5 Hot Industries to Start a Business in 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
Today’s business environment is hyper-competitive and constantly in flux. To increase response time, companies have turned to temporary employees, in an effort to stay productive while managing overhead. This trend is projected to continue through 2012, pushing up the employment rate in this sector by 54%. Interestingly, employment services will be a major player in the home healthcare industry, the sixth best industry to start and grow a business, according to our survey. Hospitals and other medical facilities will rely heavily on temporary workers to meet the needs of the aging baby boomers. All told, between now and 2012, the sector should see a healthy output rate of 5.1% each year.

CONSULTING
As the economy expands and the nature of business becomes more complex, the demand for consultants increases, which helps explain the huge 55% job growth expectation for this industry, as well as a healthy 4.1% per year rate of output through 2012.Business consultants are projected to do well, based on the increasing number of businesses that will need help drafting business plans, budgets, and international strategies. Businesses also will continue to need consultants specializing in government compliance to help navigate the federal government’s sea of regulations.

HOME HEALTHCARE
While employment in the health service industry is projected to grow 28% by 2012, employment in the specialized home health care industry is expected to be nearly twice that, or 54.5%. Each year, over 7.6 million people are provided with home health care services. There are two reasons for this growth: demographics and medical advancements. In demographic terms, the number of people in older age groups is growing faster than the total population because of the post-war baby boom followed by a drop in the birthrate of American woman. Secondly, advancements in medical technologies have extended the lives of the very ill and the very old. The combination of these two factors means that the need for home healthcare and nursing and residential care will grow.

CHILD CARE
When women started pouring into the workforce 30 years ago, a new industry was created: childcare. The child day care service industry has become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. It takes in more than $11 billion annually, and it’s projected to get bigger, thanks to an expected increase in the number of woman between the ages of 15 and 44 entering the workforce. With the 40-hour work creeping upwards, parents will need more childcare services, particularly later into the evening and on weekends. For these reasons, the number of persons working in childcare is expected to grow 43% by 2012.

ENTERTAINMENT
The baby boomers are going to be the richest retirees in our nation’s history. So what are they going to do with their cash? Spend it, of course. With plenty of time and a penchant for enjoying life, the baby boomers are expected to drive the arts and entertainment sector, which is projected to increase in employment by 31.3% over the next decade.The arts, entertainment and recreation sector, which includes anything from golf courses to casinos, will also benefit from a younger clientele. Over the last decade, the saving rate among Americans has fallen, partly because of an increase in the cost of living, but also because of increase spending on discretionary items. This trend, coupled with the demand from baby boomers, provides entrepreneurs with many business opportunities.

For more information visit Inc.com

6 Hot Industries for 2011

Image by The Bottomless Paddling Pool via Flickr

6 Top Performing Industries for 2011 according to our friends at Inc.com

The Best Bets

Looking to launch a business in 2011 but not sure where the best opportunities for success lie? IBISWorld has targeted six industries heavily concentrated with small- and medium-sized businesses that are poised to grow in the year to come. The market researcher judged sectors based on a set of criteria including revenue growth, employment growth, current profits, and barriers to entry. Some, like e-commerce and advertising, may be old news at this point. While others, such as real estate appraisal, may surprise you.

 
Debt Collection Agencies

It’s nearly impossible to owe money these days without getting a barrage of phone calls on behalf of your creditors – thanks in large part to the rise of third-party collection agencies. The debt hounds will have plenty to chew on next year, as recoveries in employment and the housing market should free up cash to pay back outstanding loans, says IBISWorld. All they have to do is go get it. While the average agency now generates a profit margin of about 5.9 percent, the number will grow slightly in 2011 and eventually climb to 10 percent by 2015. This is due to some companies not wanting to chase down debtors themselves, instead preferring to give agencies a larger bounty.

2011 Revenue Growth: 4.1 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 0.5 percent
Barriers to Entry: Low

E-commerce and Online Auctions

If record sales during the holidays are any indication, online retail will continue booming and achieve double-digit revenue growth in 2011. Due to the increasing ease in setting up a website, small vendors are further penetrating the market. E-tailers have also upped the savvy factor with widespread discounts, targeted advertising, and elegant, efficient site design—all created to lure customers out of brick-and-mortar stores and onto the Web. Popular product categories include clothing, footwear, jewelry, electronics, sporting goods, toys, and furniture, often sold through online commerce communities such as eBay, Newegg, and Etsy.

2011 Revenue Growth: 11.4 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 6.1 percent
Barriers to Entry: Low

Environmental Consulting

Thanks to the confusion over increasingly strict environmental rules, these consultants should be in high demand. Companies in fields like construction and waste management turn to consultants to navigate the various environmental waters, while others simply hire them to enhance their image. As economic conditions improve, consulting firms will be needed to audit new buildings and the underlying land for environmental safety. And with sustainable homebuilding on the rise, a growing number of homeowners will enlist environmental services as well.

2011 Revenue Growth: 7.5 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 7.2 percent
Barriers to Entry: Low

Real Estate Appraisal

Recovery in the battered real estate market is likely to be slow going, but this area should be among the first to improve. Existing home sales are expected to pick up, giving appraisers plenty of work. Additionally, as the recession wanes and low interest rates persist, businesses looking to expand will boost the commercial markets as well. And don’t let the relatively weak employment forecast fool you: most firms in the industry are single-owner operated or small independents that don’t need to take on employees to grow.

2011 Revenue Growth: 8.8 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 3.8 percent
Barriers to Entry: Low

Advertising Agencies

Agencies that create online, targeted, and integrated ad campaigns will compete for a healthy allotment of ad dollars in 2011. IBISWorld projects improvements in consumer sentiment, and corporate profits in the coming year to drive an increase in media expenditures. Digital media in particular will be the recipient of an increasing amount of ad dollars, with some experts expecting spending in the space to double in the next five years. Companies able to reach the nascent mobile market and targeted niches will be the big winners.

2011 Revenue Growth: 3.5 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 3.9 percent
Barriers to Entry: Medium

Job Training and Career Consulting

With only mild job growth expected next year, workers competing for limited openings will need to differentiate themselves with improved skills or develop new ones if they’re forced to switch careers. The job training industry will also get a big boost from government funding for programs focused on putting the unemployed to work and creating new jobs. Much emphasis has been placed in recent years on gaining new skills, which will both help people get jobs and improve business performance.

2011 Revenue Growth: 3.4 percent
2011 Employment Growth: 2.1 percent
Barriers to Entry: Medium

For more information visit www.inc.com

11 Home Based Businesses for 2011

2011 is here and those of you looking for ideas on what types of businesses to start do not have to look very far.

Inc.com has put together a list of the hottest home businesses for 2011.

Etsy Craft Master
Dennis Anderson

Anderson Soap Company

When Dennis Anderson was asked if he considered himself more of an artist or an entrepreneur, he thought for a moment and replied, “Well, somewhere in between. I like creating things.” Anderson has achieved what so many Americans crave: he has turned his craft—organic soap making, or saponification—into a profitable business from his home. Anderson Soap Company launched in 2007 in his California apartment, and has since moved into a rented house in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his fiancée and children. Anderson, who started out as an accounting major in college, fell in love with soap making after taking a chemistry course that taught him the process. He has sold soaps to buyers in all 50 states and distributes internationally to Malaysia, Singapore, France, and Sweden.

Quirky Kid’s Clothing
Jenny Ford

Monkey Toes

The children’s clothing industry is a multi-billion dollar market, and a recent surge of interest for specialized kid’s gear has given companies like Monkey Toes, a Colorado-based venture run by Jenny Ford, a niche in this burgeoning market. Monkey Toes is a line of animal and insect-themed footwear for children. Ford started the company in 2002 after drawing designs on her daughter’s shoes. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cute,’” Ford recalls. “I fell in love with it.” She chose to keep her business at home to be able to spend more time with her two young daughters, but lack of an office hasn’t stymied the growth of the brand. Ford currently distributes in stores all over the world, and recently signed a new distribution deal that will take the product into the hands of 100 representatives around the country.

Building Better Communities
Kene Turner

EpiLife

Kene Turner understands the value of building a better business. After all, that’s his job. The mission of EpiLife is to help organizations achieve social responsibility by implementing special project-based initiatives within their communities. Before launching EpiLife, Kene worked for the YMCA of New York, where he taught youth entrepreneurial programs. EpiLife is based out of Turner’s home in New York City, and represents his desire to give back to the community that helped him in his own childhood. “When I was a teen I lost my mom to cancer,” he says. “I never knew my father. I was a child in transition. I had family, but not much. The ones that really helped me were members of the community…and it was that message that I want to implement into a venture or business.”

eBay Powerseller
Ann Whitley Wood

Willow-Wear

Ann Whitley Wood is an attorney-turned-entrepreneur who saw a market for designer goods and collectibles on eBay nearly 10 years ago. In what started out as a hobby, Wood now manages over 350 listings on eBay through her store Willow-Wear, and works with about 40 clients on any given day from her home in Texas. In 2010, Wood sold over 1,100 items for about $450,000—making her one of eBay’s true “powersellers.” Though she does not keep inventory in her house, working from home has been an integral part of her business. “I had to be able to sell on eBay from home, in between taking care of my children and managing the rest of life,” Wood says. To be successful as an eBay entrepreneur, Wood says you must have an acute understanding of your product, as well as your competition.

Online Wedding Resources
Emily Newman

OnceWed.com

Wedding dresses are bought (one hopes) only once, making them one of the most expensive purchases in a woman’s life. So Emily Newman thought, why not buy second-hand? “I saw a need where women my age were dealing with a lot of the same things,” says Newman, the founder of the Once Wed, an online wedding community, based in Atlanta. “They didn’t have a huge budget, but they still wanted to wear a beautiful dress.” So Newman and her husband, who works in online advertising, teamed up to launch Once Wed, a site for brides-to-be. The site has grown from a used dress listing service to the be-all resource for brides, similar to TheKnot.com. Once Wed puts together inspiration guides and a popular blog, which helps drives traffic to the site.

Social Media e-Commerce
Hakan Nizam

NetFoliage

NetFoliage is a web development company that creates web sites for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and artists. It’s also one of a growing number of web development companies that specialize in building e-commerce sites and online stores for social networking sites like Facebook. Nizam, who is originally from Istanbul, has been based out of his Brooklyn apartment since he launched the company in 2007—and plans to stay in his home, too. “Honestly, it didn’t even occur to me to rent an office,” he says. “I didn’t have the time or the need to think about. I would never do it—it’s becoming a lifestyle. I can go on vacation without worrying about anything. I turn off my phone and the business is closed.”

Mommy Blogger
Michelle Mitton

Scribbit.blogspot.com

You don’t need to attend a BlogHer Convention to realize that “mommy bloggers” are a force to be reckoned with. Michelle Mitton was one of the first “mommy bloggers” to make a name for herself and her blog Scribbit, almost six years ago. In 2008, she was selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top ten blogs about motherhood, and her site attracts nearly 60,000 page views every month and 2,300 daily subscribers. Mitton publishes recipes, household tips, product reviews, and has even written a book about blogging, all from her home in Alaska. “With so many blogs out there, you have to be the ‘purple cow’ as Seth Godin talks about. I try to diversify my topics a bit—I even have a few men [readers].”

Curated E-mail Newsletter
Chris McCann

StartupDigest.com

Chris McCann (pictured) and Brendan McManus launched StartupDigest.com as a resource for entrepreneurs looking to get involved in their community and connected with other entrepreneurs. The site has seen remarkable growth; in just a little over a year, the site has grown to 100,000 subscribers and has spread to over 50 cities. And though the content reaches people all over the world, McCann and McManus rarely have to leave their house in Palo Alto, California. “When you’re on a shoestring budget, and if the deciding factor is to spend money to get the office or spend money and do the marketing and get the product out there, do all that stuff first,” says McCann. “An office should not be high on your lists of priorities.”

Sports Content Aggregator
Ann Gaffigan

WomenTalkSports.com

Ann Gaffigan felt that there needed to be more mainstream media coverage of women’s sports. So, about two years ago, she teamed up with two co-founders to launch WomenTalkSports.com, an online network that has become one of the most thorough purveyors of women’s sports news. “We didn’t research the market for this,” Gaffigan says from her home in Kansas. “It just came from our belief that something like this really needed to happen, and we want the next generation to see positive female role models.” There are over 100 websites that link to WomenTalkSports.com, and about 70 bloggers on the site. While the site’s traffic varies depending on the season, the site swells when national competitions are brought to the spotlight. During the Vancouver Olympics, for example, the site had over a million visitors.

Custom Men’s Shirts
Danny Wong

Blank Label

Who said custom designed shirts had to be expensive? Blank Label is a Boston-based start-up that allows users to design custom dress shirts, choosing the fabric, pattern, buttons, and size, for a modest price under $100, depending on the extras. Blank Label was created by Danny Wong (center) and three co-founders (and classmates) in the summer of 2009. After a brief period of incubation by their college, Babson, the team chose not to take on an office lease. “It worked better for us,” says Wong. “We didn’t want to pay for office space.” The founders lived together in Shanghai for several months, developing relationships with suppliers and working out of their living room. At one point, they were operating with members based from home in three different time zones around the world, but Wong says it’s never been a problem.

Application Consulting
Stacy Blackman

Stacy Blackman Consulting

Stacy Blackman knows what it takes to get into one of the nation’s top MBA programs. Blackman, a who received her own MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, turned her passion for helping students gain admission into MBA programs into her full-time job after years working in private equity. “When I first started my business, I wasn’t trying to start a business; I was just doing something I really enjoyed.” Now, Stacy Blackman Consulting has turned into one of the premier MBA international consulting firms, with clients and consultants based all over the world. Blackman has even graced the cover of Fortune, and published a book titled The MBA Application Roadmap.

Visit www.inc.com for more information.

Cheap Hype for Your Business!!

Hello Ladies!

Looking for low cost ways to advertise your business?

Let us introduce you to one of our best kept secrets www.uphype.com

UpHype is a micro-payment marketplace where savvy people with unique talents and resources advertise to take your message and promote it in unique ways. Simply priced at $8, $16, or $24.

Anyone can create a hype or small service ad of what they’re willing to do to “hype” your message. Buyers can purchase hypes and are required to pay for the hype in advance. After the work is completed and accepted by the buyer, UpHype gives the task performer a whopping majority of the fee.

Hypes range from promoting your message to a user’s 300,000 Twitter followers, sending 60,000 traffic hits to your website, creating a video podcast, writing a press release or article for your blog and anything in between.

Hypes are divided into categories, including Social Marketing, Graphics, Writing, Eblasts, Flyers, SEO work, Website Back-links and whole lot more! To ensure that you get a good task performer, UpHype also post buyer feedback on people who perform tasks. Task performers will be given a positive feedback score, which can be seen by users who are considering hiring them for their hypes.

To learn more about Uphype visit their website at www.uphype.com

9 Companies seeking ideas/inventions

Image by .robbie via Flickr

 

If you have an idea for a product, you might want to consider licensing it. Licensing is when a manufacturer already selling other products into your target market agrees to sell your product as part of their product line. They pay you a royalty on their sale of your product which is typically between 3% and 10% of the wholesale price.

Here are 9 companies currently seeking new inventions/product ideas :

KIDS/INFANT PRODUCTS

Crown Crafts infant products

Manufacturer of bedding blankets, accessories and Pillow Buddies. Nursery safety tips and shopping checklist.

http://www.nojo.com/

Dex Products

DEX Products makes life safer, easier, and more comfortable for children and parents. Makers of the popular Dura-Bib, Dex offers a variety of helpful items for sleeping as well as traveling safely and comfortably. http://www.dexproducts.com/ideas.htm

Creative Teaching Press

Creative Teaching Press publishes a wide variety of products for grades PreK–8, including teacher resource books, bulletin boards, borders, emergent readers, and charts.

http://www.creativeteaching.com/t-SubmitAnIdea.aspx

Mega Brands

MEGA Brands provides stimulating creative experiences for children and families through innovative, well-designed, affordable and high-quality products that are marketed worldwide under leading brands such as MEGA BLOKS, ROSE ART, MAGNEXT and BOARD DUDES.

http://www.megabrands.com/en/corpo/aboutus.php

HOME APPLIANCES/PRODUCTS

Applica Consumer Products

Applica Incorporated is a marketer and distributor of a wide range of small appliances for use in and outside the home. Through its operating subsidiary, Applica Consumer Products, Inc .

http://www.applicainc.com/inventors-corner/

Dial Corp

Henkel is the name behind some of America’s best-known brands. From Dial soaps to Purex laundry detergents, göt2b hair styling products, Right Guard antiperspirants, and Loctite adhesives, Henkel brands are part of your daily life. Henkel has grown rapidly in North America during the past several years and now generates about 20 percent of worldwide sales in this region.

http://www.henkelna.com/innovation/henkel-innovation-partnership-program-6085.htm

BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Goody Products

Goody Products, Inc. is part of Newell Rubbermaid’s portfolio of Beauty & Style brands.Goody is the world’s most recognized manufacturer of hair styling tools and accessories.

http://www.newellrubbermaid.com/public/Our-Company/Do-Business-With-Us/Brand-Assets.aspx

PET PRODUCTS

Coastal Pet Products

Coastal Pet Products, Inc. was founded over 40 years ago by Jim and Tom Stout. The first facility was built in 1974 and employed 10 people. At present our facility is 354,800 square feet and employs over 650 people.

http://coastalpet.com

CONSUMER PRODUCTS Sylmark Inc The Sylmark Group is a group of affiliated integrated marketing companies founded in 1998 by industry pioneers who have collectively sold nearly $3 billion of consumer products to date. The Sylmark Group is a leading developer and multi-channel marketer of innovative consumer products. http://www.sylmark.com/submit_a_product.html

Home based businesses you can start right now!!!!

Hi Ladies,

I am always on the lookout for startup stories that will inspire CGBC members. One of my favorite websites Inc.com sometimes feature stories of entrepreneurs who fought their way through challenges to achieve success.

In 2009, Inc.com posted a list of businesses anyone can start from home, it was an interesting read.  I would like to share it with you as I think it still applies today.

1) Online Dating Site Markus Frind the founder of PlentyofFish.com is pulling in $10million a year from his dating website which he launched from his home.

2) Pet Care Paul Mann of Fetch! made $3.5 million in 2008 from his home pet care business.

3)Virtual Assistant Tawnya Sutherland of VANetworking made $150,000 from her online social networking site for virtual assistants.

4)Technical Staffing Bill Foster and Ruben Santana of XRoads Consulting made $5.8million in their first two years in business.

5)Home Improvement and Organization Allan Young of ShelfGenie was able to turn his home business into a franchise.

6)Green Construction Nic Darling, Chad Ludeman, and Courtney Ludeman launched a construction company called Postgreen right from their own homes.

7) Graphic Design Services Sam Feuer of Mindsmack created a full service web design firm right from his own home.

8)Resume Writing Kathy Sweeney of the Write Resume saw a 21% increase in revenue in 2009.

9) Corporate Educational  Services In 2008 Joseph Pickett of Expert Briefings saw an increase in revenue . He went from $25,000 to $300,000 in less than a year.

10)Bargain Hunting Website Karen Hoxmeier of MyBargainBuddy was able to make a business out of her hobby.

11)Accounting Services Melissa Nash Andrews launched a full service collection agency from her home.

To read the full story and learn more about these businesses, visit http://www.inc.com/ss/11-businesses-you-can-start-your-pajamas-2009#0

Okay ladies!so what are the hot new business trends for 2010?

It seems as though the world is crumbling around us, and so many woman are starting to consider starting their own business. I think that’s a fabulous idea, no risk no reward right?

I’m all for taking risks and being  fearless, but you’ve got to be smart about it. Trust me, I learned that the hard way.

Okay! according to Trendwatching.com

http://trendwatching.com/trends/10trends2010/#business

(one of my all time favorite websites) the following trends to watch out for are as follows:

Business as unusual -Forget the recession: the societal changes that will dominate 2010 were set in motion way before we temporarily stared into the abyss.

Urbany-Urban culture is the culture. Extreme urbanization, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and far beyond will lead to more sophisticated and demanding consumers around the world.

Real-time reviews-Whatever it is you’re selling or launching this year, it will be reviewed ‘en masse’, live, 24/7

Fluxury-Closely tied to what constitutes status (which is becoming more fragmented), luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months.

Mass Mingling-Online lifestyles are fueling and encouraging ‘real world’ meet-ups like there’s no tomorrow, shattering all cliches and predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future.

Eco-Easy-To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals this year, corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it ‘easy’ for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives.

Tracking and Alerting-Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new INFOLUST services that will help consumers expand their web of control.

Embedded Generosity-This year, generosity as a trend will adapt to the zeitgeist, leading to more pragmatic and collaborative donation services for consumers.

Profile Myning-With hundreds of millions of consumers now nurturing some sort of online profile, 2010 is a good year to introduce some services to help them make the most of it (financially), from intention-based models to digital afterlife services.

Maturialism-2010 will be even more opinionated, risqué, outspoken, if not ‘raw’ than 2009; you can thank the anything-goes online world for that. Will your brand be as daring?

I have a feeling people are going to be doing a lot of experimenting in 2010, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Check out the rest of this article at trendwatching.com.