Where do business ideas come from?

Business ideas can come from anywhere! As you may know, Michael Ross and I put out The Great Ideas Letter to simplify the process of finding good businesses which you can start with little or no money down. (Why not check it out and subscribe?)

I hesitated to post about this article - I know it will turn some people off. (It grossed ME out!) BUT it's fascinating with some good business lessons....

When you read this, notice WHERE this guy got his business idea - from a (quite gross) scene in a movie.

What does this guy do? His business is crime scene clean-ups.... You've seen the scenes in the movies - blood spattered everywhere, you know the story.

This is NOT a business I would choose to do - but still an interesting article! And the key is - it serves a real need, and solves a real problem....

(If this really turns you off, please don't read the article.... It's not my thing either, actually, but this seemed so unusual I thought I'd post it....)

- Dien Rice


Crime Scene Clean-Up Business....

I like to go to our Chamber luncheons every Monday. The interaction with other business people is inspiring. I find out what they are doing...what are their needs or wants...how they are marketing their products or services...etc.

1) At one of these lunches someone stood up and asked "How many people in the room have FAX machines?"
Nearly every hand went up. (This was in 1991 when Fax machines only had been out for a few years)
I happened to be sitting at a table with 2 restaurant owners.
I leaned over and said to one of the owners, "Hey Steve! Why don't you collect the Fax #'s from these folks and Fax out your Daily Specials?"
He thought for a minute then said, "Don! Why don't YOU put a program together! I will be your first client."
And the other restaurant owner whispered across the table, "And I will be your 2nd!"
Thus....FAXBUX was created...which involved my placing 6 to 12 ads on a sheet and faxing it to local offices.
http://www.pjbux.com/faxbux

2) I rec'd a Flyer from the local Community College about an upcoming seminar on, "How To Find Out What Your Business Is Worth!"
It was an all day seminar for $35. Since my wife had a retail Antique Shop, I thought I'd go and see how to put a value on a business.
When I called to register the clerk told me the seminar would be in a classrm off the main lunchrm but I should call the day before to see if their is any change.
When I called the day before, the clerk said the meeting had been moved to the main lunchroom because 187 people had signed up.
When I arrived at the seminar I saw many business owner friends and I asked them, "Are you thinking about selling your biz?"
The answer in each case was, "No! Just curious as to what the thing is worth and how to determine it's value...so if I do think about selling I'll have an idea of how to price it."
BANGO! BONGO! BING!
Not one person could I find who was interested in "selling"...but..."curious" as to How To Price Their Biz.
So...this gave me a flash of an idea;
"Why don't I create a software program that can show biz owners WHAT THEIR BIZ IS WORTH...in the privacy of their office....by simply plugging in numbers from their Balance and Profit & Loss Sheets?"
Thus, "The BIZWORTH Valuation Disk" was born.
I paid a programmer $2500 to create the program and I went about selling MANY copies to small biz owners for $149 each.
http://www.valudisk.com

I've found that IDEAS are all around us...if we pay attention and "wonder why".

Don Alm

> Business ideas can come from anywhere! As
> you may know, Michael Ross and I put out
> The Great Ideas Letter to simplify the
> process of finding good businesses which you
> can start with little or no money down. (Why
> not check it out and subscribe?)

> I hesitated to post about this article - I
> know it will turn some people off. (It
> grossed ME out!) BUT it's fascinating with
> some good business lessons....

> When you read this, notice WHERE this guy
> got his business idea - from a (quite gross)
> scene in a movie.

> What does this guy do? His business is crime
> scene clean-ups.... You've seen the scenes
> in the movies - blood spattered everywhere,
> you know the story.

> This is NOT a business I would choose to do
> - but still an interesting article! And the
> key is - it serves a real need, and solves a
> real problem....

> (If this really turns you off, please don't
> read the article.... It's not my thing
> either, actually, but this seemed so unusual
> I thought I'd post it....)

> - Dien Rice




BizWorth Valuation Disk