Thursday, 18 February 2010

Businesses to start away from your desk


US-based small business website Inc.com has come up with 10 great business ideas which have enjoyed success across the pond without their founders having to leave the house.

Here’s a selection of the best:

Jason Sadler, IWearYourShirt.com

Sadler has found a way of monetising his healthy Facebook and Twitter followings by marketing to them through his business IWearYourShirt.com. The idea is simple: firms pay him to wear their branding and he updates his social media accounts with photos and descriptions of what he's got on.

Customers pay the numerical value of each calendar day (so $10 for the tenth day of the month) and demand is such that East Coast-based Sadler has hired a counterpart in Los Angeles to open the business to a new market.

Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth

DailyWorth, founded by mum of two Amanda Steinberg, is a simple newsletter offering financial advice to money-conscious women. She founded the business in 2008 and runs it alongside a separate web consultancy business. The daily bulletin boasts 9,000 subscribers.

Franklin Antoian, IBodyFit.com

A personal trainer by trade, Franklin Antoian noticed a growing desire among Americans to keep fit without having to visit the gym outside working hours. He launched IBodyFit.com in 2006, providing access to routines, fitness videos and even live personal trainers.

Michael Sitarzewski, Callisto.fm

Some of the most successful businesses come from simple ideas and Callisto.fm falls neatly into this category. Founder Sitarzewski spotted a gap in the market for a website that aggregates podcasts, allowing users to organise them and listen their favourites in one place.

He pitched the idea at a podcast conference in 2008 and drew interest from developers. Today his site features 4,500 podcasts on a range of subjects and makes money through advertising revenue.

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