Category: Business Ideas

Every year, starting in early May, wedding bells begin to chime. They don’t stop chiming until winter makes everyone put on ridiculous puffy parkas. The United States wedding industry alone produces $55 billion in revenue, as reported by research company IBISWorld. Who earns all that money? Everyone from salespeople on Say Yes to the Dress to indie vendors featured by Rock and Roll Bride. Sure, kids these days may be getting hitched later, but they still want to tie the knot eventually. You can help them and make a decent buck at the same time.

Here are eight wedding-themed businesses that you can start today:

1) Invitations & Stationery
Do you have beautiful handwriting or a fine touch with Adobe Illustrator? Consider creating save-the-dates and invitations for couples-to-be. Take it a step further by hiring freelancers to put together premium design bundles. Dribbble is a great place to find artists in search of assignments.

2) Flower-Arranging
Take your cue from Farmgirl Flowers: create and deliver fresh bouquets to embellish venue decor—or trick out the wedding party themselves. You can source the flowers from wholesale markets. If you have a green thumb and want to stay low-volume, pick the prettiest blossoms from your own garden!

3) Party Favors
After they receive a bunch of presents and hugs, the newly married couple will want to give their guests a token of thanks. Often this takes the form of a little bag of candy or a custom-printed pen (as if the world didn’t have enough random pens floating around). Innovate something less boring! Bring an awesome idea like Lego Stormtrooper cufflinksto the world of wedding favors.

4) Makeup Artist
Brides and their ladies-in-waiting want to get prettied up before walking down the aisle. If you’ve watched Bridezilla, you know this. (Apparently brides want a lot of things, and they want them right now.) Can you contour like Kim K? Do you have a personal lipstick stash equivalent to Sephora? Team up with your friend who can still text with crazy-long acrylic nails. Together you’ll do bridal beauty to the nines.

5) Commemorative Website
After the ceremony and the reception are over, newlyweds have to figure out how to share zillions of snapshots with the family and friends who couldn’t make it, includingfuture family and friends. Web-savvy couples want to keep their visual memories organized to revisit in the future. Help them put together a beautiful digital scrapbook.

6) Photographer
Do you have a camera? Are you any good with it? Start offering to snap wedding photos, for your friends and family and neighbors.

Starter Tips:

• If you haven’t done this before, do the first one free.
• Start with smaller weddings and work your way up.
• Search sites like Craigslist for upcoming weddings that need photographers.
• Wear comfortable shoes, but dress professionally.
• Bring a spare battery and spare SD cards.
• Look at wedding photos online from other companies (especially ones in your area).

Watch Out for:
People that don’t want to pay you 50% beforehand. Make sure you have a contract, and find out what rates in your area are. Have a signed contract before you do any of the work.

Don’t miss the shot. If you’re really new, make a quick check-list of shots you’ll need, no matter what.

7) Caterer
Do you like to cook? Are you good at it? You may make a great caterer.

Starter Tips:

• Know how many people will be at the wedding and plan accordingly
• Know if you’re supposed to provide drinks. If so, this can get pricey.
• Keep it simple if you’ve never done this before. Wedding buffets are are cost-effective option and they’re easier to prepare.
• Rent, don’t buy. To save money at the start, there are many rental shops and kitchen supply shops that rent out equipment, food-warmers, plates.

8) Cake Maker
Are you a crafty baker whose friends are always saying that you should, “do this professionally?” Maybe you should make wedding cakes.

Starter Tips:

• If you’ve never done this before, start with friends and family (and friends and family of friends and family).
• Ask the couple what they want, well before the wedding. Bring some sketches or photos (from the internet if you haven’t
• You don’t have to make a multi-level cake. One solid round cake or sheet cake is fine if it’s well-done.

About TrustLeaf.com

TrustLeaf is a new funding service that helps self-started businesses and entrepreneurs get starter loans from friends and family, without straining their relationships. Because loaning money to friends and family for new ventures can be tough on relationships, TrustLeaf formalizes personal loan agreements, keeping money far away from affecting relationships, so entrepreneurs can get their business going and friends and family can feel more secure.

Article Contributed by Philip Piletic

Today, every business needs more than an edge. In an atmosphere that’s filled with competitors looking to fill every niche at lightning speed, every aspect of a business needs move with the speed and fluidity of a startup. Fortunately, technology has made this readily possible.

First, think small, but do it in a big way. The cloud is huge, but it has the potential to make your business more agile than even your largest competitor. Centralized storage not only saves on server and backup costs, but also allows your entire workforce to access every bit of relevant information in real time. Even better, they can do it remotely.

The ideal of the paperless office is quickly becoming a reality, and cloud computing is the way it’s happening. Every document, report and record can be stored in a single location that’s accessible from locations as close as the corner office and as far away as your sales team in Singapore.

Missing a meeting is no longer an excuse. From your daily sales goals to your long-term visions, everyone is in the car when they’re in the cloud. Such strategies used to take ages to develop. High-level meetings and late nights perfecting presentations were the norm. No longer.

VoiP is the new land line. Instead of spending on telecom, companies can reallocate to broadband and open up bandwidth for video conferences. Services like Skype Business mean every talk is a face to face, and one-on-ones are just clicks away.

This increased connectivity eliminate the distance between operational components, and this reduced size exponentially increases speed. Increased speed means greater flexibility, and greater flexibility means a more competitive company. You need to keep your brand polished, shining and exciting. This means updates, rollouts and deliveries need to happen faster than your competition.

A connected and flexible company still needs to watch its waste. Bloat is an ugly word, but it exists in almost every aspect of every large company. When you’re quick and connected, you have more than just a better means to distribute information – you have a better means to receive it.

Metrics is the name of the game, and the most direct access you have to your sales is through your point of sale. POS systems are making breakthroughs in every way imaginable, and they can revolutionize your business.

Fast transactions are only the beginning, but they’re also important. Long lines are a scourge, but efficient POS systems utilizing optimized specialized tabs and customized tender functions can reduce cash handling, speed up sales, and keep customers spending. When a bill can be split with the touch of screen, patrons feel like they’re paying less so your business earns more.

From instant voids to correct sales to stock write-offs at the terminal, every type of transaction can move faster. Merchandise can even be transferred between locations without any complicated paperwork.

Your employees benefit, too. Using their proximity RFID tag, they can log in and out in an instant – any employee can make any sale, anywhere. Their hours are easily documented and reported, and Z-Reports are generated without receipts and calculators. Department managers can create sales reports without using any valuable time, and banking reports can cut waste – and money – out of shifts.

The customer is the focus, and a good POS system works in this regard. A system that can help you determine which customers are buying specific products can help you zero in on your inventory and your focus. And let’s not forget discounts.

Sales are no longer dependent upon keys and percentages. You can target groups for discounts and key spenders for their preferred products. Buy-one-get-ones are as easily automated as buy-five-get-ones, and loyalty programs manage themselves.

These things are all metrics, and they all need to be available for real-time analyses and reporting. Today, they are. Even inventory levels can be controlled via POS. That’s right – what was once determined by diligent managers at district branches can be analyzed and reported by your POS.

Orders can be generated automatically, with shipments recorded using barcodes instead of pencils and lists. Yes, we’re still talking about your POS.

These days, they can even provide you with caller ID. More than one sale has been disrupted by an unwanted telemarketer. With a leading-edge POS, a simple glance could have closed the deal.

Companies that can move quickly have an undeniable advantage over bloated bureaucracies in every possible way. From the management of company data to the employment of new technologies, in 2015 your company needs to be a sports car, not an old pickup truck. For every dime on which your company can turn, you could be making make ten.

Article Contributed by Cameron Johnson

Striking out on your own to create a new product or service is an excited and sometimes frustrating venture. It requires careful planning, hard work, and a strong understanding of your industry. Most importantly, it requires a unique business idea. Coming up with this idea can at first seem daunting, but there are a number of ways to find your million dollar concept. Try these 5 tips to help get your creative juices flowing:

1 – Consumer Research

If necessity is the mother of invention, then find out what the people need and give it to them. Finding out what makes people’s lives easier is one of the best ways to brainstorm a new product or service. First, you’ll need to do a little bit of general marketing. Send out emails and surveys to prospective customers asking them what general problems plague their days (i.e., getting the kids to school on time, keeping their schedules in order, remembering to buy toilet paper on a regular basis, etc.).

Then, start brainstorming ideas to find out what kind of products would help them achieve their goals, like an app that sets an alarm a certain number of days after the user has purchased toilet paper to remind them to buy more. The best part of this route is that since the customer is always right, you’ll never go wrong with their answers.

2 – Collaborative Brainstorming Sessions

Whether you’re looking to branch out in a new trade or simply modify the career path you’ve been on, collaborating and brainstorming with people you trust can be an invaluable step in creating a new product. Ask your friends and family members what type of projects they think you’d be suited for. You might get mostly terrible ideas (circus trainer, magician, actor or politician when clearly you’re someone who enjoys data entry), but you’ll still get your creative juices flowing.

For every 10 bad ideas, there’s always at least one good one. This one is similar to the consumer research idea; however, the biggest difference is that you’re asking your friends and family for advice and not the general public.

3 – Filling in the Gaps 

If you already enjoy working in your current field but think you could provide customers a more comprehensive service, look for gaps where your current company fails to deliver a quality product and fill them in. Say you are a software engineer and the company you work for has built a product that lacks a few key features you think would help the product sell. You’ve told your boss, your boss’s boss and all your co-workers, but for some reason (usually time or budget constraints) your ideas go unnoticed. Why not create a product that you feel would serve the customer better?

The nice thing about this option is you can start building this product on your own time while you are still at your current job. As long as you do not violate any copyright laws or steal your company’s ideas, you could probably even poach some of your coworkers to help you enhance your idea.

4 – Do What You Love

Instead of coming up with a whole new idea for a startup or new business model, stick with what you’re good at. If you’re sitting around at your desk at work, wishing you could be doing exactly what you’re doing—but on your own time and in your own space, consider going freelance. Whether you’re a customer service representative or a tax accountant, striking out on your own isn’t as difficult as it might seem. Freelance websites connect employers with freelancers and even offer customer service and data entry jobs that you can do from your own home. If you are a tax accountant, you could consider working for a large company during tax season and keeping a string of freelance clients on hand for the rest of the year.

5 – Give it a Rest

When all else fails, go for a walk, take a shower or do the dishes after a massive brainstorming session. Giving your mind a chance to rest will allow your subconscious mind to take care of your idea for a little while. Some of the best ideas come to us when we least expect them to. Brainstormers also need to give themselves a little bit of a break and not get too upset if they feel frustrated or feel like all of their ideas deserve to end up in the trash bin.

If you feel like your ideas keep bombing, remember: don’t get discouraged. Inventing a new product and service isn’t easy—otherwise, everyone would be doing it.

About the author: Cameron Johnson is a business consultant and entrepreneur. Over the course of his career he has conducted case studies on both social media optimization and non-profit marketing. Cameron has also had the opportunity to speak at international business conferences and was recently recognized as one of the world’s top 100 advertising experts to follow on social media.

It’s often overlooked.

Definitely under-rated.

(Unquestionably the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make…..)

Your story, is the single most important influencer in your business – it’s the key to your confidence, your ability to attract clients and to make money from your passion.

Let me tell you just 10 way your story is business dynamite!

1. You understand what you need to do – when you discover your story, it shows you the path that got you to where you are right now…and it becomes really clear what you need to do next!

2. You find your talents and gifts – your story helps you understand exactly what it is that you do best and where you have found success.

3. You discover your niche – your story is the key to finding out who you are passionate about serving, and who will resonate with you and what you offer

4. You discover your ideal client – you story helps you see who it is that you LOVE working with and who loves working with you

5. You feel comfortable talking about you – your story takes the stress out of having to explain to people what you do so that they actually get it!

6. You discover your compelling message – when you figure out your story, you know what is that one compelling message that gets you and everyone else SUPER motivated

7. You attract ideal clients – you can stop chasing clients, they’ll find you and they will be willing to pay you for what you do!

8. You build your business your way – finding your story and using it to build your business means that that you will show up with authentic presence.  It’s your authentic style, approach and personality that will win hearts and make perfect business sense.

9. You’ll have more time – as you begin to realize even more success, you will be able to spend more time doing the things that you love in your business and in your life.

10. You’ll make more money – your story is the key to de-stressing your marketing so that you can attract high-paying clients with ease

If this makes sense to you (and you’re crazy if it doesn’t!!!), then join me for the upcoming FREE webinar “The Power of Storytelling for Instant Credibility, Outstanding Confidence and Extreme Client Attraction!”

http://businessstorymastery.com/bsm-webinar/

And then, leave a comment below, share how YOUR story has made a difference!

Article Contributed by Lauren Downey

If you want to succeed in business there are certain things you’re going to have to do the same as everybody else, such as getting your name out there and, yes, paying your taxes on time. There are other things, however, that you should go out of your way to do completely differently, to buck the trend on, in order to secure your place in the history books of successful business owners of the twenty-first century.

With more and more people becoming self-employed and starting their own companies, the competition is stronger than ever before. Rather than letting that deter you, you should see it as a challenge, as something to thrive upon. Sure, you’re unlikely to get anywhere if you follow the same old rules and regulations. But if you choose to do things just that little bit differently to everybody else, success could be just around the corner.

To help you along your way, below are four thing you should start doing differently in your business, right now, to help ensure your success for years to come:

1) Focus on Customer Service

Regardless of what field of business you work in, focusing on improving the level of service you offer your customers will have an enormous impact on the popularity of your business, how many of your current customers become repeat customers, and how many of your customers start referring you to their family and friends.

For an example of a company that thought differently about customer service and, as a result, became one of the largest online shoe retailers in the United States, look no further than Zappos. Zappos (who’s tagline is ‘powered by service’) were bought by Amazon in 2009 for $1.2 billion — and the reason for this acquisition, more than anything else, was due to the extreme focus Zappos place on customer service.

It’s absolutely within your power to do the same. Assuming you’re running a smaller business than Zappos, you don’t have to match the monetary levels their customer service representatives go to to keep their customers happy, but you do have to make the effort to treat your customers like they deserve to be treated.

2) Invest in People

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘investor in people’ thrown around a lot over the last few years and wondered exactly what it means. You’re not alone. When it comes to doing things differently in your business, one of the best things you can do is invest in (hire) the very best people — people who are already brilliant at what they do, and who show potential to go even further, bringing your business along for the ride.

As a small business owner you may feel pressured into hiring family members or unemployed friends whenever you need to take on a new employee. Although this is an entirely noble thing to do when hiring for unskilled labour positions, when you’re looking to hire somebody to help lead your company alongside you you’re obliged to hire the very best person for the job; an innovator, somebody who knows what they’re doing.

3) Start Thinking Like a Big Business

One way to succeed in business is to start thinking you’re bigger than you are sooner; getting yourself into the mindset of a big business owner. There are many ways you can do this, with one of the easiest (and most convincing) being to rent a large office space as soon as possible, even if you don’t need all the space. When you’re working from (and paying for) a large space you’re going to undoubtably start working harder because you will:

Want to fill the empty space with employees as soon as possible.

Begrudge paying for space you’re not using, and therefore work harder on the grounds that the harder you work, the sooner you can employ more individuals to work alongside you.

4) Consistently Re-Evaluate Your Progress 

This point is absolutely crucial.

One thing business owners tend to do all the time is constantly move from one idea to the next, one marketing strategy to another marketing strategy, always looking for their next move because they believe the path they’re currently on isn’t working. In truth, the path you’re currently on may not be working, but you should give yourself the opportunity to re-evaluate your choices over time so you can:

Give every strategy a fair chance: Changing your mind on a business strategy after not giving it a fair chance is not only foolish, it could cost you money.

Steer clear of obstacles: Re-evaluating the progress of your business once a week, for example, will allow you to notice obstacles early on, giving you the leeway to steer clear of them

Be open to new opportunities: Similar to steering clear of obstacles, if you’re currently on a path that seems to be working, but a new, exciting opportunity comes up, when you’re frequently re-evaluating your progress you’ll be able to recognise this opportunity and decide whether you wish to take it.

In conclusion, success in business resides in you doing things differently to your competitors, whether that be focusing on customer service above all else, investing in the right people, thinking like a big business (and renting a larger office than you immediately need), or constantly re-evaluating your progress.

About the Author

Lauren Downey is a freelance writer from Regus UK, a global workspace provider. Aside from writing, she enjoys cooking Asian foods and travelling across with her husband.