With the start of camping season upon us, I’m reminded of this business idea that Loyd from Yosemite Blog sent to me a few years ago:

Here’s a great part time business to start…. camping spot savers! On major holidays they go in a few days in advance, set up a tent, and camp there until the payee gets there.

If they get a good spot the payee could “tip” them. We could get college students and high school kids above 18 to do it.

Maybe charge about $7.50 on top of the campsite fee not including tip. Pay in advance credit card deal.

Because a lot of campgrounds are first come, first serve and don’t offer reservations or if they do they book quickly like the ones in Yosemite.

Photo by IDAK/ShutterStock.

When you see the doctors standing in front of the whiteboard with all of the patients and surgeries mapped out on Grey’s Anatomy, that’s real life. Would you try to run your company from a whiteboard?

Xylemed thinks you shouldn’t either. They’ve created a program that will replace the whiteboards hospital use to track their patients and surgeries.

Xconomy:

Nursing supervisors use a hand-written markerboard to keep track of the current roster of patient names, doctors treating them, procedures they’re undergoing, and even critical contact information. Xylemed hopes to bring this into the 21st century with a software application that can replace all that scribbling and erasing. It’s already being used at several locations, including Harborview Medical Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

PR Web:

Dogs Love Running! is a small business success story. What started out as a one-man show is now a pet franchise opportunity available across the nation.

“We were looking for input on how to fine-tune our ideas,” says Reh. “The US Small Business Administration has free business counseling through their SCORE program so we started there first.”

John went on to meet about 4 different counselors over the course of a few weeks. Each time, ideas were hammered out in finer and finer detail. The end result is Dogs Love Running!, a professional pet care service that does not only traditional “dog walking”, but they’ll also run with dogs, too. Aside from the dog running/walking services, they also do pet sitting and can create customized private pet boarding and daycare solutions.

Video below.

Sometimes, when you’re starting a business, you have to do almost anything to make it succeed. CNET has the story of one entrepreneur who was so desperate to start that he secretly lived and worked inside of AOL’s office for two months before security discovered his “apartment”:

Having spent several months legitimately working in the building, often quite late, Simons had noticed that although there were security guards with nightly rounds, there were at least three couches that seemed outside those patrols. Plus, they looked fairly comfortable. He claimed them.

This was his routine: He’d work until midnight or later, and then fall asleep around 2 a.m. on one of the couches. At 7 a.m. — and no later than 8 a.m. so he’d be safely out of his field bed before anyone else arrived — he’d wake up, go down to the gym for a workout and a shower, and then go back upstairs and scarf a breakfast of cereal and water or Coke. Then he’d work all day, finally waiting until everyone else in the building had gone home before returning to one of his three favored couches.

“I got a really good work ethic,” he said, “and I got in shape, since I had to work out every morning.”

But the real point was that he was spending next to nothing. The first month, he spent just $30, mainly on the occasional trip to McDonald’s or for “random food expenditures when I got sick of eating ramen and cereal. I could have not spent a dollar, but I was going crazy.”

Image via KrankyCartoons.

Korean retailer Emart had a problem: their sales declined during the lunch hour. To counter this, they developed a time sensitive QR code that relies upon the position of the sun to create a shadow based QR code.

Springwise has more:

Dubbed “Sunny Sale,” Emart’s effort involved setting up a series of what it calls “shadow” QR codes that depend on peak sunlight for proper viewing and were scannable only between 12 and 1 pm each day. Successfully scanning a code took consumers to a dedicated home page with special offers including a coupon worth USD 12. Purchases could then be made via smartphone for delivery direct to the consumer’s door.

Video below.

A Maryland teen invented a dipstick-type sensor that tests blood or urine and detects pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer. WBALTV has more:

North County High School freshman Jack Andraka won what is considered the Olympics of science fairs with a diagnostic breakthrough in cancer treatment. The Crownsville 15-year-old won a $75,000 grand prize in this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his new way to test for early-stage pancreatic cancer.

Andraka said the inspiration came from an uncle who died of the disease. He said the idea came to him in biology class.

“That’s what’s really cool about science to me — you can affect other people’s lives. You can basically do anything with science,” the teen winner said.

Photo by Iwona Grodzka/ShutterStock.

MakeUsOf:

Cubify understands the problem with geeky, DIY, hard to build and calibrate printers; and their Cube aims to solve this. Currently on pre-order and due for release on May 25th, the device is about as consumer level as you can get.

At $1,299, it costs as much as a new desktop PC (and considerably less than the other leading consumer level 3D printer – the Makerbot Replicator) – but like all printers, they’ll get you on the cartridges! Yes, you heard me right – the Cube eschews traditional standardized filament rolls in favor of device-specific filament cartridges, with a variety of garish colors available for $50 each. The simplified loading process means switching out colors or loading a new cartridges is easy.

Joel Libivia of Small Biz Trends interviewed Rush Nigut, an Iowa Franchise Attorney, about what a franchisees options are when a franchisor goes under:

Small Business Trends: What is the first thing franchisees who finds themselves in this situation should do?

Rush Nigut: The first thing a franchisee should do if the franchisor is in trouble is to review the franchise agreement to make sure the franchisor is meeting its obligations. If not, a franchisee will want explore whether there is a breach of contract and whether the franchisee can possibly terminate the agreement if that makes sense.

Small Business Trends: Franchisees spend a lot of time and money to find and keep customers. Can they keep their customers if the franchisor goes under?

Rush Nigut: Obviously, franchisees will want to keep their customers or clients; they’ve worked hard to get them. But they need to make sure that they avoid any non-compete enforcement. Many franchisees are under the mistaken belief that the customers belong to them. Instead, the termination provisions and non-compete provision written into franchise agreements tend to favor the franchisor.

Photo by OlegD/ShutterStock.

CNN:

Ernest Ebio and his wife, both fitness enthusiasts who love to hike and lift weights, didn’t like leaving their 11-month-old daughter behind during their workouts. That frustration led to a business idea — Ebio decided to create a line of kids’ toys modeled after gym equipment.

Ebio partnered with his brother David Catanghal to launch WOD Toys, which produces kid-sized barbells, medicine balls, and even kettlebells for infants and toddlers. The toys weigh between half a pound and four pounds each and are made of materials like plastic, polyester and leather.

The toys are currently sold online, and Ebio hopes to get them into stores soon. All are priced under $60.

Nope, this isn’t a new iPhone app. It’s a business card from Beasty Design.

What do you think?

On this day in 1962, The Old Bay Line, the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, went out of business.

The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, which was also known as the Old Bay Line, was an American steamship line from 1840 to 1962, providing overnight steamboat service on the Chesapeake Bay, primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. Called a “packet” for the mail packets carried on government mail contracts, the term in the 19th century came to mean a steamer line operating on a regular, fixed daily schedule between two or more cities. By the time the venerable packet line ceased operation in 1962 after 122 years of existence, it was the last surviving overnight steamship passenger service in the United States.

In addition to regularly calling on Baltimore and Norfolk, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company also provided freight, passenger and vehicle transport to Washington, D.C., Old Point Comfort, and Richmond, Virginia, at various times during its history. The Old Bay Line, as it came to be known by the 1860s, was acclaimed for its genteel service and fine dining, serving Chesapeake Bay specialties. Walter Lord, famed author of A Night to Remember (and whose grandfather had been the packet line’s president from 1893 to 1899), mused that its reputation for excellent service was attributable to “… some magical blending of the best in the North and the South, made possible by the Company’s unique role in ‘bridging’ the two sections … the North contributed its tradition of mechanical proficiency, making the ships so reliable; while the South contributed its gracious ease”.

Angela’s internet is down (and it’s her birthday) so posting will be light today.

It’s too late this year, but May 25th is Geek Pride Day. Maybe you can profit from it next year.

T-shirts always do well with geeks, as evidenced by the fact that my wife buys me sloganed tees from ThinkGeek every year for my birthday.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that our own Angela Shupe shares her birthday with Geek Pride Day.

Reposted from 2011.

Bad news for the single unit franchisee. According to Forbes many franchisors have switched their preference to larger multi-unit franchisees:

For laid-off executives with a severance package, buying a franchise was once an obvious next
step. Rather than trying to figure out a business idea, you could buy into a big chain with a proven system and established brand name, rake in profits, and never have to report to a boss again.

Unfortunately, it’s not so easy anymore.

Over the years, competition in many franchise sectors – particularly fast food – has intensified. Franchisors also discovered that taking anyone who could put up the franchise fee didn’t always work so well. In downturns, many of these one-unit, newbie franchisees went belly-up, leaving franchisors the difficult choice to either close units or operate more company stores.

Gradually, franchisors switched their preference to multi-unit operators.

Photo by FXQuadro/ShutterStock.

Yorktown Patch:

Chemotherapy, radiation and cancer medications save peoples’ lives, but take a toll on their bodies. Today, Kerry Kourie, who lives in Garrison, knows cancer treatment affects people psychologically and physically and wants to do her part to help ease the pain.

She aims to address one side effect of these life saving treatments by offering unique oncology spa treatments at her new business Skinchanted in Peekskill.

“With chemo, the skin will change, can get itchy, get red and swell,” Koury said. “I am here to alleviate any discomfort that I can and to give people hope and comfort,” Kourie said.

Odd Jobs: How to Have Fun and Make Money in a Bad Economy is a book by Abigail Gehring for anyone looking to earn extra money moonlighting or to break free from the nine-to-five grind. No matter what your skillset the book will have an “odd job” that right for you.

Odd jobs include:

• Treasure Hunt Coordinator
• Ice Cream Taster
• Worm Farmer
• Human Statue
• Vacuum Dust Sorter

I guarantee that if you enjoy this blog, you’ll find an interesting business idea in this book! Right on the cover, Seth Godin says that he loves this book, and I do too!

Judge.me is an online arbitration system that allows you to submit your testimony from anywhere, anytime, from any device you want. Within days, you can have a solution for all kinds of commercial and personal conflicts.

No need to sue the other party in a foreign country or in every country where he or she has assets. Just arbitrate once, since their arbitral awards are recognized and enforced by courts in 146 countries.

Their fixed price is $149.50 per party, for a total of $299. There are no case filing fees, no administration fees, no hearing fees, no case transcript fees, no hidden costs: You only pay once for the entire arbitration.

Sydney Morning Herald:

Some people hate banks, some hate their telcos and others have it in for insurance companies. Daniel Battaglia’s pet hates are excessive parking fees and council parking inspectors. But unlike most of us, he’s turned his particular dislike into a business, despite having almost no financing assistance.

Battaglia had been travelling around the world after five years in the finance industry and was mulling over a few ideas for start-ups.

“When I got back to Sydney I went to visit a good mate in Paddington and couldn’t find any street parking,” he says.

“I noticed a few empty driveways and as it turned out my mate’s garage was empty as well. That’s when it all came together for me.”

Battaglia spoke to some people about the idea of a website that matched drivers in need of parking with people who had a driveway or garage to spare and wanted to make a bit of extra cash out of it.

For months later, Battaglia had launched Parking Made Easy.

Photo by Dmitry Yashkin/ShutterStock.

• 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
• 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
• 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
• 1976 – The Judgement of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.

You can read more about the Judgement of Paris in the book Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine.

The Paris Tasting of 1976 will forever be remembered as the landmark event that transformed the wine industry. At this legendary contest — a blind tasting — a panel of top French wine experts shocked the industry by choosing unknown California wines over France’s best.

George M. Taber, the only reporter present, recounts this seminal contest and its far-reaching effects, focusing on three gifted unknowns behind the winning wines: a college lecturer, a real estate lawyer, and a Yugoslavian immigrant. With unique access to the main players and a contagious passion for his subject, Taber renders this historic event and its tremendous aftershocks — repositioning the industry and sparking a golden age for viticulture across the globe. With an eclectic cast of characters and magnificent settings, Judgment of Paris is an illuminating tale and a story of the entrepreneurial spirit of the new world conquering the old.

MarketWatch:

A project that began in response to a lumpy bowl of Malt-O-Meal is now, after nearly a decade of tinkering in his spare time, ready to hit the market.

“I wanted to find a way to make a better bowl of Malt-O-Meal in the microwave,” said Wylie. “I saw the potential of using the turntable as a source of motion very early. But it took quite a few attempts and designs to get it all working perfectly.”

The real breakthrough in development came with the addition of his patent-pending anchor bar, which maintains a consistent downward pressure on the entire assembly, holding it securely in place.

Wylie wants to use his invention to create jobs in Kansas, particularly in the Wellington area. He plans to use the money raised from the sale of the StirMate to fund research and development for future products and develop as many Kansas ideas and innovations as he can.

“The StirMate has been well received by many people who want to send the production to China,” said Wylie. “But my goal is to create jobs locally and help the Wellington economy.”

The Huffington Post:

When it comes to getting a loan for your small business, it may not come down to who you know, but where you go. Banking Grades, a new grading tool from Philadelphia-based MultiFunding, found that some of the nation’s biggest banks have the worst performances when it comes to small-business lending. Meanwhile, banks that recorded the best small-business lending performances are the ones most entrepreneurs have probably never heard of.

The big banks (defined as those with deposits of more than $10 billion) that ranked the highest for small-business lending are:

1. Zions First National Bank, Salt Lake City. Grade: A (25.44 percent)
2. First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Raleigh, N.C. Grade: B (23.8 percent)
3. Synovus Bank, Columbus, Ga. Grade: B (19.25 percent)
4. Chase Bank Usa, National Association, Newark, Del. Grade: B (18.34 percent)
5. Bancorpsouth Bank, Tupelo, Ms. Grade: B (17.13 percent)
6. Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, National Association, Ogden, Utah. Grade: B (13.71 percent)
7. Arvest Bank, Fayetteville, Ark. Grade: B (12.82 percent)
8. Whitney Bank, New Orleans, La. Grade: B (12.02 percent)
9. Capital One Bank (Usa), Glen Allen, Va. Grade: B (11.85 percent)
10. Tcf National Bank, Sioux Falls, S.D. Grade: B (11.49 percent)

Photo by Billy Brown

The Washington Post:

The online world has become awash with opportunities to both spread the word about job openings as well as investigate possible candidates before you meet them in the flesh. But how can small businesses avoid information overload? Here are some tips:

●LinkedIn: Every recruiter’s friend and even better than you think. LinkedIn is a great first stop for recruiters. Beyond showing their professional growth in an easy-to-read format, smart candidates request (and get!) insightful recommendations from peers, clients and friends that give an outsider’s view of their performance. These are sometimes more powerful than regular references, since they are publicly displayed.

●Love or hate Facebook, check it out. If an applicant has an open page, this can be a great way to see beyond the resume. You can learn where they volunteer, what kind of music they listen to, what activities they participate in outside of work or what TV shows they like. This information can provide powerful insight into whether a candidate is a good cultural fit.

●To tweet or not to tweet. Twitter can be an awesome way to find out more about candidates. You can determine if they are interested in your business and industry subject matter by the type of news and posts they share.

Photo by MoneyBlogNewz

After many years of trying to make potato chips taste like jalapenos, the creators of Deano’s Jalapenos decided to ditch the potato all together. Their chips are “non-potato chips” made out of thin slices of jalapeno. The peppers are deep-friend and flavored with sea salt, cheddar or ranch.

We use the freshest jalapenos available, shipped dailey from Texas and New Mexico. Our cheddar coating has just the right flavor to enhance the flavor of the jalapeno, which gives it a nice finish to the chip. Once again there are no potatoes used in Deanos Jalapeno Cheddar Chips. The jalapeno chips are at what “we” call a medium heat level, although each batch is a little different depending on mother nature.

Co.Exsist:

When it comes to those last globs of ketchup inevitably stuck to every bottle of Heinz, most people either violently shake the container in hopes of eking out another drop or two, or perform the “secret” trick: smacking the “57” logo on the bottle’s neck. But not MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith. He and a team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group have been held up in an MIT lab for the last two months addressing this common dining problem.

The result? LiquiGlide, a “super slippery” coating made up of nontoxic materials that can be applied to all sorts of food packaging—though ketchup and mayonnaise bottles might just be the substance’s first targets. Condiments may sound like a narrow focus for a group of MIT engineers, but not when you consider the impact it could have on food waste and the packaging industry. “It’s funny: Everyone is always like, ‘Why bottles? What’s the big deal?’ But then you tell them the market for bottles—just the sauces alone is a $17 billion market,” Smith says. “And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about one million tons of food from being thrown out every year.”

Photo by GorillaAttack/ShutterStock.