10 Weird Businesses That Make Money Out Of Nothing

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http://www.alchemygoods.com/

Two years ago, Eli Reich was a mechanical engineer consultant for a Seattle wind energy company when his messenger bag was stolen. The environmentally conscious Reich, who rode his bike to work every day, decided that instead of buying a new one, he would simply fashion another bag out of used bicycle-tire inner tubes that were lying around his house. Soon compliments on his sturdy black handmade messenger bag turned into requests. "That was the catalyst," says Reich, who obtained a business license, gave up his day job, and quickly launched Alchemy Goods in the basement of his apartment building. The company's motto: "Turning useless into useful."

http://www.BoomerangBoxes.com

When Marty Metro and his wife added up the number of times each of them had moved over the years, it came out to an astounding 29 times. Metro knew they weren't alone in using massive amounts of cardboard boxes and was convinced he could help movers, businesses and the environment by creating a solution to the cardboard quandary. For now, BoomerangBoxes.com offers an online exchange for those outside the delivery area to link up and exchange boxes with others for a nominal fee. With annual sales projections exceeding $750,000, the company boasts 75 percent-plus gross margins.

http://www.pickydomains.com/

Eugene Gromov is a domain wizard. Software developer by trade, he has accidentally discovered that software companies are having a hard time finding available domains for their new products and services. But coming up with unique, memorable domain names was his hidden talent. After naming domains for others part-time for three years, he was literally forced into going into domain name business full-time. “When I started getting multiple orders a day, I realized that I can’t do it on my own any longer. I needed help”. So he launched PickyDomains.Com a site that aggregates orders for domain names and shares 50% of the profit with people who name domains for him.

http://www.invisiongolf.com/

While golfing with his brother one day, Andy Yocom saw prime advertising space on the flags on the course. He and his brother Timmy reasoned that any marketing messages would get prominent attention if they were placed on the flags, since golfers focus on them when they take their shots. Today, Invision Golf Group has expanded its advertising and marketing services beyond just flags to include whole golf course sponsorship-from banners in locker rooms to advertising on golf carts. The strategy is working: At press time, the sales were standing at $300,000 a year, and the company now has a presence on 142 golf courses in 26 states.

http://knifethrower.com/

Ten years ago, The Great Throwdini (David Adamovich), now 59, retired as a physiology professor, bought a billiard hall and took up knife throwing. Adamovich now holds six world records and performs about 20 solo shows a year. He has performed on Broadway, at corporate events and weddings and on TV shows such as "Late Show with David Letterman" and ESPN's "Cold Pizza." He makes around $100,000 a year for his knife-related ventures, but for $75 an hour Adamovich also offers private lessons at his Long Island, N.Y. home.

http://www.lemonaidcrutches.com/

Leg casts decorated with Sharpie markers are so five years ago. What’s the new must-have item for the injured fashionista? Designer crutches, of course. For Laurie Johnson, founder of LemonAid Crutches, the idea of adding a little pizzazz to the drab world of medical supplies was born out of terrible tragedy. In 2002, a small-plane crash took the lives of her husband and 2-year-old son, and left her with a broken femur that wouldn’t heal. A year later, still in emotional and physical pain, Johnson decided to take life’s lemons and make lemonade. It all started when her sister spray-painted Johnson’s crutches and fabric-trimmed the handles. “I sat there thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so silly, but they make me feel better!’” says Johnson, 46. “I said, ‘If I feel this way, someone else is going to feel this way, too.” And though the designer-crutch business may seem like a small niche, Johnson has big plans for several new projects, such as offering crutches to children’s hospitals. Last year Lemon-Aid brought in just under $150,000.

http://www.recycledseatbelts.com/

Betty Funk's purses, made from used seatbelts, are so strong you can pull a truck with one, as a customer found out when a tow rope proved too short. The purses are so strong, you could whack a purse snatcher into next Tuesday. The strap won't rip, either, if you get into a tug-of-war with a pilferer. After all, the purses are made from material designed to save your life. Some people balk at the prices, which range from $40 to $130, depending on the size of the bag, and can rise to $160 for custom-made bags. But the business is booming. The company has sold close to 1,000 bags so far.

http://www.ustarnovels.com/

Like so many great business ideas Katie Olver’s eureka moment came to her out of a desire to buy something that didn’t exist. She was on the look-out for a personalized novel as a present for a friend, but the only ones she could find were for children. With a little persuasion, she convinced her partner of seven years, Jon Reader, to help her turn the idea into a business, and got to work on setting up U Star Novels, a series of personalized romance novels where the reader is the protagonist. The 2007 revenue is expected to be around $140,000.

http://www.itsyousmall.com/

Ralph Trumbo is neither an athlete nor a celebrity. Nevertheless, he has a bobblehead likeness of himself sitting on his mantel. Bobbleheads, those shaky-headed 3-D caricatures, have jiggled free of their mass-produced roots of an earlier generation. Once merely featureless figures decked out in team colors and handed out on game day, they now depict just about anyone who wants one. Ralph, who graduated from the University of Iowa with a fine arts degree in 2002, has been drawing caricatures since he was a child. He turned that interest into a job making bobbleheads after graduation. He won't say how many he makes beyond ''quite a few.'' Prices range from $150 to $200.

http://www.gaming-lessons.com/

Tom Taylor never expected to be a player in the business world; he just wanted to play video games. But as he got better and better, his passion for competitive gaming--and his desire to share his expertise with others--grew. Last year, Taylor, a top-five rated player in the pro-gaming circuit, started a video game coaching business to help others who wanted to improve their games. "I wanted to offer them a shortcut so they didn't have to go through what I did to learn," says Taylor, who started playing video games at age 7. Running his business, Gaming-Lessons, out of his Jupiter, Fla., home, Taylor draws dozens of clients from middle-school kids to middle-aged parents and from college students to celebrities. His fees? A whopping $65 an hour.

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High Performer Series: Appliancepartspros.com

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Roman Kagan has built a successful niche business selling hard-to-find appliance parts to do-it-yourself types around the country. The site was launched in 1999 featuring about 300 products and in seven years has grown to showcase more than 1 million parts for 170,000 appliance models. Along the way, the business has grown to about $5 million in annual sales with the site having about 150,000 unique visitors per month.

Why sell appliance parts?
I first had the idea of selling appliance parts online in 1997 while working for a local parts distributor and right after I placed my first order with Amazon. It was not until the end of 1999 that our first order was shipped. It took me about a month to make the first version of our site. There was no shopping cart. Orders were placed through a contact form. It's funny and maybe a little embarrassing looking back now, but I was very proud of it at the time.

What was it like for you in the early days with the business?
I was also working as an appliance technician back then. I would print out the orders from the site in the morning and then, during my lunch break, I would stop by my local parts store to fill them. Then on to UPS to ship them out. I did this for a couple of years.

In 2002, I was better prepared both mentally and financially to get more serious with the business. I quit my job, rented a small warehouse and hired a programmer. We began to work on the new version of the site.

A 16-hour work day was the norm, and I am very thankful for my wife's support and understanding. She's a very talented person and besides holding a full time job, she was (and still is) taking care of the financial aspect of the business, something I am really not good at. Everything we did was through trial and error and by watching and studying the "big shots" like Amazon. We spent countless hours trying to figure out the reason behind every aspect of their business and their websites. We took their sites for a spin, placing test orders to see how their system worked. It was an interesting process and I think we've learned a lot from it.

When you redesigned the site in 2002, what did you change?
It took about four months to finish the new site. We were very excited and anxious to see the results. We finally had a shopping cart. In addition, the site offered a searchable database of almost 1 million parts for about 170,000 appliance models, near real-time inventory, "my account" features and order tracking. There was also a pretty powerful backend program.

But as the new site was near its completion, I knew this was only the beginning. More functionality was needed, things to make it easier for both us and our customers. I also knew that it would take time and money, and I did not want to get stuck in the never-ending development stage.

So, the decision was made to launch the site, begin to acquire market share, gain experience and plan for the future. As the business began to grow, I was fortunate enough to convince my friend, Matt, to join the company. We used to work together for an appliance parts distributor some years back. He's one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, but more importantly, he is someone I can trust and rely on completely.

Did you design the site yourself or hire a designer?
I designed every version of our site and our developer wrote all the script. I plan to have a professional designer in on the next version, but I assure you, I will be greatly involved in the process. After all, it is my baby.

Do you sell at online locations other than your website?
We haven't tried any channels other than our site. We do have a fairly large number of affiliates. More focus will be put on growing our affiliate program and utilizing shopping comparison sites in 2007.

How do you market your store?
We use pay-per-click extensively. In the beginning I was setting up and managing campaigns myself, and I'm probably pretty good at it. But then again, I was trying to do everything myself, because I didn't have money to hire someone, and because I didn't trust anyone.

I found that it's a very lonely and, more importantly, a slow way to grow your business. Now, I try to outsource as much as possible, I just make sure that I spend the time to find the best company or person for the job. We now have a reputable firm taking care of our pay-per-click campaigns, and I couldn't be happier. Traffic is up, while cost-per-click is down. Can't ask for much more.

Do you incorporate any email marketing?
One of the biggest mistakes I've made is not paying attention to email marketing. Lesson learned. This year, it will be a big part of our marketing efforts.

How does Appliance Parts Pros distinguish itself from other companies in the marketplace?
I think the main difference between us and our competition is that we have always put our customers and their repair problems first. Every business is out there to make money and be profitable. However, there are different approaches. It's always been my belief to do your best to take care of the customer, and the financial rewards will follow. And, I've yet to be proven wrong.

Do you manufacture any of your products?
We do not manufacture any product. Instead we sell the highest-quality, original appliance parts.

How do you acquire products for so many older appliances?
I think it takes a certain knowledge and experience and a willingness to go the extra mile. It is very easy to tell the customer, "Sorry, it's not available‚" especially when there is really not much demand for those old parts.

However, that's not the case when your business model calls for putting the customer first. So we make sure that first, we know what your 1950 O'Keefe & Merritt stove uses, and second, we make our suppliers stock it.

Do you offer a catalog of products?
We find that because of the nature of our business it would not be very helpful to publish a catalog. Most parts are model-specific, and our site does a very good job of locating the right part. We may be publishing a catalog for some of our wholesale customers though — for example, apartment maintenance companies or hardware stores.

What types of software/technology have you deployed to improve customer experiences?
We've been using live chat since 2002. It is very effective and our customers love it.

Our part search is extremely functional. By entering your appliance model, you will see it broken down by categories, with breakdown diagrams and a parts list for each category. This makes finding the right part very easy. Our customers tell us it takes them 3-5 minutes to find what they're looking for, less time than it takes just to sit on hold trying to contact the manufacturer or a local parts store.

Our cross-reference database is very powerful as well. Manufacturers may change part numbers for a part 10-12 times in 20 years. Let's say you take a part number off your 20-year-old dryer timer and put it in our part number search. It will go through every change and bring back the most current and correct information. I've been told that part distributors across the country are using our search on a regular basis.

What shopping cart do you use?
We built our own shopping cart. It made sense, since we built the rest of the site ourselves. However, I know there are excellent shopping cart scripts out there and I wouldn't think twice about using one of them under different circumstances.

Is search engine optimization a priority for your site?
SEO is a very high priority to us, especially with extremely high pay-per-click costs. ‚"White hat" SEO is the only way to go. It may be more difficult and it may take much longer to achieve good results, but it makes much more sense to be patient and see great results long term than to try to get results overnight — only to see your site banned from the search engines.

Also, find a reputable SEO company or person and pay them what they want. Don't even ask for a discount. One hundred thousand dollars a year? Fine. Just make sure they are good.

Any particular struggles in the early days you can share that can serve as an inspiration to young companies building a business?
I think the most important thing is to stay focused. Plan everything out, then work according to your plan. Do not expect quick results. Something you do today may not bring any results until six months from now. This is especially true with SEO and bringing traffic to your site. It can get a little frustrating, so telling yourself to be patient and stay focused will help greatly.

I found that there are a lot of advice- and opinion-givers out there, whether you asked for it or not. And, more often than not, their opinion and advice are based on their experiences and set of mind. Obviously, there are a lot more losers than winners out there, people that had given up but need to justify their failure to everyone in a form of an advice. They may actually think they're trying to help you.

I can't tell you how many times I've been told to quit, get a job, do something this way or that way, and that's from people who never owned a business or achieved any success. You may be the type that likes to hear things like that, if only to prove them wrong, but I prefer to keep away and stay focused instead. I've been very lucky, though, to have a supportive wife and parents.

Were there any mentors that helped you along the way?
Back when I was working for a local parts distributor, my manager, Dan Doti, really taught me a lot both about the parts business and, more importantly, how to run a store. I was 18 to 19 years old and foolish at the time, and I really didn't have any business discipline or knowledge. He really helped me a lot with that and showed me the ropes. Most of the things that helped me with this business I probably picked up from him. He's been in the parts business for a long time, and I really appreciate what he's done. I probably couldn't have done it without him.

What advice would you give to an ecommerce novice trying to decide which direction to take?
Take care of your customers. Be honest with them. They will spread the word and be your best sales team. Don't give up. The Internet is a wonderful thing. With so many opportunities, I wouldn't dream of doing business any other way.

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