By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
What if SharkTank was filmed on 125th Street in NYC? What if the VC firms in Silicon Valley considered pitches from a more diverse group than Stanford business grads?
A new website seeks to fill a largely ignored niche by being the online community for young urban entrepreneurs.
TheCASHFLOW.com, based in Cold Spring Harbor, New York is a startup that seeks to provide an interactive and approachable platform blending financial media, professional networking and business knowledge for young urban entrepreneurs. The site officially went live online earlier this month.
TheCASHFLOW.com users can customize an education plan, apply to get their business idea funded, gain knowledge of unique ways to profit from today’s news and trends, and learn from a resource-rich blueprint that takes them step-by-step through the process of writing a business plan, building their team and realizing their financial dreams.
The launch of TheCASHFLOW commenced with the “Put Yourself on the Map Tour,” a coast-to-coast series of interviews and networking events with aspiring urban entrepreneurs in 100 cities across the United States.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Web Directories, specialized search engines, lifestyle sites are all over the web these days. Recently, I came across an interesting site that is like a blog, directory and search engine all in one. It is driven by the personality and whim of its founder, Silke Wolfe.
The company, knowwhatandwhere.com, based in Switzerland and launched in April of 2009 is a highly selective web directory where the founder writes about unique finds and the inspiring stories of the people behind them. It is designed to be sort of a human/personalized search engine. The objective is to inform, inspire and entertain.
knowwhatandwhere.com acts as a multiplier as it helps the featured entrepreneurs spread the word about their brands and story. Many of the products featured are handmade, charitable items and/or eco-friendly.
The service is free of charge but the site decides who gets on. The site is in personal contact with all companies featured, as the goal is to build a community and connect people. The majority of the entrepreneurs featured are start-ups, people who dared to make a new beginning, or whom are trend setting in some way.
The site essentially is a one-woman show and from a woman who opted for a career makeover herself.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Getting leads is an integral part of many businesses. Sales lead websites are everywhere on the web. Sites such as Salesgenie, and Hoovers are United States based companies that provide leads to businesses.
Now comes London based WebleadsB2B. This startup, launched just this past month, seeks to enable marketing and sales executives to improve sales by providing B2B lead generation solutions that capture, identify and convert both visible and invisible visitors.
They deliver a fast online service that combines the ability to single out your target audience from the many who visits your websites, with a state-of-the-art user interface. They state that their company is the first to optimize, integrate and simplify combined marketing and sales efforts for b2b companies.
WebleadsB2B is the brainchild of its two co-founders, Richard Charles and Laurent Zuijdwijk, who met while working on lead generation projects together. Both have a great wealth of knowledge in developing Web applications and have worked for a number of successful web based companies such as Tridion, one of the most successful web content management vendors of today, and Silverstream, a leading Java based web development solution.
After years of experience in the content management and digital marketing space, they sought to build a new generation of lead generation software that offers a more attractive, effective and affordable way for marketing and sales executives to improve their sales results and reduce costs. After years of trying a number of difficult-to-use and over-priced solutions in this market, they applied their development expertise and practical business knowledge to develop WebleadsB2B, which they feel, is a new best-of-breed lead generation platform.
So try the free 30-day trial and see if it is better than they other sites out there. I believe it is.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Want to be in better shape, but have no time fit in a trip to the gym or exercise in your busy life. Well two entrepreneurs have the solution.
Annie Ulichney and Kim Koelle, the founders of Banglz.com and its parent company fitnessUwear, LLC (located in Wayne Pennsylvania), are two typical moms in Philadelphia who were faced with the typically quandary of finding enough hours in the day to accomplish all the activities of running a household and still incorporate exercise into their daily routine.
Through extensive research, they were surprised to learn that muscle health is extremely vital to overall health. It has also being directly linked to overall strength, balance, healthy bones, healthy heart, metabolism, stress levels and more. They realized that everyday folks were unaware (as they were) of how important muscle health was and they were determined to create products that would help women get more daily exercise and create healthier lives. With their entrepreneurial spirit despite a difficult, they set about finding a solution to this problem-facing woman.
The solution was a creation called fitnessUwear. This was a platform they used to create their inventions. One such invention is Banglz; Banglz are comfy ½ pound weighted bands wrapped in different stylish interchangeable sleeves designed to be worn during every day activities. They also invented Smartslip, a slip with fabric that adds slight, ongoing resistance in every step, targeting hips, glutes and legs while you go about your normal day.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Muumuu Heaven operators of MuumuuHeaven.com and its retail outlets, is a true small business success story. They offer one-of-a-kind eco-conscious clothing, jewelry, accessories, homewares and art. The traditional Hawaiian dress, the muumuu, is the inspiration and “objet d’art” that forms the basis for the business with fabric from muumuus transformed into beautiful handmade garments, products and stylish works of art with a contemporary Hawaiian flair. The muumuus are given a new life, hence the name, Muumuu Heaven.
Muumuu Heaven’s small business success story is a great one. Deb and Eric Mascia, a couple in their mid-30s, have built their business from the ground up. When Deb Mascia saw a huge trash bag full of muumuus being thrown out at the thrift store where she volunteered, she asked to keep them, knowing she could give them another life. While the traditional muumuu wasn’t really her style as a fashionable 29 year-old fresh from NYC, Deb was drawn to their wonderfully bright and colorful fabrics with Polynesian motifs. She took the muumuus home and used swatches of the material to create her own personal collection of chic dresses and skirts.
Each time Deb wore her own designs she received compliments from friends and was frequently stopped on the street by eager fashionistas who knew style when they saw it. . She started receiving orders for outfits, and the Mascias’ living room quickly turned into a dressmaker’s workshop.
To market her distinctive threads, Deb started hosting what she calls “skirt parties.” Groups of women would gather to gossip, sip champagne, try on Deb’s latest creations and of course, buy. Deb would not only walk away with all her outfits sold; she’d have pages of orders for custom-made designs.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity.
From November 16-22, 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others will participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 was a great success and a brilliant example of what can be achieved by bringing together different ideas and cultures around the theme of enterprise. In 2009, the goal is to unleash young people’s ideas around the issues that matter most to society, from poverty reduction through to climate change, and to foster a global culture which recognizes entrepreneurs as drivers of economic and social prosperity.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton videotaped a public statement of support for the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, praising its efforts to create new opportunities and businesses; encourage youth to pursue fresh ideas; and improve the global economy. This year, Global Entrepreneurship Week will be celebrated by more than three million people and 8,800 organizations (1000+ in the U.S.) in 85 countries.
By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Continuing our theme this week of youthful entrepreneurship, I have come across a Stanton, California company called KJE Inc.
KJE Inc. has recently launched Business-In-A-Bucket . Business-In-A-Bucket provides everything necessary to start a self-run auto detailing business, including a book entitled The Owner’s Guide to Auto Detailing an instructional guide written by the owner of KJE, Inc. Kevin Jones.
One of the reasons Jones started Business-In-A-Bucket to help young people gain a sense of responsibility and entrepreneurship. KJE Inc.’ Business-In-A-Bucket has made it easy for young people or anyone looking to make money with the tools to launch of an auto detailing business. The Business-In-A-Bucket products aim to help those suffering from unemployment and to help young people find the money for college.
In its press release, the company through Mr. Jones states ties the utility of Business-In-A-Bucket to the recession. “As we embark upon the worst economy ever, it is imperative that we think fast and think outside the box. Let’s face it, we are drowning. There is a giant leak in America’s economic boat. Do we wait for someone to patch the hole, or do we jump off and swim to shore,” asks Jones. “If you stay in the boat and do nothing, it’s a sure thing that you will drown. If you get out of the sinking boat and try to save yourself, your chances of surviving are greater. Business-In-A-Bucket is designed to help teenagers, anyone, earn income and learn entrepreneurial skills necessary for business success.”
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By Co-Editor, Bobby B:
GreatStartups.com is committed to celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit that is embodied in anyone who has started a new business. That spirit has been sorely tested over the last two or three years. However, things appear to have turned a corner.
For the first time since September 2007, the majority (55%) of small business owners have a positive view of the economic environment and its impact on their ability to grow, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor. However, more firms are at risk of going out of business (17%) than six months ago (11%), due in part to personal funds being tapped out: one-third (32%) say they are using personal or private funds to manage cash flow challenges (up from 23% six months ago).
While there appears to be a widening divide between healthy and struggling businesses, even the healthy businesses are proceeding with caution. Fewer firms have hiring plans than at any point in the eight-year history of the Monitor (falling below the fall 2002 recession level of 26%), and plans for capital investments equal the record-setting low from Spring 2009 (42%).
The semi-annual survey covers a very broad range of topics and offers segmentation by business owner age, industry sector and geographic region. Some highlights from the survey are as follows:
Nearly seven-in-ten entrepreneurs (68%) are stressed out by the economy and three-in-ten (31%) say that the current economy has caused them to question their decision to become an entrepreneur;
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
If you have a question that you want to pose on the web, there are several major sites where you can go. Yahoo!Answers and WikiAnswers are two examples. Google has discontinued GoogleAnswers but you can still search the old database.
A new website called IdeaOffer.com has added a money component in an effort to attract more useful answers or “ideas” to questions or “projects” posed on the website. IdeaOffer.com bills itself as an online idea community. It is a subsidiary of Wasabi Ventures LLC, a venture capital firm and holding company. It is one of the incubated properties of New Concept Factory.
IdeaOffer.com posits that there are many aspiring entrepreneurs and creative thinkers out there with great ideas that could be masterpieces and they simply have no way to express them, share them with the world, and capitalize on their idea’s potential. If anything, the web is full of people sharing and expressing the ideas. The real problem is getting useful feedback from a large and diverse group. That is where IdeaOffer.com offers some intrigue.
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By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:
Accounting software is readily available in retail stores and on the Internet. However, there is a new company that is using the latest web-based technology to provide accounting solutions for small business that is user friendly and time saving.
MerchantsMirror.com is owned by the Greensboro, North Carolina based Firelace, Inc. Merchant’s Mirror described itself as the next evolution in accounting for small businesses. The company states that their software “breaks the mold of traditional accounting systems and challenges what we usually think of when we refer to bookkeeping software.”
By using the latest in web-enabled technology, Merchant’s Mirror provides a complete accounting suite. Most accounting packages do not take into account that small business owners do not have data entry people nor do they have employees creating reports that, for example, could help spotlight inefficiencies in their operation. Merchant Mirror takes financial data and drives it forward in a fashion that provides more interesting ways of digesting the accounting information in short order thus allowing more time for actual company operations. A multi-user feature allows you and your tax professional to access your company data simultaneously and in real time.
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