Tuesday, July 3, 2007

PlanHQ allows for easy online collaboration

PlanHQ allows for easy online collaboration. In the start-up phase, this means partners can work on a plan together from anywhere they can get online. Later on, investors and other stakeholders can easily keep track of how the business is developing.

The online application takes what is often a static text document or spreadsheet, left for dead once banks have been convinced or investors wooed, and turns it into a tool that can be used well beyond the planning stage. Besides walking a user through the process of creating a business plan, PlanHQ lets entrepreneurs manage key business and financial information online, track finances and monitor timelines, comparing forecasts with actual performance. All in a friendly Web 2.0-style, reminiscent of online applications by 37signals.

New Zealand-based PlanHQ offers a free 30-day trial and premium plans are priced from USD 9 – 49 per month.
Website: www.planhq.com

Unusual Business Idea Which Made Him Millionaire

Thirteen years ago, as an animal- control officer in Tampa, I started Animal Capture of Florida. It was a removal service, mostly trapping stray cats at apartment complexes. We didn't make much of a profit, so I increased margins by doing repairs-fixing holes raccoons made in the attic, etc. Five years ago we jumped at the chance to become the state-contracted alligator trapper for Hillsborough County. It looked like fun.

Our revenues come from a mix of gator and other animal removal and damage repair, and in a good month we'll gross up to $30,000. Revenue from catching gators depends entirely on the animal. The state contracts with one trapper for each county, and we make money by exhibiting or selling what we catch.

A processor will pay as much as $1,000 for a big gator. The hide and meat are used commercially, but if the meat's bad from an infection, it cuts the price. Sometimes a gator's in such bad shape from fighting that we can't sell it, and we lose money removing it-as state agents, we are required to respond to each call at no charge.

In the warmer months we'll show live nine- or ten-footers at company headquarters and charge a few bucks for admission.

Customers worry that when they call an alligator catcher, some smelly, sweaty guy in coveralls is going to track mud on the carpet. Impressions are important. We have five employees, and we all wear uniforms. We start with the simplest means of removal and work up, using lethal methods only if we have to. With a small gator -four to six feet-you've only got one chance to nab him, because he's fast. We get as close as we can, armed with a snatch hook attached to a big-game fishing line, and cast it with a heavy rod and reel. There's a tug-of-war before we get a second rope around him to tape his snout and legs. If we have our act together, my partner and I can rope one in two minutes.

Weight is an issue with the big guys. We have to tow them up the bank with a truck. I once caught and lost a 12-footer five times the same day. There's one alligator out there-a very elusive 12-foot bull. He lurks in a chain of lakes near a housing development. Someone will see him and call us, and we go running. By the time we get there, he's always gone. Someday we'll catch him.
Contact:http://www.animalcapture.com/
Via-CNN

For CEO Of Home

Are you the CEO of a home? Do you make multiple decisions on just about everything, for multiple individuals, and then you have to turn around and worry about yourself? Oh, and have you noticed how some of the biggest decisions are for the smallest people and some of the smallest decisions are for the biggest ones? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you're definitely the CEO of a home. Just like us. We started Neighbor.com because we felt there had to be a better way to find the best local knowledge that helps with the many daily decisions you make about your life, your family and your home. What we do is capture and organize precious nuggets of local insight and knowledge, and make them accessible to everyone.
More at:http://www.neighbor.com/

Flippid Is Connecting Buyers And Sellers

Flippid is a site that helps people find whatever product they are looking for by connecting buyers with sellers. When you post something you want on Flippid--say, an Xbox, for example--you are creating a "buyoff." You give details about what you're looking for, including some tags to help categorize it, the maximum price you want to pay, the maximum shipping cost you want to pay, and how long you want it to last. Flippid makes it easy to acquire what you need. They will help you find a picture of what you're looking for. Sellers (retailers or anybody, really) then see your BuyOff and can offer to sell you what you're looking for. When they do, Flippid will send you an email to keep you up to date.
More at:http://www.flippid.com

ExpertNerds.com helps users find expert providers

ExpertNerds.com helps users find expert providers. Users can ask questions from many different areas of interest and get answers from experts. Users can also submit website related projects that need developed, it could be anything from a simple logo they need to a full blown website they need created. ExpertNerds.com is here to help anyone with a question or a website development project.
More at:http://www.expertnerds.com/

VideoIPO Stock Exchange

Do more than watching video at the VideoIPO Stock Exchange. Everbody dream of earning millions of dollars like those traders on Wallstreet? Or sometimes we dreamed of investing our money in the stock market and seeing it double in size? Well most of us have these dreams but the reality is investing is scary business. Most people have no training. And if you invest and are wrong - you can really lose. Know anyone who lost money during the dot.com bust? Well the VideoIPO Stock Exchange is designed to combine entertainment and learning to give you an exciting interactive experience, while also making players more knowledgeable investors and money managers. By playing this game, you will learn about budgeting, forecasting, and stock market investing - but not in a classroom. This game teaches these skills while you are hanging with your friends, riding the bus or relaxing at the beach. And what's more - it requires you to watch cool videos - its paradise.
More at: http://www.videoipo.tv/