Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Pond Scum Cleaners

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http://www.bluewaterpond.com/

Pond scum, or blue-green algae, is a common sight in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

For Blue Water Ponds, a start-up company operated by two recent college graduates, pond scum is a business opportunity.

The company, which won the student division of the 2010 Minnesota Cup challenge, aims to prevent summer algae blooms with a sustainable solution: barley. The company offers its services placing bales of pelletized barley into ponds in the spring and then harvests weeds in the summer to allow beneficial plants to continue growing. The treatment for the average pond hovers around $400 annually, said Ben Schurhamer, president of Blue Water Ponds.

"Barley straw has definitely shown efficacy," Dave Wright, a scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said. But the exact science behind the barley treatment is unknown. Two theories exist:

•The barley might create a competition between harmful plants and other bacteria for nutrient resources that wouldn't normally exist.

•Other bacteria might create a growth-inhibiting compound after feeding on the carbohydrate-rich barley, reducing algal growth.

"We don't know how, but the barley changes the biological composition of the water," Schurhamer said.

The idea of using barley to clear bacteria from water is not a new one.

Though the method has been around for thousands of years, it was modified in the 1990s by researchers in England and became a standard practice for the many lakes, canals and ponds across Great Britain.

The treatment has received a wide following in the past few years as a more environmentally stable means of algal control. Normally, pond and lake owners use synthetic algaecides such as Polyquat or the hypertoxic copper sulfate to control the plants.

Blue Water Ponds is one of the few companies in the area that offers the barley service. Metro area cities have used the treatment in more than 100 ponds in Bloomington, Shoreview, Minneapolis and others.

Connor McComas, an environmental sciences graduate of Iowa State University, and Schurhamer, a biochemistry graduate from the University of Minnesota, co-founded the company in 2007 after completing internships with an environmental sciences research group.

Blue Water Ponds started officially in 2009 as a two-man operation, but recently added two more full-time employees, and often adds one or two others during the spring. The company expects to complete barley treatments on 200 to 400 ponds this summer, and to generate between $20,000 and $30,000 in revenue, McComas said.

Bloomington used the method last year to clear local ponds of algae, duckweed and other nuisance plants in a more sustainable way.

"We've used herbicides in the past, but we started the barley method to try and identify a more sustainable measure," said Bryan Gruidl, a water resources specialist for the Bloomington Public Works Department.

Dawn Sommers, a public information manager for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, said that the city has been using the barley method for several years, and said it has been "very successful in helping control algal growth."

Sam Villella, a homeowner in Blaine, lives near a community pond that had serious algal problems for several years. The residents were eager to remove the slime that covered nearly a quarter of the water, but were extremely wary of pesticides that might add harmful chemicals to the water and hurt the wildlife in the area. Villella said after some searching, he discovered Blue Water Ponds, and employed them the next year. Villella said he and his neighbors were thrilled with the results.

"The difference was night and day," Villella said. "We were very happy with the clarity of the water, there was no slime, and there was no stink. Even people that were skeptical were amazed.''

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - StarTribune.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

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Saturday, March 19, 2011

When Crazy Means Profitable

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1. Million Dollar Homepage

1000000 pixels, charge a dollar per pixel – that’s perhaps the dumbest idea for online business anyone could have possible come up with. Still, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire.

2. PickyDomains

Hire another person to think of a cool domain name for you? No way people would pay for this. Actually, naming domain names for others turned out a thriving business, especially, when you make the entire process risk free. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people who want to PAY the service to come up with a snappy memorable domain name. PickyDomains is expected to hit six figures this year. Full Story

3. Doggles

Create goggles for dogs and sell them online? Boy, this IS the dumbest idea for a business. How in the world did they manage to become millionaires and have shops all over the world with that one? Beyond me.

4. LaserMonks

LaserMonks.com is a for-profit subsidiary of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, an eight-monk monastery in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yeah, real monks refilling your cartridges. Hallelujah! Their 2005 sales were $2.5 million! Praise the Lord. Full Story

5. AntennaBalls

You can’t sell antenna ball online. There is no way. And surely it wouldn’t make you rich. But this is exactly what Jason Wall did, and now he is now a millionaire. Full Story

6. FitDeck

Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disaster idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported last year sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what military pays.

7. PositivesDating.Com

How would you like to go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin thought that someone would, so they created a dating site for HIV positive folks last year. Projected 2006 sales are $110,000, and the two hope to have 50,000 members by their two-year mark.

8. Designer Diaper Bags

Christie Rein was tired of carrying diapers around in a freezer bag. The 34-year-old mother of three found herself constantly stuffing diapers for her infant son into freezer bags to keep them from getting scrunched up in her purse. Rein wanted something that was compact, sleek and stylish, so in November 2004, she sat down with her husband, Marcus, who helped her design a custom diaper bag that’s big enough to hold a travel pack of wipes and two to four diapers. With more than $180,000 in sales for 2005, Christie’s company, Diapees & Wipees, has bags in 22 different styles, available online and in 120 boutiques across the globe for $14.99.

9. SantaMail

Ok, how’s that for a brilliant idea. Get a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, pretend you are Santa Claus and charge parents 10 bucks for every letter you send to their kids? Well, Byron Reese sent over 200000 letters since the start of the business in 2001, which makes him a couple million dollars richer. Full Story

10. Lucky Wishbone Co.

Fake wishbones. Now, this stupid idea is just destined to flop. Who in the world needs FAKE PLASTIC wishbones? A lot of people, it turns out. Now producing 30,000 wishbones daily (they retail for 3 bucks a pop) Ken Ahroni, the company founder, expects 2006 sales to reach $1 million.

To see other businesses that have not made the top 10 list but came pretty close, visit Uncommon Business Ideas Blog

More On This Subject

10+ Unusual Ways To Make Easy Money On The Internet If You Love Writing

Startups That Work: Surprising Research on What Makes or Breaks a New Company

Start Your Own Business for $1,000 or Less


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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Spicy Ice Cream

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http://jenisicecreams.com/

While most ice cream entrepreneurs concern themselves with perfecting basic vanilla and chocolate, Jeni Britton Bauer started her career experimenting with flavors like bacon, salmon and curry. Her first concoction was a combination of chocolate ice cream and cayenne pepper essential oil.

"I just thought it was a super-creative thing to do: make something frozen hot," Bauer says. "So when I did that, I started thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I've never had ice cream with rose petal or basil or all these other wonderful things.'"

While most ice cream entrepreneurs concern themselves with perfecting basic vanilla and chocolate, Jeni Britton Bauer started her career experimenting with flavors like bacon, salmon and curry. Her first concoction was a combination of chocolate ice cream and cayenne pepper essential oil.

"I just thought it was a super-creative thing to do: make something frozen hot," Bauer says. "So when I did that, I started thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I've never had ice cream with rose petal or basil or all these other wonderful things.'"

Bauer teamed up with a friend to launch her "starter business," an ice cream stand in Columbus, Ohio's North Market, a public market with artisan food businesses. Although that business closed in 2000, her love of making unusual ice cream was still strong.

She and her husband, Charly Bauer, began working on a new business plan and opened up a Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in 2002. Brother-in-law Tom Bauer joined the company as a partner a year later.

Determined to make her second run at the ice cream business a success, Bauer visited other food businesses and tried to figure out exactly why her first venture soured. She decided she needed to be meticulous about keeping customer favorites--such as salty caramel and wildberry lavender--in stock while using a second dipping freezer for more experimental flavors, which "could follow the seasons of the North Market."

Bauer also realized her pricey $10-per-pint flavors needed to have exceptional ingredients and be backed by a team of enthusiastic employees. With about 15,000 independent ice cream shops nationwide, according to the National Ice Cream Retailers Association, it's a tough market to crack.

Malcolm Stogo, founder of Riverdale, N.Y.-based ice cream consulting firm Malcolm Stogo Associates, thinks the Bauers' approach of branding themselves as the "unusual flavors" ice cream company was a smart one. He says the plan to start out very small and focus on the quality and uniqueness of the product, in addition to finding locations with high foot traffic, were key ingredients in Jeni's success.

Eight locations, plus Dean & DeLuca
But such success isn't always easy. Bauer agonizes over the texture of her ice cream and admits some of her more "out there" flavors don't work. (Roughly one in 100 makes the cut.) It takes about 16 weeks for the Jeni's team to take a flavor from concept to cooler, a nimbleness Stogo says is impossible for larger brands.

"When you think of ice cream, you have to think of milk as being water, protein, fat and lactose, which is sugar," Bauer says. "You have to think about how they all interplay together when they're frozen. If you don't understand those things, you'll have trouble making ice cream."

It's exactly that attention to detail that earns Jeni's its loyal clientele and has allowed the company to grow significantly despite the recession. The eighth Jeni's location is slated to open this April.

In 2006, a Jeni's customer took a job with Dean & DeLuca, a chain of upscale grocery stores based in New York City, and convinced co-founder Giorgio DeLuca to carry Jeni's ice cream. Since that first wholesale account, the Bauers have landed over 150 more nationwide.

The company also does a brisk online sales business of nearly 100,000 units per year--no small feat when you consider the costs of shipping ($10 to $35 per package). That's on top of the product itself, which runs $48 for four pints to $92 for nine. Bauer says her staff has grown to about 120 people, including 30 full-time office and production kitchen staff.

Even in the midst of the growth, Bauer still retreats to a small test kitchen to develop new flavors and nurture her creative side. While she claims she has never been an athlete, she likens the process to being part of a sports team.

"You come up with a game plan … your strategy," Bauer says, "and you do your best to execute it and hope that's enough."

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - Entrepreneur.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

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Monday, March 07, 2011

Who Would Pay For Punishing Themselves?

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http://www.ultrinsic.com/

With a college exam looming, Jeremy Gelbert found himself struggling for the motivation to sit down and focus. His friend Steven Wolf gave him a little incentive: He said he'd shell out $100 if Gelbert got an A -- but if Gelbert didn't, he'd have to pay Wolf $20. Gelbert took the bet and aced the exam.

That's when Ultrinsic was born. If the thrill of putting money on an exam provided some motivation for Gelbert, then it might do the same for other students, he reasoned.

"We recently got notice from the U.S. Patent Office that we got the patent for betting on grades," Gelbert says. "So that is a big win for us."

Gelbert, 23, and Wolf, 27, work full-time on Ultrinsic but aren't taking salaries. The company isn't yet profitable. About 7,900 students have created accounts, but only a few hundred actually have money in them.

Gelbert is confident the idea will take root.

"The business model is there. We have proof of concept," he says. "Now that we understand the model we are going to go ahead and ramp up. I wouldn't do it if I couldn't make money."

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - CNNMoney.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

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Friday, March 04, 2011

Underground Signs As Business

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http://www.underground-signs.com/

The Great Recession created a lot of new entrepreneurs: When you're not working, the opportunity cost of launching a new venture is low.

Trevor MacDermid used to be a freelance Web content manager for companies like MasterCard and British Telecom. But in 2009, the gigs stopped coming. Needing something to do, he made a New York City subway sign.

"I like professional signage -- what you see in airports, in factory buildings," says MacDermid, 35. "I am somewhat handy. I just made one for a friend. I thought it was a fun thing."

That first one read "Veranda Place" -- which is a street name, not a real NYC subway stop. MacDermid used computer programs to design the lettering and worked with a tinsmith for the metal.

Then he built his own website to advertise his signs. "It seemed like a good little project, a good weekend project," he says. "Then I just said, well, forget that -- this is what I am going to do."

He mostly works alone out of a studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yards, but he does have to staff up around the holidays. The signs are carried by the New York's Transit Museum shop, a couple of stores in Connecticut, and a baseball memorabilia store. The most popular sign MacDermid sells is for "161st Street -- Yankee Stadium." The runner up: "42nd Street, Grand Central." The signs retail for $99 to $500, depending on the complexity and size.

The venture was profitable in its very first year. MacDermid is licensed with both the NYC MTA and the Boston MBTA, paying a percentage of his sales to the transit authorities because they own the "look and feel" of the signs.

"They are happy and I am happy," MacDermid says. "I am the only officially licensed manufacturer of these signs."

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - CNNMoney.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

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