Business Idea of the Day

SanLouisObispo.com : The American public’s attitude toward female business owners hasn’t changed much in recent decades, according to a new national survey, with 94 percent saying women only want to contribute to the family income and not grow a business. A nonprofit organization, Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, commissioned the survey, and a woman-owned business, Candice Bennett & Associates Inc., conducted it. At a news conference Wednesday, Count Me In founder Nell Merlino said the survey shows the issues preventing women from expanding their companies at a time when the country desperately needs job creation.

Needless to say, after 26 years working in the food industry Karen Swisher knew what tasted good and what did not. During that time she created interesting foods, such as microwavable English muffins, low-fat donuts and host of other products, many of which has been sold through companies like Carnation/Nestle and Jenny Craig, reports SGVTribune.com . But her latest venture – Sierra Madre Grocery Co. – is all her own. “After pursuing my passion for creative food development for nearly three decades on behalf of some of the industry’s most respected brands, I’m excited to have a collection of products I can truly call my own,” the 49-year-old entrepreneur said

The following is by Brenden Sherratt of In The Shark Tank . There is no news yet about a second season of Shark Tank, but if you’re interested in pitching your business to wealthy investors than Dragon’s Den is your show. CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has started a coast-to-coast search for creative ideas and money-making businesses. Dragon’s Den is the same concept as Shark Tank, it even stars two of the Sharks Robert and Kevin O as Dragons. In the past Americans have appeared on the show, and I do not see anything in the rules that forbid American citizens from addition

Using a few household items, $11 worth of plastic ducks and an idea, Riley Magnuson has created a new pool game and landed himself on The Ellen Degeneres Show , Reports The Orange County Register . Riley is the creator of a swimming pool game he’s named and trademarked “ Chuck the Duck .” Riley and his mother, Christine Magnuson, host a pool party at the end of every school year. After mom purchased plastic ducks with graduation hats as party decorations to mark the end of the 2007 school year, Riley’s creative light bulb came on and Chuck the Duck was born. Riley created the new game, he said, because he and his friends were bored with pool games like Marco Polo and Colors.

Knoxville News Sentinel : Ironically, when friends complimented Carlene Steenekamp about how good she looked after the birth of her last child in 2007, their words had an opposite effect. “I got so tired of hearing, ‘Oh, you look great to have had three kids.’ I know friends meant well, but that was a backhanded compliment,” says Steenekamp, 32, a personal trainer from West Knoxville. “I wasn’t ready to accept that I would never feel good about my body again.” Steenekamp had always worked hard at staying fit, but after that, her efforts went into overdrive. “People in the gym started asking me what kind of competition I was getting ready for

Gregg Fairbrothers wasn’t born into business, he was actually raised in an academic household, reports Fortune . “I didn’t know a debit from a credit,” he admits. Fairbrothers studied earth sciences at Dartmouth in the ’70s, got his master’s at Rutgers, and eventually moved to Tulsa, where he joined Samson, a gas driller, and earned his chops at the right hand of the company’s “hard-nosed founder.” He picked up an MBA, but that was “just to get the toolkit,” he says. “I learned my business on the job.” Today, as founding director of the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network, Fairbrothers teaches a wildly popular course on entrepreneurship at the Tuck School of Business. As befits the professor’s background, Introduction to Entrepreneurship is all about learning through experience.

According to the BBC , the online revolution in Brazil has opened up new opportunities to create small businesses that never existed before. Fabio Seixas is a 35-year-old “serial entrepreneur” whose three previous businesses went bust.

It all started with Barbara Barry’s new hobby, knitting. Whenever she’d learn something new she would find herself shopping at her local craft store for that new piece. Eventually those pieces would find themselves lost at the bottom of her knitting bag. So Barry took to the net in search of an all-in-one kit that would help put all those necessities together into a convenient package, reports the Idaho Statesman . But she didn’t find it.

18wlfi.com : When Lafayette mom, Jenny Reynolds’ young daughter developed eczema, she had no idea it would lead to a new business idea. “We did the steroid creams for a while but we wanted to something more natural,” Reynolds said. After trying a bar of natural soap, she and her husband were hooked. They decided to make the soap from home. She said after her two kids go to bed, they get to work, mixing and pouring

Nothing is more troublesome than trying to find high quality, high end fashions… especially if you’re a plus sized woman. The reality is that there is a growing niche in the clothing market, a niche that many stores are not that quick to fill. A plus sized woman herself, Michelle just wasn’t able to find the fashions she wanted in her size. Together Michelle and her daughter Catherine decided to change that, so they made use of their combined talents and created La Grande Dame . Tell us a little about La Grande Dame and your inspiration for the business