Business Idea of the Day

The USA Solar Store is a chain of independently run shops that offer alternative energy products. With 24 stores in 11 states, from California to Vermont, it is their goal to help bring renewable energy to everyday people all over the US. Inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing, Dave Bonta and his wife moved to Vermont in the 1990’s with the intention of living the simpler life. What started as a lifestyle choice eventually became a business, providing the products people need to live a sustainable lifestyle

Food processors’ byproducts such as rice hulls, nut shells, and other waste are normally trashed. But Jason Aramburu, Chief Executive Officer of re:char , sees it all as an untapped source of cooking fuel and fertilizer, reports Bloomberg Businessweek . His company designs and builds equipment to make biochar—a type of charcoal that retains moisture in soil—and so far has sold a machine to a group of oil and gas investors in Houston. Aramburu, 25, started re:char in 2009 with $250,000 from angels and his savings

In 2008, as the market for home energy management systems grew, Nielsen Van Duijn and Carsten Steenberg founded Powerhouse Dynamics to commercialize a monitor they had developed as a side project. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that their system, which connects to a home’s circuit breaker, allows homeowners to track where and when they consume the most electricity so they can determine how to cut back.

BBC : Bob Young is a self-confessed contrarian with a strong desire to change the world by allowing people to share and collaborate. The approach has served him well and has helped turn the Canadian into a multi-millionaire. Mr Young started out as a typewriter salesman and went on to found and run a computer-leasing company. That was sold on, but the firm that bought him over ran into financial difficulties and Mr Young became unemployed with three children to support and a large mortgage.

In 2008, Peter Frykman, a mechanical engineering student at Stanford University, designed a small, portable laser-manufacturing system that could quickly and accurately punch holes in cheap plastic tubing to make affordable drip irrigation systems. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek , in June 2008, he founded Driptech with $5,000 of his own money. The 26-year-old entrepreneur has raised $600,000 from grants, donations, and investors. Driptech’s simplified systems, designed for farmers with plots smaller than one acre, do away with expensive parts

University of California, Berkeley business students Nikhil Arora and Alex Velez perked up when a business ethics professor mentioned a sustainable business opportunity: using nutrient-rich discarded coffee grounds to grow mushrooms, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Hooked on the idea of “creating a business out of waste streams,” Arora says, the pair tested the idea in a fraternity kitchen in early 2009. When their mushrooms sprouted a month later, they started BTTR (pronounced Better) Ventures, and by the time they graduated that May, they had a $5,000 grant from Berkeley and interest from such customers as Whole Foods and Berkeley chef Alice Waters. BTTR Ventures collects 8,000 pounds of coffee grounds each week that shops such as Peet’s Coffee would otherwise discard

The best PR programs often leverage a company’s best assets, its subject matter experts, by seizing and capitalizing on the news of the day. Aaron Kwittken at Entrepreneur calls this Carpe Diem PR. Absent new company developments, the key for any company is to secure frequent, meaningful media mentions and buzz, by finding natural ways to make the company part of an already existing news cycle or trend. 1. Watch the news and look for ways in which you think your company is relevant to a news cycle.

There are many sites to buy and sell existing websites online. My current favorite is Flippa.com . Flippa is an online auction house (like eBay ) for the individual sale of web sites and domain names

If APIs are “crack cocaine for developers,” as Mashery CEO Oren Michels told Jolie O’Dell of Mashable.com , then Michels is a dealer. His company specializes in creating and managing APIs for companies from Netflix and MTV Networks to Etsy and Cafe Press, and has recently published a survey on how developers use APIs. Whether for fun as a side project or for serious profit as an entrepreneurial endeavor, developers love to use APIs (Application Programming Interface).

According to AppScout , a new Nielsen report said that over 20 percent of cell phone users worldwide intend to download at least some World Cup soccer information on their cell phones, according to FierceMobileContent. Interestingly, 23 percent of U.S. subscribers are planning to do so when the 2010 FIFA World Cup launches June 11th.