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1. Produce Christmas cards which are printed
on the front with, for example, "Happy Christmas from the Smith
Family". Or, instead of the name 'Smith', pick one of the dozens
of other popular surnames. Sell packs of these cards by direct
mail to people listed in telephone directories.
2. Make money from renting out expensive
children's toys. The toys you rent out will include remote
controlled models and computerized games. Use a little van to
deliver the toys to customers. Paint in toy town colour scheme. Call
the van a toy mobile or similar suitable name.
3. Introduce to your region a service which
mounts maps for businesses. Keep a stock of local, national and
international maps. Mount these maps in a professional manner to
suit the wall space available at offices. Send out leaflets about
your services to office managers.
4. Bring out a regular publication for
ambitious amateur musicians. This publication might include ads from
: 1) Employers seeking musicians. 2) Retailers selling equipment
accessories and supplies. 3) People selling used equipment. 4)
Musicians seeking to make contact with other musicians. Also publish
interesting editorials and letters.
5. Design and manufacture kits for making
models with cocktail sticks, for example: model churches, castles,
windmills, houses, etc. Buy the cocktail sticks in their unpacked
state from the manufacturer. Sell your kits by mail order from ads
in craft magazines or distribute to model shops.
6. Establish a directory of products no
longer made. This directory might include sections on toys,
novelties and household goods. Design the directory for business
people and inventors who want to know both what has been made before
and what ideas might be revived and/or modified.
7. Make cotton gloves especially designed
for coin collectors. The gloves prevent the grease and moisture from
fingers getting onto coins. Package the gloves and sell them from
ads in coin collecting magazines or distribute to shops which sell
collectible coins.
8. Bring out a correspondence course about
how to write cookbooks. The course might include information about:
How to devise recipes, how to present them in written form and what
makes a successful cookery book. Produce a prospectus and advertise
in women's magazines.
9. Begin a business which rents out large
and expensive astronomical telescopes to householders who want to
develop their interest in astronomy. Publicise your service at the
local astronomy society and use local advertising to attract
clients.
11. Paint attractive art on rocks to make
souvenir paperweights and doorstops. The art might take the form of
abstract pattern, traditional pictures or tourist scenery. Call your
rocks "designer rocks". Add a rubber base to paperweights and a
rubber edge to doorstops.
12. Create a mail order business which
specializes in selling products which help people sleep. Products
might include: Sleep inducing cassettes, special bedtime clothing,
herbal pillows, books and guides on how to sleep better.
13. Paint on wood stylistic house numbers
and names. These painted numbers and names will be an attractive
alternative to the traditional names burned into sliced logs. Get
your work stocked at shops which sell garden products or household
goods.
14. Start a venture which promotes the art
and hobby of window painting. On coloured acetate paper have
outlines printed for painting pictures by numbers. These acetate
sheets are stuck to one side of a window and anyone can paint a
picture on the other side of the glass.
15. Select one sea-shell which would be
suitable for an ashtray, another for a pip tray and another for a
paper clip tray. Put these shells into a single packet and sell as a
set of useful sea-shell-trays. Sell from souvenir and novelty gift
shops.
16. Devise and produce a board game which
simulates the experience of starting a mail order business. The
usual problem of bringing out a board game is the difficulty of
getting it stocked in shops. However, a game about mail order can be
sold by mail order to business opportunity seekers.
17. Make an income by selling lucky charms
at car boot sales or door-to-door. Sell, for example: Rabbits feet,
horseshoes and four-leaf clovers. Start by tracking down trade
sources of lucky charms.
18. Buy and sell oil paintings. Buy new
paintings from artists and old paintings from collectors and
householders. Sell the paintings from: home, a roadside site, a
stall at crafts fairs or hire stalls for exhibiting all the
paintings you have for sale.
19. Start a manufacturing business which is
devoted to making doorstops. These doorstops might range from the
humble wooden wedge to the more exotic and unusual. Package them in
polythene bags, staple on a printed card and get them stocked at
gift shops.
20. Decorate everyday objects with pressed
flowers. Add an inlaid design of pressed flowers to trays, coasters,
jewellery boxes, paperweights, picture frames, wall-hangings, desk
sets and table tops. |