The #1 Business Opportunity for you in 2010 is the business of YOU.  As we enter this new decade, the only way YOU will be able to achieve a sustainable level of success is to embrace the convergence of technology, social media and your domain expertise.  So whether you want to pursue opportunity #3 or opportunity #8, you must understand how to operate your business in the new world.  How do the external factors that are influencing global business change impact how YOU will drive success in the 21st century differently than previous generations achieved success three decades earlier? 

As my friend and colleague, George Benckenstein points out in his post, Welcome to Our Flat World, we now live in a world without barriers.  George says “So why do we call it a “Flat World?”  The world is being referred as a flat world, thanks to Tom Friedman’s  book The World Is Flat. The world is now so well connected with the ubiquity of technology in all areas which gives you, me, all of us, the power to collaborate, coordinate, produce and distribute seamlessly across borders, and cultural and language divides. In a flat world, everything of value is now connected — no more barriers.”  You see my friends, if you want your business to be successful, YOU must learn how to compete in this new world.  With opportunity #1, I try to focus on the critical elements that will help you prepare for success, no matter what opportunity YOU choose to grab! 

Discover Your Strengths

First and foremost, if you are going to pursue any business opportunity it is imperative that you either align your skill-set with the critical path elements of the opportunity or acquire the skill-set that aligns (whether it’s you or someone you hire).  For example, you can’t start an accounting practice without understanding accounting.  By understanding what your strengths are, you’ll be in a better position to understand where your domain expertise can be best applied. 

Should you only focus on your strengths, what about your weaknesses?  We all need to understand what we are good at and where we need help.  I am a strong believer that greater success can be achieved by fine tuning your strengths and leveraging a team to cover your weaknesses, as opposed to spending a significant amount time plugging the holes that are our weaknesses.  If we tried to plug the holes, we’d never get anything done.  Don’t get me wrong, some weaknesses prohibit progress on anything and in some cases, too much of any strength is not a good thing, so there are some weaknesses that must be addressed, but in the grand scheme of spending time on developing strengths or plugging holes, I’d recommend discovering your strengths and mastering them!

So, how do YOU discover your strengths?  The opportunities are unlimited!  Here are my favorite discovery paths:

1. Now, Discover Your Strengths  :  This is a book by Marcus Buckingham that further influenced the aforementioned thoughts I shared about strengths and weaknesses.  It fully describes 34 positive personality themes the two have formulated (such as Achiever, Developer, Learner, and Maximizer) and explains how to build a “strengths-based organization” by capitalizing on the fact that such traits are already present among those within it.

2. Personality Test

   • Birkman Method :  The Birkman Method® is not simply a personality assessment. Instead, it is a powerful tool to gain critical answers to how we lead, learn, think, decide and relate to othersThe Birkman® creates a four-dimensional portrait of individuals and team members within organizations by outlining their interests and goals, operating styles, motivational needs and behavior under stress, all of which are factors that impact individual, team and organization-wide productivity.

   • Myers-Brigg:  The Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions

   • Emotional Intelligence Test :  Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.  Different models have been proposed for the definition of EI and disagreement exists as to how the term should be used. Despite these disagreements, which are often highly technical, the ability EI and trait EI models (but not the mixed models) enjoy support in the literature and have successful applications in different domains.

3. Informal Survey of Peers: Find 10 people that you trust who know you well enough to answer the question and ask them to identify 2-3 strengths that are your best attributes and 2-3 things you can improve to be more successful.  Don’t forget to include yourself, you know what comes easy to you and is difficult for others.  And you also know the things you don’t do well or procrastinate to do – areas you can improve.

After you’ve gone through one of the methods to discover your strengths, think about the things you like that leverage this strength or think about the things you’d do for free if you were financially independent.  For example, if your strengths are that you are good at helping others see the big picture or if you’ve been told that you are inspirational and you like to talk – maybe you should consider teaching or writing a book and getting on the speaking circuit.  The point is that you have to find, create or develop the natural alignment between your opportunities and your strengths.  Once you get a handle on this component of the convergence you need to understand how technology is influencing the space you want to conquer.

Technology is the Competition

I once told a very successful sales consultant of an enterprise-sized business services company, “Your biggest competition in the next 3 – 5 years will be technology”.  Given my age, his lack of knowledge about me and his level of success, he totally dismissed the perspective.  Sure enough, 6 years later, internal (back-office) and external (customer facing) technology have become the dominant focus of the company’s growth path.  Unfortunately, the work to turn their ship around didn’t start 6 years ago.  The point isn’t that I was right, the real issue is that you MUST assess and anticipate the trends of the external environment and build them into your long-range plan.  If you just focus on profiting this year, you’ll find yourself losing market share or for a startup, never gaining traction.

So, I say to you today – based on the trends occurring in every industry across the globe, if you don’t assess and anticipate how technology is changing or shaping the industry you choose to operate within, your competitor will.  And when that happens, you won’t be competing against the company, you’ll be competing against his technology.  Why? Because the competitor’s technology will be systematic, scalable and provide the business with operating leverage which enables reduced operating costs and more competitive pricing to the customer, while still achieving highly profitable margins, thus killing your business – regardless of your domain expertise.

I recently had an opportunity to assess a transactional business services industry where the two dominant players have controlled the industry for decades.  Within the past 10 years, the advent of technology has revolutionized this industry, allowing hundreds of startups to essentially change the operational paradigm of the industry.  By leveraging technology, the new players were able to lower their operating cost by 50-80% thus, allowing them to reduce their price by 20-30% and still enjoy profit margins at 20-30% above the industry average.  These businesses have created a unique niche within highly competitive environment, where they are competing in a way that makes the competition irrelevant.  How did these startups create a blue ocean in their industry and how do you find a blue ocean within your industry?  YOU must first understand the flat world, best outlined by Thomas Friedman in his 21st century manifest, The World is Flat. 

After gaining an understanding of the flat world, the best-selling strategy book, Blue Ocean Strategy  can help you work through practical methods and exercises that enable implementation of true impact-riveting strategy to take your business to the next level.  The aim of Blue Ocean Strategy is not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.

You might be saying to me, look – all I want to do is open a McDonald’s franchise or start a tutoring business, why do I need all of this stuff.  Well, did you know that there are some fast-food franchises out there that have someone in India or China taking the orders for $8/day as opposed to $8 an hour!  If you were the franchise owner, wouldn’t you at least want to know what’s out there?  For the tutoring startup, did you know that the fastest growing education service in the world is online tutoring, where the student is in the US and the tutor isn’t, he/she is in China/India and has mastered the English language (so there’s little to no dialect issue).  The point isn’t that these businesses won’t be successful unless they adopt the aforementioned practices, it’s that you need to do the research to figure out how you’ll compete against them, thus where is your blue ocean.

Join the Conversation

Last, but definitely not least, you need to engage what will become the most important shift in marketing within the last 100 years – Social Media.  I say “will become” only because the naysayers, the pundits and the traditional media kings want you to believe social media is a fad, so I guess you can say they are from Missouri – History will have to show them!

Social media enables the kind of 1-to-1 marketing that was the only way to do business 100 years ago, but this time around the 1-to-1 relationship can be global.  Now you can connect to anyone in the world in a scalable, systematic and effective way.  For a marketer, it’s about as close to the Holy Grail as you can get.  Social media has ushered us in to the trust economy, where you do business with the people you trust.  So how do you build trust?  You have to join the conversation!  How?  Let me count the ways:

1. Join LinkedIn : the premier professional network.  Go to the Q&A and engage by answering questions that fit your domain expertise.

2. Join Facebook : the ultimate social network.  At a minimum, Facebook will allow you to keep up with what’s going on out there.

3. Join Twitter : the status update network.  Learn how Dell earned $3mm in revenue.

4. Join your local and national industry trade association:  By engaging in the previous three opportunities, you are on path to gain rock star status within your industry.

5. Start a blog :  This path can lead to a great deal of trust building because your “fans” can build a direct path to listen to what you have to say.  If done properly, it is not unrealistic for you to carve out a niche within your space within 18-24 months.  Be persistent, consistent and relevant with your post.

I could give you the top 20 things to do, but then you wouldn’t do anything.  Once you conquer these, you can find the others on your own.  The key is to leverage these channels in an offline and online manner to create a voice – a voice that people learn to trust, engage and look to for advice, direction and perspective. 

You’ve probably heard of multi-level marketing and you probably have a negative connotation of the pratice.  The reality is that if you allow currency to equal trust, when you layer your business model on top of successful social media you essentially build a multi-level marketing network, referred to as your social network.  In this case, you aren’t selling products to your down-line (social network), you are providing them with value (your perspective) and receiving trust (the currency) in return.  As the trust builds, your network builds and when someone within the network needs something that you can provide, you’ll be in the right place, at the right time with the right level of influence to satisfy their need.  YOU didn’t sell anything.  In the world of social networking, your product or service is irrelevant, you’re in the trust-building business!

Now YOU understand how to conquer the convergence of your domain expertise, technology and social media to benefit whatever business opportunity you choose to pursue.  Good Luck and stay connected.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this 10 part-series on 2010 business opportunities and that you’ve been able to extract value from my perspectives.  I am looking forward to a great 2010 for me and for YOU!  Enjoy!

If you missed the other nine opportunities, here they are: Ten – Entertainment, Nine – Franchises, Eight – Home Schooling, Seven – Digital Signage, Six – Baby Boomers, Five – Business Process Improvement, Four – International Trade, Three – The Power of Green and Two – Texas.

As a native New Orleanian, I know what a warm, friendly city feels like and can see the stark contrast when I visit beautiful, but cold-shoulder transient cities like Atlanta, LA or New York.  I’ve been living in Texas for almost 10 years and as weird as it feels to write this, there is this undeniable attraction about the entire state of Texas.  And I am not the only one who seems to think so. Texas boasts 3 top 10 cities and 5 top 20 cities (with El Paso sitting at #21, Texas would have 6 cities in the top 20 if you consider that Dallas and Fort Worth are one in the same), with the population growth of the state growing faster than any other state in the union.  So What?  Let’s peel the onion back and figure out if you were going to start a business tomorrow, why should you do it in the secessionist state. 

If you haven’t read my top 8 opportunities, this would be a good time to review.  There will be a test later! (Ten – Entertainment, Nine – Franchises, Eight – Home Schooling, Seven – Digital Signage, Six – Baby Boomers, Five – Business Process Improvement, Four – International Trade and Three – The Power of Green)

Kicking Butt & Taking Names

According to Entrepreneur magazine, the “Texaplex” cities – Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth, are in one of the top 3 spots, if not all three top spots of most of the economic rankings for 2009.  Consider this:

• The Brookings Institution’s top 10 strongest US metro areas: Texas cities took five of the ten spots

• The Wall Street Journal’s top Youth Magnet cities: Austin and Dallas made the list

• Best relocation destination (career and business):  Texas cities dominated the list

• Best home-building markets: Texas cities made the cut 

• Best job-creation cities: Texas cities were at the top  

The Perfect Storm

So maybe acknowledgements from some of the nation’s most credible sources isn’t enough, let’s get a better understanding of what helps Texas to brag about their budget surplus and what has allowed the region to weather the recession better than most major cities:

• Great for Families: Why are families from California heading east – selling their $1mm 1500 square foot homes and moving to Texas?  The cost of living is amongst the lowest of the top 5 most populated states, state income tax is zero and the higher property tax is off-set by the size and quality of the asset, so it’s worth it! 

• Diversification: Not only does Texas claim to be the energy capital, but it also has the #1 cancer research center in the world.  What does that mean?  Well, this little concept called convergence is allowing Texas to leverage its medical research, technological innovation and engineering infrastructure to be a major player in the 21st century life sciences movement.  Austin has turned into one of the top music cities in the country, with the Annual SXSW music/technology festival becoming one of the hottest tickets to kick off spring.  Dallas has rebounded from the telecommunications downfall to become a major transportation hub for East Asian goods moving through California to the mid-west and east coast. And San Antonio is one of the fastest growing large cities in the country.

• Business Environment: Texas is home to approximately 10% of the Fortune 500, more than any other state in the union.  According to Entrepreneur, Texas companies accounted for 59% of all new jobs created in the US in 2008 and it’s 2009 unemployment was below the nation’s average.  Texas is Bush Country and with it comes a low-tax, pro-business climate that encourages investment, innovation and yes, it disproportionately rewards the wealthy.  Think what you might – it’s working for Texas.

• Promotes Entrepreneurship: From Dallas to Austin through San Antonio to Houston, all of Texas’ major universities boast highly competitive business training grounds that encourage entrepreneurs to Get Started!  While the McCombs School of Business at UT has a long history of producing success, it’s Houston’s one-two punch of the University of Houston’s undergraduate program and the Jones School of Management at Rice University that are kicking butt and taking names.  In 2009 UH’s Entrepreneurship program was recognized as a top program in the country and the Jones School is ranked amongst the top 5 in the country.  The Jones School also hosts the largest and richest business plan competition in the country each year, with over 40 teams from all parts of the world competing for the winning prize of over $300k in cash and prizes.  Now that’s startup funding!

So What?

Still not convinced?  “So What?”, you still say?  Why is Texas a business opportunity?  See what Texas has to say!

At the beginning, I suggested reviewing my previous opportunities because, Texas is ripe for all of them.  Due the growing population and continued building in a place where land is overly abundant, opportunities to build busiensses in areas that don’t exist yet are many!  If I were starting a company tomorrow, and I were looking out at the 5 year to 10 year trends to decide where to focus, Texas is a breeding ground for success. 

A pro-business, entrepreneurship supportive, F500 rich prospect base with deep tier 1 and 2 vendors, place to raise a family is what you’ll find in Texas.  From there, it’s up to you to figure out which of the major cities best fits your style.  If you like LA, Dallas is for you and if you like Chicago, Houston is the place to be.  But if you like New Orleans, Austin is the healthier version, with a proud character that provides the same down home feeling.  As the migrants say in Texas, I wasn’t born here, but I got here as fast as I could!  Until next time…

Thanks to the stimulas plan which poured billions into the energy space, the green movement is a place to be for entrepreneurs.  With many government incentives and positive public sentiment, socially responsible entrepreneurs are in demand.   Opportunity #3 can easily take on many different meanings, so let’s define what we mean by Green.  Unlike alternative energy that can be defined and put into a box, “going green” or for the green social entrepreneurs, any business built based on increased social responsibility related to caring for the environment, can be considered Green.  The assessment of this opportunity provides a quick perspective about the differences between alternative energy opportunities and green opportunities while outlining how entrepreneurs can enter the ever growing space.

What is Green?

For the record, according to the Alternative Energy Institute, alternative energy can be defined as energy sources that are renewable, “free”, have no undesired consequences and have lower carbon emissions, compared to conventional energy sources (including Biomass Energy, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydroelectric Energy sources).  Green opportunities as stated earlier don’t fall into a box that’s so easily defined.  According to Scott Coney, a noted authority on Ecopreneurism (I didn’t make that up!) Green Opportunities can be grouped into the following categories:
 
I.  Cleaning Service Businesses
1. Perc-free Dry Cleaner
2. Solar Laundromat
3. Waterless Car Washes

II.  Ecotourism and Related Services
1. Ecotourism Operation
2. Green Bed and Breakfast
3. Ecotransport Rental Service

III.  Entertainment & Events
1. Organic Foods Caterer
2. Wedding and Event Planner

IV.  Home/Office Service Businesses
1. Carpet and Floor Cleaning
2. Floor Installation, Pool and Spa Cleaning and Maintenance
3. Home and Office Cleaning
4. Landscaping Design and Installation
5. Organic Garden Creation and Maintenance

V.  Manufacturing and Wholesale Production
1. Biodiesel Cooperative
2. Gift Basket Service
3. Organic Farm
4. Plastic Recycling
5. Composting
6. Urban Farming and Permaculture

VI.  Personal Services
1. Fitness Training and Diet Planning
2. Green Real Estate Brokerage
3. Organic Food Delivery Services
4. Sustainable Foods Prep and Cooking Instruction
5. Sustainable Travel Planner
6. EcoConcierge and Relocation Specialist

VII.  Publishing, Local Media & Related Business
1. Green Product Catalog Producer
2. Publication Distribution Service
3. Free Magazine
4. Local TV and Radio
5. Community Newspaper
6. Green Blog

VIII.  Retail Food & Food Services
1. Organic Community Supported Agriculture
2. Farmer’s Market
3. Mobile Food Vendor
4. Free-Range, Organic Fresh-Mex Restaurant
5. Organic Coffee Shop
6. Organic Juice and Smoothie Bar
7. Organic Pizzeria
8. Raw Food Bar
9. Sustainable Buffet Style Restaurant
10. Sustainable Fast Food
11. Vegan Cafe
12. Food Co-op

IX.  Retail Non-food Operations
1. Organic Day Spa
2. Alternative Transportation Retail Store
3. Aveda Concept Salon
4. Commuter Bike Shop
5. Consignment Store–Women’s Clothing
6. Consignment Store–Kids Clothes and Toys
7. Consignment Store–Furniture
8. Consignment Store–Sporting Goods and/or Outdoor Gear
9. Edible and Organic Floristry
10. Floor Products
11. Green Building Supply Store
12. Building Product Salvage Store
13. Green Product Retail Store
14. Native and Organic Plant Nursery
15. Sustainable Printing Solutions Retail Store
16. Used Book Exchange
17. Kids’ Clothing, Apparel, and Toys
18. Car Sharing Service

X.  Services to Businesses and NonProfits
1. Fundraiser and Grant Writer
2. Green PR
3. Independent Sales Representative
4. Restaurant Delivery Service
5. Specialty Advertising
6. Energy Efficiency Auditing
7. Carbon Offsets
8. Green Job Training

XI.  Alternative Energy
1. Community Wind Power Development
2. Geothermal Developer

XII.  Green Building
1. Green Remodeling
2. Flipping Houses
3. Carpentry
4. Green Architecture
5. HVAC Contracting
6. Electrician
7. Co-Housing
8. Sustainable Roofing

XIII.  Financial
1. Green Venture Capitalist
2. Green Investing and Financial Planning
4. Community Bank, Savings and Loan, Loan Funds
5. Community Micro-loans

 
What’s Executable Now

With the tax incentives for green energy related initiatives out there, which of these opportunities are ripe for 2010?  Let’s pick out those that might be executable for this year:

1. Green Building: The government is providing sizable incentives for contractors to help home owners and businesses (with buildings) weatherize their assets.  Weatherization doesn’t just include making sure the doors and windows are insulated, it includes all of the items listed in opportunity # 12.  This is a great opportunity to purchase blighted housing in an urban area and bring it back from the brink.  You’ll kill three birds with one stone: Community Development for the city you live in, a sustainable business or a least a profitable project for you and a great place to live or purchase for an up and coming family!  Here is a link to tax credit info for the government: http://www.business.gov/expand/green-business/energy-efficiency/get-started/tax-credits.html

2. Solar Services (Laundromat or Dry Cleaner):  Although the cost of solar is still expensive, combining federal tax credits with state or local credits, might help this deal pencil.  In addition to federal resources, New Orleans, Louisiana is offering special incentives to push solar: http://www.solarpowernola.com/ This is an opportunity that has staying power!

3. Home & Office Service Businesses:  Anything in this space that uses updated equipment to clean the air and provide better maintenance and easier upkeep has potential.  This can be an opportunity to enter an area where there is competition and “borrow” their customers for a while…a long while!  See these federal and state/local tax credit links.

4. Personal Services, Products & Guidance: In this opportunity, I am combining #’s 6, 7, 8 & 9.  The basic opportunity is to educate consumers on how to live healthier and more socially responsible lives.  Yeah, I know – it’s soft and fluffy, but someone will make a ton of money down this path.

5. Green Energy:  While opportunity #11 requires a lot more capital than the previous three, with tax credits like those from the feds and state/local there is a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to figure it out.   For more information on wind and natural gas opportunities, see the Pickens Plan.

The best thing about the green era is that we are on the ground floor.  Due to the power of technology, we’ll have many opportunities in this space.  And remember, if it were easy everyone would do it…don’t forget you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!  If you missed the count down to this, one, be sure to see them: Ten – Entertainment, Nine – Franchises, Eight – Home Schooling, Seven – Digital Signage, Six – Baby Boomers, Five – Business Process Improvement and Four – International Trade.  Until next time…

-Heath

Unlike the previous six business opportunities, #4 provides significant lead-time before the opportunity can be successfully realized.  Here’s the short story:  International trading, also known as import-export businesses, was amongst the hottest commercial trends of this decade.  American companies, 95% of which are small businesses, trade in over 2.5 trillion dollars a year in merchandise.  To further compliment the international trade trend, the expansion of the Panama Canal  will double the cargo capacity of the Panama Canal, allowing for more Asian cargo to move through the Gulf of Mexico, thus bypassing the traditional California-to-Railroad route.  This increased cargo through the Gulf has port cities from Galveston to Tampa preparing to snag a piece of the action.   How does this activity translate into an opportunity for you?

(In case you missed the previous six opportunities, here they are: Ten – Entertainment, Nine – Franchises, Eight – Home Schooling, Seven – Digital Signage, Six – Baby Boomers and Five – Business Process Improvement.)

Depending on your background and interest, the expansion of the Panama Canal may provide opportunities in several areas, including and beyond an import-export business:

Import-Export Business

International trade companies can work as distributors by focusing on exporting and importing goods and services that cannot be obtained within the country (e.g., African wine and Italian clothes) or those that are cheaper when imported from other countries (e.g., Chinese electronics).   Entrepreneurs also have the option to open an export management company (EMC), where partnering with an existing corporation to market its products in a foreign country by arranging the shipping and storing of the merchandise for them without doing the actual selling.   EMCs can specialize in one industry or work with different types of import export manufacturers. It is also possible to act as a broker for a company, working on commission over the actual sales. This is a great choice for products that are guaranteed to sell because of high demand or an established brand name.

Port City Infrastructure

To accommodate the huge increase in cargo capacity in Panama, cities like New Orleans are preparing their port to benefit.  Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, is determined to jump into the fray. To pave the way he and the port’s board of commissioners have laid plans that could triple the container-handling capacity of local wharves.

The Port of New Orleans has planned a two phase 50 acre expansion project that will cost in excess of $500mm.  At the end of phase two, the port’s capabilities would enable the quick movement of cargo from ships to any of the six mainline railroads that connect New Orleans to mid-America and Canada. 

Expansion like this represents a huge opportunity for those in the construction and infrastructure business.

Port City Service Provider

Just as the amount of cargo coming through the Panama Canal will dramatically expand capacity, if cities like New Orleans get their fair share of the cargo, the existing service provider networks may not be able to handle all of the additional cargo or there may be a more efficient way to service the business, thus enabling an opportunity for a new kid on the block.  Most of the players in this game are older, and while they may use technology, they may not be leveraging the most efficient business processes (another business process improvement area to consider – see opportunity #5).  Do your research to determine what are the service-support businesses for this industry.

Port City Residual Effect

For the real estate developers, property speculators and current land owners, successful execution of the previous opportunities by your entrepreneurial friends could bring you some ‘Mad Money’. 

Continuing my earlier example of how the City of New Orleans is preparing for the Panama Canal expansion, there are miles of real estate in New Orleans along the river that could represent a great investment (lower 9th ward, Bywater, Uptown & the Westbank).  As described in the infrastructure component, the wharves along the river will need to be expanded and the property around the wharves will need to be converted to storage, transfer and service facilities.  Today, all of the real estate around the wharves can’t be given away.  Yes it’s risky, but if it were easy everyone would do it.  Do your home work and take calculated risks.  The other side of this coin suggests looking at other real estate in the area along the wharf.  In New Orleans, the lower ninth ward was predominately, a low income community; however with the city’s rebuilding and this expansion project, that area may well be a place for the wealthy in 10 years.  That may mean it’s a great investment now.  Again, you have to have foresight, patience and of course money to pull this off, but it’s an opportunity!

There are not many business opportunities that provide a 5 year head start before it can be executed on, but if you focus on a small niche of all the moving pieces and utilize the next 2-3 years to position yourself for the anticipated expansion, this opportunity could be meaningful to your businesses growth.

To learn more about the Panama Canal expansion project, click here.

To learn more about starting an import-export business, click here.

As always, good luck and stay tuned!

-hb

Disruptive technologies have been driving innovation for hundreds of years, but there has never been a better opportunity to bring efficiency to an inefficient process, function or industry.  The Flat World (best described by my colleague George Benckenstein) continues to provide unparalleled opportunities to enable boot-strapped innovation with the best capital…paying customers!  Just as the railroad companies didn’t realize they were in the transportation business and missed the industry evolution of the airlines, the money transfer companies (Western Union) and the credit card processing industry missed the consumer-to-consumer opportunity that enabled the likes of PayPal.   

With all the lessons learned of the past, PayPal should have been a new product in an existing industry from an industry leader, but it wasn’t.  PayPal was the result of great entrepreneurial minds that indentified an opportunity to dramatically improve a business process with industry disrupting technology.  So what’s the opportunity for you?

Opportunity Identification

Business process improvement opportunities are everywhere, just look around you.  The best places to look for process improvement opportunities is where there are multiple human touch points.  For example, I recently spoke with a business-to-business company that has created a $30mm revenue business by reducing the human touch points in the core process from 15-20 hands down to 3-4.  This process improvement allows them to sell at the competition’s cost and still earn 60% margins.   As a business owner or employee of a major corporation, you’ve probably seen opportunities to save the company money or to increase ROI, but for some reason, that opportunity isn’t #1 on the company’s to-do list…there’s a different primary priority that soaks up the organization’s energy and that great process improvement opportunity never gets implemented.  

If you’ve seen this situation before, your organization is probably not the only company suffering with the observed inefficiency and the inability to execute.  And that’s where the potential opportunity may exist.  Because you are intimately aware and involved in the problem, you have a great vantage point to configure a solution.  But  solving the problem is only half of the work required.  You need to confirm that the problem isn’t unique, determine the volume of companies with the problem, quantify the upside (cost savings or revenue/profit increase), and simplify a way to monetize the solution.

Top 5 Innovation Characteristics

So now that you know to look around you for those business process improvements, you need to understand the characteristics of the best innovators so you can increase your probability for success.  If you want to innovate, you need to possess the required skills, partner with innovative people or have innovative employees.  In the December 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review, three authors collaborate on “The Innovator’s DNA” to showcase the five discovery skills that separate the true innovators from the rest of us, and here is what they found:

• Discovery Skill #1: Associating – The ability to successfully connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas from different fields, is central to the innovator’s DNA.

• Discovery Skill #2: Questioning – The best of the best always find a way to maintain a 3:1 question to statement ratio and most often ask “Why?”, “Why Not?” and “What If?”.

• Discovery Skill #3: Observing – Discovery-driven executives are like anthropologists, producing uncommon business ideas by always observing customer behavior.

• Discovery Skill #4: Experimenting – Like scientists, innovative entrepreneurs actively try out new ideas by creating prototypes and launching pilots. 

• Discovery Skill #5: Networking – Unlike most execs that network to sell or promote, innovative entrepreneurs network to learn.  They make a conscious effort to extend their knowledge domains.

Execution Risk

Once you have your team in place, then you need to execute.   One of the key components to executing a business process improvement opportunity is to follow a proven methodology.  The industry is widespread with approaches, models and best practices, so do your research and get to work.

Business Process Management is a powerful approach for organizations to improve performance and to improve customer satisfaction. In spite of the wide acceptance of the benefits of process awareness, the improvement of Business Processes is still more art than science. As a result, the ability to create prototypes and launch pilots is critical to the innovator’s ability to successfully execute.

Business Process Improvement Ideas

1. Direct Mail - I recently read of a new concept in Ad Age about digital mailboxes where direct mail will be pushed instead of snail mail.

2. Coupons - Most retailers and manufacturers are trying to figure this space out.

3. Medical Billing - Systematically automating the billing, collection and reconcillation of the health care system is a great opportunity.

4. Automobile Diagnostics - Using the technology in automobiles to help consumers assess the health of their car could be priceless.

5. Business-to-Business - Leveraging the mobile phone to extend small business owners’ office provides continuous connectivity.

Keep looking around you, keep asking WHY and don’t be afraid to take the leap.  Good luck & stay tuned!

-hb

The population is aging and senior services are at the beginning of a hockey stick growth path that will last at least through the next two decades.  In 2006, the oldest of the baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, turned 60 years old. By 2030, the number of adults age 65 and older will double to 70 million.  So what does this mean for the entrepreneurs?  Before we assess the opportunities, let’s assess the facts.  The following facts are compliments of your tax dollars (US Census Bureau): 

• 78.2 million
  Estimated number of baby boomers, as of July 1, 2005. <http://www.census.gov/popest/national/>

• 7,918
  Number of people turning 60 each day in 2006, according to projections. That amounts to 330 every hour. <http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/>

• $2,695
  Average annual expenditures on health care in 2004 for people ages 45 to 54 — the age group that is the heart of the baby boom generation. When budgeting medical expenses, baby boomers should expect increased health-care spending as they age; for instance, those age 55 to 64 spent $3,262 and those 65 and over, $3,899.(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics at <http://www.bls.gov/cex/2004/Standard/age.pdf>)

• 57.8 million
  Number of baby boomers living in 2030, according to projections; 54.9 percent would be female. That year, boomers would be between ages 66 and 84. <http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/>

• 4,041
  Number of continuing care retirement facilities in 2003. Many boomers could have parents in need of such facilities or may have to move into such a facility themselves in the future. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

• Staying Young and Fit
  27,813
  Number of fitness and recreation centers nationwide in 2003. These are good places to visit on a regular basis for boomers who are trying to become or stay physically fit. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

• 11,938
  Number of cosmetics, beauty supply and perfume stores in 2003. These stores carry numerous antiaging skin care products aimed at people in this age group. <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/cbptotal.html>

Four Baby Boomer Opportunities to Consider

1. Adult Day Care: Adult day care is still in the early stages, as a lot of senior living facilities are adding this service to expand their offerings.  The primary market for this opportunity is the primary care giver, usually the spouse or adult child.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23918540/

2. Concierge Services: Seniors are going to need a number of non-medical care and help in the coming years including financial assistance, escorted transportation, groceries picked up, laundry done, mobile vets and anything that makes senior living comfortable and enjoyable.  http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/startupkits/article37930.html

3. Staffing Services: As the highly talented, educated and hard working baby-boomers look to continue working past the traditional retirement age of 65, speciality staffing companies will have a tremendous opportunity to make a perfect match.  http://www.125aday.com/books/68/start-staffing-agency.cfm

4. Senior Products: Product development experts can leverage the continued technology innovation to provide this group with products that help to make life more simple and more enjoyable.  http://designcatapult.com/

As always, good luck & stay tuned!

-hb

If you read the first three 2010 Business Opportunity posts (Entertainment, Franchises & Home Schooling) then you know they were very low tech and didn’t require a lot of technology knowledge to execute.  So now for a tech play!

In 2003, I saw an awesome opportunity in digital advertising:  My research showed that over the next 5-10 years (meaning between 2004 and 2013) $600 billion dollars in advertising spending was going to move from offline channels to online channels.  That is to say, B2B and B2C marketers were going to shift their advertising spend from newspapers, magazines and traditional channels that can’t be tracked to online channels like websites, internet radio and email that provide instant feedback and analytics for ROI assessment.

So now that it’s been 5 years, what has happened?

The History
The opportunity has come to pass just as analysts and the research suggested, maybe a little slower, but none the less, the money has flowed.  How can we tell?  How many newspapers and magazines have you seen go out of business in the last 3-5 years?  The newspapers that are still printing, the digital component of their business is thriving, while the print side is morphing into  a different type of business. 

So if the shift in advertising spend is already in full swing, where’s the opportunity?  This one requires capital….a lot of capital!  Digital Signage.  You know all those print signs you see in public transportation locations (bus stops/stations, train stations, airports, malls, etc)?  Well, they’re going digital if they haven’t already.   This is what I call the small side of digital signage.  It also isn’t new, as there is an entire industry already up and running around how to install, service and manage a digital signage network. 

The Opportunity
Wal-Mart created a $150 million business w/80% margins by putting digital signage in their stores.  There are thousands of stores that get their share of traffic that would love to partner to create a new revenue stream.   Although in-store digital signage will continue to grow, if you want the big upside here’s where this concept is still on the ground floor:  Digital Billboards.  You see all those billboards around your city…well 60%-80% of them will be digital in the next 5 -10 years.  While big companies like CBS, Viacom and Lamar own a lot of the biggest digital billboards, mom and pop shops own most of the billboards in America.  And guess what – they’ve been owning that billboard for decades with the same antiquated business model without scale.  So What?

The Upside
The billboard on the highway with one impression on it may cost $1k – $50k/month depending on where it is and how much traffic passes each month.  When you make the billboard digital, you’ve just created unbelievable scale, reduced your maintenance cost and expanded your customer base.  You see, digital billboards run 24/7/365, which equals over 5000 15-second impressions each day for a total of ~40,000/week, ~175k/month and ~2 million/year.  If you calculate the cost/impression at average internet advertising rates your new monthly potential on the billboard = $100k minimum to over $500k.  On average, installing a digital billboard will provide a 10x lift in revenue. 

So What’s the Catch
I told you this opportunity required capital.  The average full sized billboard you see on your inner-city interstate or the highway when traveling cost between $250k – $500k.  Yeah, I know – BUZZKILL! 

I’ve been doing that Bank of America “Keep the Change” thing in my savings account hoping to buy a digital billboard one day.  It’ll happen….one day!   Seriously, you can look at the capital requirement as a deal-breaker or you can figure out how to navigate around the capital issue.  All the great entrepreneurs have not let the lack of capital get in the way of them executing on an awesome opportunity.  And you don’t have to start big.  Think of how much that plasma or LCD cost when you bought it 5 years ago and look at the prices now, the same is true with most billboards.  You can start with some of the smaller sizes that most mom and pop shops own anyway. 

Someone Please Get’er Done!
This is an opportunity that I desperately want to pursue, but I’ve been unable to dedicate the time required to execute.  But if I did have the time, here’s what I’d do:

• Do all the necessary research (here are several good links I’ve gathered).  I’ve also got some really good domain names for digital signage as well!

www.popai.com

www.digitalsignageforum.com

www.aka.tv

www.dynamicsignage.org

www.electronicdisplaycentral.com

www.digitalsignageweekly.com

www.mediavillage.com

www.signindustry.com

www.automatedbuildings.com

• Obtain a list of all billboard owners, ferret out the mom & pop shops and partner with them to expand, enhance their revenue stream.  Nothing against the old guard, but many of them probably aren’t interested, don’t have the knowledge base or the appetite to start over.

• Find a rich cousin, uncle, friend or put together a business plan and find an investor .  (Make sure you look at my pitch series if you plan on trying to raise money).   Get buy-in on the opportunity, create a three-way partnership with the current billboard owner and off you go.  This will work because the billboard industry is very fragmented across the country.  While the big boys own a lot of the inner city large billboards, a lot of the smaller billboards are still independently owned.

Additionally, depending on where you live, your city may not have moved in this direction (I can think of a few cities that are slow to react to this opportunity), there may be an opportunity to install and manage this revenue stream for the applicable city agency (bus, train, airport, sports facilities, etc).

And If You’re REALLY Serious
Ping me, I can give you a few leads to investors that may be interested in the digital advertising space and connect you to a education institution in Houston that is looking to install digital signage on campus.  No guarantees on either front, but you put together a solid business plan or at least demonstrate that you’ve done your home work – I’ll hand over a few good contacts!
 
Good Luck and if this one isn’t for you, I’ve got a good high-tech opportunity with a much lower cost entry point coming soon!  Enjoy!
 

The remote and non-traditional education model has been so successful that within the past 36 months, a non-traditional model for elementary and secondary level education has become extremely popular.  I recently helped a client leverage technology to support their client’s growth and expansion of offices (I guess schools in this case).  The company provides home schooling programs in target profile areas, where the teachers go to the kids’ house to help the home schooling parent layout the program (lesson plan) and provides weekly and/or frequent checks to ensure the process is going well and to audit/test the kids’ progress.  The teacher can use the local office as a meeting place and parents can bring their kids to the facility for group activity (play dates).  

Yes, I know the concept is not new.   I am aware that any group of parents can get together and organize this infrastructure; however, not many of them are making a multi-million dollar business out of it – a la UP.  Here’s the reality…this is an opportunity because in the complex, busy world we live in, we Americans are outsourcing everything to make life easier or more simple.  How many of you have a house keeper/helper/person?  Do you outsource the tutoring for kids, household repairs or cooking? How many of you still cut your own grass?  Some of you may have even paid someone to put up your Christmas lights cause you were so busy….and I ain’t mad at you!

The Home School Opportunity

Over the past 10 years thousands of parents in the United States have made a decision to remove their children from the public school system in favor of home schooling their children.  The fact that parents want to home school doesn’t mean that they will be the best teacher.  The increasing trend combined with the question of who does the teaching creates a fantastic opportunity for an individual with a teaching or education background to start a new consulting business that assists parents in establishing a home-schooling educational program for their children.  According to Entrepreneur Magazine, “The home-schooling programs can be designed to specifically meet the educational needs of children at various stages of development and age, as well as feature subject testing, suggested educational field trips, and recreational and social interaction activities. The business can focus on developing and marketing home-schooling programs for children and parents. Or, the business can focus on in-home consulting on a one-on-one basis with parents to specially design a home-schooling program for their individual children.” 

Who’s Doing This?

1. Zion Academy:  Looks like they’ve been at this quite a while…20 years! 

2. K12: Primarily in Texas and growing like CRAZY!

3. First Class Home School Ministries: Marketed as a Co-op  

Is This For Me?

I don’t know…What I know for sure is this: While home schooling and even structured, multi-location home schooling has been around for a long time, the current trends associated with this  industry suggest it’s on the ground floor.  Current Trends (home schooling, families outsourcing, success w/non-traditional education at the higher education level and technology ease of use) 

• If you are a business person or desiring entrepreneur, this could be for you.

• If you are looking for a different kind of franchise opportunity, this could be for you.

• If you are a teacher and looking for something different, the consulting option could be for you.

How Do I Get Started?

This type of unique consulting service is best marketed directly to parents who are presently home schooling their children or who are considering it in the near future.  The best way to gain access to this market is to join home-schooling associations and utilize the associations’ memberships or roster lists as a basis for a direct mail campaign for your home-schooling consulting business. The following are two such home schooling associations:

United States National Home Schooling Association
P.O. Box 327 Webster, New York 14580
Telephone:               513-772-9580         513-772-9580
Web site: www.n-h-a.org

Canada The Association of Canadian Homebased Education
P.O. Box 34148, RPO Fort Richmond Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5
Telephone:               815-366-5342         815-366-5342
E-mail: homeschool-ca-admin@flore.

If you get this going, ping me, I may decide to outsource the education of my kids!!!  Opportunity #7 is coming soon!  If you missed Opportunities #10 and #9, be sure to go back and review…it may be the game breaking info you need!

Go into business for yourself, but not by yourself!

What do you need to know before buying a franchise?  You need a SHERPA.  Someone to guide you through the maze and help you navigate the tough terrain of ‘the devil in the details’.   IFA provides a guide  that outlines the following research requirements to buying a franchise:

Pre-Work for Buying a Franchise

1. Understand the Benefits & Responsibilities of Franchise Ownership
2. Know your situation before you select: Your assets, your credit, your skills & your goals
3. Selecting a Franchise: Assess demand, competition, growth and franchisor support
4. Finding the right opportunity: Go to Franchise Expositons or Use a Broker
5. Investigate before you Invest: Research the Franchisor, Get an Attorney and an Accountant

Not sure if you are cut-out for Franchising, here are a couple of self-test:

• Success Probability
• Is Franchising Right for You
• Is the ROI Enough for You

3 ”Up & Coming” Franchise Opportunities to Consider

1. Healthy Fast Food: America’s Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants
2. Tax Services: Consumer Reports Best Tax Preparation Service (Get Full Report)
3. Consignment/Resale Stores: Plato’s Closet

For more franchise opportunities, search the IFA database.    Get more information on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultra Low Franchise opportunities!

Good Luck, and remember if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!   If you missed opportunity#10, find out if Louisiana’s Entertainment Industry is for you.  Stay tuned for opportunity #8                          

-hb

So now that I am tryingto use this blog as my contribution to the entrepreneurial community, this Christmas I am going to offer 10 compelling business ideas that could make you some ‘Mad Money’! (a la Cramer for the CNBC fans).  Hopefully you’re not looking for the 12 step program to make a million and retire tomorrow….that’s in my back yard on my money tree!  I’ll tell you the general opportunity, provide perspective about why it’s a good concept, and suggest how to approach  it and where to locate more resources.    The entrepreneur in you must carve out the exact business – that’s the fun part, this merely puts you on an opportunistic path.  Unfortunately, you can’t have them all at once…; but I do want you to follow me, you never know when something might resonate. 

In no particular order (although I am saving the best for last), Opportunity#10: The Entertainment Industry.  DID YOU KNOW LOUISIANA IS THE #3 FILM-MAKING DESTINATION IN THE COUNTRY?  BELIEVE IT!

To take advantage of Louisiana’s status here are three components that present a great opportunity when combined and may offer something of interest to the true entrepreneurs:

Component 1  

New Infrastructure & Tax Credits.  According to a LA state agency I follow,  “A recently announced $3 million federal grant will be paired with state funding to expand the region’s sole full service film production facility.   The new federal grant will be combined with a $1.5 million grant from the State of Louisiana to further develop the Nims Center Studios for Entertainment Arts  in Jefferson Parish.   The money will be used to build a 10,000-square-foot sound stage and an additional office building at the facility.  The expansion of the Nims Center will allow the region to capitalize on Louisiana’s successful film tax incentives program that has put the state on the cutting edge of film production. The Nims Center has become a hub of film production and economic activity in the region, providing studio space for major films, television commercials, and music videos.”

“Louisiana is now the number three film-making destination in the country, behind only Hollywood and New York,” says GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht, “and the Nims Center is one of the main reasons why. While the rest of the country is retrenching, Greater New Orleans continues to expand its production capacity, positioning our region to be a major film force in the future.  The design and construction phase of the Nims Center expansion should provide an additional immediate boost to the region’s economy. The Division of Economic Research at the University of New Orleans  reports that the infrastructure project will generate 400 new jobs and $132 million in private investment.

Component 2  

Innovation with a new approach.  So we are all on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc…but how do you combine these social tools with the ability to make money?   Go get the December/January issue of Fast Company  magazine.   You know that Punk’d guy – Ashton Kuther, the one married to the cougar; well, he may be on to something.  He’s using his film and media production business to add social media  components to traditional projects for brands making commercials and film companies making movies.  His company is called Katalyst Media and you can get more info on what their doing at the website (but don’t forget to get the magazine – they put a different spin on it).

Component 3  

The beginning of a new frontier.  What are the DIRECT & INDIRECT service businesses that will be created with this expansion?  Whether you are in business now and want to expand or you simply have the desire to own your own business, this could be an opportunity.  If you are currntly in the film business or desire to be in the business, there might be opportunities within the expansion.  That franchise idea you have….looks like there might be a lot more people in the area or at the very least there may be real estate available for a new location for something different in the new building.  Reach out to the University of New Orleans’ Division of Economic Research for more information (BTW…proud alum here!!!).

Hollywood and New York have made the entertainment industry a significant part of their city’s economic engine and it took a lot of time to get there.  Although New Orleans didn’t start the film business yesterday, we are still babies compared to Hollywood and New York.  Find your niche,  there are still a lot of opportunities to take advantage of in the metro New Orleans area.  I haven’t done the research, but if I did a thorough assessment of the top 25 businesses that service any film, commercial or video project, we’d find several opportunities in New Orleans.  Click here to get a start on your research.

The bottom line is that when you combine new infrastructure with innovation on a new frontier the sky is the limit.  Enjoy!   If the entertainment industry isn’t your thing…stay tuned, opportunity #9 is coming soon!

-Heath