The Best Business Opportunities of 2011

Best Business Opportunities of 2011

What are the best business opportunities of 2011? As always, those that best meet the needs of consumers. 2011, like 2010, is another year where consumer markets will be dominated by the perceived needs of baby boomers, so you'll find that many of the best business opportunities target that group. From travel through medical technology, it's hard to find an industry not impacted by the boomer population bulge. Here are my predictions for the best business opportunities for 2011.

1) Tour Packages

There's no better time to be selling travel packages. The great boomer bulge is hitting retirement or already retired and neither dwindling portfolios or increased airport security will deter them from seeing the exotic places on their lists before they "kick the bucket". So business opportunities abound in organizing appealing packages of accommodation and activities in popular exotic locales. As I write this, African safaris, Southeast Asia and Antarctica are destinations of choice.

2) International Education

Canada and the U.S. are increasingly popular with foreign students, creating business opportunities for providing the educational experiences students from China, Japan and other countries are looking for, from courses on Learning English as a Second Language through schools that provide a full curriculum with accredited degrees or certification. Remember that most of these students are looking for the "Canadian" or "American" experience as well; online offerings won't cut it.

3) Microbreweries                   

A waft of chocolate. A lingering malty sweetness. Beer drinkers today want their beer to have flavour and body making microbreweries excellent business opportunities. Microbreweries can produce the specialized flavours and styles of beer that sophisticated beer drinkers are looking for, and the number of such people is growing. Beer tasting has become as popular as wine tasting. If you go this route, don't forget to have a brewpub on your premises.

4) Mobile Marketing Consultants

Mobile marketing is hot. How hot? Well, a report by BIA/Kelsey indicates the US mobile advertising market will grow from the $491M posted in 2009 to $1.2B in 2011 and produce nearly $3B in 2014. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that businesses are going to flock to an advertising space like that. And that means exploding business opportunities for savvy marketing consultants who know how mobile marketing works.

5) Green Technologies

Yep, I know that I mentioned this one last year. But once again, green technologies of all kinds are prime business opportunities this year because this is where the government funding opportunities are. (See the Government of Canada's Funding Technologies for the Environment website, for instance. Green technologies are attempts to solve environmental challenges which gives startups a huge scope from developing sources of clean energy through better waste management.

6) Financial Planners

What can I say? When baby boomers should retire, whether they have enough money to retire on or if they even want to retire is the fodder for endless media hand-wringing, but one thing is certain; they will all have to at some point. Financial planners and advisors, your moment in the sun is now.

7) Walk-in Baths

I've yet to meet a senior that didn't want to continue to live in his or her home. But once a person develops mobility issues, things such as taking a shower or bath at home become dangerous without assistance. Walk-in baths directly address this need, making bathing easier and safer. Because the number of seniors in our population is peaking, there's going to be a growing market for these and similar products – a great time to become a distributor.

8) Web Apps for Business

One of the great things about the Web is that it gives anyone the ability to run with the big dogs – assuming they have the technological smarts. Developing Web apps for business is a great business opportunity because, as I wrote in Top Small Business Trends 2011, businesses are turning to cloud computing in ever increasing numbers. So put your thinking cap on. What functions would small businesses be willing to move to the 'Net? Has it been done already? If so, can you build "a better mousetrap"?

9) Medical and Assistive Technologies

Medical and Assistive Technologies include medical devices, diagnostic and medical imaging, healthcare IT and wireless health (smart devices) and assistive devices and home healthcare and the field is rife with business opportunities. "Today's payers and healthcare providers are increasingly looking towards technologies that materially decrease costs while providing better quality care" (Health Technology Exchange). While the process of developing such a technology can be lengthy, the financial rewards can be huge.

10) Niche Recruiters

Another effect of the boomer population bulge is what I think of as the lemming effect. Whatever it is, it suddenly seems that everyone is doing it. Such as retiring. Professions and business are being hard hit. We're already experiencing a shortage of doctors and other medical professionals, for instance. The situation will be a bonanza for recruiters and/or placement agencies who can supply qualified people to companies and government organizations that are having trouble filling positions.

11) Downsizing Assistants

I first mentioned this idea in Small Scale Business Ideas, but it's such a potentially profitable business opportunity I think it bears repeating. The bulging senior demographic also means that a whole lot more people are downsizing and moving, some by their own choice and others because they need medical and care services they can't get at home. As a Downsizing Assistant you would have two potential markets; the people moving and/or going into care and people with aging parents looking for help finding appropriate accommodation and care services for them. Your services could range from finding suitable placements for people through physically helping people pack up and move.

Why Are These the Best Business Opportunities?

These are what I consider to be the best business opportunities because these are business opportunities that have legs. Taking into account the economy, consumer and business trends, these are businesses that should be profitable not just for 2011, but for years to come.

But not every business opportunity is right for everyone. You always need to do your homework; writing a business plan is a good (and safe) way to find out if the small business opportunity you're considering is worth investing your time and money in.

 By: Susan Ward

How to Generate Income From your Online Home Business Free

Generate Income Online Home Business

It is possible for you to generate a huge income with your online home business using only word of mouth advertising, especially if the program you are advertising has a detailed step-by-step training program, which makes it so simple for the newcomers to duplicate exactly what you are doing.
Here is an example to consider: Say you tell 10 people who trust your recommendations about your business. Out of those 10 people, say just 3 decide to join your online home business.
Watch how quickly this can grow without any more effort from you.
Now, those 3 people are reading and acting on the same steps outlined in the training program provided and they tell 10 people about the business so 9 more people sign up right away. Next, those 9 people each tell 10 people about the business and 27 of those 90 visitors sign up right away and so it goes on and on building a solid foundation for a huge, free advertising campaign.
The key to realize is that you can reach your income goals, and surpass them, as long as you have the faith to continue moving forward.
It is a simple fact that a large and growing percentage of people in countries where Internet access is available are looking for ways to earn extra income from home online.
The market for your online home business is massive. Your ability to reach that market is what you need to develop! A great place to start is by telling everyone you know about your business: You can do it in person; with a personal letter; with a phone call; with email. The important thing is to just do it!
Make a list of all the people you know. Write or type down the person's name and how to contact them. Do not judge the list at first. Just take the next few hours of your day and think of everyone you know. Make one column with the person's name and make another column with the method you prefer to communicate with this person (example: face-to-face, personal letter, telephone, email, etc.).

Whatever you do, do not underestimate the power of this list. The list that you develop now could be the goldmine you have been searching for that will lead you to a lifetime of financial success and personal freedom.
Remember, the only one you cheat is yourself if you did not complete this exercise to the best of your ability. That, and you could also be cheating others out of finding your online home business because if they do not find it through you, they may never find it and that could cause them to remain stuck in financial struggle, or worse, they could get taken advantage of by some other online home business opportunity they try that has no chance of working for them.

Once you have your master list, you need to take action and contact everyone you can (or feel reasonably comfortable contacting about your business) through your preferred method of communication:
Face to face: Telling people about your business face-to-face can be very effective.
Letter: Some people you know would appreciate receiving a personal letter in the mail. Here is your opportunity to contact your family and friends who have not heard from you in a long time and who would appreciate a letter from you and you can promote your business at the same time!

Just be yourself and make what you do known to others. There is no need to be pushy and do not try to sell them anything. Your website will take care of all the selling for you. More and more people are naturally looking for ways to earn extra money from home and if it is not you who introduces them to your online home business, it could be someone else.

Telephone: Some people are very comfortable talking and sharing information over the phone. As always, just be yourself. People are attracted to confidence and confidence is a by-product of being you. Therefore, when you relax and be yourself, people will be attracted to you and interested in what you are doing. When people are interested in what you are doing, they will naturally find out about your business. If it is the right thing for them, they will join without any arm twisting or any other high pressure sales tactics.
Email: Here is another super easy way to tell people you know about your online home business.
Remember, the more people you contact, the faster your profits will grow! Keep in mind nothing is ever perfect. Do not sit around waiting until you have got the perfect message to send. Just communicate. Do not hold back. Above all, be yourself. Get busy and start emailing your friends and family now.
This is a very powerful method of advertising that many people either overlook or shy away from, but you can literally make all your financial dreams come true using this free method of advertising. So don’t wait a moment longer to spread the word about your online home business. 

By: Cynthia Minnaar

Start Your Own Internet Business with The Immediate Earning Opportunity

Start your Own Internet Business

The right way to start your own internet business is the system called step by step. A special newbie affiliate program makes this possible to you, because your role is just to learn one promotion tactics at a time and the merchant has prepared the whole system for you.

He has also tested it with thousands of other affiliates earlier, so it works. To start your own internet business is not a mission impossible, but it is not easy and quick, if you are on your own. But why don`t you concentrate on the one thing you master, on the LEARNING and leave all the complicated things to your merchant, who will master them?
1. Select An Affiliate Program, Which Is Specialized In The Newbie Guidance.
No the link is not yet here, but it comes...The whole business pack to start own internet business is too wide for a newbie to master. But a proven merchant, who runs a legitimate and long term affiliate program has had the time to test everything. Would this be your choice?
2. A Successful Affiliate Program Connects You To The Market In A Way, Which Works.
Where is your audience and where are your target persons? What about the business plan? These are good questions, but without answers, if you do not have an experienced affiliate program to help you. To your principal these are easy, everyday questions, which it has solved years ago. Just jump into the boat and enjoy all the professionalism!
3. A Merchant Has Prepared A 100 % Marketing Package With All The Needed Guidance.
The whole affiliate program is equipped with all the tools you need, but the most important at this phase is the training material. That will solve, how successfully you can start your own internet business and how successfully you can continue with it!
4. What Should You Need From The Program?
It should be free to join and you can should start to learn right away. It has the whole set for a newbie: support forum, 25/7 email support, training videos, training pages; email tutoring series, all the marketing materials etc. One important thing is, that you as a newbie like the program and the style it represents.
A newbie has a lot of emotions with, when he is in the process to start internet home business, and that is the simple reason, why he should like the material, that he has a certain emotional tie with the program.
By: Juhani Tontti

 

Starting a Home-Based Business

Starting a Home-Based Business or Second Job?

If you're currently between jobs or are experiencing a reduction in your household income for whatever reason, starting a home-based business is a great option to generate additional income. The question is: is it a better option than having a second-job?

Advantages of Starting a Home-Based Business

Having a second-job may be an easier short-term option but it is just that...short-term. You will most likely burn out and have gained very few new skills that will help you become rich and build wealth. Some of the key benefits of starting a home-based business are:

1. It will teach you some of the rudimentary principles of running a business

2. You don't have to commute to work and deal with office politics

3. You can get started quickly with almost zero capital outlay

4. You will have increased flexibility, autonomy and self-accountability

5. The income generated should be better than the pay from a second job (typically part-time jobs work of low hourly rates)

6. You should have more time to be with your family, friends and maybe even have some time to devote to your hobbies

7. You might actually like your home-based business but few people truly enjoy their second-jobs!

The # 1 Reason for Starting a Home-Based Business

Whilst all of the reasons cited above are worthy in their own right, if you genuinely want to learn how to get rich and create wealth than I think the No.1 reason for staring a home-based business is because of the business skills you will naturally develop. Apart from doing the job, you'll learn about key business functions such as Sales, Marketing, Finance & Accounting, Operations and Human Resources.

It's called 'Home Based Business' not 'Home-Based Job'

Whether you're planning on starting an Internet Business, an Accounting & Bookkeeping service or running a Car Mechanic shop out of your garage it's important to recognize that you're running a 'business' not a 'job'. This is a vital distinction. Running a business requires a much broader skill set, much more planning, self-discipline, and focus than any job ever could. Being self-employed is a whole other world to being an employee. The irony is, many small business owners don't run a business but run a self-employed job....but more on that another day!

Conclusion:

In my view, a home-based business is a better option than having a second job. Running a home-based business most likely won't make you a millionaire overnight (I'm not sure if anything does bar winning the lotto!) but can provide a decent living, generating income and this income can in turn be used to steadily build your wealth.

Note: Whilst earning extra money is a noble undertaking I believe that inasmuch as is humanly possible you should be looking for ways to have your earned money make money for you i.e. generate unearned income. This is wealth building. But that's another subject for another article!

By: KeeksCunningham

 

Choosing the Right Home Business For You

Choosing the Right Home Business For You

Choosing the Right Home Business

Pay any attention at all to your email inbox and you'd be
forgiven for thinking that the only way to run a business
from home is on the Internet.  Sure, many people are
running spectacularly successful Internet-based home
businesses.  Many, many more are doing so even more
spectacularly unsuccessfully.

But what if you're not interested in running an Internet
business?  What if you want to start and run a home
business the old-fashioned way?  Where do you start?

Actually starting any home business is the easy part. 
The hard part's deciding what that business should be. 

So how do you even start the process of deciding on the
right home business for you?  The key is to be methodical,
realistic, objective and patient.

Step 1 : Personal Inventory

The first place to start is to inventory your skills,
experience, interests, and personality characteristics.
These are what you have to work with - your raw
ingredients, so to speak.

Make a list of personal qualities and factors that you can
throw into the mix.  Include things like:

=> your personal background;
=> training and education;
=> work and volunteer experience;
=> special interests and hobbies;
=> leisure activities;
=> your personality and temperament.

All of these qualities and factors make up what you know
and what you're good at.

Step 2 : Identify What You Like

It's one thing to know a lot about something or be good at
it.  It's quite another to enjoy it enough to want to make it
your life's work.  So, remove from the list you created in
Step 1 anything that you don't really, really like doing or
which plain doesn't interest you.  No matter how good you
are at it.  If you're lucky enough to like what you're good at,
as a general rule, stick with what you know.

Step 3 : Match Your Likes With Marketable Activities

If Steps 1 and 2 still haven't suggested feasible home
business ideas, review the following activities that have
proven marketable for others and weigh them against
your "likes" from Step 2:

Crafts - pottery, ceramics, leadlighting
Health and Fitness - aerobics instructor, network marketing
for a health products company, home health care
Household Services - cleaning, gardening, shopping
Professional Services - attorney, architect, interior
designer
Personal Services - make-up artist, hairdresser
Business Services - business plan writer, meeting planner
Wholesale Sales - antique dealer, dropshipper
Retail Sales - children's clothing, widgets
Computers - web design, internet training.

You get the idea.  This is not an exhaustive list, obviously.
You can visit the AHBBO Ideas Page for a list of over 500
home business ideas at http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html .

Step 4 : Make a List of Business Ideas That Fit With Your
Likes From Step 2

By the time you're done, you'll have a hitlist of possible
matches between your skills and interests on the one
hand and home business ideas utilizing those skills and
interests on the other.

Step 5 : Research

Armed with your list from Step 4, identify those ideas that
you think have marketable potential and then research
whether that belief is accurate.  In order to have
marketable potential, the idea must satisfy the following
criteria:

=> It must satisfy or create a need in the market.  The
golden rule for any business is to either find or create a
need and then fill it.

=> It must have longevity.  If your idea is trendy or faddish,
it doesn't have longevity.  Go for substance over form in
all things.

=> It must be unique.  This doesn't mean you have to invent
something completely new but it does mean that there has
to be some *aspect* of your product or service that sets it
apart from the competition.  This is easy if you go for the
niche, rather than mass, market.  Don't try to be all things
to all people.  You'll only end up being too little to too many.

=> It must not be an oversaturated market.  The more
competition you have, the harder it will be to make your mark.
It's unrealistic to expect no competition, of course.  In fact,
too little competition is a warning sign either that your business
idea has no market or that the market is controlled by a few
big players.  What you want is healthy competition where
it's possible to differentiate yourself from competing
businesses.

This all gets back to uniqueness.  If you can't compete on
uniqueness, you must compete on price (or convenience). 
If you're forced to compete on price alone, that just drives
down your profit margin.  Not smart business.

=> You must be able to price competitively yet profitably.
The price you set for your product or service must allow
you to compete effectively with other businesses in your
market, it must be acceptable to consumers and it must
return you a fair profit.  If any one of these three is off,
move on.

=> Your business must fit with your lifestyle.  If you're
a parent of young children and you primarily want to start
a business from home so you can stay home with them,
a real estate brokerage business that requires you to be
out and about meeting with prospective clients is obviously
not going to work.

You'll instead need to choose a business that can be
conducted entirely (or near enough entirely) from within the
four walls of your home office.  Similarly, if your business idea
would involve having clients come to your home, you're not
going to want an unruly 3 year old underfoot as you're trying
to conduct business.

=> Your financial resources must be sufficient to launch and
carry the business until it becomes profitable.  No business is
profitable from day one, of course.  But some are quicker to
break even than others.  If your business requires a
considerable initial capital outlay to start - computer, printer
and software for a web design business, for example - it will
take you longer to break even than if the only prerequisite
was the knowledge inside your own head, such as working
from home as an attorney.

If your financial situation is such that you can't afford to quit
your day job until your business is paying its way, this, too,
will mean it will take longer to break even than if you're able
to devote every waking hour to your business.  Just do what
you have to do.  That's all any of us can do.

Step 6 : Business Plan

Once you've gone through the above process and identified
what appears to be the right business for you, the final "gut
check" is to write a business plan for your business, much as
you would for a presentation to a bank for financing.  Include
sections for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats,
and set goals for what your business needs to achieve for
you, by when, and how you are going to get there. 

There are plenty of good resources online about how to
prepare a thorough business plan.  A great place to start is
at About.com (http://www.about.com).  Just type "business
plans" into the search box.

Although it may seem like a waste of time and effort to
complete a business plan if you don't intend to seek outside
financing, taking the time and exercising the discipline needed
to really focus your mind on the important issues facing your
business, you will be forced to take a long hard look at your
idea through very objective and realistic eyes. 

If your idea passes the business plan test, then you can be
reasonably confident that this is the right business for you. 
If you come away from this exercise feeling hesitant,
uncertain and unsure, either do more research (if the reason
for your hesitancy and uncertainty is lack of information) or
discard the idea (if it's because you don't think your idea is
going to fly).  If this happens, just keep repeating Steps 5
and 6 until you end up with an idea and a business plan that
you're confident is going to work!

Although it's frustrating to wait once you've made up your
mind to start a business from home, this really is one situation
where the tortoise wins the race.  By taking a methodical,
systematic and disciplined approach to identifying the right
home business for you, you give your business the best
possible chance for long-term survival, hopefully avoiding
some very expensive mistakes along the way.

by: 2006 Elena Fawkner 

Tips For Researching Online Home Business Ideas

Tips For Researching Online Home Business Ideas

Research online Home Business

I have been running my own online home business for a few years now and during that time I have come to a few conclusions about what makes the best online business to start from home.
Avoid making the mistake that many others make of signing up for an online business opportunity prior to completing their research or due diligence thoroughly. Then, when they can't make money with the program, they join the next online opportunity that comes their way and continue doing this until they finally quit.

Before joining any online home business opportunity here are some pointers on what I think you should look into.

a) Study the products and be sure to find out if there is sufficient demand for what you will be offering to your website visitors.

It is important that you establish whether the product you are going to market will provide your website visitors with the solution to their problem. And of course if they think it will solve their problem will they spend the money?

If you are getting people to click on ads such as the Google Adsense program or gathering leads for an advertiser the same applies. It's vital to provide something that attracts people.

b) Be sure to check out the free marketing materials. Since we are not all good copywriters or graphic designers we rely on the affiliate program we join to provide us with the necessary tools.

This is one of the reasons why affiliate marketing is so popular. Most programs provide many excellent marketing tools such as websites, text ads, landing pages, email ads, banners, landing pages and more that we can use to promote the program with.

During my time working online I have looked into many online business opportunities and I am quite amazed at some of the great, high quality marketing materials that are provided for free. There are also some affiliate programs that do not provide many useful promotional tools.

c) Have a good look through the compensation plan. If the only difference in the opportunities you are researching is the percentage commission offered, then join the one that pays the most.

To give you an idea you can market digital information products from ClickBank and it is not unusual for some merchants to pay a commission as high as 75%.

As long as you are offering a good quality product that people want and are provided with good marketing materials to promote it, then you will make more money selling products with a higher commission rate.

d) Check out the competition. You don't want to get into a market that may be too competitive.

Using the main keyword phrase of the online business opportunity you are interested in do a search in the search engines and check out some of the websites that come up on the first page of the search results. If you get involved in niches that are less competitive you will increase your chance of success.

When researching the best online home business ideas follow some of the above tips. Although good online business opportunities are plentiful on the internet, be sure to still take your time to check them out before signing up.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Computer Work from Home Businesses

Computer Work from Home Business

If you want to use your computer to work from home their are a lot of businesses out there that allow you to do so.  The problem is which business opportunity is best for you and how can you avoid the scams?

If you start to look through the working from home jobs available you will certainly be spoilt for choice.  They all tend to be attractive much the same thing ie MLM or Pyramid schemes.  You join a scheme and pay a fee and then you try to get others to join and pay the same fee make you a commission and also the person who recruit you gets a commission too.

These are not scams at all as they are completely lawful work from home jobs.  The companies offer a product for that fee.  It just so happens that most of the people who join these work from home business opportunities are not interested in the product but only the opportunity to make money.

Of course with such online jobs you only get paid for your results.  If you spend 100 hours market and no one signs up you won't get paid anything.  Whereas the guy who only spends 1 hour marketing and happens to be lucky sufficient to get a signup will create a commission.

Not too many people like the idea of working for nothing but when it comes to computer work from home businesses you must be eager to risk your time and try out a a small number of business opportunities before you stumble upon one that works for you.

I tried a lot of these online opportunities and found them all to pretty much be the same.  Someone recruited me, I recruited a few others but then those ones that I recruited were not capable to replicate the process and they dropped out after 1 or 2 months.  So in the end I drop out too as it didn't seem like a very stable business opportunity.

Off all the opportunities I tried only Work for $3 has actually made me money.  Not a lot mind you, but I tried about 10 different online schemes and this was the easiest and most money-making.

The most attractive experiment was with Teamwork Revolution Power System TWRPS.  It was a 2x8 matrix which gave talented potential for spillover.  In the beginning it was exploding like crazy.  However when it started it was free to join.  Reality hit when pay time came and less than 10% of the early registrants actually paid and stuck with the program.  Since then people have been dropping out quicker than they have been signing out so in the end it was yet one more let down.

Work for $3 though was a simple one time payment of $3 and it doesn't have anyone plummeting out as you never need to pay again and therefore no need to drop out.

So I will just stick with the simple $3 program and continue to promote it as a hobby and who knows, 6 months or a year from now I could be making $1000s per month from it.

Home Business: Better Home Based Self Employment

Better Home Based Self Employment

Home Business

If you are grave about starting a home based business, get physically ready for the research work that will be required for it. A great leader knows how they should manage their time and convert it into valuable time. And most importantly, one has to have a positive approach towards work at home and self-confidence and hard work can lead you to the achievement path.

Work from home

One has to incessantly develop their personal skills and search out for some work from home opportunities connected to them. You can actually dig up the creativity hidden within you that may have great possible. As everyone is aware that home based self service needs ambition, passion and promise with patience. It is vital to identify your responsibilities towards your home business and find out the ways of making your business productive sufficient that it gives some amount of income as returns.

Home business

There are no get-rich-quick designs for home business, but one must have firm determination through which one can walk without problems on the path for achieving pre-determined goals. Keeping positive attitude helps a lot while one into work at home business and it helps to attain success in an easy way.

Home business, work at home and work from home are ways to earn a inert income, provided they should be handled in a right way.