The object of this site is help you find an idea for a profitable
business. You'll find hundreds of examples of people who started
small businesses, usually with little money, and created a part-time
or full-time income.
Before you start looking for business ideas, it's helpful to have
a clear vision of what you wish to achieve with your business. There
are many ways to make money, but if you know all your objectives,
it will make your search easier.
Some of the businesses described make products and some provide a service.
Some are conventional and some are strange. But they all
share the common feature of satisfying a human desire. Not a need,
but a desire or want. You have a much better chance of success if
you offer people what they want instead of what they need.
Even though tap water fills a basic need, it's virtually free. However, if you
distill that same water and put it in a bottle, people will pay for the
perceived, but not always real, better purity and taste. And should that
bottled water come from a spring in another country, you can charge an even
higher price. So if you deal with commodity products like food or clothing make
sure you provide secondary benefits in addition to filling the primary need.
Unlike water, perfume is strictly desire over need. It was first used to
mask the odor of burning animal flesh during animal sacrifices to the
gods. And except for the occasional BBQ mishap, most of us don't conduct
animal sacrifices anymore. But we prefer the smell of flowers to our
own body chemistry and will pay a high price for it. In fact, the price
people will pay for nonessential products like perfume is only limited by their
desire and their bank account. It's no wonder the perfume business is
so much more profitable than the water business.
And if you don't want your business to stink, keep your focus simple.
Find a product or service which a certain group is willing and capable
of buying. Create a marketing message to let the people in that group
know why they should buy from you. If they like the benefits you offer
and you manage your cash flow, you'll probably be successful. The
basic operations of business are simple, often not easy to carry out,
but simple.
Finally, a word about the age of the site's content. The information
is from sources over 50 years old. But it would be a mistake to
disregard it simply because it wasn't written yesterday. Technology and
fashions change, but people don't. Six thousand years ago Egyptians
were wearing cosmetics in much the same way and for the same reasons
as we do today. So if you can satisfy human desires related to
health, popularity, security, beauty, comfort, free time, or
entertainment, an idea that worked a thousand years ago can still
work today.
