Business Oppotunities Blog (BOB)

Energy costs second only to health care as top concern

Adam Bannister — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:00:40 +0000

From Washington Business Journal: Soaring fuel and energy costs rank second only to the cost of health care among problems facing small business owners, according to a recently released survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.

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Dry Cleaners Hit by Rising Costs

Adam Bannister — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:39:02 +0000

From the BBC: Joe Hallak's dry cleaning business faces the most severe test in its history.

Founded by his father in Hackensack, New Jersey, 42 years ago, it is one of the latest victims of record oil prices.

Dry cleaning businesses are going out of business at the fastest rate since the 1960s.

There's been a dramatic jump in the cost of the chemical solvents used in the dry cleaning process.

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Eco-Friendly Cleaning Franchise Opportunity

Adam Bannister — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:08:22 +0000

A purveyor of environmentally friendly cleaning products, Living Clean taps into popular concern about what we expose our bodies to and the environment in general.

Founder Julie Bishop tells BOB about how she started the business, which has just taken on its first franchisee, and how Living Clean stands apart from other cleaning franchises.

Domain Name Shakeup May Bring New Net GoldRush

Adam Bannister — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:21:32 +0000

From The Guardian: For more than a decade the internet has been a world of dotcoms, dotnets and dotcodotuks.

That could all change, however, with a new scheme to liberalise the way websites are named, creating a whole new generation of addresses such as .bank, .sport and .news.

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British Pubs Close at Fastest Rate Ever

Adam Bannister — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:21:41 +0000

From Sky News: Pubs are closing down at their fastest rate ever - with those in towns and cities being hit the hardest.

Some 2 % of all city pubs have closed in the last six months, whilst food-led country pubs with outdoor facilities for smokers are reaping the benefits.

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How I Started... an Online Database of Stolen Goods

Adam Bannister — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:56:11 +0000

Many founders of fast-growing businesses set out with the most modest of intentions.

For example, Pierre Omidyar originally set up eBay as a vehicle for his wife to trade collectables called Pez candy dispensers. Omidyar had no inkling of what the site would become.

Adrian Portlock, whose Gloucestershire-based company Recipero has built an online database comprising the serial numbers of 100 million stolen goods, agrees that this is “often the way with businesses. If you see an opportunity based on providing a solution, that’s normally a good basis for a start-up.”

Viral Video: Getting the Hits to Make a Hit

Adam Bannister — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:12:34 +0000

What is viral video?

A viral video is a brief video clip, usually no longer than a few minutes, which gains greater exposure as viewers share it via internet or mobile technologies.

The mediums through which viral video is distributed include email, instant messaging, blogs and video sharing websites, the most popular of which, by some distance, is YouTube.

How to Grow Fast in Down Times

Adam Bannister — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:29:17 +0000

From CNN Money: We checked in with several of this year's FSB 100 companies for tips on what they've learned through their torrid growth and occasional stumbles.

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The Profits of Gloom

Adam Bannister — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:32:11 +0000

From the BBC: Despite the credit crunch, increasing inflation and falling house prices, some businesses are reporting record profits.

Pawnbrokers, bailiffs, company liquidators and discount retailers are recording bulging order books and soaring profits.

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How I Bought... a Hair Salon

Adam Bannister — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:23:46 +0000

Thirty-nine-year-old Tracey decided to buy a business to supplement her income, ultimately, perhaps, to replace her main income given the stressful nature of her job.

She thinks the hair salon she bought in December 2007 could ultimately serve as a retirement fund, if and when she resigns from her role as the head of a local-council department.