Ari Ackerman Story
http://www.bunk1.com/
Happy memories from his childhood days at summer camp inspired Ari Ackerman to come up with the idea for Bunk1.com. He originally wrote the business plan for the company for his MBA training, but it seemed like too good an idea to pass up.
His initial concept was to provide a Web service that parents could use to watch their children's camp activities online, with camp administrators posting photos for the parents to peruse. Ackerman then added an e-mail service (called BunkNotes) and an online newsletter service, as well as a search engine to help parents find a camp for their kids.
At first, says Ackerman, 33, the camp directors were difficult to persuade. "To sell them on this concept wasn't easy," he says. But with his camp background, he knew the market well. He knew parents would be willing to pay for this convenient connection to their kids—and he was right. The first camps he sold his service to got good response from parents immediately—and the number of concerned phone calls from parents (the "What's my child doing?" sort) to the camps decreased, as moms and dads had tangible evidence that their babies were alive and well.
Word-of-mouth started to build demand for the concept, and, to date, the Bunk1.com service is offered to close to 2,000 camps nationwide. Camp directors either purchase the service and include it in the price of the camp or simply offer parents the option to purchase Ackerman's Bunk1.com service a la carte.
Revenues are projected to reach more than $3 million, and Ackerman has already expanded into other Web services, like CampAlumni.com (a service to reconnect old summer camp friends).
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Incredible After-Prom Business That Generates $1 Million A Year
Yoel Silber Story
http://www.promtix.com/
Ah, remember the prom—the limos, the dresses, the late nights spent wandering around town looking for after-prom fun? Well, Yoel Silber has found a way to cash in on that market with Promtix (www.promtix.com), his one-stop shop for after-prom adventures. He sells tickets to cruises, comedy and dance clubs, and the like—and has made many a prom-goer happy with set plans for after prom. Says Silber, "In New York, especially, kids went to Manhattan for their after-prom partying, but they couldn't get into the nightclubs because they didn't have ID."
Silber combats this common problem by booking clubs and cruises specifically for the underage high school crowd. "Now they have a place to party, and the parents know where they're going," Silber explains. Parents can sleep even better knowing that all Promtix events are nonalcoholic.
With a background in party promotion, Silber knew there was an underserved market of high school students who spend big bucks on prom night. He markets his events via fliers at local malls—where he's likely to find lots of prom-goers—but he's also found that word-of-mouth really helped to grow sales to $1 million a year.
He notes that teenagers were fast to buy into the Promtix concept—and luckily, Silber's received nothing but positive responses from club owners. He's currently in New York City and Philadelphia, and would like to make Promtix a presence in 10 major U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles.
http://www.promtix.com/
Ah, remember the prom—the limos, the dresses, the late nights spent wandering around town looking for after-prom fun? Well, Yoel Silber has found a way to cash in on that market with Promtix (www.promtix.com), his one-stop shop for after-prom adventures. He sells tickets to cruises, comedy and dance clubs, and the like—and has made many a prom-goer happy with set plans for after prom. Says Silber, "In New York, especially, kids went to Manhattan for their after-prom partying, but they couldn't get into the nightclubs because they didn't have ID."
Silber combats this common problem by booking clubs and cruises specifically for the underage high school crowd. "Now they have a place to party, and the parents know where they're going," Silber explains. Parents can sleep even better knowing that all Promtix events are nonalcoholic.
With a background in party promotion, Silber knew there was an underserved market of high school students who spend big bucks on prom night. He markets his events via fliers at local malls—where he's likely to find lots of prom-goers—but he's also found that word-of-mouth really helped to grow sales to $1 million a year.
He notes that teenagers were fast to buy into the Promtix concept—and luckily, Silber's received nothing but positive responses from club owners. He's currently in New York City and Philadelphia, and would like to make Promtix a presence in 10 major U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Helping Former Military Personnel Find Civilian Jobs Can Be A Six Figure Business
Karin Markley Story
http://www.militaryexits.com/
Finding a job is one of the biggest challenges for people coming out of the military. Karin Markley, founder of Military Exits, knows this well—she has 15 years of experience working in a civilian employment agency. She knows companies value employees with military backgrounds, and she wanted to provide a one-stop link between the two.
Setting up MilitaryExits.com out of her home, Markley, 40, contacted the Department of Defense for permission to use its seal on her Web site. It took months to get it, but MilitaryExits.com is now linked to all the military bases.
It costs nothing for servicemen and women to post their resumes and search for jobs; employers pay for the listings, which reach service personnel in the United States and overseas. The site also includes information on relocation and education, as well as military support chat groups.
Markley, who projects annual sales of $600,000, points to her biggest reward: "Helping the military. Getting the letters and phone calls from these people thanking me so much for what I'm doing for them."
http://www.militaryexits.com/
Finding a job is one of the biggest challenges for people coming out of the military. Karin Markley, founder of Military Exits, knows this well—she has 15 years of experience working in a civilian employment agency. She knows companies value employees with military backgrounds, and she wanted to provide a one-stop link between the two.
Setting up MilitaryExits.com out of her home, Markley, 40, contacted the Department of Defense for permission to use its seal on her Web site. It took months to get it, but MilitaryExits.com is now linked to all the military bases.
It costs nothing for servicemen and women to post their resumes and search for jobs; employers pay for the listings, which reach service personnel in the United States and overseas. The site also includes information on relocation and education, as well as military support chat groups.
Markley, who projects annual sales of $600,000, points to her biggest reward: "Helping the military. Getting the letters and phone calls from these people thanking me so much for what I'm doing for them."
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
$300 Hot Sauce
Nick Lindauer Story
http://www.hotsauceblog.com/
Hot sauce enthusiast turned entrepreneur Nick Lindauer is on fire. In 2001, while still in college, he launched the online store Sweat 'N Spice out of his Springfield (Ore.) apartment. He sold a few dozen types of hot sauces, packaged each order by hand, and shipped everything from his local post office, barely eking out a profit during his first year of operation.
Today, Lindauer sells over a thousand products from some 300 manufacturers. His inventory goes beyond sauces to include seasonings, relishes, and snacks with clever names, oddly-shaped collectible bottles, celebrity-endorsed offerings, along with concoctions that are so blisteringly hot customers must sign a liability waiver upon purchase.
Prices run from $4 for El Yucateco brand sauces to $300 for hand-signed, limited-edition bottles of Blair's 16 Million Reserve, the hottest chili powder extract known to man. Lindauer and his two full-time employees operate out of a Midtown office in New York City. In 2005, the business grossed around $130,000. He forecasts $200,000 in 2006.
Lindauer says he owes much of his success to his blog (http://www.hotsauceblog.com/) where he dubs himself "Sultan of Sauces," and offers the hot sauce community news, reviews, recipes, contests, and interviews with prominent vendors.
He explains that the blog is a separate entity from his online shop—it has its own domain name and advertising—but it helps build his credibility and drives traffic to his store through a few strategically placed links on its navigation bar. Lindauer also establishes relationships with many of his vendors in person at industry events and helps in the creation of smaller manufacturers' sauces before they go to market.
Making a living from hot sauce wasn't his original goal, says Lindauer, a longtime champion of spicy foods and an avid collector of exotic hot sauces. The whole enterprise was more a labor of love. "I got really into collecting and decided if I'm doing this, there's got to be other people out there doing it," he says. He figured they'd want a place to trade opinions, and perhaps order a hard-to-find bottle.
Lindauer was right. At industry gatherings like the annual National Fiery Foods and Barbeque Show, in Albuquerque, N.M., he discovered a subculture of superhuman eaters who call themselves "chileheads;" a class of connoisseurs with a passion for rare and intense hot sauces.
Lindauer felt right at home. He had also stumbled onto an industry that is worth close to $2 billion, according to the estimate of leading spicy foods authority Dave DeWitt, editor of Fiery-Foods & BBQ magazine.
Lindauer is now making plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop, even though he and experts in the industry acknowledge that the niche market is too small to make it a sure success. "You've got to sell a lot of hot sauce to pay rent in Manhattan," says Dave Hirschkop, owner of hot sauce and specialty foods manufacturer Dave's Gourmet, one of Sweat 'N Spice's premier brands.
http://www.hotsauceblog.com/
Hot sauce enthusiast turned entrepreneur Nick Lindauer is on fire. In 2001, while still in college, he launched the online store Sweat 'N Spice out of his Springfield (Ore.) apartment. He sold a few dozen types of hot sauces, packaged each order by hand, and shipped everything from his local post office, barely eking out a profit during his first year of operation.
Today, Lindauer sells over a thousand products from some 300 manufacturers. His inventory goes beyond sauces to include seasonings, relishes, and snacks with clever names, oddly-shaped collectible bottles, celebrity-endorsed offerings, along with concoctions that are so blisteringly hot customers must sign a liability waiver upon purchase.
Prices run from $4 for El Yucateco brand sauces to $300 for hand-signed, limited-edition bottles of Blair's 16 Million Reserve, the hottest chili powder extract known to man. Lindauer and his two full-time employees operate out of a Midtown office in New York City. In 2005, the business grossed around $130,000. He forecasts $200,000 in 2006.
Lindauer says he owes much of his success to his blog (http://www.hotsauceblog.com/) where he dubs himself "Sultan of Sauces," and offers the hot sauce community news, reviews, recipes, contests, and interviews with prominent vendors.
He explains that the blog is a separate entity from his online shop—it has its own domain name and advertising—but it helps build his credibility and drives traffic to his store through a few strategically placed links on its navigation bar. Lindauer also establishes relationships with many of his vendors in person at industry events and helps in the creation of smaller manufacturers' sauces before they go to market.
Making a living from hot sauce wasn't his original goal, says Lindauer, a longtime champion of spicy foods and an avid collector of exotic hot sauces. The whole enterprise was more a labor of love. "I got really into collecting and decided if I'm doing this, there's got to be other people out there doing it," he says. He figured they'd want a place to trade opinions, and perhaps order a hard-to-find bottle.
Lindauer was right. At industry gatherings like the annual National Fiery Foods and Barbeque Show, in Albuquerque, N.M., he discovered a subculture of superhuman eaters who call themselves "chileheads;" a class of connoisseurs with a passion for rare and intense hot sauces.
Lindauer felt right at home. He had also stumbled onto an industry that is worth close to $2 billion, according to the estimate of leading spicy foods authority Dave DeWitt, editor of Fiery-Foods & BBQ magazine.
Lindauer is now making plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop, even though he and experts in the industry acknowledge that the niche market is too small to make it a sure success. "You've got to sell a lot of hot sauce to pay rent in Manhattan," says Dave Hirschkop, owner of hot sauce and specialty foods manufacturer Dave's Gourmet, one of Sweat 'N Spice's premier brands.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Small Houses Can Make Your Rich?
Jay Shafer Story
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
Bigger isn't always better. Just ask Jay Shafer, founder and owner of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com), who lives in a 70-square-foot freestanding home. No, that's not a typo-his entire house has less space than most people's bathrooms.
"I had a hard time finding a place that suited my needs without exceeding my needs," says Shafer, who built his first tiny house in 1997. "So many American houses are so huge-they're oversized for the actual needs of the occupants."
Longing for less space, Shafer first designed a 100-square-foot house that was recognized in a home of the year contest by Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Exposure from the award prompted Shafer to go into business-suddenly he found a market for miniature mansions. Today, Tumbleweed offers more than 20 floorplans ranging from 70- to 500-square-feet. Half the customers use the buildings as their primary residences. Others buy them as freestanding additions to their existing homes, for use as an office or studio.
"Almost no assembly is required," says Shafer. "The houses arrive in one piece. All you have to do is connect the utilities."
A bonus to living so little: It forces you to be neater, says Shafer, who even works out of his 70-square-foot abode. Downsizing also makes you reevaluate your concept of home sweet home.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
Bigger isn't always better. Just ask Jay Shafer, founder and owner of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com), who lives in a 70-square-foot freestanding home. No, that's not a typo-his entire house has less space than most people's bathrooms.
"I had a hard time finding a place that suited my needs without exceeding my needs," says Shafer, who built his first tiny house in 1997. "So many American houses are so huge-they're oversized for the actual needs of the occupants."
Longing for less space, Shafer first designed a 100-square-foot house that was recognized in a home of the year contest by Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Exposure from the award prompted Shafer to go into business-suddenly he found a market for miniature mansions. Today, Tumbleweed offers more than 20 floorplans ranging from 70- to 500-square-feet. Half the customers use the buildings as their primary residences. Others buy them as freestanding additions to their existing homes, for use as an office or studio.
"Almost no assembly is required," says Shafer. "The houses arrive in one piece. All you have to do is connect the utilities."
A bonus to living so little: It forces you to be neater, says Shafer, who even works out of his 70-square-foot abode. Downsizing also makes you reevaluate your concept of home sweet home.
Monday, May 25, 2009
How A $4,200 Domain Name Investment Brings In $900,000 Each Year.
John Drummond Story
http://www.unicycle.com
Unicycling enthusiast John Drummond, a technical writer at IBM, decided it might be fun to sell a few cycles over the Internet. Seven months after unicycle.com debuted in 1999, Drummond, of Marietta, Ga., was so overwhelmed by demand that he enlisted the help of his wife, Amy.
The pair soon sped sales up from $150,000 in 1999 to $900,000 in 2006. No, there wasn't an inexplicable uptick in the clown population. They attribute their success to a straightforward Internet domain name.
"Customers found us at the top of their Google searches," he says. So in 2003, when Drummond looked to profit from his other hobby, banjos, he naturally sought to pluck banjo.com. He had paid $4,200 for unicycle.com, but the owner of the banjo address wanted $150,000.
Drummond won't say how much he ultimately paid, but he's happy with the deal. Banjo.com pulled in $120,000 in sales in 2003.
http://www.unicycle.com
Unicycling enthusiast John Drummond, a technical writer at IBM, decided it might be fun to sell a few cycles over the Internet. Seven months after unicycle.com debuted in 1999, Drummond, of Marietta, Ga., was so overwhelmed by demand that he enlisted the help of his wife, Amy.
The pair soon sped sales up from $150,000 in 1999 to $900,000 in 2006. No, there wasn't an inexplicable uptick in the clown population. They attribute their success to a straightforward Internet domain name.
"Customers found us at the top of their Google searches," he says. So in 2003, when Drummond looked to profit from his other hobby, banjos, he naturally sought to pluck banjo.com. He had paid $4,200 for unicycle.com, but the owner of the banjo address wanted $150,000.
Drummond won't say how much he ultimately paid, but he's happy with the deal. Banjo.com pulled in $120,000 in sales in 2003.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
How Broken Arm Led To A $2 Million A Year Business
David Reynolds Story
http://www.showersleeve.com/
David Reynolds, a contractor by trade, had broken his arm while remodeling a bathroom in 1998. Keeping the cast dry proved to be very difficult, and when he tried looking around for a product to help, he was unable to find anything that was both effective and affordable. That's when the light bulb went on.
After doing a patent search for such a product and finding nothing, Reynolds, an inventor since childhood, designed a plastic covering with an adjustable fastening mechanism on one end to keep arm and leg casts dry. He enlisted the help of his longtime friend and fellow contractor, Marty Ceccarelli, to build Mar-Von LLC and the brand.
But even with their innovative product in hand, it wasn't easy to get it on store shelves. "I just started going to the local drugstores," says Reynolds. "I had a real hard time. Most people don't want to give you the time of day."
Determined to succeed, Reynolds and Ceccarelli continued to develop the Cast Cover and sales strategies for two years, and eventually landed their product on the shelves of Albertson's/Osco Drug and 12 local Walgreens stores. The reaction from consumers spoke volumes-their product was a fast seller.
Today, the pair sells not only Cast Covers, but also the waterproof Shower Sleeve-open on both ends, they are designed for patients with IVs. Today, the products are sold via wholesalers and distributors and on their Web site. Reynolds, who expects $2 million in annual sales by the end of the year, has this advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs: "I had a vision of inventing something, [but] it didn't happen overnight. Don't give up, and don't take no for an answer."
http://www.showersleeve.com/
David Reynolds, a contractor by trade, had broken his arm while remodeling a bathroom in 1998. Keeping the cast dry proved to be very difficult, and when he tried looking around for a product to help, he was unable to find anything that was both effective and affordable. That's when the light bulb went on.
After doing a patent search for such a product and finding nothing, Reynolds, an inventor since childhood, designed a plastic covering with an adjustable fastening mechanism on one end to keep arm and leg casts dry. He enlisted the help of his longtime friend and fellow contractor, Marty Ceccarelli, to build Mar-Von LLC and the brand.
But even with their innovative product in hand, it wasn't easy to get it on store shelves. "I just started going to the local drugstores," says Reynolds. "I had a real hard time. Most people don't want to give you the time of day."
Determined to succeed, Reynolds and Ceccarelli continued to develop the Cast Cover and sales strategies for two years, and eventually landed their product on the shelves of Albertson's/Osco Drug and 12 local Walgreens stores. The reaction from consumers spoke volumes-their product was a fast seller.
Today, the pair sells not only Cast Covers, but also the waterproof Shower Sleeve-open on both ends, they are designed for patients with IVs. Today, the products are sold via wholesalers and distributors and on their Web site. Reynolds, who expects $2 million in annual sales by the end of the year, has this advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs: "I had a vision of inventing something, [but] it didn't happen overnight. Don't give up, and don't take no for an answer."
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