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-   -   Dien Rice, the BEST Biz-Op researcher ever... (http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11021)

GordonJ June 16, 2021 10:39 AM

Dien Rice, the BEST Biz-Op researcher ever...
 
My opinion. And I go way back, to George Haylings books from the 1950's.

It is my opinion, that our host, Dien Rice, PhD. has surpassed all of those who have reported on business opportunities over the years including:

George Haylings, Chase Revel (Founder of Entrepreneur Magazine), and a host of business startup anthologies. Why?

Because for the last 15 years he has included the pros, cons, expenses and MARKETING, which was and is lacking in most books with long lists of startups.

I'm going to pick my TOP 10, a little later this week.

But, Dien, I would like you, if you are up to it...to pick out 10 of the hundreds of biz-ops you've profiled over the years, can you do that?

I was looking through Dien's books, one was 57 Business Opportunities book he wrote over a decade ago when I was consulting with Green Tree Press. It has held up and withstood the test of time.

One thing Dien has done, is stay CURRENT, and he reports on what is happening NOW, not just culling through old lists of little known businesses.

Anyhow, I am amazed how his research and work has been so thorough, we are lucky to have him doing this.

My top 10...LATER.

Gordon

Dien Rice June 16, 2021 12:32 PM

Wow, thanks Gordon...!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by GordonJ (Post 42024)
My opinion. And I go way back, to George Haylings books from the 1950's.

It is my opinion, that our host, Dien Rice, PhD. has surpassed all of those who have reported on business opportunities over the years including:

George Haylings, Chase Revel (Founder of Entrepreneur Magazine), and a host of business startup anthologies. Why?

Because for the last 15 years he has included the pros, cons, expenses and MARKETING, which was and is lacking in most books with long lists of startups.

I'm going to pick my TOP 10, a little later this week.

But, Dien, I would like you, if you are up to it...to pick out 10 of the hundreds of biz-ops you've profiled over the years, can you do that?

I was looking through Dien's books, one was 57 Business Opportunities book he wrote over a decade ago when I was consulting with Green Tree Press. It has held up and withstood the test of time.

One thing Dien has done, is stay CURRENT, and he reports on what is happening NOW, not just culling through old lists of little known businesses.

Anyhow, I am amazed how his research and work has been so thorough, we are lucky to have him doing this.

My top 10...LATER.

Hi Gordon,

Wow, you're going to give me a big head. :) I'm very flattered!

My top 10 - that's hard to pick, but what I can do is a little bit later, I'll come back with some good stuff... :)

Thanks Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien


Dien Rice June 17, 2021 09:26 AM

People who "ran" with this idea I wrote about made $29.4m a year...
 
Hi Gordon,

I've been writing about business ideas for my newsletter since 2002 (the current one, and its predecessor)... Since then, I think I've written about more than a thousand different businesses...

Of course, certain ones stick in my mind.

Here's one of those...

Back in 2007, in the Hidden Business Ideas Letter I wrote about a person in London who was making money from renting out his driveway, which he hardly used. Instead of paying high prices for parking, people would rent his driveway, which was in a good location, so they could park there. He was making over $10,000 a year at the time in extra money, just from just renting out his driveway.

Here's the introduction to the idea from that issue (Issue #10), back in 2007...
"Dollars From Your Driveway

"Almost everyone's been in the situation where you're in a big city and you're looking around for a place to park, but all the paid parking lots are either full or as you drive by you think to yourself or say out loud, 'I'm not paying that.' So, you keep driving around and wasting gas looking for an affordable spot to park and did you ever pass a home with an empty driveway and think 'I wish I could park there and just be done with it?' One person living in London makes about $10,000 a year letting people do just that!"
Just recently, I thought I'd look at what's happened in that business...

It turns out that in 2015, a business started in the USA called Pavemint.com. What do they do?

They organize it so you can rent out your driveway to people who want to park there.

They were bringing in $29.4 million a year (though it looks like it's temporarily reduced to $7 million a year, due to Covid)...

They started 8 years after I wrote about the idea!

They have a few competitors too... Like Curbflip.com, which also started in 2015...

So... if you'd been reading the Hidden Business Ideas Letter back in 2007, you could have had a 8 year jump start on Pavemint.com and their $29.4 million a year in revenues... and on Curbflip.com too...

That's the kind of thing we're talking about.

I like to be ahead of the curve, and in many, many cases we are ahead of the curve.

That's one which stuck in my mind (there are more!)... which time has shown was a very valuable idea for those who took action on it...

Of course, of the real working businesses I'm writing about today, many will be extremely valuable in the future... But you gotta take action to reap the benefits... (And be a subscriber... :) ) It's less than the cost of a cup of coffee a week...

Thanks Gordon!

Best wishes,

Dien

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordonJ (Post 42024)
My opinion. And I go way back, to George Haylings books from the 1950's.

It is my opinion, that our host, Dien Rice, PhD. has surpassed all of those who have reported on business opportunities over the years including:

George Haylings, Chase Revel (Founder of Entrepreneur Magazine), and a host of business startup anthologies. Why?

Because for the last 15 years he has included the pros, cons, expenses and MARKETING, which was and is lacking in most books with long lists of startups.


GordonJ June 18, 2021 12:46 PM

You included that in your second book at Green Tree Press, 61 more businesses...
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dien Rice (Post 42033)
Hi Gordon,

I've been writing about business ideas for my newsletter since 2002 (the current one, and its predecessor)... Since then, I think I've written about more than a thousand different businesses...

Dien


Thanks Dien, great story...iffin one wants to go big, it is possible in almost any business. In the 61 book, on page 88, you talked about Business Plans. It has been a staple of my offline services for decades. And today, with so many templates, they are pretty easy to write...HOWEVER,

I specialize in CUSTOMIZATION, wanting to know the INTENT of the plan, is it to raise money? For marketing? Growth? Like with my resume business, I used my copywriting/salesmanship in print skills to make the business plan unique, one of a kind and effective.

Most business plans are GENERIC, but I say, "One size does not suit all."

So, I'm going to place this in my TOP 10 Dien Rice discoveries. Creating moolah in your pocket from words on computer (then printed on paper) is as simple a thing as can happen...and today, with software...EASY PEASY.

I think most everyone here could write a better business plan than what is out there, if they find out the INTENT, and then identify the target market.

With so much micro funding and angel investors, and small groups today, finding capital has never been easier. Marketing plans get more expensive, but can be put on a monthly retainer too.

So, continue your research, I await future profits.

Gordon

P.S. You also wrote about profits from two wheels, mainly bikes and such...but if one got in on the electric scooter back then, well, I think they would have made a ton of money too.

GordonJ June 18, 2021 01:10 PM

A few things I want to test...IF, I can find a good organizer.
 
I like paper and ink. Have since I was 10 and got that toy printing press for Xmas.

HOTSHEETS, folios, plans, word puzzles, white papers, reports, books, courses...blogs, forums, web sites;

All of these take WORDS. And the would be writer's market is evergreen and huge.

I don't want the admin, but if I can find that local someone who can spend a few hours a week on the computer...then what I would want to do is:

Form a local writer's group. Have them as contract, 1099ers. I would simply be the middleman in finding them work. A local clearinghouse for writers. Maybe add artists too, graphic and fine artists. Maybe an association, a club, a team but all local with monthly meet ups. Maybe a small join fee, and a small % of gigs.

What do you think of this idea, have you come across such a beast?

Gordon

Dien Rice June 20, 2021 01:56 PM

A translation business that translates from ancient Ottoman...
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by GordonJ (Post 42037)
I like paper and ink. Have since I was 10 and got that toy printing press for Xmas.

HOTSHEETS, folios, plans, word puzzles, white papers, reports, books, courses...blogs, forums, web sites;

All of these take WORDS. And the would be writer's market is evergreen and huge.

I don't want the admin, but if I can find that local someone who can spend a few hours a week on the computer...then what I would want to do is:

Form a local writer's group. Have them as contract, 1099ers. I would simply be the middleman in finding them work. A local clearinghouse for writers. Maybe add artists too, graphic and fine artists. Maybe an association, a club, a team but all local with monthly meet ups. Maybe a small join fee, and a small % of gigs.

What do you think of this idea, have you come across such a beast?

Hi Gordon,

I haven't written exactly about that business with the writers, but... I have written about other businesses with the exact same structure that you talk about...

For example, one of the businesses I've written about is providing speech interpretation services for the deaf. (The exact title of the article is "Profit by Helping the Deaf," I think you'll find it in my second book for Green Tree Press.)

I actually talk about three different ways to do this business, and two of them involve contracting out the work... Where you don't even need to be able to interpret for the deaf, because you have others do it for you and you contract the work out.

Essentially, you have a list of interpreters on hand who you call when you have a job for them...

The structure is pretty much exactly what you're talking about...

Furthermore...

I come across quite a lot of businesses in my research, and I simply can't write about everything that I want to write about!

There was one business that I wanted to write about which I wasn't able to fit in...

It's similar to the deaf interpretation business, but this is providing translations.

Most translation agencies specialize in a small selection of languages... However...

This translation agency can provide translations for virtually any language, because they outsource all the translations.

It's run by one guy... and he has a big network of translators who he farms work out to.

The founder of the agency once had a situation where his client wanted them to translate the names of ancient roads that extended out from the center of the Ottoman Empire...

The Ottoman Empire disappeared in the very beginning of the 20th century. It was centered on what is modern day Turkey. But...

The Ottoman language is effectively a different language from modern Turkish. So he had to find people who could translate from ancient Ottoman!

He only found two people who actually understood the ancient Ottoman language - and one of them had recently died.

So he hired the one that was left to do the translation work.

His business did the job and they got paid!

Perhaps a good way to approach your idea might be to get specialist writers on your books...

Off the top of my head... Those who are great at writing nonfiction, those who are great at biographical writing, those who are great at writing on scientific topics, those who are great at technical writing, talented humor writers, etc.

If you can get a bunch of writers like that in your network, I don't see why it can't work exactly the same way that it would work for deaf interpretation or for translating languages...

Thanks Gordon!

Best wishes, Dien


GordonJ June 21, 2021 07:56 AM

Thanks Dien, sometimes my knuckles need rapped.
 
Thank you.

I too, often fall into looking at ideas with more...

SLOP AND MESS,

Than I want in my life, now.

Younger people pursuing their opportunities, are more suited to taking on the S & P, often coming with the territory.

Simplify, and then, cull and crop.

If what is left is anything I can do, willingly, THEN, I'll take a deeper dive into it.

At this point, even buying a lottery ticket feels like a lot of work. But I still look forward to your discoveries.

Never too old a dog to see a new trick, not necessarily to do one, but to watch from the porch next to the rocking chair.

Thanks for all you do.

Gordon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dien Rice (Post 42041)
Hi Gordon,

I haven't written exactly about that business with the writers, but... I have written about other businesses with the exact same structure that you talk about...

For example, one of the businesses I've written about is providing speech interpretation services for the deaf. (The exact title of the article is "Profit by Helping the Deaf," I think you'll find it in my second book for Green Tree Press.)

I actually talk about three different ways to do this business, and two of them involve contracting out the work... Where you don't even need to be able to interpret for the deaf, because you have others do it for you and you contract the work out.

Essentially, you have a list of interpreters on hand who you call when you have a job for them...

The structure is pretty much exactly what you're talking about...

Furthermore...

I come across quite a lot of businesses in my research, and I simply can't write about everything that I want to write about!

There was one business that I wanted to write about which I wasn't able to fit in...

It's similar to the deaf interpretation business, but this is providing translations.

Most translation agencies specialize in a small selection of languages... However...

This translation agency can provide translations for virtually any language, because they outsource all the translations.

It's run by one guy... and he has a big network of translators who he farms work out to.

The founder of the agency once had a situation where his client wanted them to translate the names of ancient roads that extended out from the center of the Ottoman Empire...

The Ottoman Empire disappeared in the very beginning of the 20th century. It was centered on what is modern day Turkey. But...

The Ottoman language is effectively a different language from modern Turkish. So he had to find people who could translate from ancient Ottoman!

He only found two people who actually understood the ancient Ottoman language - and one of them had recently died.

So he hired the one that was left to do the translation work.

His business did the job and they got paid!

Perhaps a good way to approach your idea might be to get specialist writers on your books...

Off the top of my head... Those who are great at writing nonfiction, those who are great at biographical writing, those who are great at writing on scientific topics, those who are great at technical writing, talented humor writers, etc.

If you can get a bunch of writers like that in your network, I don't see why it can't work exactly the same way that it would work for deaf interpretation or for translating languages...

Thanks Gordon!

Best wishes, Dien




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