Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with business and ideas

Should I start a photo retouching business?

markcmyers — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:16:55 -0800

Should I start a photo retouching business? My wife asked me to take a head shot of her with my digital camera. She wasn't happy with the result. I said, "I'll bet someone on the Web does quickie retouching for 20 bucks." But Google turned up no such service. Should I start one? And how would you market it?

Thoughts on buying a used business?

willnot — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:30:57 -0800

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of buying a used business. It seems like if the business has been running for a while, then it's a proven concept that somebody with resources could just step right into. Has anybody done this and did it work out? Also, any recommendations for a business that is recession proof and that can deliver a moderate amount of passive income (say in the 7 to 9K per month range)?

Ideas needed for back side of business cards

bleucube — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:12:31 -0800

What neat ideas could I print on the back of business card for a Technology Consulting company? My customers are small to medium business that have little or no onsite tech support. What neat ideas could I print on the back of business card for a Technology Consulting company? My customers are small to medium businesses that have little or no onsite tech support.

I started a new business and it's thriving through word of mouth. Hooray. I have the front of my business card all set, but need some ideas for something that will be useful on the back that potential customers might use regardless if they purchase my services. I like my cards to be functional.

Some examples:

* Subnet mask chart
* TCP/IP stack chart
* CAT wiring diagram
* Some sort of password encrypted chart so customers can write passwords down

What Could I Do With My 2009?

divabat — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:03:03 -0800

This year's my final year of my degree. My psychologist asked me if I had any plans for next year. My original plan fell apart, so now I don't really have anything. Hmm. What could I look into? So I didn't get shortlisted for the Danish KaosPilots. Ouch. I'm still sad about it, but I've had two weeks to brood about it and it's time to move on.

Since I had been so single-mindedly focused on that one goal for the past six months, I didn't really consider Plans B, C, and so on. (I did consider that it would be a possibility, but I didn't spend too much time on it.) I had been pretty worn out from all that preparation and planning, so I'm taking at least this month off from anything along the lines of "my future" and just do random things for a while. If something strikes me as interesting, I'd apply for it, but I won't devote much time or energy on it.

I do still have to think about next year though. This is my final year; I'm finishing off all my required subjects this sem and have 4 electives free next semester. Deciding what to do after university isn't really a clear-cut process, as there are a few complex factors that need to be considered.

While I don't think I'm quite ready to devote my entire life to one pursuit (like I did before), and I don't want to commit to something just yet, I'd like to explore my options and just take a look at what seems interesting.

I'm interested in young people, non-traditional education, culture, community work, and making a difference. What could I do? What could I explore?

Some ideas:

1. Apply for the KaosPilots in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) - it starts roughly around the same time as the Denmark school, but they seem a lot more excited about potentially having me (though I don't want to get my heart broken again!!)

2. Do a Masters or a Grad Dip in something - some courses that look interesting and are more the kind of stuff I'm interested in are the Non-Profit/Philantrophy stream in QUT's Business programs (though I'm ineligible because they're part-time); International Comparative Education and Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies in Stanford; Arts in Youth and Community Development in Columbia College Chicago; SIT Graduate Programs; Humane Education. Possibly also education in general, social work, or counselling. I'd rather it be more experiential and real-world as I'm sick of academic writing and learn best by doing, but I'm not sure how to search out this information.

3. Get a job in Australia. The main problem here is visas - to be eligible for the 18-month bridging visa, my job has to pay me at least $40,000/year - next to impossible for entry level, especially in the creative industries/community services which are underfunded. The other option is to be sponsored by a company, but they need to have a lot of resources to prove that I'm better than any Australian candidate, and most of the companies that would otherwise be an excellent fit just can't afford to do so.

4. Get a job in Malaysia. No visa issues, but prospects are pretty low as there aren't as many opportunities.

5. Take some of my ideas and make them real (so this would also involve research on funding, project management, how I'll survive while I plan out my project...)

6. Apply for my dream job at UWP, if it's available

7. Take up the partial scholarship from The Scholar Ship and travel for a sem - might need to reapply though. Alternatively, travel on similar programs (though funding would be an issue)

8. Take up BrainStore's traineeship offer - 3 months in Switzerland. It's actually meant for this August but I could defer it.

9. Apply for a fellowship to something - I've applied to a couple that don't require much travel (and pay expenses if I have to). Sauve Scholars would be COOL. I'm not sure where to search for these though - most of the ones I find require you to already have a project in mind, but I want to find a project I can get involved with.

10. Stay at home, mooch off the parents. While desirable by my parents (who sometimes have Empty Nest Syndrome) I would be bored very quickly.

11. Travel, though this would eat up money mainly in visa fees (damn Bangladesh passport).

12. Do a second degree in something, or a random course that's more for fun than anything else

13. Try to be famous for...something.

As I've said before, I'm most interested in exploring possibilities than anything else, so feel free to toss me any suggestions - schools, programs, people, countries (particularly those not picky with visas), companies, visa advice, etc. Most of the best/most interesting ones tend to be US-specific, so anything that allows internationals would be best (e.g. an international City Year or Peace Corps).

If nothing else, just looking at all the ideas would get me a little more excited about life and lift me out from my dumps!

Thank you!

The Single Mum's Guide to Social Enterprise

divabat — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:01:36 -0800

Socially conscious business ideas for a funky media-savvy single mother? One of my best friends had a baby a few months ago, which led her to put her career on hold. However, being a single mum (long story about custody) she needs to get some income.

She used to work in television as a presenter for many many years and is actually quite well known in her field. She also has experience in producing, scriptwriting, directing, radio presenting, public speaking, writing, and acting. She used to be a model and sometimes still does modelling work, but she doesn't want to keep doing that (she is a looker though!) She had a love of glass-blowing when she was younger, but I don't know if she'd necessarily call herself "crafty". She enjoys travel but due to the baby will have to cut this down. She is feisty, extroverted, and opinionated, but also caring and friendly and helpful. She's PASSIONATE about women's rights and is incensed when she senses injustice. Many people find her inspirational. She has a LOT of energy and is quite a workaholic, so the sudden stop of her career is driving her nuts!!

She was initially looking for an actual job, but I suggested she start her own business because she has pretty good skills for that. She said she's thinking of it, but she needs to start a business that is (in her words) "ethically sound, beneficial business that safe, eco friendsly and co op based. And lucrative!"

Any ideas for what she could do while raising her child? It doesn't have to fit ALL her criteria (first thing I'll tell is "you can't expect to save the world") but something socially conscious, or examples of women (particularly single mothers) that have successfully done the same would be appreciated.

Technical-ish rental ideas?

pallen123 — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:17:59 -0800

Unusual/technical-ish corporate rental business ideas/inspiration? Where can I look to find inspiration for innovative corporate rental business ideas. For example, I know there are businesses that rent party equipment, like chairs and tables, for corporate events. And services that rent office furniture, cubicles, etc. And of course there are things like moonbounces and carnival rides that might be considered rentals for parties.

But aside from these things, and things like copiers, coffee machines, and water dispensers, where in the world can I find inspiration for other types of products that businesses night need, on an occasional basis, but may be more interested in renting periodically, that buying outright?

For example, I used to know someone that rented AVID non-linear editing systems to movie studios, then got into the movie lighting business (cheaper to rent lighting equipment in San Francisco than ship your own there if your warehouse is in NYC).

I have IT skills, so ideas could be technical-ish.

Where can I get business ideas to help me start my own company?

dcrocha — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:51:18 -0800

Where can I get business ideas to help me start my own company? Anything computer-related would be preferred.

How can I leverage my potential business partner 's interest and solidify a business idea?

AdInfinitum — Thu, 25 May 2006 07:42:23 -0800

Hello. Here’s the lowdown: I’m the senior sound designer / managing director for a leading international sound library company who’s been successfully running a company that doesn’t belong to me for 6 years. I’ve exhausted this opportunity, as the company is limited in its ability to grow due to the owners methods. In short, although I still have my job (and could have it forever, so to speak), I need to get out. I’m striving to create an opportunity for myself (and potentially for some of the other amazing employees I’ve hired who are looking for better opportunities) by starting a new company, and I must act now as I am not getting any younger.. I’ve been thinking this through for almost 6 months now, and something seeming great has just happened. Can you help me make the most out of it? I rent a house from a very successful business owner / investor who has grown to respect my methods and abilities in many ways. After a long conversation with him a few weeks ago, he became very interested in my situation. After hearing that I was looking to pursue new options, he suggested we consider getting together on a partnership to develop a new enterprise in the ‘digital audio media’ domain. Even though he’s a very well-versed business wiz, he is somewhat limited in his knowledge regarding ‘up to date’ technology, Web 2.0, etc. I’ve been educating him via news clippings and links for a while now to supplement his knowledge.

We met for our first ‘formal’ meeting last week, and the results were confusing. At first, we were speaking about developing a local ‘post production’ audio facility that would utilize our current resource-pool (we have myself an about 5 others who are audio experts all willing to jump in) to get us off the ground. During our meeting, we were going over larger-scale ‘broader’ concepts regarding the future of digital media distribution, user-content models, emerging technologies, etc, and the interest swayed from our initial ‘tried and true’ concept completely. We both decided that we wanted to ‘go bigger’, as he is looking to sell off his current software company and get into ‘the next thing’ anyway, and from our discussion many larger-scale topics were covered. This was great, but actually left me a bit disjointed. He was speaking about getting actual Venture Capital and pursuing financing, even before we had decided on any business strategy or direction. He then suggested that we abandon our initial local post-production audio venture in order to somehow secure our ability to ‘get financing’, as it would somehow ‘look bad’ to potential investors if we were to show a related business pursuit before our larger model was introduced. Firstly, does anyone know anything about this method / strategy so that I can confirm its basis?

Aside from that, I’m…well - confused! I finally have a partner with the resources and know-how to really lift our ‘startup-to-be’ off the ground, but I am totally lost in terms of finding a business idea that suits my skills and satisfies our desire to ‘play in the big game’. All I had initially wanted was to find a way to make enough money without working for my current employer on my own, and now I’m in much deeper then I had expected. I want to make sure I can feed my prospective partner with a concept that he will find worthy of pursuit, but now that we have established a desire to ‘aim higher’ I am getting lost in these larger concept models. How can I come up with a business idea that satisfies my interests and skills while at the same time fulfilling his (and now my own, i think) desire to ‘hit it big’?

Aside from that, can anyone think of a way to maximize my potential within this situation? I want, at minimum, to leverage his resources in terms of business know-how and financing for developing something that will grant my independence from this annoying job. I fear, however, that if I cannot now come up with something lucrative enough to inspire his pursuit I will end up just where I began! I’m looking for advice, ideas, and help. I need to navigate my way out of this (decent) job and into freedom…badly. I feel like I’m right on the edge of having a serious advantage through my ‘almost-mentor’, and I do not want to blow it.

Thanks!

Looking for publicity opportunities for my companies

Zinger — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:24:42 -0800

I'm looking for quality business awards or publicity opportunities - things I can apply for that might bring some more recognition to some of the businesses that I'm involved in. I'm looking for things like awards, chances for being featured in a magazine, busisness rankings, web site awards, etc., that I can enter to bring more publicity to my company.

I'm looking for *quality* opportunities here, so things like
http://www.webbyawards.com/ and not 'Bob Rates This A Five Star Website!' :)

Other examples of what types of things/quality I'm looking for:

http://www.profitguide.com/profit100/
http://www.fastcompany.com/fast50_06/

Opportunities do not necessarily have to be Internet related, although most of the stuff I'm involved with is web related.

Oh, and one other thing - I'm based in Canada, so probably can't apply for things that are exclusively American opportunities. I'll leave it at that for details... someone here might come up with an idea I hadn't thought of...

How to find a catolog of "dead brands?"

mtstover — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:41:07 -0800

I'm interested in buying / resuscitating a "dead brand". Something fairly old, but that would be interesting to consumers. Think Barbasol, or something like that. Any ideas on where to find a good catalog of expired consumer products that have been forgotten?

Piggybacking Avon

jikel_morten — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:10:57 -0800

My wife sells Avon. I had the idea that since she goes door to door delivering Avon books and has created a decent client base, I could make up a snazzy flyer with cool products that the men in her customers' lives would find interesting, but probably would not have seen before (i.e. cool stuff found on the net). I don't have a ton of money to pre purchase lots of product, but probably enough to get started small scale. The men would be 30-60 I'd say. Any product Ideas? I'm thinking gadgets, golf, executive - but unique. Also, is this a terrible idea?