Bootstrap Business Ideas

I sell owning your own business very hard to everybody because of the freedom and control of your life it allows you. Everybody has business ideas and many people think they have the next million dollar idea. That is great but an idea is nothing without action. In the business world there is the concept of building a moat around your business; this refers to how difficult it is for a competitor to cross the moat to compete with you in your market. The action on an idea is a very big moat for most people to cross; and no, there is not going to be someone that will pay you for just an idea.

I talk to many people who want to start a business but one of the biggest excuses for not moving forward is not having money. When they tell me this I ask “If I gave you the money for your business today you could start tomorrow?” The answer is usually no. There is usually about 90 days to 2 years of work that needs to completed before you are ready to spend your first dime. Do that work first, then you will have easier time finding the money when you are ready.

I love solving problems so I love identifying problems that need solutions. These can also be called business ideas. I come up with a ton of ideas but I know I cannot act on all of them so I am going share them with you. Some may be horrible some may make you money. I have 3 requirements you must follow to use these ideas:

Let me know if you can add to this list
Let me know your thoughts
Let me know if you are successful with one of these ideas so I can share your story
Let me know if I can help in any way
Business Ideas:

• Community meat locker space rental for those of us that want to buy meat directly from the farmer but do not have the space to freeze a whole animal.
• Daycare at night for parents that work the night shift.
• Promoting shows on your topic if interest. For instance, if you are interested in entrepreneurship contact local entrepreneurs and invite them to share their products and teach wanna be entrepreneurs. This can be done on many topics.
• A website that I can record all of the food in my cabinet and it lists the potential recipes I can create. This will also store my food info so I do not have to enter everything every time.
• Electronic emailed receipts. When I make a purchase I like to track my spending but I do not need to waste paper on a receipt. Why not email me a receipt when I use my credit card (or debit card as a credit card). This can also auto transfer into quicken. Heck this could feed into the recipe website to track what food you bought. Imagine how this could help you track your spending.
• A way to record ideas in the shower. I get a ton of business ideas in the shower but I tend to forget them. Maybe some sort of pad to write on or waterproof voice recorder.
• Renting time at commercial kitchens. There are a lot of entrepreneurial cooks out there but they do not have the money to afford a commercial kitchen. Why not be a broker for the unused time at a commercial kitchen. An example would be there is a bakery that is open from 6-5 every day. From 5-6 every night a pie maker could use the kitchen. The bakery is essentially getting free money they did not have before and the pie cook is only paying for the kitchen when they uses it. This concept could be used on all kinds of industrial equipment.
• We all have too much crap in our house. Maybe like a professional organizer you could go into people’s houses help them decide what to get rid of and then post it on Craig’s list for them.
• Create a solution for celebrities to keep calls from friends and non friends (crazy fans) separated.
• Doggy Cam, put a camera on your dog’s collar to see what he sees.
• There is a big issue with bacteria in the walls these days. UV naturally kills bacteria. Have a system that shins UV light in the walls of a house to eliminate bacteria.
• Create a jig to make it easy to place screen protectors on cell phones and iPods.
• Software to track your children’s phone usage.
• Create time delay appliances to turn on on off hours when electricity is cheaper like at night.
• Electric meters that track the price of electricity and talk to the time delay appliances and turn them on at the lowest electricity cost times.
• Things that stink are usually caused by bacteria. Create a system that allows more sunlight in the house or UV lights that turn on at night when you are sleeping to kill bacteria.
• A house and car cleaning business catering to pet owners to do special deep cleaning with pet safe products.
• Bobble heads of people you dislike that can be stuck in a urinal. These have stickers for this but bobble heads are a bit more funny.
• Do laundry for people without washing machines.
• If you are a mechanic, rent yourself out to inspect used cars for buyers.