by Curtis D. Tucker

Who doesn't love a great cupcake? Cupcakes are all the rage and finding original cupcakes that knock your socks off can be a daunting task in most towns and cities. If your town does not have a fantastic bakery that sells cupcakes I can almost guarantee there is a need.

Almost anyone can make cupcakes so you will need to sell more than batter and frosting. You'll need to sell a quality, originality, service or uniqueness that others do not have. Think about unique ways of decorating, unusual wrappers, funky packaging and other hot selling points.

Making ends meet with just cupcakes might be stretching it so be prepared to also offer small cakes, cookies and other fun pastries. Be the alternative to the local donut shop. A great coffee, hot chocolate and tea selection can make the difference. Don't forget about awesome lemonade in the summer and apple cider in the winter.

Also think about other marketing strategies like creative decorations, whimsical designing, fun uniforms, memorable cupcake names, retro furniture, stylish promotional items and any other factor that will set you apart.

Offer a place for tea parties, poem readings, showers and other celebrations. Use fun cartoon characters to help attract those young whipper snappers and senior discounts to draw the old fogies.

Do your research and make sure you have your ducks in a row before jumping in head first. The food industry has many hoops you'll have to jump through so be sure you understand the rules and regulations in your area.

Now start baking and send me a picture of your shop once it's open!

Labels: Business Start-Ups, Food

by Curtis D. Tucker

Here's a service I might actually use. I need someone to take all of my family photos and organize them. They need to be sorted and placed into photo albums. I also need someone to take my digital photos and have many of them printed and the others placed into digital albums.

If you have the patience you can easily start this type of business with very little start up. Advertise yourself as a family photo organizer. Explain to clients the time you can save them and also the benefit of preserving photos in albums rather than envelopes.

You can create family albums, an album for each child, wedding albums, vacation albums and even pet albums. Once your service is up and running you can send reminders so that you get a call once the next batch of photos has been taken.

Organized photo albums not only help families save time but they make great gifts! What could be better than to present mom with a very organized album with all of the kids pictures. Parents can also present the kids with their own albums at graduation time.

Digital photography is another great opportunity. Why not help families upload their photos to Flickr or many other photo sharing websites? Turning photos into easy to view CD's is also an option. Add a slide show with fades and music. Photo CD's make great Christmas gifts to friends and family.

Get busy thinking of how you can start your own photo organizing business. Be the first in your town or city and you'll be the go-to person in your area. A great business to start part-time if needed.

Much success!!

Labels: Business Start-Ups, Ideas, Photography

by Curtis D. Tucker

An idea. What if you could create an efficient service that would go from house to house helping women fold their laundry? The number one complaint I hear from mother's is that they hate to do the laundry, and they really hate to fold it.

Can you create a service that could make this easier for them? Could you pick up the clean laundry in special bags and bring it back ironed and folded in special baskets? Could they drop off the laundry, have it folded and then pick it up again? Can you invent something that would eliminate folding?

That is your mission - solve the case of the unfolded laundry.

Labels: Business Start-Ups, Ideas, Laundry

by Curtis D. Tucker

I don't believe just anyone can be an entrepreneur. Well, anyone CAN be an entrepreneur but not everyone will have the motivation to become one. These traits can be found in just about anyone but the people that put them into practice are the ones that will become entrepreneurs.

All entrepreneurs won't have all of these traits, but if you fall into a few of these categories you might have a future as an entrepreneur:

1. Positive attitude. Negative people are most likely not going to make very successful entrepreneurs. A positive attitude will rub off on fellow employees, clients and customers. Show some excitement about your business and others will see it and want to be a part of it.

2. Dreamer. An entrepreneur has dreams. They are not content with the everyday and mundane. Deep down they want more and they are always thinking of ways to get it. They expect more than they have and see a path to getting there. Entrepreneurs do not settle for what everyone else has, they strive for more.

3. Hard worker. Most entrepreneurs ignore the 40 hour work week. They do what it takes to get ahead and the create the steps it will take to reach the top. Entrepreneurs don't complain about having to work hard to achieve their dreams. Hard work is the foundation that leads to a life of leisure once the goal is achieved.

4. Never give up attitude. Every entrepreneur that has given up has failed. Failing is a part of success and an entrepreneur can see that fact. Small failures help you see where the successes are. A true entrepreneur most likely couldn't give up even if they tried. It's in their blood.

5. Doer. An old friend always told us that were talkers and there were doers. An entrepreneur does more than talk. They actually put a plan into action. The best time to get started is immediately. The longer you wait the more chances there will be for interruptions.

6. Creativity. Entrepreneurs are by definition out-of-the-box thinkers. An entrepreneur has to innovate a new way of doing something or improve upon an existing product or service. Entrepreneurs also create things that have not been thought of before. If you are a creative thinker you most likely are an entrepreneur.

7. Multi-tasker. I believe an entrepreneur is a multi-tasker. When creating a business, service or product there are many facets involved. An entrepreneur has to perform many duties while creating their dream and they must perform multiple tasks at the same time.

8. Self motivated. Entrepreneurs do not need to be pushed. They push themselves and want to strive for success because that can't help it. Self motivation separates entrepreneurs from pretenders.

9. Passionate. If an entrepreneur isn't passionate about their business they most likely will lose motivation. An entrepreneur usually creates a business out of something that really interests them. Passion creates drive.

10. Luck. The wild card of entrepreneurial traits is luck. Some people make it to the top on pure luck. They create the right product at the right time or they get to meet the right person to help market their ideas. Luck doesn't always play a role in creating an entrepreneur but it can never hurt.

If you have all or many of these traits you might the next great entrepreneur. There are many traits that I left off because I do not believe they fit the everyday typical person. For example, risk taking. I do not believe you must be a risk taker to become an entrepreneur. If you have a plan and follow it there will not be much risk at all.

Innovative is another trait I left off. I don't believe you have to innovate anything to become an entrepreneur. Most products and services are already there. If you'll just improve upon one of them you can become an entrepreneur.

And as stated above in trait number 10, sometime it's just pure luck that creates a sensation. But luck will not help you if you're not creating something. So get out there and start thinking of ways to become the next great entrepreneur!

Labels: Entrepreneurship

by Curtis D. Tucker

That's right. Start your own magazine. Creating a magazine is not as difficult as it was in the old days. Computers and easy to use software have made it very possible to layout and design your own rag.

All you need is an idea, niche or specialty. A few magazine ideas would be: photography tips and examples, how to bake and recipes, repairing your own car, local or community news and events, gardening and landscape lessons, how to homeschool, gadget reviews, report on a sports team, scrapbooking articles, etc.

Your first question might be as to how you can afford to get a magazine produced and printed. Well, it's not all that difficult any longer. You can purchase the equipment and do it yourself or you can hire the right people to put it together for you.

To design a magazine you will need a graphic designer or software, a reporter/writer, a photographer and possibly a salesman to sell ad space. You can hire out for all of these positions or you and family members can do the work yourself.

The next step is getting the magazine printed. Thanks to new websites like Magcloud.com you no longer need the backing of million dollar investors. With services like these you can have a single issue printed only when a customer orders one. There's no investment and no inventory! These sites even help you sell and market your magazine.

Marketing the magazine would be the last step. The Internet is the perfect place to begin. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace help you connect with potential readers. Build a website using your keywords and create an online readership. You can also market your magazine to local bookstores, local clubs and interested friends.

Viral marketing (word of mouth) can really get things going. Create a fun, informative magazine and you could be on your way to financial freedom.

We're thinking of starting our own magazine and will show you step by step the process we take to get it created.

Labels: Business Start-Ups, Ideas, Magazines