What makes Business Outside the Box different from other business idea startup books?
Although most books on business startups impart valid information, they tend to
focus on commonly known business startups like home inspection, carpet cleaning,
and janitorial service. If these kinds of businesses appeal to you, I suggest that you
buy 101 Best Businesses to Start. It is a good book and
offers solid value for $19.95.
In contrast, Business Outside the Box
provides a brief, usually less than 250 words,
description of business ideas that you've
probably never heard of before. Many of the
ideas have live links to web sites for related
or supporting information. The startup cost
of these ideas range from less than $50 to
over $100,000. At least 70% of the business
ideas can be home-based. Also, there are 18
Internet-based businesses that don’t
require you to ever leave your house or apartment.
Each idea is also accompanied by a series
of three icons. They will give you an idea
of startup costs, what kind of facility (home-based,
workshop, storefront, etc) the business will
require, and the startup time required to
get the business going.
WARNING: Business Outside the
Box is written in the common vernacular
(conversational style). If you are looking
for great literature, may I suggest “A
Tale of Two Cities” by Dickens? I’m
just a normal guy with no formal literary
training, whose brain is constantly assaulted
with rogue ideas. When you read this book,
it’s kind of like I’m your goofy
friend sitting on your living room couch spewing
out one idea after another. In other words,
I write the way I talk, and I type like I
think. Some of the ideas are probably borderline
wacko, but some of them have real merit. Which
ones are worthwhile? I’ll leave that
up to you to decide. The descriptions of the
ideas are fairly short and to the point. Like
most busy people, I’m sure that you
are not fond of lengthy discourses and just
want useful information, not fluff. So, for
the sake of brevity, not every detail is covered
in the idea descriptions. This allows you,
the reader, to “fill in the blanks”
and come up with ideas of your own. That way,
you can take ownership of an idea and “run
with it” as though it was your own.
What is inside Business Outside the Box?
It is organized into four main sections:
Startup Advice, Service Ideas,
Product Ideas and Resources.
- Startup Advice: Straight forward advice on goal setting, partnerships,
information gathering, employee relations, business resources, and marketing. This
section also includes the step-by-step Action Plan for business startups.
- Service Ideas: This section has
122 mostly original service ideas, like
The Landfill Broker, Game Show Service,
Trucker’s Buddy, Grounding, Action
Fabrics and The Super Scout.
- Product Ideas: Here you will learn about new inventions such as the “WaterPlace”,
an idea that is easily built and has broad appeal, as it’s based on a fast
growing trend. I will also tell you about the “CEO Capsule” which
will command a price at least six times more than your cost to build,
market to, and setup for your well-heeled clients. Fifteen of the ideas are
accessories for the pickup truck, most of which can be initially built in a small
shop or garage. Many of the product idea descriptions are accompanied by full-color
drawings to help you understand the key concepts of the idea.
- Resources: In this section I will
give you over 60 annotated links to web
sites that offer services, resources, and
support for small businesses. I also give
you links to software tools (mostly free)
for small business. Some of these resource
links contain information that is far more
valuable than the price of this book.
To review some excerpts from Business
Outside the Box click here!
I can’t guarantee that you will find
the perfect business idea for your situation
by reading this book, but there are several
things I can confidently deliver. One, is
that you will be challenged to think outside
the box. You will say “Wow!” at
least once, and you will be a richer person
by reading this book. My main reason for writing
Business Outside the Box, yes, apart
from making a few bucks, is to inform, challenge,
and inspire you.
Rod Bambauer
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