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Do you have an idea for a small manufacturing business?

SABIC's Innovative Plastics: Manufacturing at ...
SABIC’s Innovative Plastics (Photo credit: PressReleaseFinder)

Idea Accelerator has received much interest on small manufacturing business ideas. We covered some small manufacturing businesses some time back and thought with the interest we’d cover small manufacturing business ideas again. Even if you don’t intend starting a small manufacturing business from scratch with your own ideas and passion or want to buy a second-hand small manufacturing business, don’t leave now because much of what applies to small manufacturing businesses applies to any business whether in manufacturing, wholesale, retail or service businesses.

I have been involved with many small manufacturing businesses but thought it would be best to speak to someone who has much experience in evaluating small businesses and selling them. Everard Etsebeth has been involved in business broking for the past 15 years. He was a managing director of a company and was the general manager of the local operations of a large international appliance manufacturer. I spoke to Everard this week and the first question I asked him is where do you look for ideas for small manufacturing businesses. Continue reading “Do you have an idea for a small manufacturing business?”

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Would an angel invest in your new idea?

English: Sodas and soft drinks at a Supermarket
English: Sodas and soft drinks at a Supermarket (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reality strikes. What if my new idea for a product or service isn’t good enough? Have I come up with something that the market will want? How am I going to make this new business work?

Coming up with the spark of a new business idea is exciting. It’s when your creative juices are flowing and you are in a generative stage. For you, your new idea is going to make a big change in your life and to your bank balance. Easy Street has arrived. Continue reading “Would an angel invest in your new idea?”

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Do you have the energy and passion to stay with your blog idea?

Blog of the day once again
Blog of the day once again (Photo credit: the Italian voice)

People want information on all sorts of issues, problems and interests. Musicians are searching for information on how to create a new gig. Young mothers to be are hungry for information on how to care for their babies. Would be start-up business owners want the latest on business plans and marketing methods. People with an interest in food seek out information on recipes from other cultures such as Mexican, Thai or Indian. Continue reading “Do you have the energy and passion to stay with your blog idea?”

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You’d think this business would be more interested in attention to detail

Ouch ! my car :(
Ouch ! my car 🙁 (Photo credit: Interior_Photos)

I collected my car late in the afternoon from the panel beaters. On the workshop floor I was shown the panel beating work on the boot of my car by one of the assistant managers. I asked him to open the boot with the unlocking lever in the driver’s seat of the car and then tried to close the boot but it wouldn’t close. The assistant manager called one of the employees and got them to change the setting of the latch. He said it was nothing but a minor adjustment that they would quickly do before they handed the car back to me. Continue reading “You’d think this business would be more interested in attention to detail”

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How long will it take before your idea becomes profitable?

Cover of "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Cover of The Wolf of Wall Street

If you believe in overnight success, perhaps you are one of the people standing at the Lotto queue on a Saturday/Saturday afternoon.

Movies like “The Wolf of Wall Street” give the impression that money can be made quickly. Perhaps it’s the truncated form of the movie, portraying a life and business that took many years to develop, that gives the impression that overnight successes possible. I’m only talking about Jordan Belfort and the time it took for him to get his boiler room penny stock operation going rather than the ethics of the type of business idea he came up with. Fleecing people from their hard earned money and pension savings is the work of a crook and con artist rather than what we believe to be a honest business person. Continue reading “How long will it take before your idea becomes profitable?”

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Finding business opportunities through spotting work that others don’t want to do or find too hard to do

Kitchen
Kitchen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An immigrant came to South Africa and began to look around for work that other people found too difficult to do or didn’t want to do. He knew that if he could find this, there would be his big opportunity.

Instead of going for what was hot at the time or that most would-be business owners would think was an obvious thing to do, this entrepreneur looked around to find a hidden business opportunity.

If you were looking for a hidden business opportunity, where would you look? How would you go about finding a new business opportunity? Would you have the perseverance and determination to keep on looking until you came up with what would be a sure-fire moneymaker? Continue reading “Finding business opportunities through spotting work that others don’t want to do or find too hard to do”

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Is time your only source of income?

Vienna Trip - Property, Finance & Investment a...
Vienna Trip – Property, Finance & Investment and Real Estate (Photo credit: Nottingham Trent University)

The other day I was talking to someone about a business opportunity and I said to the person that she was only selling her time. She looked at me puzzled. I explained that if you are selling your personal services to accompany whether it be to do a particular job, consulting, advising or training, you are only really selling the time that you have in life.

Look at it this way, people work in jobs for many years and hope to retire at 60 and that their investment of the time will bring them financial freedom, security and a comfortable lifestyle. Yet this is not always possible because the job market is uncertain and by the time that they retire inflation will steadily erode their retirement income. Continue reading “Is time your only source of income?”

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Simplicity is always the best strategy

An automobile engine partly opened and colored...
An automobile engine partly opened and colored to show components. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For many years now I have visited a small coastal town once twice a year. In this town I have seen businesses start up with enthusiasm in the New Year and by the time I get back on my next visit they have disappeared. Yet there are success stories of new businesses that have been introduced into this community and despite people thinking that they are going to fail, they continue to do well.

This town is like a small incubator for new ideas. I have also seen several businesses that are resilient and have continued to thrive over many years. Continue reading “Simplicity is always the best strategy”

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Is passion enough?

Passion
Passion (Photo credit: Alex Abian (Also on flickr.com/alexabian))

I’ve just come in from an early morning run. En route I saw a man walking in the street and greeted him. He could barely push out a greeting from his mouth – it seemed to be there but at the same time it wasn’t.

It was early in the morning and yet this person looked frustrated, down, dejected and almost as if he had given up hope.

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever been paralysed by your negativity? Have you been unable to find your passion? Perhaps you tried and tried and tried and just couldn’t find your mojo.

Is passion really that important? Continue reading “Is passion enough?”

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This is the kind of business adviser I would trust

Cover of "The Trusted Advisor"
Cover of The Trusted Advisor

I heard a small business adviser on the radio the other day dishing out advice on starting your own business. He was talking about the many people who have got retrenched from large companies in recent months and now might be considering starting something of their own.

He started out positively enough but soon he was making starting and running a small business seem such a terribly difficult thing to do that I began to wonder what his potential consulting customers must think when they hear all of this.

When he selected an example of a well known US small business adviser I had my doubts. Couldn’t this person who claims to be a small business adviser of standing come up with local examples of business people? Yes, small business owners may hit walls in the growth and management of their operations but to talk about banging their heads on desks in pain and frustration makes it all sound so negative. Continue reading “This is the kind of business adviser I would trust”