MCKINSEY HAS A VERY INFORMATIVE FREE ONLINE JOURNAL

The highly respected management consulting firm, McKinsey and Co has a free online magazine that offers lots of insight and perspective on a broad range of business issues.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com

CREATE A HIPSTER LAUNDRYMAT

Why are the typical laundrymats so ugly and lacking style? Create a cool laundrymat that has some lifestyle energy.

TRAVEL CHEAP AND EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES IN OTHER COUNTRIES

For 50 years, LET'S GO have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, they spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.

http://www.letsgo.com

RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

This is a great resource for anyone contemplating a run for any public office. Even though this is a democratic site, the ideas are useful regardless of political persuasion. (if a wrestler can do it, so can you.)

http://www.runforoffice.org/resources

FORD IS OFFERING SMALL BUSINESSES A VEHICLE JUST FOR THEM

This summer, Ford will be introducing its Transit Connect small business van to the US market. Hugely popular around the world, the van is a perfect fit for companies looking for something not as big as a full sized van, but carries more than a mini-van. It gets good fuel efficiency and is very reliable. Ford dealerships can also help arrange customized exterior skins (creating a mobile billbooard for your small business). The truck also has GPS, and an in-dash computer with wireless keyboard and printer. wonderful product. An electric version of the van will be available in 2010. Nice to see someone in Detroit is developing products that are part of a bigger solution.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/transitconnect/

EXCELLENT INSPIRATIONAL BOOK FOR REBOOTING YOUR LIFE

This wonderful book is full of great ideas about how to become a content producer and reorient your perspective about how you travel through the world.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Explorer-World-Portable/dp/0399534601

HYPER-PROGRESSIVE ENTREPRENEURIAL SCHOOL

The KaosPilot: School of New Business & Social Innovation is a very progressive school located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which is a part of the KaosPilots INternational school chain. KaosPilot is a 3 year long education for young entrepreneurs from 21 to 31 years, in the fields of new business design, marketing, creative design and social innovation. The program focuses on personal development, value-based entrepreneruship, creativity and unorthodox approaches to the problems and challenges in business, society and organizations. Really cool.

http://www.kaospilot.dk

VIRTUAL WORKER ROLE MODEL

Mullenweg, 25, is the founder of Automattic, the company behind the open-source blogging tool WordPress and a handful of other software projects. WordPress.com powers 12 million blogs, including those of The New York Times, which invested in Mullenweg's company last year. H e spends his days either traveling the world to meet WordPress fanatics or holed up in his home office, where he often blasts Jay-Z and writes software code into the wee hours. The 40 employees all work from home too.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-way-i-work-matt-mullenweg.html

MASS PRODUCTION OF START-UPS? CHECK OUT Y COMBINATOR

Paul Graham's business school and investment fund, Y Combinator, has launched 145 companies -- for an average of $25,000 each. Y Combinator, is a hybrid venture capital fund and business school that invests in, advises, and, literally, feeds 40 or so early-stage businesses a year. Investments are small -- less than $25,000 per company -- but Graham supplements the money with smart advice, introductions to later-stage investors, technical help, and a sense of community. The model has produced many promising companies, a few sizable acquisitions, and copycat funds in cities across the country and around the world.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham.html

http://ycombinator.com/

TEENS STARTING BUSINESSES IN RECORD NUMBERS

Interesting article from the New York Times about teens starting new businesses.

Laura Durst, 18, of Woodstock, Conn., created a Web site that helps teenagers who want to work from home. She earns $250 a month from ads. http://workinmyroom.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/jobs/28teens.html

HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIANS ARE A POWERFUL NICHE COMMUNITY

VENTURE IDEA: There are more than 18,000 high schools in the U.S. That means there are more than 18,000 valedictorians who finish number 1 in their class each year. Yet, there seems to be no home that aggregates this elite group. Create a venture that leverages this special group of achievers. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/nyregion/28valedictorians.html

CONVERT AN OLD BUS INTO A COFFEE SHOP

http://boulderspace.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/coffee-and-blogging-on-the-bus/

LEARN ABOUT ECO-SUSTAINABILITY FOR A SEMESTER IN AN ECOVILLAGE SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD

Living Routes' mission is to provide future leaders with the skills, knowledge, and wisdom needed to repair the earth after 200 years of industrialization and to build durable economies and healthy communities that can thrive into the indefinite future. They offer for-credit sustainability education programs on every continent in semester, January-term and summer formats, and continue to develop new and innovative programs to meet an increasing demand.

http://www.livingroutes.org/programs/village.htm

Another resource to learn about ecovillages...
http://gen.ecovillage.org/about/index.html

GO COUCHSURFING FOR A YEAR TO GAIN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

The CouchSurfing Project is a free, Internet-based, international hospitality service, and it is currently the largest hospitality exchange network. The project was commenced in 2003 and formally launched on January 1, 2004. The idea is people in the network crash on the couch of others around the world (free room).

As of March 2009, it had more than 1 million members in 232 countries and territiries. According to their own published statistics, 35% of their members are currently offering their couches to host travelers (with another 18% saying "maybe", and others who are travelling at the moment).^[1] According to Alexa it is currently the most visited hospitality service on the Internet, averaging more than 30 million daily page views in July 2008.

Members use the website to coordinate contacts and home accommodation (or "surf" others' "couches") with other network members around the world. The website allows the creation of extensive profiles, and uses an optional credit card verification system, a personal vouching system, and personal references to increase security and trust between members. The site offers other features such as discussion groups, events and meetings, and live chat.

http://www.couchsurfing.org/

EASY, FREE SERVICE TO CREATE AN E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

sample of an e-commerce site built using the free weebly service


http://www.weebly.com

Aservice called Weebly lets users create a free website or blog in minutes by using a simple drag and drop interface. No ads. One of Time Magazine's 50 best websites of the year.

They receently launched a simple yet powerful way for you to create an online store. With a set of easy to use tools, you have complete flexibility to add featured products on the home page, create pages for categories or products, and feature videos, audio and photo galleries to show off your products in the best light.

Best of all, Weebly does not take a cut of your sales, and these features are included free in all Weebly accounts -- so you can get started selling easily and for free!

CREATE A TARGETED VENDING MACHINE BUSINESS

The vending machine business is an important industry for increasingly active people who need this convenient option for foods and drinks.

This is a wonderful opportunity for generating "passive income" for continual cash flow.

Annually, more than 5 billion drinks and 8 billion snacks are sold through American vending machines. A Department of Commerce study showed that fewer than 5% of new vending businesses fail - compared to a 65% average for other small businesses.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/starting-vending-machine-business.html

START A FARM

Are you a new farmer or farm cooperative who is confident that you’ll be successful, but have a minimal track record and limited financial resources? Have you written a business plan and done your homework on your proposed venture? Can you demonstrate responsibility, good work ethic and follow-through?

FarmStart assists beginning farmers and new cooperatives through their start-up years by providing working capital investments of up to $50,000.


https://www.firstpioneer.com/en/Products/FarmStart.aspx

POSITIVE OUTLOOK ON MICROFINANCE BY JP MORGAN

JP Morgan entered the microfinance arena, launching a Social Sector Finance unit in
November 2007.

The long-term outlook for equity investment in microfinance is positive, despite the financial crisis, says J.P. Morgan and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a microfinance group based at the World Bank.

The analysis comes in a joint report, issued in February 2009,that challenges conventional approaches to equity valuation in microfinance and establishes the first benchmarks for microfinance equity valuations. After a downturn in 2009, the report predicts that valuations will bounce back in 2010.

"Leading microfinance institutions, especially those with solid domestic funding from local deposits, should emerge stronger from the financial crisis," said Elizabeth Littlefield, CGAP CEO and a co-author of the report. "Microfinance managers will need to slow heady growth rates and be extra vigilant about arrears in loan portfolios, but the fundamentals of the sector, and the underlying credit worthiness of its low-income clients, are very solid."

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE...

http://www.jpmorgan.com/cm/cs?pagename=JPM/DirectDoc&urlname=MFI_Research.pdf

START A DATING SERVICE FOR BOOMERS

An example of such a service...
http://www.selectivesearch-inc.com/

Also, please refer to a prior create a gig post that is very informative on the subject of online dating service creation...
http://createagig.blogspot.com/2009/03/1-guy-in-his-apartment-is-millionaire.html

POSITIVE TREND: BOOMER INTEREST IN PEACE CORPS

In the last year, Peace Corps applications from those 50 and older have shot up 40 percent, helped along by a two-year marketing campaign. There are 428 volunteers in that age group now serving, according to the Peace Corps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/retirementspecial/02PEACE.html

www.peacecorps.gov

OPPORTUNITY TO WORK AT FOREIGN OUTPOSTS OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

Several American universities are creating outposts in foreign countries as a way to expand their brand influence, generate new funds for endowments hit by the recession and create new partnerships with eduction talent around the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/education/10global.html

CREATE A PET INSURANCE COMPANY

According this article in the New York Times, there are less than 600,000 insured pets in the US. That is less than 1% of the more than 160 million dogs and cats in the country. There are fewer than 20 companies that offer pet insurance (at the time of this writing).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/jobs/10starts.html

UNDERSTANDING HOW MONEY IS SPENT IS A METHOD TO GUIDE WHAT NEW BUSINESS IDEA TO PURSUE

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/04/business/20080907-metrics-graphic.html

THE BASEMENT CAN BE THE HOME FOR A BUSINESS

a surprising number of homes with basements are used for random storage and are not finished or renovated. This square footage could cost effectively be converted into home based business. Don't waste space...

CREATE A WII FIT GYM FOR KIDS IN YOUR HOME

Child obesity is a significant problem in the US. Increasingly, parents are looking for local, low cost ways to help encourage their children to exercise.

U.S. INTELLIGENCE IS LOOKING FOR GOOD IDEAS

Are you an out-of-work scientist or engineer with a creative idea that you think could provide the nation with an overwhelming intelligence advantage? Do you want the opportunity to turn your idea into a revolutionary capability? If so, consider joining IARPA as a Program Manager. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) invests in high-risk/high-payoff research that has the potential to provide the United States with an overwhelming intelligence advantage over future adversaries.

www.iarpa.gov

CREATE AN ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

As the number of malicious posting about individuals and business grow, its becoming increasingly difficult to manage reputation. A few false blog postings can spiral into a "truth" in mainstream media.

Start a practice that helps people and businesses stay aware of how they are being perceived in the blogsphere. Here are a number of tools that can help you find and manage mentions of you or your company online. These sites earch blogs, myspace, news sites, twitter, phootos and videos send alerts when you are mentioned online.

www.backtype.com

www.blogpulse.com

www. boardreader.com

www. google.com/alerts

www.icerocket.com

www.search.twitter.com

www.tweetdeck.com

technorati.com

GENERATE EXTRA INCOME BY RENTING OUT A ROOM OR APT

This new service assist home and apartment owners in managing and marketing their rooms to short term renters, so that they can focus on doing what they do best - making their guests feel comfortable and completely at home.

http://www.guesthousenetwork.com/

NETWORK OF STARTUP INVESTORS

The Go BIG Network is an on-line marketplace that connects the startup and small business community. The company allows startup companies, funding sources, adivvestVESTsors, job seekers and service providers to post requests for help on-line and have those requests routed to other members of the Network who can help them. Funding, business plans, advice.

http://www.gobignetwork.com/funding/

CREATE YOUR OWN FLEA MARKET

People are increasingly looking for well designed and organized venues to buy and sell their used goods. We still want to consume, and in an era of cost savings, flea markets are booming.

Creating a modern venue where people can set up their "garage sale" in a communal setting. Treat it as a co-op. This is the new mall...

http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/

START A COMPANY THAT TRAINS DOCTORS HOW TO "GO DIGITAL"

A national paper-free medical records an prescriptions initiative aims to change completely the way doctors prescribe and practice medicine, by digitizing the entire medical record-keeping process, from patient charts to lab reports and test results.

Part of the newly passed economic stimulus package, as much as $21 billion is devoted to e-health records. The goal of modernizing our health care system by 2014, once a long shot goal, may be attainable with the new health care funding. Doctors should jump in now, they qualify for $40,000 to fund their upgrades over several years if they adopt electronic medical record systems.

"Electronic health ambassadors" will be needed to visit every doctor's office, no matter how big or small, and teach its entire office staff how to keep electronic health records on the computer.

Lead: Allscripts is the leader in this area and is looking for sales reps...

www.allscripts.com

UN LAUNCHES A NEW, FREE ONLINE UNIVERSITY

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30848

University of the People (UoPeople), launched in May 2009, is the world’s first tuition-free, online academic institution dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education. The high-quality, low-cost and global pedagogical model embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring collegiate level studies to even the poorest and most remote places on earth. With the support of respected academics, humanitarians and other visionaries, the UoPeople student body represents a new wave in global education.

http://www.uopeople.org/

CREATE A VIRTUAL CALL CENTER FROM HOME

When you call Office Depot or Verizon for customer service, you may speak with a home-based agent. Agents often say they like their work: schedules are flexible, and pay ranges from $8 to $16 per hour. A relatively new company, OnState, will set you up with a virtual call center for $49.95/mo. If you ask you can get set up with a free trial, too.

http://www.on-state.com/

http://www.saas.com/

JOBS AND INFO IN THE CLEAN TECHNOLOGY SPACE

CleanTechies.com is a leading career services forum providing insight, orientation, and opportunities for the CleanTech community. Focused on clean technology, renewable energy and resource efficiency, CleanTechies covers industry trends and facilitates career opportunities for job seekers.

GET FREE LEGAL FROM HARVARD LAW SCHOOL STUDENTS

Harvard Law School requires all J.D. students to contribute at least 40 hours of law-related PRO BONO work as a condition for graduation. Subjects range from cyber-law amd intellectual property to sports law.

http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical/clinics/index.html

INSPIRING WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE

This was a terrific article from the May 11, 2009 issue of the Wall Street Journal, about 5 people who have started small businesses after being laid-off. A good read...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204475004574127134005990974.html

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCE

Headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley, the Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first employee and first president of eBay. The Foundation supports social entrepreneurship. Skoll chairs the Foundation, which today makes grants in excess of $40M per year. Its mission is to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Foundation invests in social entrepreneurs through its annual Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and grants to support the ecosystem around social entrepreneurs, including the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford. It connects social entrepreneurs through its online community, Social Edge, at www.socialedge.org, as well as via the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford.

EXCELLENT BLOG ON MICROFINANCE

Interested in global micro-finance, or starting your own "mini-bank"? This is a very informative blog on the subject...

http://www.microfinance.ws/weblog/

BING...GOOD LUCK. CHECK OUT THIS GOOGLE STRATEGY DECK: VERY INSIGHTFUL

All about Google

View more presentations from Ouriel Ohayon.

START A BUSINESS IN CHINA

PTC is a specialist consultant in guiding non-Chinese, small and medium sized businesses to start operations in the China market. PTC are intimately familiar with the current Chinese economic situation and understand the law, culture difference and challenges of living and working throughout this region. They have people on the ground in most major cities in China and access to alliance partner specialists who can help with start-up issues and handle it confidentially and professionally.

http://www.pathtochina.com/

CHECK OUT GOTTAMENTOR

This new site is designed to help dislocated people find a good job and connect them with mentors. www.gottamentor.com