Business Idea of the Day

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

He may not have the power that Ben Bernanke wields or the kind of money that Donald Trump has, but the advice Bill McKown shares with business owners can mean the difference between surviving the recession and closing their doors forever, says Tampa Bay Online . “Due to current economic conditions, many businesses are looking for help. Their needs revolve around two basic areas: technical assistance and financial assistance. The SBDC specializes in providing technical assistance to small business,” said McKown, whose wide smile and approachable demeanor reflect his certifications in training and facilitation.

For Jane Grant, creating the perfect dog bowl meant not only making her dog happy but helping dogs all over the world, according to her article on Sky News . Travelling worldwide with work, I searched in vain for a bowl that would make it easy for my family dog to eat with less mess and less noise. So I created one from a pet’s perspective, investing my own cash alongside a grant from Invest NI. Working out designs with the University of Ulster and TrufflePig, we had a brainwave.

Jean-Jacques Velkeniers lives in Belgium and since he was a little boy he wanted to go into space. Now that Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is selling seats on their spaceship for rides into space for only $200,000, Jean-Jacques can finally go. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t have $200 grand.

Nostalgia for the 1980s has never disappeared and Retrofitness , a 1980’s themed gym is riding the Spandex waves : How did you hit on this concept? I had owned two other licensed fitness centers, and I wasn’t happy with how they were operated. So I spent a couple of nights sitting in a rocking chair, jotting down notes. I felt there was a niche for a low-cost provider that gave a high-end experience. I did the raw math and figured I could be better and attract more customers at $19.99 a month than clubs charging $39 or $49 a month

Curtis Desselles is a sucker for science, according to ArkLaTexhomepage.com . His latest and greatest work comes in the form of a three millimeter chip. He calls it the “Eddy Current Analyzer.”…which blends old technology with new innovation

The Week : New Zealand’s a announced they are beginning production of the as-yet unnamed device — which stands five feet tall, weighs 254 pounds and will cost a cool $77,000 — at an initial rate of 500 units per year. Powered by dual propellers, it will be capable of whisking a pilot along at 63 mph at a maximum altitude of 8,000 feet. In case of emergency, the construction includes a roll cage and a low-altitude parachute. Martin Aircraft CEO Richard Lauder expects the product — no pilot license required — to sell to a wide variety of customers, including emergency personnel and the military. Video after the jump.

Can you sell a small piece of fabric for big bucks? You can if you position it correctly and market the heck out of it. The makers of the Cami Secret do just that

A junior at Harvard University, Jason Shah launched his SAT prep site INeedAPencil.com in 2006 when he was still in high school. Inc.com reports that the free site offers low-income students an alternative to pricier courses such as those at Kaplan and The Princeton Review. Students can log on to the site and choose from more than 60 lessons in math, reading, and writing, many of which use pop-culture and sports references to liven up the material.

According to a story at Inc.com , Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, introduced the Start-up Visa Act, which would open up the U.S. to immigrant entrepreneurs. If passed, the bill would grant foreigners U.S