Business Idea of the Day

According to Sign On San Diego , a survey states that pessimism has risen among small businesses during the past month. The fallback in confidence is occurring even as the economy seems to have bottomed out, with retail sales picking up nationwide and an increasing number of small businesses preparing to add workers.

Approximately 2 years ago Brian Ohnemus create a boat rack that would carry his boat so he could still pull his camper. The idea worked so well that he decided to turn it into a business, reports the Quincy Herald Whig . “While getting all the gear ready for a weekend family camping trip, I realized I had a problem,” he said.

Anthony Ghattas has the life that many dream about; great wine, beautiful art, and friends in high places, reports The Sydney Morning Herald . In only six years, this serial entrepreneur has managed to build up a successful lifestyle brand United Lifestyle Group – including two galleries in Perth and Sydney and a burgeoning wine group – at a time when many galleries and wine outfits have crumbled under the financial pressure. However, his business wasn’t without casualty. When the GFC hit, his horse breeding business bit the dust; fortunately, the wine business sailed forth with a 42 per cent growth in revenue in 2009, given that people were prepared to buy more wine, and eat out less

When Jennifer Dowler was looking for the perfect birth announcement to tell the world about the birth of her son, what she found was less than inspiring. As he got older and she went in search for the right birthday card, she soon found that her choices were just as thin as they were when he was born. The next announcement she made became the one for her business, reports the Calgary Herald . She searched stores and online websites, but was only able to find American companies that made custom announcements, and the cost to ship to Canada was more than she was willing to spend.

Associated Press : There wasn’t a bottle of Oxiclean or a ShamWow anywhere. But there was Dawn Stephens’ nifty new, all-in-one toilet-bowl-cleaning brush.

Karen Wildman and Lisa Holmes were constantly battling malfunctioning electronics due to moisture and water damage. The sisters set out to invent a solution. and they did! Their new product, Bheestie Bag, is designed to ‘dry out’ electronic devices: cell phones, iPods, etc.

When her marriage ended Alicia Kavon decided to go to school and finish her bachelors degree. With a major in dance and a minor in fine arts, she fully intended to become a dance instructor when she graduated. However, with a little nudging from her friend, she became a Pilates instructor instead, reports The Commercial Appeal . Now in her fifth year as a successful business owner of Pilates Central on York Avenue, she feels she can breathe more easily. Business is steady and her job allows her the flexibility to be a mom first.

photo credit: fotoosvanrobin Two graduates of UC Berkley’s Business School think that they can turn used coffee grounds into high-profit mushrooms : What do mushrooms and a pile of used coffee grounds have in common? “Mushrooms biologically grow really well in hardwoods, and so, coffee acts like a hardwood biologically, and we can grow them pretty well in that,” said BTTR Ventures co-founder Nikhill Arora. The mushrooms aren’t caffeinated produce, they just absorb all the coffee grounds’ nutrients. So, why in the world are two new graduates from UC Berkeley’s Business School, Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez, growing mushrooms for a living? … Seeded by a $5,000 social innovation grant from Cal, they researched and launched a for-profit social venture called BTTR Ventures ; BTTR stands for “Back To The Roots.” The goal is to be a sustainable company focused on social responsibility.

Laura Heiden was working as a marketing manager when she stumbled upon jewelry as a creative outlet, reports Postbulletin.com . Last year, the 33-year-old’s infatuation with jewelry lead her to Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, where she enrolled in two, intensive two-month programs in goldsmithing and stone setting. While in San Francisco, Heiden realized that she wanted to open her own studio, but her work requires the use of a torch. She knew she couldn’t work on her jewelry in her St. Paul condominium, so she started looking elsewhere

Using parts from his family barbecue, parts from his wife’s car, and the control lever from his daughter’s motor scooter, New Zealand inventor Rudy Heeman has created a flying hovercraft, reports the Telegraph.co.uk . Looking like a conventional hovercraft but with the addition of detachable wings, the vehicle cruises at 56mph when flying, has a range of more than 140 miles, and reaches a height of about 10 feet.