Deal-a-day sites--websites that sell one deeply discounted product each day--are sprouting up all over. They sell pretty much everything, from jewelry to electronics, in limited quantities at up to 90 percent off retail prices. These sites resemble blogs in that they're updated frequently and usually provide catalog summaries of previous deals shoppers can browse.
Deal-a-day sites were pioneered in 2004 by Woot.com in Carrollton, Texas. Founded by electronics wholesaler Matt Rutledge, Woot's product selection emphasizes computer components and electronic gadgetry--all at closeout prices.
Today, nearly 100 deal-a-day sites can be found on the web, many started by e-tailers looking to expand. One such entrepreneur is Ellen Craw, general manager and co-founder of Bits du Jour, which started in 2006. It sells downloadable software discounted 40 percent to 50 percent on average.
More at:1.http://www.woot.com/
2.http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/may/177214.html
Friday, May 18, 2007
Business Class Instant Messaging
One company is hoping instant messenger will take over the buisness world as it has the lives of generation Y.
A UK and Canada based software development company is set to revolutionise business communications with the launch of an affordable ‘Business Class’ Instant Messaging (IM) service.
Rozmic Wireless has developed Rozmic Messenger having identified the need for organisations in both the private and public sectors to support collaborative business processes securely.
Rozmic Wireless was eatablished in April 2005 by Ross Cooney, a software developer and entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of spam and virus and instant message research for more than a decade. During this time Ross has helped hundreds of US and Canadian based organisations with their online communications needs.
Research indicated that IM is the best way to accelerate new forms of collaboration and communication among distributed workforces.
The system increases productivity as e-mail inboxes swell with spam. Large and remotely distributed teams require continuous real-time communication, but public access IM systems present a security risk which is unacceptable in business.
More at:http://www.rozmic.com/
A UK and Canada based software development company is set to revolutionise business communications with the launch of an affordable ‘Business Class’ Instant Messaging (IM) service.
Rozmic Wireless has developed Rozmic Messenger having identified the need for organisations in both the private and public sectors to support collaborative business processes securely.
Rozmic Wireless was eatablished in April 2005 by Ross Cooney, a software developer and entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of spam and virus and instant message research for more than a decade. During this time Ross has helped hundreds of US and Canadian based organisations with their online communications needs.
Research indicated that IM is the best way to accelerate new forms of collaboration and communication among distributed workforces.
The system increases productivity as e-mail inboxes swell with spam. Large and remotely distributed teams require continuous real-time communication, but public access IM systems present a security risk which is unacceptable in business.
More at:http://www.rozmic.com/
On Raising Venture Captial
Mary Erb from leading corporate law firm Heatons, explains how to set about raising funds to turn your business ambitions into profitable reality through the search for venture capital.
There are times in the lives of most business people when a compelling opportunity presents itself, often in circumstances where you least expect it.
Perhaps an important existing customer asks you to quote for an order that wildly exceeds current capacity or a synergistic competitor's business comes up for sale.
Maybe a business that has clearly proved its viability in one area demonstrates the potential to be replicated in a half a dozen demographically similar regions or countries.
Years of work that has gone into an agency or franchise might be rewarded by the offer of a major expansion opportunity from the prime manufacturer.
It may be that an invention or technical development within your business shows unmistakable promise, if only you had the funds to expose it to a wider national or international market or develop and exploit it fully.
It may simply be that you find yourself in a situation where natural succession, a change in ownership or shift in the parent company's management focus opens up an opportunity for you to mount a management but-out.
"What heights I might reach", you ask yourself, "if only I knew where to find the funds".
The first point to dwell upon is that a business operating in a recognised format such as a limited liability company is more likely to be taken seriously.
Ideas, plans and ambitions are all very well but start-ups do not usually fare well unless proposed by someone with a recognised track record of success and a formal structure on which to build.
How much?
If, by funds, you mean sums measured in some hundreds of thousands of pounds, it's possible that you (or your colleagues, family or partners) will have sufficient personal or business assets to act as security for a conventional loan arrangement with your bank.
More at:http://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/raising-venture-capital.aspx
There are times in the lives of most business people when a compelling opportunity presents itself, often in circumstances where you least expect it.
Perhaps an important existing customer asks you to quote for an order that wildly exceeds current capacity or a synergistic competitor's business comes up for sale.
Maybe a business that has clearly proved its viability in one area demonstrates the potential to be replicated in a half a dozen demographically similar regions or countries.
Years of work that has gone into an agency or franchise might be rewarded by the offer of a major expansion opportunity from the prime manufacturer.
It may be that an invention or technical development within your business shows unmistakable promise, if only you had the funds to expose it to a wider national or international market or develop and exploit it fully.
It may simply be that you find yourself in a situation where natural succession, a change in ownership or shift in the parent company's management focus opens up an opportunity for you to mount a management but-out.
"What heights I might reach", you ask yourself, "if only I knew where to find the funds".
The first point to dwell upon is that a business operating in a recognised format such as a limited liability company is more likely to be taken seriously.
Ideas, plans and ambitions are all very well but start-ups do not usually fare well unless proposed by someone with a recognised track record of success and a formal structure on which to build.
How much?
If, by funds, you mean sums measured in some hundreds of thousands of pounds, it's possible that you (or your colleagues, family or partners) will have sufficient personal or business assets to act as security for a conventional loan arrangement with your bank.
More at:http://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/raising-venture-capital.aspx
Poptotheshops
What Poptotheshops offers North Wales residents. Poptotheshops, which was launched late last year, currently serves four high street areas, who each sell between 3300 and 4500 products using the internet shopping service. 292 shoppers have registered so far, and 36 shops have signed up. One shop actually left the system, because its owner didn’t want the ‘aggravation’ of extra work caused by extra sales. More stores will be joining soon, and Poptotheshops’ founder, Will Seward, hopes to expand beyond North Wales as soon as possible.
Seward came up with the idea after being dismayed about being too busy to shop at local stores. Besides supporting the local economy and keeping the high street alive, PTTS also sees other benefits: independent stores often offer great local products and produce that aren’t available in nationwide stores, consumers save time otherwise spent in supermarkets and helping small retailers thrive decreases the control that supermarkets have over pricing, produce and suppliers. We like the ‘still sold here’ aspect, and believe consumers will be more likely to support neighbourhood retailers if it’s convenient to do so. One to set up with your local high street! If you're based in the UK, you might want to contact Poptotheshops: their system was designed to enable territories to be created, and for those to be coordinated by a single person. Territories can be as small as a postcode area, or as large as a county.
Website: www.poptotheshops.net
Seward came up with the idea after being dismayed about being too busy to shop at local stores. Besides supporting the local economy and keeping the high street alive, PTTS also sees other benefits: independent stores often offer great local products and produce that aren’t available in nationwide stores, consumers save time otherwise spent in supermarkets and helping small retailers thrive decreases the control that supermarkets have over pricing, produce and suppliers. We like the ‘still sold here’ aspect, and believe consumers will be more likely to support neighbourhood retailers if it’s convenient to do so. One to set up with your local high street! If you're based in the UK, you might want to contact Poptotheshops: their system was designed to enable territories to be created, and for those to be coordinated by a single person. Territories can be as small as a postcode area, or as large as a county.
Website: www.poptotheshops.net
Business Spoting, After Spoting it He Become Millionaire
In 2004, Corey Kossack was a college sophomore doing some online shopping from his dorm room for a digital camera memory card. One of his stops was eBay to see if he could find a deal. Although he says he "always thought of eBay as a place for people to get rid of junk," he found someone selling hundreds of memory cards that day. This was clearly a businessperson, not an individual selling castoffs from their personal collection, and it changed Kossack's thinking about eBay. He saw a business opportunity and wanted in.
Recognizing the need to carve out his own niche, Kossack decided on DVDs. He reasoned that there are always new titles coming out, creating an ongoing demand for the product, and most DVDs are the same size and weight, which makes the process of packing and shipping them much simpler.
However, "finding suppliers was difficult," he says. By calling major distributors from the study room in his dorm, Kossack eventually got his foot in the door. But he says the sales terms at the outset "weren't very good," mainly because his sales volume was low.
That soon changed as Koss DVD's sales volume increased. In its first year in operation, the company sold $500,000 worth of DVDs. But what has kept the business on course has been Kossack's focus on profitability, not sales. "Sales volume isn't all that's important," he says. "What's really important is profit."
While most businesses focus on the top line--sales--Kossack has paid equal attention to keeping costs down. One change to the company's shipping process, replacing the bubble envelopes it had been using with a lightweight alternative, shaved 0.3 ounces off each package's total weight and saved the company $10,000 in its first year.
From the start, Kossack has tracked each order's profit margin carefully, taking note of all the factors affecting profitability to make constant improvements. But in 2006, recognizing how important such calculations could be for any eBay business, he paid another student to create software and used the new formulas to replace his manual calculations. Since then, he is selling it commercially.
In addition to automating his profit tracking, Kossack has renegotiated deals with his suppliers based on his company's track record of growth and success.
More At:http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/may/177166.html
2.http://www.kossdvd.com
Recognizing the need to carve out his own niche, Kossack decided on DVDs. He reasoned that there are always new titles coming out, creating an ongoing demand for the product, and most DVDs are the same size and weight, which makes the process of packing and shipping them much simpler.
However, "finding suppliers was difficult," he says. By calling major distributors from the study room in his dorm, Kossack eventually got his foot in the door. But he says the sales terms at the outset "weren't very good," mainly because his sales volume was low.
That soon changed as Koss DVD's sales volume increased. In its first year in operation, the company sold $500,000 worth of DVDs. But what has kept the business on course has been Kossack's focus on profitability, not sales. "Sales volume isn't all that's important," he says. "What's really important is profit."
While most businesses focus on the top line--sales--Kossack has paid equal attention to keeping costs down. One change to the company's shipping process, replacing the bubble envelopes it had been using with a lightweight alternative, shaved 0.3 ounces off each package's total weight and saved the company $10,000 in its first year.
From the start, Kossack has tracked each order's profit margin carefully, taking note of all the factors affecting profitability to make constant improvements. But in 2006, recognizing how important such calculations could be for any eBay business, he paid another student to create software and used the new formulas to replace his manual calculations. Since then, he is selling it commercially.
In addition to automating his profit tracking, Kossack has renegotiated deals with his suppliers based on his company's track record of growth and success.
More At:http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/may/177166.html
2.http://www.kossdvd.com
How To Start Business From John Chow's Poin Of View
1 - The Business Must Have Low Start Up Cost
I don’t like spending $1 million (or even $100K) to start a new business. I just don’t enjoy taking that kind of risk. If you look at the average B&M business that takes hundreds of thousands to start, you’ll see that none are profitable for at least a few years and the owner have to have enough reserved funds to live on because he can’t draw from the business (so he’s working 14 hour days for free). And to top it all off, there’s an 80% chance the business will fail within five years. What that tells me is most people would be better off putting that spare $100K into investments and keep working.
The ideal business requires very little cash to start. This is why I like the Internet so much. My total investment to start this blog was $8.95 for the JohnChow.com domain name. The software that powers the site is free and so is the template. Until recently, the blog was hosted for free as well. When something cost that little to start, it’s not that hard to break even or turn a profit.
2 - The Business Must Have Exclusive Rights
If you’re selling the same stuff that Walmart is selling, chances are you’re not going to do well against them. To give your business the best chance of survival, it must have an exclusive right to some of the products or services. Remember, there is always going to be someone who is willing to sell the same thing cheaper than you. I don’t want to deal with that.
Having an exclusive protects you from market price pressures. If the customer wants your product and can’t get it anywhere else, then you can charge pretty much what you want. This is where terms like branding and private labels come in. In the tech sector, very few companies actually manufacture their own stuff. They are all subbed out to ODMs who make the products with the client company name on it. Want an OCZ power supply without paying for the OCZ name? I know where to get it.
A content base site or blog fits this requirement perfectly because your exclusive right is your content – it’s protected by copyrights.
3 -The Business Runs Itself
For most business owners, having their own business doesn’t mean freedom. If anything, it means more hours than when they were working. Owners of a new business are the first to open and the last to close. The hours are long and there’s a high chance of losing all the money you’ve invested.
The ideal business should run itself without you having to be there. If you have to be there all the time to run the business then you lose one of the biggest potential benefit a business can offer you - freedom to sit on your butt and do nothing.
Look at Markus from Plenty of Fish. This is a 100% user generated content site. Markus’s only job is to make sure the servers stay up and he can easily hire an admin to do that. The site makes over $10,000 a day and Markus runs it out of his apartment. To put that into perspective, Markus makes almost as much as the busiest McDonald’s in Canada, which cost millions to start and employs over 100 people. I’m sure once you account for operating expenses, Markus makes way more.
More at:http://www.johnchow.com/my-five-requirements-for-investing-in-a-new-business/
I don’t like spending $1 million (or even $100K) to start a new business. I just don’t enjoy taking that kind of risk. If you look at the average B&M business that takes hundreds of thousands to start, you’ll see that none are profitable for at least a few years and the owner have to have enough reserved funds to live on because he can’t draw from the business (so he’s working 14 hour days for free). And to top it all off, there’s an 80% chance the business will fail within five years. What that tells me is most people would be better off putting that spare $100K into investments and keep working.
The ideal business requires very little cash to start. This is why I like the Internet so much. My total investment to start this blog was $8.95 for the JohnChow.com domain name. The software that powers the site is free and so is the template. Until recently, the blog was hosted for free as well. When something cost that little to start, it’s not that hard to break even or turn a profit.
2 - The Business Must Have Exclusive Rights
If you’re selling the same stuff that Walmart is selling, chances are you’re not going to do well against them. To give your business the best chance of survival, it must have an exclusive right to some of the products or services. Remember, there is always going to be someone who is willing to sell the same thing cheaper than you. I don’t want to deal with that.
Having an exclusive protects you from market price pressures. If the customer wants your product and can’t get it anywhere else, then you can charge pretty much what you want. This is where terms like branding and private labels come in. In the tech sector, very few companies actually manufacture their own stuff. They are all subbed out to ODMs who make the products with the client company name on it. Want an OCZ power supply without paying for the OCZ name? I know where to get it.
A content base site or blog fits this requirement perfectly because your exclusive right is your content – it’s protected by copyrights.
3 -The Business Runs Itself
For most business owners, having their own business doesn’t mean freedom. If anything, it means more hours than when they were working. Owners of a new business are the first to open and the last to close. The hours are long and there’s a high chance of losing all the money you’ve invested.
The ideal business should run itself without you having to be there. If you have to be there all the time to run the business then you lose one of the biggest potential benefit a business can offer you - freedom to sit on your butt and do nothing.
Look at Markus from Plenty of Fish. This is a 100% user generated content site. Markus’s only job is to make sure the servers stay up and he can easily hire an admin to do that. The site makes over $10,000 a day and Markus runs it out of his apartment. To put that into perspective, Markus makes almost as much as the busiest McDonald’s in Canada, which cost millions to start and employs over 100 people. I’m sure once you account for operating expenses, Markus makes way more.
More at:http://www.johnchow.com/my-five-requirements-for-investing-in-a-new-business/
When Prices Fall You Know it
Some new web companies are beginning to use sophisticated price trending tools, long the preserve of Wall Street traders, to more day-to-day, mundane purchases. Do they work?
Read/Write Web once again does the heavy lifting with its explanatory piece on complex charts and when to buy, based on the inflection point. According to R/WW: “The best time to buy is at or near the inflection point, but to forecast the inflection point one has to consider the slope of the growth curve. Historical information sheds light into the rates of growth, as well as length of the pricing cycles; and it helps estimate where the prices are headed tomorrow.
Farecast is designed to be a “travel oracle” for people who plan their trips just slightly in advance. After you fill in your dates and destinations, the service shows you price trends for the last 90 days and then issues a recommendation on when to buy the ticket. R/WW calls Farecast “impressive.”
Mpire uses a similar approach to help people save money on products.
More at:1.http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_art_of_char.php#more.
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflection_point.
3.http://www.farecast.com/.
4.http://www.mpire.com/
Read/Write Web once again does the heavy lifting with its explanatory piece on complex charts and when to buy, based on the inflection point. According to R/WW: “The best time to buy is at or near the inflection point, but to forecast the inflection point one has to consider the slope of the growth curve. Historical information sheds light into the rates of growth, as well as length of the pricing cycles; and it helps estimate where the prices are headed tomorrow.
Farecast is designed to be a “travel oracle” for people who plan their trips just slightly in advance. After you fill in your dates and destinations, the service shows you price trends for the last 90 days and then issues a recommendation on when to buy the ticket. R/WW calls Farecast “impressive.”
Mpire uses a similar approach to help people save money on products.
More at:1.http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_art_of_char.php#more.
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflection_point.
3.http://www.farecast.com/.
4.http://www.mpire.com/
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