioned in reply to Duane... slowly flip through it and you will see the largest sections - most ads. Hints to being the largest markets. Join them, or do the Breakdown as I mention above and provide the items you know they buy.

Michael Ross