The cigarette business has changed in recent times. Not to say that it isn’t one of the most profiting industries in the world, but there are definitely different rules to the game! Overall there are a few different sectors of the tobacco industry, maybe it’s unfair to do so but for the sake of generalizing key points of focus we are going to clump them all together.

Unlike the “good old days” where plenty of doctors will willing to stand up and testify to the quality of brands making recommendations for people to smoke certain types of cigarettes, today it is unlikely that any doctor would place his good name on any tobacco companies brand.

Cigarette companies also suffered a hit from government penalties and taxes. This of course may only detract minimally from the companies’ ability to profit. Bigger problems cigarette companies face include a shrinking market and bans on cigarette advertising.

In addition to the current problems cigarette companies face, a growing concern is also coming from an interesting potential competitor; Smokeless cigarettes. Companies like Green Smoke are switching many traditional tobacco smokers into “e-cigarette or green smokers”. The smokeless vapor cigarette offers smokers the same smoking experience (even nicotine) without the harmful cancer causing chemicals found in cigarettes. To date the FDA has not given the green light to electronic cigarettes, however forwards countries like New Zealand have and there is still new and a lot of support to help bring the product to the market as a mainstream alternative.

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The world could use more businessmen like Ameriprise VP Larry Post especially from the perspective of meaningful organizations like the MSLFund.

The MSLFund helps the children of Massachusetts Servicemen and Women who have died while deployed on operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom,. The organization depends on the charity of people like Larry Post who go out of their way to contribute to the MSLFund as Veteran Supporter offering advice and support to the MSLFund directly.

Post who joined American Express in 1983 as a financial adviser has gone on to lead the Delaware Valley market group as its group vice president. Larry Post is a great example of a busy executive that leverages success to help the community. In addition to his support of the MSLFund, Post is also on the board of the The West Philadelphia Partnership (WPP) which is a a consortium of community organizations, educational/ health care institutions,

We encourage others to support groups like the MSLFund and and are proud to send out a special thanks to Mr. Larry Post of Ameriprise for his working in the community.

Keep Up The Good Work!

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Is their really a big opportunity in the HVAC industry?

The industry’s revenue exceeded $31 billion USD in 2008. Gross profits reaching almost 30% with imports valued at over $6.5 billion USD. Based on revenue and profit alone, I would have to say that there is enough to go around, making the HVAC business a good vertical to be in!

Current trends in energy costs, technology, and environmental concern have also helped the HVAC sector to evolve and expand. More information on efforts towards environmental sustainability and the HVAC industry can be seen on the ASHRAE website.

So where does the average entrepreneur fit in? Here are several key points of opportunity:

• Service provision - services connected to maintaining HVAC equipment, installation of a/c units and other equipment to consumers.
• B2B - connecting with building contractors to manage and sub contract ventilation and other HVAC needs for larger building and development projects
• HVAC Technologies and Tools - everything from testing instruments to HVAC software. The innovation of technologies that support and advance the provision of HVAC services and parts are an excellent entry point for businesses and investors.
• HVAC training / education - vocational training and courses.
• Import / Export - services and consulting - focused on HVAC related goods and services (In 2008 the industry’s shipping value exceed $32 Billion USD)!

There is plenty of room in the HVAC industry for business minded individuals who can identify trends and capilatize on opportunities!

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Those who are in the market for diamonds and fine jewelry have no doubt heard of the company called Diamonds International- one of the major diamond and jewelry retailers in the Caribbean.

What many people may not realize, however, is that the success of this company is the result of consistent and well-managed growth. What started in 1986 as one small store in St. Thomas has burgeoned into a conglomerate of over 125 stores throughout the Caribbean and North America, as well as a successful online store, ShopDI.com.

The success of Diamonds International can be largely attributed to their aggressive marketing strategy. Over the years, the company sought and won the backing of all the major cruise lines, travel bureaus and hotel chains. Diamonds International also focused on a series of print advertisements on several major airlines and cruise lines and was quick to establish a image of quality products and outstanding customer service.

Today, Diamonds International has branches in Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Mazatlan, Playa Del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta, St. Croix, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Maarten, as well as Key West, Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Alaska.  Diamonds International also supports a series of “sister stores” under the names Tanzanite International, DI Watch & Design, DI Collection, Italian Connections Clothing, Kids International European clothing, Havana Blue Lounge-Bar and Tequileria International.

For industry affiliation and other historical information go to wikipedia’s Diamonds International page.

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A community with a conscience! A recently launched business uses coupons to help create opportunities for some of the working poor in Uganda. CouponGood.org offers shoppers a platform to share and find coupons, which ultimately fuels financing for people in need.

The site generates revenue through commissions paid by stores. Users benefit from the promotional offers and coupons. Ultimately the site helps shoppers and in turn helps the working poor of Uganda.

Tyson, the founder of CouponGood.org, has taken the opportunity to solve social issues through business. His vision is both inspiring and refreshing to me and other business people who may be playing this game for the green only.

Kudos!

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Many offline businesses remain offline simply because companies and industry leaders fail to shape the internet. For this reason there are still many under competed markets online. Textile assemblies and custom textile assembly manufacturing is one example of a large industry under achieving in the online space. The internet is like a giant wiki. Millions of individual publishers work autonomously to create websites and pages that are all interconnected and centralized through various “portals” such as search engines and directories. Unlike wiki volunteers publishers create content motivated by commercial or personal gain; facilitated by “know-how”. It’s easy to understand why some less lucrative verticals are over competed and other more potentially profitable niches are under competed. In the case of textile assemblies, online opportunity exists but is coincidentally ignored.

Although many of these “gaps” online exist, they don’t go ignored forever.  I chose textile assemblies as my prime example because I was recently approached to look at the competitive landscape for textile manufactures and assembly solutions online for a prospective client. Some people might assume that there is little value to online marketing where competition is less saturated. A concept based on the logic: That since a large commercial presence doesn’t already dominate SERPs when searching for “textile assemblies”, probably no one searches it. Obviously this is not true, and soon after the first company taps into the wealth online, his competitors will follow!

Don’t be fooled by an under competed vertical. It’s not telling of its true potential and typically won’t last forever; not for textile assemblies or many of the other examples I’ve seen.

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Have you heard of the baby boomers?  They are the large post WWII generation that have to some extent been ignored online until recently. The 50 plus market is big! If you don’t know how big, try to conceptualize what two trillion dollars in annual spending is.

Some more “boomer” statistics to help illustrate the opportunity online:

• Within the next year over 30% of the American population will be over 50
• By 2015 of 45% of the population will be over 50
• The 50+ age group spends over 2 trillion dollars per year
• Almost 70% of the countries wealth is controlled by this group
• This age group makes up more than 1/3 of all internet users
• It is estimated that this demographic spends over $7 Billion/year online

Now remember, it’s still early. The first baby boomer only turned 60 in 2006. This is a growing market in size and influence.

When you consider the numbers behind this demographic, it is obvious that there is a growing potential for business opportunities online targeting the 50+ market.

Media Mogul, Moses Znaimer has already made strategic moves to corner the 45+ age group in Canada, referred to as “The Zoomers”. Mr. Znaimer who founded CityTV, Much Music, Space, and many other media power houses has now turned his attention to the aging population through a large network of boomer targeted sites and publications.

Other networks focused on the boomer market have sprung up all across the net over the last few years. Compete.com indicates that Eons, a social network for people 50+, averages over 300,000 unique visitors per month.

Industries benefiting the most from the boomer/ zoomer generation demographic are:

• Travel
• Health / Fitness
• Finance
• Automotive

How much attention are you paying to this market? Knock, knock, knock! Is that the sound of …

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The latest inspiration in the business world is that sub-sect of society known as the college drop-outs.  Business sites and blogs are headlined by young entrepreneurs who have started their own companies without a degree in business administration or business management.  Whenever you glance at the cover of a business magazine you will see some young guy in grungy jeans and t-shirt staring back at you.  With the advent of the internet, it has become less and less necessary to obtain your university degree to be successful.  All of the information that you need is quite literally at your fingertips, and with enough initiative and creativity, you can accomplish a lot with very little.

Below are some household names that didn’t need college or university to make it.

Michael Dell:  When Michael Dell dropped out of university, he had just $1,000 in his pocket.  He is now the proud owner of Dell, Inc., the PC company that is perhaps the most lucrative in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg:  Mark Zuckerberg may not be a household name, but his startup, Facebook certainly is.  It is one of the more famous social networking sites, completely eclipsing sites such as Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

Henry Ford:  Henry Ford went from farm-boy to billionaire and created the concept of mass production.

Steve Jobs:  The co-founder of Apple Inc. left college after just six months.

And last but certainly not least…

Theodore Roosevelt:  The CEO of the United States of America never went to university due to his somewhat ironic frailty as a youth.

Who will be next? You?

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The moving business has become one of the most competitve verticals online.

Type the word moving into Google and find 290 million results (give or take).

The results across the other major search engines are not much different. Does the level and volume of competition mean that less opportunity exists for moving businesses trying to break into the online market? I think that there is still opportunity.

Succeeding in a vertical such as moving online requires a distinctive edge. The small movers with limited budgets don’t stand much of a chance going up against some of the established authorities in terms of paid listings and organic rankings, but can still utilize local listings, directories and lead hubs to generate business.

Even larger players need to come to the table offering a unique service. Take for example Store To Door, founded by Jim Wayman in 1997 has established itself as a leader in the moving industry by providing a more elaborate service which includes moving, containers, and portable storage for individuals and businesses. Their site is well designed from a practical perspective with clear information and rich media.

Another leader in the moving business online is moving.com. Okay there is an obvious advantage for moving.com in the sense that they rank #1 (easy to understand why based on their domain name). Their sites acts as a lead market for vendors looking to connect with consumers. Unlike Store To Door their advantage has more to do with their placement and traffic.

With new functionality in Google connected to their local search listing - smaller companies do have a chance to succeed. If a user searches “moving company” they will get an addition search bar to eneter their zip code.

After entering a zip code - Google refreshes the search with Google Local Listings at the top above the regular organic search listings. This represents a clear opportunity for moving companies online to compete with the larger more established players already situated at the top of their vertical.

In short there is still opportunity for moving businesses online. With a bit of marketing know-how, a creative approach to web design, a good offline service/product and a focus on local online promotion even the new smaller players can find their place online.

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There are many different opportunities for small and home businesses. Some businesses are better than others.

Working from home can be challenging, but can also be rewarding. Starting a business can be good. Make sure to do plenty of research before you get started.

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