Finding business opportunities....

Sometimes our mistakes can lead to
new opportunities:

"a wise man will make more opportunities than
he finds" -Francis bacon, Of Ceremonies and Reports in Essays, 1625

From buzz to stimulating business(true story)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010207/sc/health_orgasm_dc_2.html

> Being able to find new business
> opportunities is the foundation stone upon
> which many of the most successful
> entrepreneurs have built their careers....

> Some successful entrepreneurs basically only
> have one idea, and built on that. Ross Perot
> seems to fit this profile.... He had one
> idea - providing both mainframe computers
> *and* the software at the same time. When
> IBM rejected his idea, he managed to turn
> his idea into Electronic Data Systems, which
> became a multi-billion dollar company.

> But others have founded multiple companies,
> and found many, many opportunities....
> Richard Branson is a good example here.
> Almost any business you can think of,
> Richard Branson has been in it, through his
> "Virgin" group of companies
> (particularly in the UK, his home base)....
> Whether retail music stores, financial
> services, airlines, and so on.... While not
> all have succeeded, a large number of his
> ventures have.

> I've been studying ways of seeing new
> business opportunities.... I believe it's a
> skill you can learn. In fact, it may be one
> of the most important skills as an
> entrepreneur....

> As well as the examples I gave before,
> here's another approach to finding new
> business opportunities. It's to look at
> trends....

> If you can spot the trends early on in their
> cycle, then that's a business opportunity.

> There are many types of trends to look out
> for.... Things like demographic trends.
> Trends in new adopting technology. Trends in
> cultural change. All these things represent
> new opportunities....

> For example, among demographic trends are
> the large bulge in teens, the children of
> baby boomers. As they grow, they will be
> changing their buying habits. That
> represents a trend....

> I've read that the population of California
> will, within a decade or two, be over 50%
> ethnically Hispanic. That represents another
> type of trend, an ethnic and cultural trend.

> There are at least several other ways of
> spotting business opportunities....

> This is a very important topic.... It's an
> important foundation of success. I also
> think being able to spot good business
> opportunities makes things more exciting!

> Is there interest in this topic?

> - Dien

Hi Sandy!

Thanks for sharing that story! It's true, you can accidentally stumble upon potential opportunities, but even when they stumble upon them, not everyone will recognize them!

Another example of finding business opportunities is solving problems which you might encounter in your everyday life or at work.... There are several examples of this....

My favorite one is the story of Liquid Paper. It's an inspiration.... :)

In 1951, Bette Nesmith was working as an executive secretary, when she developed a liquid for her own use to cover mistakes she made while typing.

When her colleagues found out about this, they asked her to sell them the liquid too. She originally called it "Mistake Out."

By 1956, Bette Nesmith started the "Mistake Out" company in her kitchen. Everything was done by hand, from mixing the fluid to bottling it. She then changed the name to "Liquid Paper."

Sales reached 100 sales a month by 1958, and she started sending out press releases.

To make a long story short, the demand for Liquid Paper just grew and grew, as secretaries everywhere demanded it. Bette Nesmith ended up becoming a very rich woman.

This demonstrates another way of finding business opportunities.... By finding a way to solve problems that you encounter at home or at work.

Hmmm.... I could also go on about the story of the creation of cat litter here too.... :) That also came about from someone solving one of their own problems in the home....

If you have a problem, and use a bit of experimentation and creativity, who knows what you might come up with? :)

And that's not it. There are also several more techniques for finding business opportunities....

I personally find this topic quite an exciting one.... Knowing, and thinking deeply about this topic can lead to great profits if you apply it! Though I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of others too....

Thanks Sandy, that was a great (and quite entertaining) story you linked to! :)

- Dien

As I was "cruising the discussuion boards" this morn this post caused me to stop and remember HOW I got 3 of my biggest business hits;

A little background first;
When I got out of college I took a job with a big corp and after seeing people in their 50's getting "laid-off" and replaced by younger people at a fraction of the salary (I was one of these)...I decided I was going to start my own biz no matter what it took.

I spent a year hunting down every "biz-op" I could find and finally found a product I felt I could sell....gave my notice and started and never looked back.

I had a lot of energy in those days and built my biz up to 17 employees and hundreds of customers all paying me a monthly fee (for my burglar alarm service) Then I sold it and moved to the mountains of Colorado.

I enjoy finding new products or finding ways of changing old products or services so they're more profitable. I ALWAYS keep my "eyes open" and I'm also VERY CURIOUS and I ask a lot of questions. I've trained my mind to see if there's a better way of doing something.
Here's 3 of my "winners" and how I created them;

1) When "Photo Business Cards" came out in '82 I jumped in and bought a "distributorship. I thought they could really help business people BUT I soon found that even in an affluent area like Aspen,CO I had a rough time selling them. They didn't want to pay $250/1000 when they were paying $25/M...so, I was almost ready to give up until one eve, while watching a video movie, I had a batch of Photo Cards on the coffee table right next to the empty plastic case the video came in.

I accidently placed a photo card on the case...then I placed 2 more on the case and suddenly realized that 3 would fit perfectly and WHALA!...IT HIT ME!

"Why not place these cards on Video Rental Cases that would be in different people homes every night...setting on tv's or coffee tables and, because Photos attract people, they would be SEEN by a "Captive" audience and provide great exposure to the biznesses on the cases.

I put together a sample and went to see a video store who agreed to let me provide him with free cases (with my Cards on them)

I then put together a presentation and went to see bizness people and when they saw their Photo Cards would be a "Tool" to get people into their bizness...they bought.

2) I was at a Chamber of Comm lunch when someone asked "How many in the room owned a Fax machine?"

Almost every hand went up. It so happened that I was sitting with 2 restaurant owners...so the thought came to me to ask them a question, "Hey Tom! Why don't you put your "Daily Specials" on a Fax Sheet and Fax them to local people?"

He responded with, "Great idea Don! Why don't YOU put it together and I'll be your first account. So, I made up a sample sheet...found out how to get local Fax #'s and went to see local bizness people who readily signed on my "Fax Bulletin" service.

3) I received a flyer that told about an upcoming seminar on "How To Find Out What Your Business Is Worth". Since my wife had an Antique Shop, I thought we should go. When I called to register, the clerk told me it would be held in a small classrm and asked that I call a day before to see if there were any changes in the location.

I called a day before and she told me the meeting had been moved to the Main Lunchroom because 188 people signed up. When we got there, I asked a few bizness owners I knew if they were planning on selling their biz. They all said, "No! Just thought it would be nice to know WHAT my biz is worth!"

I then ralized what drew these biz owners here... ...it's called CURIOSITY!

These people were CURIOUS about HOW MUCH their biz is worth.

WHALA! I then became VERY INTERESTED in this, not only for my own use...but as a possible "Info Product" I could put together and promote.

As I was doing my research I got another "flash". Why don't I put a program "On Disk" so biz owners could "Instantly" find out what their biz is worth just by plugging in numbers from their Profit & Loss & Balance Sheets? They could find out in MINUTES instead of having to read a 80 page report

I found a local programmer who created the program for me and my "BIZ-WORTH VALU-DISK" was born.

I created a promotion package for it and went about selling hundreds of Disks. In fact, I'm still selling it on one of my websites if you would like to see the "Sales Letter" I created to sell it.

Click on the Link below and I hope this message is NOT viewed as an "Ad" but as a way of my showing an example of what this Thread is about.

Thanks for letting me share this and I hope some of you are inspired about it...because ideas are all around you...you just have to be aware and when you do get something...TAKE THE STEPS to put it into action!

Don Alm

> Hi Sandy!

> Thanks for sharing that story! It's true,
> you can accidentally stumble upon potential
> opportunities, but even when they stumble
> upon them, not everyone will recognize them!

> Another example of finding business
> opportunities is solving problems which you
> might encounter in your everyday life or at
> work.... There are several examples of
> this....

> My favorite one is the story of Liquid
> Paper. It's an inspiration.... :)

> In 1951, Bette Nesmith was working as an
> executive secretary, when she developed a
> liquid for her own use to cover mistakes she
> made while typing.

> When her colleagues found out about this,
> they asked her to sell them the liquid too.
> She originally called it "Mistake
> Out."

> By 1956, Bette Nesmith started the
> "Mistake Out" company in her
> kitchen. Everything was done by hand, from
> mixing the fluid to bottling it. She then
> changed the name to "Liquid
> Paper."

> Sales reached 100 sales a month by 1958, and
> she started sending out press releases.

> To make a long story short, the demand for
> Liquid Paper just grew and grew, as
> secretaries everywhere demanded it. Bette
> Nesmith ended up becoming a very rich woman.

> This demonstrates another way of finding
> business opportunities.... By finding a way
> to solve problems that you encounter at home
> or at work.

> Hmmm.... I could also go on about the story
> of the creation of cat litter here too....
> :) That also came about from someone solving
> one of their own problems in the home....

> If you have a problem, and use a bit of
> experimentation and creativity, who knows
> what you might come up with? :)

> And that's not it. There are also several
> more techniques for finding business
> opportunities....

> I personally find this topic quite an
> exciting one.... Knowing, and thinking
> deeply about this topic can lead to great
> profits if you apply it! Though I'm
> interested in hearing the thoughts of others
> too....

> Thanks Sandy, that was a great (and quite
> entertaining) story you linked to! :)

> - Dien




My Biz-Worth Valudisk

Thanks Don!

As you know, I always appreciate it when you share your wisdom and experience.... :)

> A little background first;
> When I got out of college I took a job with
> a big corp and after seeing people in their
> 50's getting "laid-off" and
> replaced by younger people at a fraction of
> the salary (I was one of these)...I decided
> I was going to start my own biz no matter
> what it took.

I had a similar experience....

Not long after I started my Ph.D. in 1993, they tried to sack one of my thesis advisors - Peter Lloyd. Strangely enough, he was probably the most famous person in the physics department for his research work. He was the only person in the department I've heard who has been seriously called a "genius." But that didn't stop them.... It only takes one decision-maker faced with budget cuts to make a bad decision....

In the end, his colleagues (who were angered by the decision) got many physics luminaries around the world to write in to the university in his support. The decision was even criticized in Australian newspaper columns, and also in a column in the Australian edition of "New Scientist" magazine.

Finally, the university backed off (probably from all the adverse publicity).

But this taught me a lesson, which is that there are NO GUARANTEES in employment, NO MATTER how good, famous, or wonderful you are. You can be sacked any time. And the older you are, the sicker you are, the more vulnerable you are, the more likely they are to do it....

In Peter Lloyd's case, he was a true genius in physics, someone who had made giant strides in his field of research. But what if you weren't quite of that degree of fame in the physics community? Would you be able to get a university to back off from their decision? I doubt it. If it had been anyone else in the department, they wouldn't have had a chance.

Although I continued to complete my Ph.D., and worked for a few years in academia after that, as the years went by I got edgier. Academia was going through a bit of a squeeze in Australia at that time, and I heard of others also losing their positions they had held for many years. And finally, I made the plunge to commit myself to the course of being independent wholeheartedly.

I prefer to be the author of my own destiny, rather than have my destiny be dependent on the whims of a bureaucrat.... (That's all it often boils down to - the decision of one person.)

I would say that observing the case of one of my thesis advisors from a close vantage point has helped to drive me to find ways to be independent!

I've already succeeded in one approach, that of stock market investing. Now, I'm focusing on broadening my skills base to include entrepreneurship as well.... :)

> I spent a year hunting down every
> "biz-op" I could find and finally
> found a product I felt I could sell....gave
> my notice and started and never looked back.

Thanks Don, I'm glad to read this.... I'm about seven months now into my "independence"....

Along with Gordon Alexander, I've created this site and this forum (though it's my sole responsibility). And I have a couple other projects too - I have the Australia-Pacific rim rights to Gordon's "Think and Reach Par" and "How to Play an Unknown Golf Course," and I also have another joint venture regarding a stock market related product (more will be revealed when the time is right). :)

> I enjoy finding new products or finding ways
> of changing old products or services so
> they're more profitable.

"...Finding ways of changing old products or services so they're more profitable." That's something I hadn't thought of....

> I ALWAYS keep my
> "eyes open" and I'm also VERY
> CURIOUS and I ask a lot of questions. I've
> trained my mind to see if there's a better
> way of doing something.

Yes, I believe it's something you can train your mind to do.... I admire people such as yourself, Gordon Alexander, Jim Straw, Michael Ross, and a few others, who have trained their minds to do this kind of thing.... To be able to spot opportunities. It's something I'm working on training myself to do as well.... :)

I'm glad to hear that being CURIOUS is a part of it, since I'm nothing if not curious.... :)

Many people seem to have their curiosity drummed out of them some time when they attended school, which is sad. I think it's all the rote learning....

Being curious, and following your curiosity, I think is one of life's most wonderful pleasures.... :)

Thanks for those stories of how you found your three biggest successes, Don.... It's an inspiration! And also a testament to your creative mind.... :)

> Thanks for letting me share this and I hope
> some of you are inspired about it...because
> ideas are all around you...you just have to
> be aware and when you do get
> something...TAKE THE STEPS to put it into
> action!

Thanks Don! That's a great lesson.... Of course, without taking action, it ain't for nuthin!

- Dien

Dien and all,
I haven't read the entire thread, it has been a long day/night so if this story has already appeared here please chastise me only lightly.
A friend, the late Jim Stevens, used to tell the story of the "Whipper Snipper".
He said it happened this way;
An elderly man developed the machine in his garden shed, his son-in-law was an engineer and very unenthusiastic about the device and almost scuttled the whole thing. (Yes, I am editing a lot of important detail out but my fingers need some sleep).
Moral; Maintain your morale and give your dreams a chance.


The magic shop I put up so people could subscribe to my free newsletters.