1
MINIATURE MODELS OF LOCAL AND HISTORICAL INTEREST
Models
of local buildings, especially those with some significant historical
interest, or miniature statues of people with local or national historical appeal,
will always have a large and eager market.
Make moulds from latex, then produce and colour plaster models and sell
through local shops, craft shops and at Collectors' Fairs and Fleamarkets.
2
CRAFTSMAN MADE JEWELLERY
There is as always a great demand for
designer jewellery, the more unusual the better. If made from local stones, such as Whitby
jet, even beach pebbles or local shells, so much the better, especially if sold
to the local tourist trade. Sell through
h gift and souvenir shops, or at car boot fairs, Collectors' Fairs and
Fleamarkets.
3
SELLING PAPER EPHEMERA
'Ephemera' is the grand name given to
paper collectables: tickets, adverts, magazines, books, stamps, advertising
inserts, old billheads and letterheads, etc.
The older the better, these items are in great demand by collectors at
the Collectors' Fairs and Fleamarkets, Antiques Fairs, and through the post to
a clientele attracted via advertisements in Book collectors', ephemera and
stamp magazines.
4
SPECIALISING IN TOYS, DOLLS, TRAINS, ETC
At Antiques Fairs, Fleamarkets, and
Collectors' Fairs, many traders make a good living simply by specialising in
those collectors' items sometimes referred to as 'Juvenalia'. Because they specialise, they are the traders
to whom the collectors turn when they want to dispose of collections, thereby
ensuring an adequate flow of stock. They
are also the ones collectors consider first when seeking to increase or improve
upon their collections. Fellow dealers
also consider them first when offloading stock that doesn't exactly fall within
their own trading spheres.
5
SELLING BOOKS
Either sell cheaply all books that
come your way, or specialise in books on such as local history, biographies,
specialist subjects, eg dogs, railways.
Sell at local car boot fairs, Collectors' Fairs and Fleamarkets, or
through the post by means of lists or adverts in book collectors'
magazines. Alternatively allow customers
to view your stock in your home, by appointment.
6
SELLING CURIOS
Curios, falling within the scope of
'collectables', are as the name suggests, items that are just that little bit
different. At Fleamarkets, Antiques
Fairs, even Car Boot sales we find fans, policemen's whistles, sugar tongs, and
many other items, the use for which is not always immediately apparent.
7
SELLING JUNK AND BRIC-A-BRAC
An inexhaustible stock potential
awaits you here. Almost anything other
than reproduction items, antiques, consumer durables, can be sold within this
category. Perhaps the best marketing
outlet is the car boot fair, or for slightly better items the
Fleamarkets and Collectors' Fairs.
8
SPECIALISING IN THE SALE OF BETTER STAMPS
Philately at its finest concerns the
collecting of better stamps, some rare, some counterfeited, some with
errors. Here you will not be likely to
find the juvenile collector, and purchases can amount to many hundreds, even
thousands, of pounds. Best left to
someone with an interest and experience in stamp collecting, the dealers' stocks
are correctly identified by catalogue number, condition, and priced
accordingly. Sell by approval or at
specialist Stamp Fairs.
9
SELLING STAMPS IN PACKETS
Here, no specialist knowledge of
stamps is required. All you need do is
packet together several stamps with some common factor. They may perhaps originate from one
particular country, or be of a similar theme such as space or animals, or else
they may all be of unusual shapes, perhaps triangular. Price the packets and mount them on a large
display boards for sale in local shops.
Alternatively make bulky selections of World stamps and cover them with
cellophane to protect them and make them more attractive. Sell again through local shops or at
Fleamarkets and Collectors' Fairs.
10
SELLING STAMPS BY APPROVAL
Stamps may be sold through
advertisements placed in stamp collecting magazines or through such as the
'Exchange and Mart'. Mount them by
country, theme, shape or simply world mix, in special booklets or mounting
cards available again from wholesale stationers advertising in the stamp
collecting magazines. Some simply offer
stamps loose in boxes for the collector to pick from, all at some low common
price, paying for those retained and returning the rest with remittance.
11
SPECIALIST IN A MUCH-NEEDED ITEM
eg
buttons, socks, ties, items relating to railways, etc.
Once you decide to specialise, you
must deal in almost every conceivable item or design within your chosen
area. One women sells buttons on a large
London Street Market, but she sells thousands of different shapes, made from
all manner of materials.
The Sock Shop, Body Shop and Tie Shop fall within this category.
12
WRITING LETTERS TO THE PRESS
Here lies a potentially very lucrative
opportunity indeed. Most magazines and
newspapers offer cash rewards, sometimes as much as $150, for readers' letters,
jokes, anecdotes, recipes and such.
Study your target publication with care for some prefer short, snappy
letters; some choose family-orientated subjects; some magazines cater more for
the woman independent of family strings.
Make an exact assessment of the publications' preferences and GO FOR IT!
13
GREETINGS CARD VERSES
Greetings card producers in Britain
and overseas are always on the lookout for new writers of verses for their
cards. Some require writers of humour,
even of the risque variety; others require what can only be described as
sentimental 'slush'. Study several cards
from producers within your preferred area of writing and send at least half a
dozen examples of your work to each.
14
COMPETITIONS ENTRY FORM SUPPLIER
Look in any copy of Competitors
Journal, the hobby's fortnightly magazine, and you'll find several adverts from
people offering to supply competition entry forms to readers who often have
little time or inclination to search these items out for themselves. This sometimes involves a little travel as
you search out potential sources, but must be worthwhile in terms of the
dividends recouped by those suppliers with a large clientele.
15
PREPARING CURRICULUM VITAE
A curriculum vitae consists simply of
the biographical details, both personal and career-related, of persons wishing
to change jobs or seek advancement, training, and so on. Application forms present problems which are
compensated for by the curriculum vitae.
If you have access to a typewriter or preferably a word processor, you
may be the one to provide this much needed service often for extremely high
rewards.
16
INVENT - A - GAME
Monopoly, the Rubik Cube, and Trivial
Pursuits are amongst the most popular games and pastimes of today, and surely
none can have disappointed their creators in the handsome dividends they
provided. But careful consideration of
these great games will convince you of the reason for their massive success -
each and every one is unique - not a variation of ludo in sight! Create something different - that's the key.
17
CHERISHED NUMBER PLATES
Many drivers seek number plates a
little different from those of fellow drivers, whether for investment purposes
or simply for reasons of pure snob value.
Recent auctions of numbers by the Government have yielded massive
profits, sometimes one sale making the vendor many thousands of pounds richer. Extremely straightforward regulations for
transfer are laid down by the Government.
18
TREASURE HUNTING
Treasure hunting can uncover some of
the rarest of specimens used by our ancestors, and in turn can provide handsome
rewards for the discoverer when sold, usually by auction. But to yield profits the items discovered
need not be of the rare or priceless variety.
I know for instance of one man who stocks his stall at Fleamarkets with
Victorian bottles, many sporting very high price tags. Even broken ones are put to use - cut down
and decorated they form beautiful vases, paperweight, ashtrays and such. Another man I know stocks his stall with old
potlids and dolls' heads; whilst at the craft fairs another hunter, of seaside
locations this time, makes elaborate flower arrangements, the focal piece being
the driftwood she finds and varnishes to form the most natural, and beautiful,
of creations.
19
ACCOMMODATION ADDRESS SERVICE
This business can be operated from
home or from small office premises. Look
at advertisements in 'Exchange and Mart' from people operating a similar
service, if you need any convincing that some people will pay you to collect
and forward their mail
at regular intervals; the prime reason
often being that of maintaining their privacy at home.
20
UPHOLSTERY
Many families seek not to constantly
change their furniture, but to have much-loved pieces repaired and
reupholstered. Whether due to financial
constraints or for sentimental reasons, the answer to their problems could
easily come via the services of someone skilled in the art of renovation and
reupholstery. Courses are available at
most colleges.
21
FURNITURE STRIPPING
As an adjunct to upholstery we find
individuals and firms specialising in the stripping of furniture, removing the
years of polish and grime from antique or more recent items, and restoring them
to their former glory. The french
polisher also provides a much-appreciated service, often making minor
improvements to a piece perhaps a little battle-scarred, but too valuable to be
relegated to the dustbin.
22
TYPING SERVICE
If you already can, or could learn to
type to a professional standard, offer your services to local factories and
shops, hairdressers, hotels, writers, students, and the general public. Providing your fees are competitive with
those for full-time or agency staff you should find no trouble in maintaining
repeat custom, particularly is you can offer to complete work within tight
deadlines.
23
CUSTOM CURTAIN MAKING
It is rare that a customer finds
curtains of the exact material and design that he or she is seeking. Someone who can offer a professional sewing
service, producing curtains made up from the customer's material and chosen
design, will find him or herself in great demand, especially if costs are
reasonable.
24
SOFT TOYS
At craft fairs and in craft magazines
we discover all manner of cuddly toys, as well as a sizable proportion not
intended for the youngsters' sticky fingers, but destined instead to occupy
pride of place on some teenager's dressing table. But it is essential, if rewards are to be
high, to provide something a little different to that which can easily be
obtained from the larger manufacturers - what about those teddies with their individual
greetings and names of the recipient embroidered on their clothing?
25
HIRING
We find here all types of items,
particularly those required for only a limited duration, eg designer dresses,
wedding attire, baby hardware, and so on.
Hire the items out for the hiring fee and a deposit which is refundable
when the item is returned intact. One
firm of which I have personal knowledge will hire out almost anything: from
lawnmowers to typewriters, to prams and televisions; even offering to lend me
their own computer over a weekend when their staff were off duty and my
computer
was out of action.
26
CAR BOOT TRADER
Car boot sales offer a good income to
those prepared to investigate suitable venues and to offer reasonable stock at
realistic prices. Stock is unbelievably
easy to acquire whether from your own garage or from the attics of friends and
relatives, jumble sales, other car boot traders, private sales, and charity
shops.
27
MAKING VIDEO FILMS
The cost of a video camera prohibits
many families from capturing those rare moments in their children's lives: the
parties, first steps, first day at school, and so on. So here we have a great business opportunity,
providing a service much in demand at weddings, birthday parties, anniversary
celebrations, and on many, many other occasions.
28
LEAFLET DISTRIBUTION
Many firms and businesses advertise
their services and goods by means of leaflets and brochures delivered to
selected addresses, but Post Office charges often present them with extremely
high processing costs. Employing people
to deliver the same can be equally prohibitive.
But a leaflet distributor dealing with several client workloads at the
same time, can offer a much lower cost to the customer. Your services can be advertised locally or
nationally, and can attract much repeat custom if costs are kept competitive
and an efficient standard of service is maintained.
29
HOME PUBLISHING
This must surely rank as one of the
few businesses in which massive profits can be earned, whilst demanding of the
newcomer very little in the way of capital or experience. The publisher usually offers his stock
directly to the public, primarily by direct mail or advertisements in
appropriate publications. He or she may
either write the manuals and books that form his stock, or else may buy them
straight from the writer, or from other publishers offering reproduction rights
in the manuscripts concerned. All the
home publisher requires to hand is one good quality manuscript for
photocopying, and advertising leaflets for each title. You may choose to deal in such as
self-improvement topics, 'How To' titles of all kinds, or perhaps to specialise
in one of the most profitable of home publishing lines, that of business and
moneymaking titles.
30
PARTY PLAN
Almost anything can be sold via the
medium of the house party where clients gather to enjoy tea and cakes, then
later watch a demonstration of the products on offer. Items are ordered usually at the party, with
payment being made when the goods are
delivered some time later. The hostess will require some worthwhile gift
or percentage of the takings as her reward for assembling potential customers
and providing the venue and fare for the party.
The massive profits made by such as Tupperware must surely have prompted
today's endless round of parties for goods such as lingerie, kids' wear,
basketware, perfumes, to name but a few.
31
HOUSE AND PET SITTING
Here the entrepreneur offers a service
whereby the clients' home, possessions and pets are safeguarded during his or
her absence. The service may be one of
total surveillance, whereby the person actually lives on the premises, or may
be a partial service involving such as daily visits whereby all signs of
absence are removed. Plants may be
watered and small domestic pets cared for.
Alternatively, a dog-walking or caring service may be much in demand
where a customer is obliged to be away from home for more than a few hours at a
time.
32
COLOUR ANALYSIS
Now that quality make-up and fashions
are within the scope of most women's budgets, something further is sought by
which to set them apart from their peers.
That something may well be colour analysis, the method of designating clients as winter, summer, spring or autumn
personalities, according to their skin,
hair and eye tones, then subsequently providing them with a colour scheme from which they will
choose all future wardrobe and make-up shades.
33
CALLIGRAPHY
This is the rather grand name for the
even grander art of creating beautiful handwriting and printing. We see swirling flows of lettering, created
by hand with the aid of special pens and inks, adorning menus in the better eating
establishments, on examination certificates, formal invitations, signs,
notices, doorplates, to name but a few creations demanding a thoroughly
professional and attractive end-product.
34
PHOTOGRAPHY
You don't have to outrank Lords
Snowdon or Lichfield to take great pictures of junior's birthday party, for
parents who profess not to know one end of a camera from another. You do though need a little better than the
'point and press' type camera,
though not necessarily one that
requires much setting-up of buttons and selectors before you even set eyes, or
eye, upon the viewfinder. Courses are
available at many local colleges. A good
photographer can be in regular demand for weddings, parties, christenings, and
as a freelance for local newspapers and businesses.
35
SANDWICH SERVICE
Not all offices and workplaces have
suitable canteen or food vending services for their employees, and not all are
within easy distance of suitable shopping facilities. Some employees have little time or
inclination to provide themselves in such circumstances with a sufficiently
tempting packed lunch. Here lies the
opportunity for the enterprising businessman or woman to operate a sandwich
delivery service, preferably one offering unusual fillings, perhaps also
providing the lunchbox which is
then retrieved the following day and
another, complete with sandwiches, substituted in its place.
36
PARTY CATERING
Almost all of us enjoy house parties,
dinner parties, even children's parties.
Not all of us though, relish the thought of long hours preparing for the
event, only to find we're too tired to enjoy the fruits of our labours. Someone who can undertake the preliminaries
on our behalf, leaving us to enjoy the party free of hassle, must surely be
worth paying highly for.
37
CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINER
If like me, you hate the thought of
leading children in an endless round of 'Farmers in his Den' and 'Ring a Ring o
Roses', then have you considered doing what I now do - hire a children's
entertainer. Clowns, magicians, Punch
and Judy puppeteers, and jugglers, are just a few of the many types of
entertainer ready, willing and able to take the hassle out of the party. His or her fees may seem high, often
amounting to $30 - $50 for each one hour session, but to many parents, that's a
small price to pay for the happy smiles this different form of entertainment
generates.
38
GROWING HERBS
An easy one this, and not requiring
much in the way of time and attention, it's a moneymaking proposition that
could easily survive alongside other ventures.
Fresh herbs are much in demand as an alternative to the dried-out
tasteless variety we find in bottles and jars on supermarket shelves. Grown in
little pots they can be sold to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, even direct
to the public either on a door-to-door basis, at car boot fairs, or on roadside
stalls.
39
KNITTING
As all ladies know there's 'knitting'
and 'knitting'. For some of us the old
plain and purl will suffice, for others only the finest fair-isle or most
intricate of aran designs can truly lay claim to the title of 'knitting'. It's the same for those
wearing the finished garments, or perhaps
giving the same as gifts. Almost
everyone can produce professional garments of the simpler variety; very few can
produce those falling within the 'designer label' category. If you can create better items, perhaps from
patterns you have created yourself, you might be surprised at just how much
customers are willing to pay.
40
SEWING AND ALTERATIONS
Those who can sew garments from
intricate patterns, especially if those patterns are self-created originals,
can find their services in great demand by customers who seek something just
that little bit different - and are prepared to pay for it! For knitting, sewing, crochet, and craft
specialists of all types, it's a much more than worthwhile investment to at
least try their hands at fashion designing.
41
GROWING AND SELLING HOUSEPLANTS
Here we have a product in constant
demand by old and young alike, whether for their own use or else as gifts for
the vast majority of us who take pleasure in adorning our homes with a natural
form of ornamentation. Usually all you
will need is a selection of 'mother' plants, from which your cuttings are taken
before being replanted in the small pots or containers they will be sold
in. We find plants sold at car boot
sales, indoor and outdoor markets, from roadside stalls, even by means of signs
placed on the roadside to direct customers into the home - careful though on
the latter point, since such signs are sometimes forbidden by local authorities
- always check first!
42
OLD PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS
Sometimes called 'photo antiques',
here we are offering photographic reproductions, usually enlargements, of old
street and village scenes, or pictures of social interest. Original postcards and photographs of such
views are becoming increasingly beyond the means of those who want the items
for their intrinsic value; at something like $20 a time these items are now
truly in that category known as 'Collectables', for people prepared to pay high
prices for rare and prized specimens. The cost of an original is low in terms
of the endless reproductions that can be created from it, to be sold at a few
pounds each if unframed, higher if mounted or framed.
43
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
We can stand outside forever taking
snaps of our homes, village, places of work, and so on, but rarely will we be
rewarded with anything sufficiently different to warrant the time or money
spent in obtaining it. A shot from an
unusual angle though, is another matter entirely, especially if that direction
is one not readily accessible to us all - like the sky! One highly successful firm hires a plane,
once in summer, again in winter. With
the firm's own photographer on board the plane circles a wide area taking
hundreds of photographs of houses, shops, farms, schools, as well as many
general interest views. The photographs
are then taken to the owner or occupier of the buildings photographed, and
offered for sale in several different forms including small and large framed
prints, plates, jigsaws, table mats and so on.
The charges are high but for something so different, who cares?
44
RESEARCHER
There are times when we all would like
information not readily accessible to us.
Whether we need it desperately enough to pay someone to gather the
information on our behalf is another matter. For many private individuals it's
an easy matter to visit the library to find the information we require; for
others it's too time-consuming a task, particularly when other demands take
priority. In this category we find
writers, market analysts, larger firms, advertising agencies, to name a
few. Here therefore is an opportunity
for someone who likes digging and delving, to actually spend all day amongst
the reference books of the local library, making notes that will later be
transferred to type for the customer.
This service can also be in demand amongst those studying their family
or firm's history.
45
SLUSH MONEY
Subtitled 'when Words are Simply Not
Enough', here we have a business opportunity that caters for an almost
insatiable need for anything by which to preserve our cherished memories. So we find baby's first shoes enshrined
forever in a coating of bronze, silver or gold, embroidered cushions on which
were placed our wedding rings for their blessing, and picture frames adorn a
sealed container wherein are displayed precious or rare items. I recently discovered one businessman who
made framed containers each of which contained a ragged piece of rock, but not
any ragged piece of rock - these were pieces of the Berlin Wall.
46
CRAFT CLOTHES
Another potentially insatiable market,
here we find the entrepreneur catering for the demands of the fashion-conscious
and those wanting something different, or just something that needs no
loudspeaker to scream 'money'.
Handcrafted clothes of the better variety, are hugely popular amongst
the more affluent sectors of society, often for purely snobbish reasons. Whether for the adult or child, it's no big
deal to spend several hundreds of pounds on that hand-made, hand-painted, hand-embroidered
garment, that absolutely guarantees no-one, but no-one will have anything
remotely similar.
47
TELEPHONE ANSWERING SERVICE
This facility is much in demand
amongst small businessmen and women who work outside of the home, yet need
telephone contact with potential customers - remember not all can stretch to
purchasing a mobile phone. There are
also companies who require agents in other parts of the country to take
telephone calls and messages, for passing on to their agents. Whether you choose to advertise your service
to businesspeople or look for advertisements placed by firms is entirely at
your discretion – why not do both?
48
DISCRETION BUYER
Basically, a discretion buyer is one
who undertakes the purchase on behalf of one who, for reasons of his or her
own, prefers to remain anonymous. The
most obvious example of such is in the auction house where often massive sums
are bid by agents for the true buyer.
Sometimes the reason for such anonymity will be that of maintaining
privacy; at other times it is for reasons of security.
49
BULK BUYING AND SPLITTING
Wholesalers of all types cater for
those who require items in bulk, be they shopkeepers, offices, large businesses
or whatever. How nice therefore for all
of us to take advantage of the often massive price reductions such bulk-buying allows. Anyone willing to purchase in bulk and split,
offering the item at a price still lower than shop prices will find a ready
market amongst small businesses, car boot traders, nurseries, and so on. Items can range from stationery, to small
toys, party tableware, kitchen items, ad infinitum.
50
TYPED PICTURES AND PORTRAITS
How marvellous it must be to have
something so personal and so original as a typed portrait of yourself! The keys of the typewriter are chosen for
their suitability in providing shaded areas, stark lines, darkness and so on,
until a picture emerges of the chosen subject.
It's an easy task to undertake, especially with a word processor in
which case the 'picture' can be created and amended on the screen before it
appears in print. There are books
available by which you can learn this beautiful craft.
51
VIDEO PICTURE PRINT OUTS
Recently, at a village show, I saw
droves of people congregating in one tiny corner of a marquee, and curiosity
being what it is, I decided to find out why.
The reason consisted of a video camera with which the stallholder took
portraits of his customers. The image
was then transferred to a machine which churned out a copy very similar to that
of a photocopying machine - and at only 50p a time! Another idea of a truly personal and one-off
service.
52
SECOND HAND ITEMS
Sadly, we can't all buy the things we
want brand new. Indeed not many of us
want to spend hard-earned cash on items we might not require for any great
length of time. So we find shops selling
second-hand baby hardware, office machinery and filing systems, even household
goods.
53
FADS AND GIMMICKS
Massive profits have been made this
year (1991) by those cashing in on the
current craze for anything remotely connected with those 'Teenage Mutant Hero'
TURTLES. Greenbacks are provided in more
ways than one by the makers and sellers of turtle puppets, games, jigsaws,
clothes, etc., etc., etc., Watch out for
their successors and get in there with a vengeance.
54
ONE-OFF GIFT SERVICE
Here we aim to make a customer of
every single person who ever needs to buy a gift, by offering something unique
and highly appropriate. Think for
example of businesses currently operating without competition in this fantastic
market: delivering bottles of champagne
to the recipient; delivering teddy bears with a message and the recipient's
name embroidered on the front; providing hampers of 'not on my wage' goodies to
delighted recipients; providing story books with the child's name and those of
his or her friends and pets incorporated into the text.
55
UPHOLSTERY AND CARPET CLEANING
A good opportunity awaits anyone
prepared to undertake a service much in demand by householders, who cringe at
the thought of hiring for themselves the heavy industrial cleaning equipment
needed to carry out a good cleaning job on furniture and carpeting. Contracts can be obtained from larger
customers, for example hotels, pubs, restaurants, and so on. Advertise your services in the local press
and shop windows, or else via leaflets delivered door to door.
56
GROWING MUSHROOMS
Not a full-time occupation in terms of
the attention growing mushrooms requires, but certainly a way to provide an
attractive second income. Many
specialist kits are available to set you up in such a business, but much the
same basic information as
they contain is also available in
books from the library. Apart from a
very small outlay for initial products, a small dark area of space is all that
you require to produce something always in great demand by the general public
and commercial enterprises alike.
57
TEACHING COMPUTERS
If you decide to offer this
much-needed service, make me customer number one, for I am useless with
anything mechanical, let alone anything with a brain superior to mine. Many of us are keen to learn how to use a
computer but sadly, like myself, find the reading and digesting of manual
information a long and arduous task.
Someone to teach the very basics and perhaps provide a back-up service
for the future, must have the makings of a very profitable business in his or
her hands.
58
COMPUTER DIAGNOSIS
Similar to the the teaching of
computer basics, there is a great demand for help when things go wrong. I once succeeded in wiping clean three disks
it had taken me three months to produce.
I threw them away! Ages later I
discover that the information was not lost; it could have been retrieved had I
the information to hand - and for returning three months' work to me I would
have paid well, but sadly no-one, as far as I knew, could help. Now in a writers' magazine I see a service
that helps with all computer problems, or else there is no charge. Computer whizzkids - come to our assistance!
59
CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
The whole world is keen to learn
something new; we don't all have the time though, or the opportunity, to attend
local college courses, assuming of course such courses as we require actually
exist. Correspondence courses come to
the aid of such students, allowing them to learn in the comfort and privacy of
their own homes. And, perhaps
surprisingly, it doesn't take a college professor to produce good and much in
demand correspondence courses; anyone who knows his or her subject can enter
this extremely lucrative field of business.
60
PRINTS
Much in demand at local fleamarkets
and antiques fairs, are advertisements from early magazines, engraved prints of
local views, and other prints often taken from long obsolete publications. In themselves they are worth a few pounds
each; coloured and framed they sell for upwards of $20, AND there is a huge
demand for such items. I know because I
sell them!
61
STORIES
Not just at Christmas time, but at all
times of the year, there is an advertisement placed in many publications,
whereby the brilliant originator of this idea, offers a service he discovered almost
by accident. Typing out stories on his
word processor he decided to enter his child's name instead of that of the
heroine; the compliments and requests for similar items for other children came
in thick and fast, and so another great business idea was conceived. With your own stories you too could benefit.
62
CO-ORDINATOR FOR HOBBYISTS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
The groups concerned here exist not
primarily to correspond with one another, but to have their interests
co-ordinated in a manner that will keep them well-informed and up-to-date with
events, trends, and techniques relating to their special interest or
hobby. So we find a monthly magazine
'Picture Postcard Monthly' which contains articles, private and dealer
advertisements, events diaries, auction and sales notices, for all of us
interested in - wait for it -
'Deltiology', the hobby of collecting or merely taking an interest in those
early picture postcards our ancestors sent to one another in great
profusion. Similar magazines exist for
those interested in autographs, cigarette cards, and many other collecting
interests. We also find specialist
magazines and group newsletters for those interested in consumer competitions,
creative writing, and almost anything else you can imagine.
63
CUTTINGS SERVICE
Writers, historians, firms, and
newspapers, are amongst the many people and organisations requiring information
they simply don't have the time to research for themselves. A cuttings service is one which obtains as
many newspapers and periodicals as possible and removes all items of interest,
to be filed under subject headings. A
writer wanting for instance, to research and collate as much information as
possible about some past incident, perhaps a particular Olympic Games, or
person of notoriety, simply contacts the cutting service which then retrieves
the information required, photocopies it and hey presto - another happy
customer!
64
SPECIALISE IN WRITING OR SELLING BOOKS ON SPECIAL INTERESTS
Look in any hobby or special interest
magazine, such as those for writers, competitions enthusiasts, craftworkers,
stamp collectors, and so on, and you'll come by a host of publications catering
for the special needs of the readers.
Often they are written by individuals with interests similar to those of
9the readers; sometimes they are from an individual who merely researches the
information imparted and presents it a readable form. Try just one hobby or interest at first,
write a few titles, then move on to something different, always of course
continuing your advertisements for the earlier publications.
65
PRINT AGENCY
Charges for small-run photocopying are
high, but greatly reduced for bulk and larger orders. Here the entrepreneur takes orders for
photocopying on a small-run basis, collates the orders which are then taken to
a photocopying specialist who has earlier agreed a low cost for bulk
printing. Alternatively, you could lease
a photocopier yourself and advertise the service which you carry out
personally.
66
PEN PAL/CORRESPONDENCE CLUB
'Lonely in a crowd' they say, and
never was a truer statement uttered.
Look at the number of advertisements we find placed by people wanting to
contact others whether for friendship or to share a common interest. Some mechanism is necessary to facilitate the
coming together of thousands of currently isolated individuals who share this
common need or interest. This is where
the astute businessperson comes into play, acting as middleman, who often does
little more than coordinate, collate, and distribute details relating to the
activities and interests of members.
67
CRAFTWORK SUPPLIER
There are a great many publications on
the market to cater for the needs of craftworkers, from those interested in
embroidery, to sewing, knitting, building and renovating dolls' houses,
modelmaking, and so on. Look also at the
classified advertisements contained in those publications and you'll discover
many suppliers of items much in demand by these hobbyists. These items include: beads, dolls' house
furniture, bags of material remnants, patterns, complete kits, and much, much
more. Hobbyists of course are unlikely
to want bulk items such as a wholesaler might offer; so here we have a
variation of the old favourite bulk buyer/splitter enterprise.
68
DOLLS' CLOTHES
If you doubt the viability of this
proposition, take a look in any toyshop and discover for yourself the massive
prices being asked for often inferior clothes for today's favourite dolls. Well-made designs for clothes, and such as
bedcoverings, cot and pram covers will always provide a steady demand.
69
PUB AND HOTEL DECOR
Gone are the days when the publican
could bank on a regular clientele merely by keeping his premises clean. With the growth of wine bars, hotels,
nightclubs, and private clubs, the landlord or owner must now make his
establishment that much more inviting if he is to survive. We now find firms dealing in pub decor but
not of the wallpaper/paint variety.
These firms offer something different, in most cases unique. They offer blown-up sepia photos of the pub
and its environment in earlier days, sepia photos of famous 'regulars' perhaps
with a printed write-up of their achievements, framed early advertisements for
alcoholic beverages, framed collections of old beer labels and beermats, and so
on.
70
MAN WITH A VAN
I recently came by an advertisement in
my local paper for an entirely new and much-needed service. For something like $3 for a local trip, the
'man with a van' collects and delivers to you those items that simply won't fit
into the family car, and for which the firm selling them offers no delivery
service.
71
RENT - A - .......
When I first saw the advertisement for
'Rent-a-Nappy', I doubted the mentality of the couple who offered to deliver
boxes of nappies to the customers' doors.
Seeing their advertisement grow larger over the months that followed, I
realised perhaps there must be something profitable here, of potential interest
to others. The couple, it seems, deliver
nappies in bulk to the door, saving the mother the cost and inconvenience of
travelling with a new baby. Their prices
too for the items were competitive since they bought their stock in bulk, and
actual cost to the customer was very little higher than the cost of the same
product bought in the shops. The
'Rent-a' principle applies also to personal services, for example:
'Rent-a-Nanny', 'Rent-a-Mrs. Mop', and 'Rent-a-Gardener' being but a few of the
many examples I have recently come by.
72
GIANT KIDS' THINGS
Fantasy will always be big business
particularly perhaps in respect of children, who simply love to bounce on huge
cushions and foam-filled play equipment.
Life-size stuffed dolls and toys add another dimension to their world of
make-believe, as do those beds in the shape of motor racing cars and
castles. A vastly under-exploited market
this one for the imaginative businessman and woman.
73
HORSE BLANKETS, COVERS ETC
Visit any cross-country event or
gymkhana, and you'll see the most beautiful garments carefully laid across the
owners' equine pride and joy. Horse
blankets come in many shapes and sizes and many of them are extremely expensive
to buy via the usual sources, and often very plain too. Several small firms however specialise in
making blankets to order and to design; often embroidered with the horse's
name; sometimes incorporating club colours or motifs, and so on.
74
DOG TRAINING CLASSES
We are a nation of dog lovers, so they
say, and many of us loving our pets as we do, want them to be well-behaved if
only for their own safety in the world outside of the home. So we take them to classes, where they are
taught to 'sit', 'stay', and 'heel', and we are willing to pay considerable
sums for the privilege of having someone teach us and our pets how to behave in
an acceptable fashion. Normally classes
consist of anything up to 50 owners and their pets, usually paying for each
session as and when attended.
75
RUNNING A NURSERY
Sadly, unlike many other countries,
Britain falls far short of providing those childminding facilities which would enable
parents to re-enter the workforce.
Individual child-minding facilities take a huge slice from the wage, and
often a private nursery catering for several children at the same time, can cut
the cost to the parent. There are of
course standards set in respect of all facilities for childcare; standards with
which you must familiarise yourself before attempting to enter this lucrative
area of business - ask your local Social Services department for information.
76
STABLES, FEEDING, LIVERY, PADDOCK
Buying the horse is not the expensive
part of horse-ownership. That once-off
cost becomes almost insignificant compared to the cost of maintaining the
animal, if that is, you can find good accommodation in your area. Standards and types of accommodation vary
from simple paddock facilities, whereby the owner pays rent to the owner of the
land for nothing more than a field in which his horse may graze, hopefully with
at least basic facilities for sheltering, to full livery, and plush stable complexes
with daily grooming and feeding provided by trained staff. If you have land attached to your home, here
is an opportunity to make it pay.
77
KNITTING/EMBROIDERY/NEEDLEPOINT ETC. PATTERN DESIGNER
Look at T.V. stars such as Noel Edmunds,
Russell Grant, and Giles Brandreth, and you'll notice one thing they all have
in common - knitted garments for all manner of occasions, each emblazoned with
the most appropriate of patterns and motifs.
'Horsie' folk have their garments decorated with cartoon 'Thelwell'
horses; 'Turtlemania' has caused a great demand for appropriately designed
children's wear; some prefer to have the slogan of a favoured organisation
splattered across their chests, whilst others require just our children's names
for decoration of their clothing. The
actual designing of such patterns ready for incorporation into the basic
knitting pattern is an extremely easy task to undertake. My designs require nothing but a rule, pen
and a piece of graph paper - even an
unused football pools coupon. Take the
original design you wish to transfer to the garment and section it out into 1/8
inch squares. Then transfer the design
to the graph paper of similar proportions, merely by colouring each appropriate
square using that colour it takes on the master design. Each square now represents a stitch, to be
knitted in the colour you have indicated.
78
CROSSWORDS
Crosswords are surprisingly easy to
produce with a little practice, and many books on the subject of writing will
guide you through the basic techniques.
As an adjunct to producing crosswords for the many markets requiring the
services of the compiler, there is the opportunity to provide 'personalised'
crosswords for clubs, presents, individuals and so on. I have seen advertisements from people
offering to create a crossword incorporating words appropriate to the person
who will receive the end result as a gift; such as name, pets, occupation,
hobbies and interests are all potentials for inclusion.
79
BIRTHDAY MEMORABILIA
Another highly individual gift service
is offered by those who locate original newspapers from the actual date of the
recipient's birth. How much more
personal can you get? But have you considered
the potential of offering original magazines from relevant dates, calendars
from the year of one's birth, original framed horoscopes from the day, month or
year concerned, even just a framed advertisement from a publication of the
time? With the exception of the
newspaper service this is a greatly under-exploited area within the field of
specialist gift services.
80
BIG BYGONES
Nostalgia will always be a winner, in
the business world at least. Oh, how I
wanted one of those red telephone kiosks sold off when the yellow designs came
into being, but sadly I was not one of the many hundreds of people who could
afford to buy one. Juke boxes are
another 'biggie' in both physical and financial terms, as are old cars, vans
(particularly those complete with advertising signs), and huge early enamel
advertising signs once used outside shops and now a collecting area know as 'street
jewellery'.
81
NEEDLEWORK PATTERNS OF HOUSES, ANIMALS, FAMILY, ETC
Refer, if you will, to idea number 77,
concerning the creating of patterns for use by the adventurous knitter. Designs created in a similar manner would
also be of interest to those craftspeople working in needlepoint, cross-stitch,
and embroidery.
Many kits are on sale, at high prices,
offering little more than a squared pattern such as we have discussed, the
appropriate background material, together with the wools and needles
required. Dogs, cats, famous homes, all
feature in the designs available, but I still have not found anything to
compare with the offer to create a pattern from your children's and pet's
portraits, photos of your home, and any other coloured photo with sufficiently
clear definition to allow an accurate transfer to the colour pattern the
designer provides.
82
PHOTOCOPYING PRINTS, ETC
Sometimes the customer desires a copy
of some item as opposed to an original document, be it an early magazine,
advertisement, diary, calendar, or photograph of his village or town. Recently, I succumbed to purchasing 100
copies of early black and white advertisements.
The originals cost something in the region of $3 to $10 each; these were
photocopies and served my purpose just as well as would the originals. I paid $39 for them; almost 40p each for a
photocopy that would cost under 10p - and I was extremely pleased with my
purchase. Similar items I have seen
offered for sale include photocopies of old maps, colour photocopies of early
picture postcards, early engravings; and many a dealer is selling hand-tinted
prints and maps, at much lower prices
than an original copy would cost.
83
ORIGIN OF NAMES
Along with an insatiable need to learn
more about our family ancestors there is a growing interest in learning more
about the origins of our family names. A
new computerised system has been introduced into one or two city and town
centres, a business that as yet is grossly under-exploited. From several huge volumes the customer
locates the surname he is interested in having traced, whereupon the operator
keys such into the computer immediately at hand. The resulting print-out is offered to the
customer on parchment-like paper in Old English lettering. The fee is something like $9 for this unique
piece of historical interest. For an additional charge the document is framed
behind non-reflective glass.
84
FORTUNE TELLING
Not with a glass ball and dressed as
the latest descendant of Gypsy Rose Lee, there is a great revival taking place
in the grand old art of predicting the future.
I was amazed when walking in my local town centre, to observe a man with
mobile stall, computer and long trailing print-outs. He was telling the fortunes of passers by
from handprints produced when they placed their palms flat on the computer
bed. The fortune was actually told by
the computer and interpreted by the businessman in charge. The customers received computer print-outs of
their handprints, full prediction details, and verbal interpretation. If the number of satisfied smiles coming away
from that stall are anything to go by, I think this is another business well
worth consideration by the enterprising entrepreneur, looking for something
just that little bit different.
85
VILLAGE HISTORY
Still seeking to satisfy an insatiable
interest in anything concerning the past, a number of enterprising individuals
have discovered a way of serving a large number of customers with just one
item, copied many times. These individuals
collate the historical details relating to villages, towns, even cities, and
write them up to the delight of avid readers with little time to unearth the
facts for themselves - often with little inclination to sit delving into
volumes wherein the details are contained.
Here lies the opportunity for someone who enjoys discovering such
facts. All that is required is one copy
of the end product, to be photocopied or printed, and sold in local shops,
door-to-door, or by means of advertisements placed in the local press.
86
SWAP SHOP
Collectors of such as stamps,
postcards, coins, books, and a great many other items, often find themselves
with many duplicate items in their collections.
The same applies to people requiring such as forms for entry to consumer
competitions. The business idea here
consists of acting as middleman for the swapping of such items, charging a fee
of course for each transaction. There
are many things people would like to swap, not all of them falling within the
category of collectables. Household goods,
baby hardware, school books, are further examples of items we simply sometimes
find no further use for. Someone to
offer a service whereby we can offload such items, and await a suitable swap
for them, must surely be in great demand by all of us.
87
BIORHYTHMS
Biorhythms are cycles that rule our
minds, bodies and emotions. Life it is
said, goes through a series of rhythms, and their pattern of ups and downs have
a great influence on the functioning of the body and its emotions. Cycles can be positive or negative, and
critical periods can be identified, enabling the persons to whom they apply to
take extra care on certain occasions, or else to modify their behaviour
accordingly. Sounds complicated, doesn't
it? But it is actually extremely easy to
chart and analyse the biorhythms of any individual at any time in his or her
life. Small wonder now that the science
has gained a high degree of credibility, that businessmen, sportsmen, students,
and politicians, are but a few of the groups to have their biorhythm charts
compiled before making any important decisions and plans.
Your services can be offered privately or postally, and the whole art
can be learned from appropriate text books.
88
BOOK-KEEPING
The book-keepers' skills are highly
valued amongst small traders and businessmen and women, particularly with
accountants charging high rates for a similar service. You will be in great demand, either on a temporary
basis as the Tax Year draws to a
close, or on a permanent part-time
basis, thereby alleviating the need for businesses to employ their own staff.
89
WRITING
Whether they choose to write readers'
letters and fillers, articles or short stories, a good living awaits those who
are tuned into meeting the requirements of the various editors and publishers
desperate for new talent. The market for
articles is much greater than that for short stories, and usually means a more
regular acceptance rate. Seeking further
to satisfy the lesser known and lower paying markets will also lower potential
rejection rates, as you break your way into this highly lucrative area.
90
FAMILY TREES
In Government records, Parish
registers, graveyards, and in many other places, are segments of information,
which when located and pieced together, offer an extremely accurate and
interesting profile of one's family history.
But a problem presents i
tself which precludes many a man or
woman from researching his or her family history - TIME! Time in many of our lives is an extremely
scarce commodity and other demands allow insufficient time to undertake
sometimes painstaking research. This is
where you come in, as a specialist and highly paid researcher.
91
COMPETITIONS
Every day, someone, somewhere,
receives the news that he or she is the new owner of something well beyond the
scope of his or her own financial resources.
It might be a classic car, or a house in an exclusive area. The recipients are devotees of consumer
competitions sponsored by manufacturers, hotels, shops, and many other
businesses, as a means of attracting new customers. To qualify for the excellent prizes on offer
every day, the competitor is faced with an array of tasks, from the simple
prize draw, to spot-the-ball exercises, order-of-merit tasks, and to creating a
slogan or tiebreaker. Try a copy of
'Competitors Journal' and see for yourself what you might be missing.
92
CONSULTANT
Many of us, whether we are, or have
been employed in professional careers, in a skilled trade, or many other
occupations, are unaware of the untapped talent we might be able to offer to
other than our '9 - 5' employers. Some
firms and private individuals welcome the services of trained and experienced
people from all walks of life, but have insufficient need to employ them on a
regular, part or full-time basis. We
might for instance, require a nanny or nurse to look after our children, or a
recruitment specialist to help us through the hurdles of job interviewing
techniques.
93
THE BIG FREEZE
Life being as hectic as it is,
especially for the younger ones struggling to meet mortgage repayments, not
everyone has the time or inclination to make small economies around the
home. Freezing food whilst in season, and freezing large
portions of
main meals for future use, are just
two such ways to save on the household food budget, but sadly something time
prevents many of us from doing. Someone
willing to perform such services on our behalf would be more than welcome, even
if there must of necessity be an additional cost over and above that of raw
materials. Your service can extend
beyond fresh fruit, vegetables, and everyday main meals. You might for instance offer gourmet cuisine,
and freezer portions of the more exotic fruits and vegetables we find in the
up-market foodstores.
94
PRODUCING CASSETTE TAPES
There are many types of commercially
produced tape, some for the music lover,
or for the lover of novels but with little time to sit around indulging
him or herself, preferring instead to carry on with normal chores whilst the
story or whatever is read aloud, usually by some famous personality. Purchasers might want to have a bestselling
novel read to them, or else to hear a story you have written, perhaps to learn
some new hobby, or to have multiplication tables set to music, thereby reinforcing
the learning process in the minds of school-bored children.
95
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
If I had a couple of acres of land,
even if it wasn't my own, I'd have that horse I've always wanted. On the rest I'd grow strawberries - and
gooseberries, tomatoes, blackcurrants, and lettuce..... Then every year I'd throw my garden open
to the public to pick their own goodies, before joining another of the long
queue of customers one sees at these P.Y.O. (Pick Your Own) establishments.
96
PAINTING AND DECORATING
Not everyone, myself most definitely
included, relishes the thought of donning rags once a year, retrieving brushes
thrown angrily into the garage last year, and setting about the arduous task of
decorating the home. So here's your
chance, all of you who actually enjoy wielding paint brushes and rollers.
97
CARTOONS
Only the other day, in a top women's
magazine, I came by something so different I'm sure there can be few people yet
cashing in on this ingenious idea. For
about twenty pounds, the customer gets a cartoon drawing of his or her chosen
subject, created from a photograph submitted with the order. A sample pictured in the magazine showed a
man, some features undoubtedly exaggerated as is necessary with cartoons, and
with a head enlarged about three times.
Now whilst almost anyone would cringe at the thought of the 'Spitting
Image' crew portraying them in caricature, there was nothing in this cartoon to
offend even the most sensitive of subjects.
The colours were muted and the whole thing extremely easy on the eye -
and very different!
98
LIST SELLING
Many businesses, even if they
primarily deal fact-to-face with their customers, often find the need to
contact others for a great many reasons, whether for the purpose of buying or
selling. This is often done by buying or
renting names and addresses from specialist operations or from a middleman
dealing in the provision of such information.
Lists are required for many other reasons, not all of them in the field
of selling. Parents for instance, might
appreciate a list of all of the private schools in a certain locality. We also find lists offering access to
hundreds of things that are free for the asking, as well as lists of firms
requiring homeworkers, or offering details of opportunities to work abroad, and
many, many others.
99
GRAPHOLOGY
Once almost certain to elicit mocking
criticism, graphology is the art of analysing a person's character from a piece
of writing he or she provides. Certain
strokes of the pen, swirls at the end of words, a preference for mingling
capital letters into one's handwriting,
all have some deep, and until expertly interpreted, hidden meaning. It is the job of the graphologist to
interpret the reasons behind certain styles and peculiarities of writing. A few years ago no-one, except perhaps our
American cousins, would dream of paying someone for such an analysis. Today however, the technique has developed a
great deal of credibility, and the services of a good graphologist are much in
demand, especially in the workplace, where many employers now view the art as
an essential staff recruitment tool.
100 KEEP FIT
These days we're all that little bit
more health conscious, as we seek to ward of illnesses and the effects of growing
older. Few of us though want to put a
great deal of effort into the process.
Not for us the long hours of playing squash, or jogging in the
park. But give us a little exercise
class, to music perhaps, and that's a different matter entirely. These classes can become regular little
meeting places, and many a bigger dance exercise studio has started from such
humble beginnings.
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