Creative Ideas for New Businesses

How? One way is to look for business ideas which are consistently advertised by multiple people or companies in multiple ways. Nobody continues to pay indefinitely to advertise a business that doesn't earn a profit, so you need to look for ads which appear repeatedly.

• Find a magazine or newspaper that covers your business area and look in back issues (find them at your library) for ads which appear over and over again, either in the display or classified sections.


• Follow the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads in your business area over a period of several weeks and see how many people are advertising and how consistently. You can use tools to automate this - go to www.spyfu.com, enter a keyword or phrase describing your business in the search box, and you'll see a list of who is advertising on that phrase. Clicking on an advertiser name gets you lots more detail about how much they are spending, other phrases they are advertising on, etc.


• Check the Yellow Pages. How many ads are there in your business area of interest, and how big are they? Do they continue from year to year?

Take a proven idea and update it with your own inspiration. How? Try combining words or pictures with an existing idea to spark new ideas. Random words (close your eyes and stick a finger in the dictionary) or pictures (look on the front page of www.flickr.com) work well.

Example: Auto detailing is a proven business idea. A few random dictionary words:

Damage (specialize in cars which have been in accidents or vandalized)

Dance (special service for people going to important life events eg prom dances, weddings)

Dangle (sell unique or creative rear-view-mirror ornaments)

Oxygen (sanitize car interior using oxygen-based cleaners or other environmentally-friendly 'stuff')

Pack (provide a car or van-packing service for people who are moving or loading a lot of stuff) (provide earthquake or other disaster-preparedness packs to carry in the car)

Reticular (carry reflective or light-generating supplies to improve vehicle, bike or pedestrian visibility)

As you can see, some ideas are directly related to the original business, some are sidelines, and some are completely new. Keep going till you have plenty to choose from, then evaluate and combine to make the best business idea for you.