A New Twist On 'Used Car Salesman' Story.

http://www.carmax.com/

A small team of Circuit City execs met in 1991 to formulate a plan for a top-secret new business, code-named Project X. For nearly a year, the group worked clandestinely, finally pitching a proposal for a revolutionary new big-box retail chain with the potential to earn tens of billions of dollars in annual sales.
The industry to be tapped? Used cars.

Right about now, you're probably conjuring up images of white shoes, smarmy smiles, bait-and-switches - or William H. Macy's morality-challenged character Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. The Circuit City board, however, had a different response, doling out $50 million to test-drive Project X.

It hasn't always been a smooth ride - CarMax bled money for its first seven years-but today the company stands as an unlikely American success story: Its supercenters, which now number 71 and are concentrated in the Sun Belt, sold 290,000 used cars in the last fiscal year, ringing up $6.3 billion in sales and $148 million in profit.

Through a blend of technology and an inspired reimagination of how to treat customers, CarMax has managed to outsmart any credible competitors. Now it has Hummer-size ambitions, with plans to build at least 300 more stores in the next 12 years.

How it works

When the first CarMax Auto Superstore opened in Richmond, Va., in 1993, it immediately encountered skepticism from insiders and analysts alike. First there was the ambitious size: The lot was stocked with more cars than some dealerships sell in a year.

Then there was CarMax's nonnegotiable sticker price and the fact that commissions were flat, so there was no incentive to push the priciest models. That, says CarMax CEO Thomas Folliard, was the most crucial element: "When you set up incentives that align your salespeople with the customer, everybody wins."

Customers haven't stopped flocking to the lots since. CarMax says sales reached nearly 5,000 cars per store last year-five to 10 times the industry average, according to Manheim, a provider of wholesale auctions and other services for the used-car industry. "Customers go for the choice, the nonthreatening environment, and the obvious price," says George Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who has followed CarMax since it opened.

But it's the operation's high-tech backbone that truly differentiates it from competitors. In the same way that Wal-Mart revolutionized the logistics of retailing, CarMax set out to nail the perfect mix of inventory and pricing through exhaustive analysis of sales data. Its homegrown software helps CarMax determine which models to sell and when consumer demand is shifting.

Each car is fitted with an RFID tag to track how long it sits and when a test-drive occurs. Showroom computers give customers access to CarMax's nationwide catalog of 20,000 cars, so if a customer in Tampa, Fla., is set on a green 1999 Camry sitting on a lot in Los Angeles, CarMax can transfer the car cross-country for a fee. "The analytical strength has led to its success," says Sharon Zackfia, an analyst with Chicago-based firm William Blair.

Without the data, stocking CarMax lots would be a logistical nightmare. Each store carries 300 to 500 cars at any given time, and unlike Wal-Mart, the company has no vendors to stock its "shelves." Instead, CarMax depends on 800 car buyers, who draw on the company's reams of data to appraise vehicles. Trade-ins represent half of CarMax's inventory; the rest arrives via wholesale auctions.

The buyers are people like Mike Decker, who on a recent morning emerges from CarMax's showroom in Hartford, Conn., to appraise a 2005 Ford Escape with 27,000 miles.
After taking the SUV for a spin and checking out recent sales, Decker returns with an offer of $15,000. It's less than the Kelley Blue Book value but more than the customer would get on a dealer trade-in. A glance at CarMax.com reveals comparable Escapes priced well over $15,000, making it likely that Decker will meet the company's average gross of more than $1,800 per vehicle.

While natural disasters and gas prices could stall the company's growth, Hoffer, for one, doubts that outcome. "Sept. 11 should have been the end of CarMax," he says. But because the stores empty their inventories every month, the company got rid of its high-priced cars in time.

Another risk could be the recent retirement of founding CEO Austin Ligon. Zackfia was initially concerned that the new CEO might attempt to alter the model, but now she says she's happy with the choice of Folliard, who previously headed operations and thus far has made very few changes. "I've already made my mark on the company over the last 13 years," Folliard says.

Given that CarMax currently controls less than 2 percent of a fragmented but huge market-U.S. used-car sales totaled $367 billion in 2005-most analysts share Folliard's confidence that the company can expand to 300 stores, maybe more.
"They have an extremely profitable model," Zackfia says.

Folliard, meanwhile, sees potential for CarMax to become a $20 billion operation within a decade. That is, as long as the new chief remembers the mantra Ligon laid out in Project X: "If you don't offer the customer something special, then you're just another used-car dealer." Jerry Lundegaard couldn't have put it better.

For more, visit NicheGeek.Com

How To Franchise PR

Mike and Kathy Butler Story

http://prstore.com/

On a rainy morning in Charlotte, Mike and Kathy Butler, founders of the PRstore, are hunkered down in a conference room, teaching the intricacies of logos, letterheads, and lamination to some new franchisees. "Let your customers know that you'll help them look like a big company even though they don't have a lot of money to spend," Mike tells his audience. The goal is simplicity, a theme that extends to almost everything the company does. The PRstore is a growing national chain that aims to demystify marketing for small businesses.

The Butlers both spent careers in advertising agencies and in public relations firms before they launched the PRstore (prstore.com) in 2001, so they knew how those businesses worked and how they could be streamlined. Instead of the retainers or hourly billings that a typical marketing firm demands, the PRstore offers a menu of basic services to walk-in customers (almost all small-business owners) and charges flat rates. A press release runs $295, while ten press kits cost $975. On the higher end, a 30-second television commercial is $8,000 - about half what a typical ad agency would charge.

That savings is made possible by the company's hub-and-spoke business model: Franchise owners take orders from customers, but the creative work, such as designing brochures and copywriting, is generated at the company's 12-employee headquarters in Charlotte. "We provide small companies a level of service that big companies are accustomed to," says Michael Butler. In the five years since they started the company, the Butlers have been expanding using a franchise model.

Recently that effort has gotten a boost from Ira and Linda Distenfield, whose background and skills match the PRstore's needs. Back in the mid-'80s, the Distenfields ran We the People, a national franchise that helped customers handle basic, do-it-yourself legal tasks without hiring an attorney. That unique enterprise brought the Distenfields national exposure - and several lawsuits claiming that their firm engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, most of which were settled in their favor. Late last year the Distenfields sold We the People to Dollar Financial for $17.5 million and planned to retire. "We were supposed to be on a beach right now," says Ira, 59.

Instead, the couple heard about the PRstore within a few days of cashing out and called the Butlers to see how they could get involved. Since then the Distenfields have purchased 20 PRstore franchises in California, and they opened their first two in Santa Barbara in January. The remaining 18 should open within the next five years.

"I wanted more skin in the game," says Ira (who does not own an equity stake in the parent company). "I wanted to be the guy who really helps grow this franchise." He has also assumed the role of national franchise director and heads a strategic-planning committee focused on growing the company in a hurry. His first decision: In an effort to attract more experienced, wealthier franchisees, he increased the fee from about $40,000 for a location to $59,000. The plan is to open as many as 350 across the country between now and 2011. "Within six years, we'd like to take PRstore public," Ira says.

Some advertising agencies hold that while the PRstore offers cheaper prices, small-business owners seeking topflight marketing strategies should splurge on agency expertise. "It's a stereotype that advertising agencies care only about big companies," says Kelly Major, a partner with 70-employee Brogan & Partners, a 22-year-old agency in Birmingham, Mich. "That's not us at all - we can be small and nimble, just like PRstore. But often the ability to provide lower-cost solutions means a less customized solution. Our agency does a lot of research so that we understand our client's audience and can craft the best message for them."

Scott Batey, owner of a Bloomfield Hills, Mich., law firm called Batey-Turkelson, is one small-business owner who now considers himself a PRstore loyalist. A few months ago he wanted a logo for his firm and talked with three agencies that requested retainers of as much as $5,000. "The bigger agencies couldn't just do a logo, and that's all I needed at the time" says Batey, 40. His local PRstore franchise designed a logo for the firm for $1,500. Batey has since turned to the PRstore for press releases, as well as coffee mugs and pens for clients, and he credits the franchise with helping to double his caseload from 60 to 115 since July.


Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian's Guide to Marketing and Communication

Sticker Junkie

Andrea Lake Story

http://stickerjunkie.com/

At one time in her life, Andrea Lake tossed fiery sticks through the air at concerts to help her pay rent. Now she makes her living running several different businesses, but the balancing act is just as impressive. Delinquent Distribution, which she started in 1999, sells T-shirts and stickers printed with hip phrases in bulk to large retailers. StickerJunkie.com, started in early 2001, lets customers order small batches of stickers and T-shirts printed with any phrase they want. Between the two intentionally different business models, Lake covers all the bases and can ride through business upturns and downturns in style. StickerJunkie.com alone is on track to sell more than 3 million stickers this year.

You’ve got to have a bit of your own ’tude to think of selling shirts that say “I’m not a stalker, I’m just persistent” and “I used to have superhuman powers, but my therapists took them away.” Lake hearkens back to her teenage years to explain her company’s hip edginess. “I was your typical suburban girl who was mad at the world for no good reason,” she says. Now in her early 30s, she’s happily settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s not the first town you’d think of as a hub of industry. “For my own personal quality of life, I wanted someplace cool and laid back but also very creative.”

You might recognize Lake from her appearance on Donald Trump’s The Apprentice earlier this year. She didn’t win, but that doesn’t bother her in the least. Says Lake, “It was the most fabulous experience for me in that I realized how lucky I am to be doing exactly what I’m doing.”

These days, Lake is hoping to get funding for her companies, including a new venture called Luxury Wedding Packages. With so much entrepreneurship going on, the best way to keep up with her is through www.andrealake.com. “One day, Andrea Lake Enterprises will dominate the world!” she says, perhaps only half-jokingly. After all, she already makes $5 million a year.

How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit!

How To Start Your Own Cosmetics Business

Maureen Kelly Story

http://www.tartecosmetics.com/

Projected 2006 Sales: $15 million

Maureen Kelly was working toward a Ph.D. in psychology when one of her pet peeves inspired an entrepreneurial endeavor. Each time she visited makeup counters in search of the right products, the makeup artists selling the makeup would leave Kelly looking beautiful, but also poorer and entirely incapable of recreating the look.

Feeling that the beauty industry was in need of a reality check, she set out to launch a line of simple and easy-to-use cosmetics in equally stylish and portable packaging for real women, who lack the time and expertise to spend hours primping.

The end result? Kelly dropped out of the Ph.D. program and launched Tarte Cosmetics in 1999 from her one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment in New York City.

Entering an industry with no experience proved to be just the edge she needed. “If you come into an industry when you don’t have a lot of experience, you have more of a fresh perspective and you can think a little bit more outside the box,” says Kelly, who wraps Tarte compacts in leathers and fabrics. “You’re not bound by the typical tenets of what you can and cannot do.”

She scouted out laboratories and chemists to work with, relied on previous interior design experience for packaging ideas, and learned through trial and error how to market and sell her line.

She didn’t advertise, but after countless phone calls and careful selection of the right exposure, Tarte Cosmetics soon graced the pages of numerous fashion and women’s magazines and landed on the shelves of retailers such as Henri Bendel, Nordstrom and Sephora. In 2005, popular shopping network QVC offered Kelly the opportunity to officially launch her line in homes across America. The first hour-long segment resulted in the sale of more than 13,600 items and translated into an 8.5 percent increase in the company’s annual sales from 2004 to 2005.

Tarte Cosmetics has turned heads in the U.S. and Canada and will be hitting Europe next year, but Kelly believes slow and strategic growth is key. “You see companies that grow so quickly, and they’re here today and gone tomorrow,” she says. “I wanted to make sure I did the opposite of that.”


Natural Beauty Basics : Create Your Own Cosmetics and Body Care Products

Who's Your Daddy?

Edon Moyal Story

http://www.whosyourdaddyinc.com/

Back in high school, Edon Moyal simply loved to yell “Who’s your daddy?” on the football field, at parties and when greeting classmates, but enterprising buddy Dan Fleyshman saw business potential in the popular phrase, suggesting in 1999 that they emblazon it on T-shirts. The venture seemed promising when their first 100 shirts sold out in just hours at school. After graduation, the pals found a manufacturer and set out to get their line carried at major retailers. When a big-time deal fell apart in 2001, Moyal and Fleyshman were forced to halt the business temporarily so they could work to pay back the family and friends who had invested in their idea.

In 2002, a bit older and wiser, Moyal and Fleyshman were ready to pursue Who’s Your Daddy again--this time with help from a friend’s father, who had a background in the apparel business and agreed to come onboard as director of development. He successfully landed their Who’s Your Daddy-branded clothing line in Kohl’s and Mervyn’s stores, and even inked a three-year licensing deal in Europe.

“We saw [that] the name has much more brand recognition than just apparel,” explains Moyal, who oversees in-house licensing of the trademarked Who’s Your Daddy brand on hundreds of products ranging from greeting cards to barbecue grill sets. The company’s commitment to building brand awareness has the Who’s Your Daddy logo popping up just about everywhere--from the logo-wrapped car they sponsored on the Nascar speedway to the phone booths adorned with Who’s Your Daddy advertisements in and around Orange County, California. Sponsoring events like car shows and rodeos also helps them promote recognition of the brand.

After a friend suggested they look into the growing energy-beverage market a year ago, the partners’ business took a new turn. Moyal and Fleyshman developed a special concoction: a cranberry-pineapple formula that’s outsourced to production facilities. Dubbed “King of Energy,” the drink, available in grocery and convenience stores nationwide, has since become a major focus of the business. A green tea flavor has even been added to the mix.

License to Deal: A Season on the Run with a Maverick Baseball Agent

Would You Like To Make $200 Million A Year From A Website

Jeff Fluhr Story

http://www.stubhub.com/

Projected 2006 Sales: More than $200 million

A void in the market for a reliable, one-stop shop in the secondary ticket market prompted Jeff Fluhr and a former partner to start StubHub in 2000. “We felt there were a lot of problems with the options that were available for fans,” says Fluhr, who wanted to transform secondary ticket sales from back-alley deals into secure transactions.

So he pioneered a system that allows sellers to list tickets at www.stubhub.com for a 15 percent transaction fee, and buyers to purchase tickets for a 10 percent transaction fee--guaranteeing the safety of the transaction for both parties. “We provide an escrow-type service,” notes Fluhr.

Security is the number-one priority for StubHub. The system allows sales only after both buyers’ and sellers’ credit cards are fully vetted, leaving nothing to chance. StubHub also has a direct partnership with FedEx to generate the shipping labels for sellers, so the company can monitor delivery at every step.

While the core of the business is based on peer-to-peer sales, Fluhr has found it helpful to build partnerships with venues and teams nationwide, including the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. Such alliances help market StubHub’s services to season-ticket holders who might want to unload a few tickets during the season.

Constantly improving StubHub’s customer service is key for Fluhr, who is also a fan of the music, theater, comedy and sporting events that are his company’s bread and butter. In fact, a phenomenal Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden was one of his most memorable “product testing” outings.

And Fluhr’s not just trying to win fans on the spectator side of the stage--while starting his business, he recalls working to convince “old-school businesspeople in the music industry that the secondary market is a huge opportunity for them, not a threat.” Fluhr admits it’s an ongoing challenge for StubHub.

Break Into Sports Through Ticket Sales

Adventures In Gift Certificates.

Gavin Bishop Story

http://www.xperiencedays.com/

Though the multimillion-dollar gift-giving market will never cease to exist, gift-giving patterns change as often as the latest fashion trends. In recent years, research shows consumers are looking for gifts that are unique--not your run-of-the-mill department-store gift cards. As one of the first companies to catch on to this trend, Xperience Days lets customers give an opportunity of a lifetime as a gift.

According to co-founder Gavin Bishop, Xperience Days offers a wide range of life-enhancing experiences "that people dream and talk of doing, but rarely get around to doing." The average cost of the gift certificates is $275 to $300--prices range from $65 for a trapeze lesson to $110,000 for a private zero-gravity flight.

The concept of giving experiences, which is common in the United Kingdom, was an idea that UK native Bishop, 37, and his co-founders, Michelle Geib, 29, and Robb Young, 34, knew would be a hit in the States. They were right-since the company's launch, at least three competitors have entered the market. "People in the U.S. generally have an adventurous streak and are willing to try things," says Bishop, who met his co-founders while attending business school in South Africa. "Plus, they're very good gift-givers."

Though the company targets anyone "with an adventurous spirit," the founders focused on the San Francisco Bay and New York tri-state markets when they launched in January 2005. As popularity increased and they realized there were plenty of adventurous activities available nation-wide, the trio added experiences throughout the country, such as Formula One racing in Las Vegas and white-water rafting in Pennsylvania.

Although sales figures are difficult to calculate because the company sells gift certificates, which are a deferred income, Bishop projects 2006 sales of about $2 million--drastically more than the $100,000 it took the three entrepreneurs to finance the startup. They knew investing in such a project--with no asset backing or constant cash flow--would incur serious risks. Nothing quite as risky, though, as jumping out of a plane.

Corporate Renaissance: Business as an Adventure in Human Development

How To Make 18 Million Dollars With A Simple Real Estate Site.

Steve Weber Story

http://www.z57.com/

Steve Weber always wanted to be part of something big, but he repeatedly saw opportunities, like the fax and PC markets, pass him by. "I told myself, 'I'm going to get on the front end of one of these market waves,'" says Weber, 42. "When the internet came, I knew that was it. I didn't want to miss out on the biggest opportunity in the history of business."

In 1998, Weber left his job as director of sales at a website provider to start Z57.com. With $2,000, a desk and a computer, he and one of his former co-workers, David Baird, 30, launched the internet marketing company out of a small office. They roughed it in the beginning, sitting on metal folding chairs, using a dial-up internet connection and having college interns help with cold calling. "It was duct tape and Band-Aids for the first year," Weber says, "but I wasn't worried. It was clear every business would need some sort of web presence."

A year after launching, Z57 narrowed its marketing services to the real estate industry. That same year, the company had its first $50,000 month; sales have increased every quarter since. Even during the dotcom crash, Z57, which remained privately funded and owned, managed to thrived.

Today, Z57 has four offices, 225 employees and 2006 projected sales of $18 million. The company offers website design, e-mail marketing and personal coaching to real estate agents nationwide.

Though home sales have recently slowed, Weber sees no end in sight to Z57's potential growth. "We've reached less than 2 percent of the real estate market," he explains. "There's tremendous opportunity to move forward."

Real Estate Rainmaker: Guide to Online Marketing

Wooden Mats As A Business.

Pierre Klee Story

http://www.snapmat.com/

While remodeling a friend's home office, one-time construction company owner Pierre Klee had to choose flooring that was both attractive and practical.

Klee, 42, found his solution in a wood-finished laminate. After installing the floor, Klee gave his friend and future partner, Jeff Baudin, 42, an extra pack of the material. Baudin took a piece of the laminate to his regular office and slid it under his chair on the commercial-grade carpeting. Instantly, the two knew they had a great idea.

In January 2004, they started developing an alternative to the unattractive plastic chair mats common in offices. More than $150,000 and six prototypes later, they launched SnapMat Inc. in June 2004. The sectional chair mats snap together and create a more polished complement to office furniture.

"We started selling them online, and people just loved them," Klee says. "Besides thinking the mats were attractive, [customers were] just so tired of the plastic ones."

There were still kinks, though. The sectional mats were only recommended for use on commercial-grade carpet, and Klee's customers wanted something for their home offices. After sliding through 2004 with $30,000 in sales, Klee began 2005 by buying out Baudin and creating a one-piece mat better suited for high-pile carpeting.

With both mats available online in a variety of finishes and sizes, including custom orders, at www.snapmat.com, the company increased sales to $125,000 in 2005.

Klee says the mat also has some unconventional uses, including in music studios--the mats make it easier to slide heavy equipment over carpet--and as dance floors. Klee jokes that the company could have a special web-site dedicated solely to tap dancers.

With arrangements finalized with Brookstone.com and deals with other retail outlets underway, Klee expects SnapMat Inc. to garner $500,000 in 2006 sales. He hopes to spur even more growth for the company by automating the production process to increase output from 20 mats to 150 mats per day, which would allow Klee to lower the price.

"I like inventing, so it's been fun for me to figure out all the problems," Klee says. "I've always been a good trouble-shooter."

Feng Shui for Business & Office

Solar Money

Randolph Gray Story

http://www.eclipsesolargear.com/

On a trip to Hawaii in January 2001, Randolph Gray noticed beachgoers talking incessantly on their mobile phones. But every once in a while, someone would run out to the parking lot. "They were interrupting their fun because their cell-phone batteries were dead," he says.

Fascinated by solar energy as a student, Gray built a solar-powered bicycle in college. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1995, he pursued other interests but continued to follow solar technology. At the beach he thought about creating a portable charger, but then he had a better idea: Why not build a solar cell into the bags that sunbathers were already carrying?

When he returned home to Texas, Gray bought a solar charger on eBay and sewed it into a backpack. He founded Innovus Designs in 2003 and a year later sold his first solar bag, the Reactor. Last year, Gray says, Innovus turned a small profit on revenue of about $80,000. Now he's working on a bag that can recharge laptops, and he's also pursuing an online MBA. Needless to say, there's less time for the beach.

Turn Your Idea or Invention into Millions

Half A Million Dollars With Inflatable Chairs.

Lori Elder Story

http://www.leftfieldenterprises.com/

During the 2002 World Series in San Francisco, Lori Elder was watching her hometown Giants battle the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and was amazed at the number of people floating in the bay just outside AT&T Park. "I looked at my friend and said, 'The thing to sit on would bу a big inflatable baseball glove,'" says Elder, 43.

Elder called Major League Baseball a few days after the series to see if she could find such a product with the Giants logo on it, but no such prod-uct existed. So with almost $50,000 that she gathered from friends and her own savings, Elder started searching for a manufacturer who could help her with a design. "I was basically sketching my own baseball glove," says Elder, who has a background in art. She also applied for a license from the League in hopes of offering an official product with team logos.

Eight months later, in 2003, she had the license along with her final proto-type. The result was an inflatable chair in the shape of a baseball glove, constructed of heavy PVC, with three separate air chambers and, of course, cup holders. The chairs come in two sizes and are suitable for indoor use as well as on water.

Manufacturing problems set her back a year, but Elder was finally able to begin offering her product in January 2005. The chairs are available on www.leftfieldenterprises.com and www.mlb.com, and with the recent addition of baseball-shaped chairs, Elder expects 2006 sales of $500,000.

101 Best Businesses to Start: The Essential Sourcebook of Success Stories, Practical Advice, and the Hottest Ideas

The Ultimate Ears Story

Jerry Harvey Story

http://www.ultimateears.com/

In 1995, while on tour with Van Halen, Jerry Harvey designed a custom-made earpiece for drummer Alex Van Halen. When news of his work spread to other musicians, he found himself filling orders as favors.

As a sound engineer, Jerry, 44, knew many musicians were frustrated with clunky headphones or amplifiers that couldn't capture the sound on stage or in the recording studio. "I miniaturized the technology that was being used in big rock 'n' roll systems," says Jerry. He then designed an earpiece custom-made from an impression of the musician's ear.

Mindy Harvey, 41, loved everything about her husband's new creation, except the fact that he was making them for free. The couple began asking for payments upfront to keep startup costs at zero, and they relied on word-of-mouth within the music industry to gain new customers.

Ultimate Ears' current high-end custom pieces can cost in the $900 range, but the Harveys also began targeting the growing iPod audience in 2002 with their generic, lower-priced consumer line, Super.fi. Today, the company has almost 20 em-ployees, and 2005 sales stand at well over $5 million.

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians & Bands

The Ultimate Ears Story

Jerry Harvey Story

http://www.ultimateears.com/a

In 1995, while on tour with Van Halen, Jerry Harvey designed a custom-made earpiece for drummer Alex Van Halen. When news of his work spread to other musicians, he found himself filling orders as favors.

As a sound engineer, Jerry, 44, knew many musicians were frustrated with clunky headphones or amplifiers that couldn't capture the sound on stage or in the recording studio. "I miniaturized the technology that was being used in big rock 'n' roll systems," says Jerry. He then designed an earpiece custom-made from an impression of the musician's ear.

Mindy Harvey, 41, loved everything about her husband's new creation, except the fact that he was making them for free. The couple began asking for payments upfront to keep startup costs at zero, and they relied on word-of-mouth within the music industry to gain new customers.

Ultimate Ears' current high-end custom pieces can cost in the $900 range, but the Harveys also began targeting the growing iPod audience in 2002 with their generic, lower-priced consumer line, Super.fi. Today, the company has almost 20 em-ployees, and sales are estimated at well over $5 million.

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians & Bands

How YOU Can Make $500,000.00 or More a Year in the Music Industry by Doing it Yourself

Bud Anderson Story

http://www.inhousebooking.com/

In the music industry, competition isn't just for gigs but for agents as well. "Agents basically work for free until they get commissioned on a show," says Bud Anderson, founder of InHouseBooking.com. "So it's hard to invest in a brand-new artist."

Anderson, 34, created InHouseBooking.com as a sister company to Prince SF, the agency he already owned that couldn't handle all the talent coming its way. His new company takes a different approach, allowing artists to hire agents to make cold calls, pitching their acts for $1.50 per call. At the end of the minimum 100-call run, the artist gets a color-coded spreadsheet detailing each call and contact information. It's more than telemarketing, Anderson explains--bands still face a strict review process, but the shortened relationship allows more talent through the door.

Startup was simple. With the agency infrastructure already in place, Anderson paid $50 for a web domain and programmed the site himself. He opened separate phone lines and a bank account, and he hired three agents. As IHB's business jumped--from sales of $175,000 in 2004 to $500,000 for 2005--the agency expanded into larger offices and hired additional staff.

Anderson describes his marketing as "very grass roots." After an initial run with 10 artists, word spread like wildfire. Says Anderson, "I knew there was demand for representation but didn't realize it could be quite so high."

The Music Business: How YOU Can Make $500,000.00 (or More) a Year in the Music Industry by Doing it Yourself!

$1 Million From Gardening

Lars Hundley Story

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/

While caring for his own garden, Lars Hundley had a vision of protecting the world's gardens as well. So this former freelance writer put down his pen, bought six push lawn mowers for $100 each and began CleanAirGardening.com, which sells environmentally friendly gardening products, such as gas-free push mowers, organic fertilizers and electric trimmers/weed-eaters.

To cut costs, Hundley used his cell phone as a business line, built his own website and sold mowers from his apartment. He made his share of mistakes along the way, from overspending on ineffective advertising to stocking too many mowers in his apartment. When CleanAirGardening.com began to take off, the business initially suffered because it wasn't set up to accept credit cards. Hundley solved that problem by hosting his site through Yahoo! Stores and letting them handle the secure credit card transactions.

Hundley, who now works from an office in his three-bedroom home, expects 2005 sales to hit $1 million. Yet his focus is less on profits and more on finding new environmentally safe products and educating customers about the importance of conservation. In addition to promoting eco-friendly products such as rain barrels and reel mowers, his site offers a comprehensive list of websites that teach people about healthy gardening practices.

"I don't know how many of my customers I am converting to an environmentally friendly lifestyle," says Hundley, 35. "But judging by how many questions I answer from people who have never composted, collected rainwater or used a reel mower before, I think I am certainly making a difference."

Starting Your Own Gardening Business

How To Get Rich Selling Ads On Flags.

Andy Yocom Story

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.

Convinced the idea would work, Yocom set out to persuade golf course owners to warm up to the concept of brand advertising on their greens. "With golf as traditional as it is, finding people in the industry that can think outside of the box was a challenge because they're so protective of the golf course image," Yocom, 37, explains. "I get the comment a lot that they don't want to 'NASCAR' their courses."
Yocom fought the skepticism by persistently visiting golf courses in the Atlanta area.

Finally, he was able to hook up with some golf course management companies-they had several courses under their umbrella and could see the benefits of the idea. Once some well-established courses signed on, Yocom presented the concept to corporations that might be eager to market to the golf crowd. "The fact that we advertise 365 days a year and are a one-stop shop on and off the course-it's a very unique situation," says Yocom.

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.

Bob Bly's Guide to Freelance Writing Success: How to Make $100,000 a Year As a Freelance Writer and Have the Time of Your Life Doing It

How To Make $2 Million A Year, Setting Up Christmas Lights

Bob Martin And Larry Jones Story

http://www.brightideasinc.com/

Bob Martin and his employee-turned-partner, Larry Jones, couldn't help but notice the attention they were receiving as they put up their first client's Christmas display. "We had 25-foot toy soldiers, a 40-foot arch going across the driveway, a 36-foot-long Santa's Express in the front yard, and about 400,000 lights going throughout the property," says Martin, 45. The extravagant display even attracted the attention of the local media in New Lenox, Illinois.

That was in the winter of 1996. Martin got the creative spark for his company, BrightIdeasInc.com, when he realized most people dread the yearly task of hanging holiday lights. Confident that people would pay for the convenience, Martin launched the business from his garage. He spent just $2,500 at startup, purchasing supplies such as advertising signs, ladders, lights, timers and other equipment.

Thanks to free consulting help from his local Small Business Development Center, Martin developed a solid business plan and even got help with marketing and financing. By sponsoring the local TV station's toy drive and giving away free lighting displays through radio shows, he was able to score much-needed exposure in his community for next to nothing.

In 1997, BrightIdeasInc.com also began offering year-round landscape lighting services along with its seasonal decorations. Now with two showrooms and four warehouses in Illinois, the company projects nearly $2 million in sales this year.

What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart Executive

How To Network Millions.

Melissa English Story

http://www.5minutenetworking.com/

At a speed-dating event last summer, Melissa English walked away with more business contacts for her sister Sonia's web design company than she did phone numbers for herself. At the same time, Sonia attended a business-networking event hosted by the local chamber of commerce and walked away with nothing. Sensing a perfect match between speed dating and networking mixers, the two sisters launched 5 Minute Networking. Their events give individuals from all industries the chance to meet 20 different professionals, one-on-one, in five-minute increments.

Their idea was an immediate hit-- the first 50-person event, held in Newport Beach in September 2004, filled to capacity within eight days of being announced. The company went national four months later, holding 25 events in 13 cities across the U.S. Melissa and Sonia only host local events; outside event directors are hired for events in other cities. "The response we get from events is absolutely phenomenal," says Melissa, 27, adding that they expect sales to jump from $300,000 in 2005 to $2 million in 2006.

"One of the reasons I think people like 5 Minute Networking is that it works for every personality type," says Sonia, 30, pointing out that many people don't like to initiate introductions or waste time on small talk. "You have your outgoing personality type, like me, who wouldn't mind walking up to a group of four people already talking at a networking mixer. And then you have your other personality type who goes to networking events all gung-ho, but ends up staring at their glass the whole night, not interacting with anyone."

Now in the process of patenting the software they designed to optimize their events, the sisters are also exploring franchising the concept and plan to publish a book with networking tips and stories about high-level professionals.

Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty : The Only Networking Book You'll Ever Need

How To Make Half A Million Bucks Pissing Off Scateboarders.

Chris Loarie Story

http://www.skatestoppers.com/

It's not easy stopping a herd of determined skateboarders from practicing where they're not wanted, but Chris Loarie invented a way to do just that when he came up with Skatestoppers. When these small brackets are attached to exterior walls, benches, curbs and more-the very places skaters seek out-skaters are prevented from practicing in those areas, and private property is protected from damage.

Loarie got the idea after hearing his police officer brother discuss all the complaints he had received from business owners about disruptive skateboarders in front of their establishments. Loarie designed the first prototypes in 1996, and throughout 1997, he focused on refining them to make them stronger and less likely to be broken by disgruntled skaters.

As he perfected the design and started getting rave reviews from business owners, city parks and school districts, Loarie added an artistic line with seashell designs and the like to make the practical product aesthetically pleasing as well.

Still, Loarie realized that although he was very popular with property owners, rebuffed skateboarders were hardly fans. "The skateboarders will say, 'Why can't I just skate anywhere? You're taking our rights away,'" Loarie explains. "To me, it's fairly straightforward: Somebody has a piece of property, and they don't want you there. It's within their rights to ask you to leave, especially if you're doing something that's disruptive or destructive."

Loarie is working with contractors to incorporate Skatestoppers into the design of new building areas. Now that company revenues are expected to hit about half a million dollars this year, it seems there's no stopping this entrepreneur.

The Perfect Business

The Four Million Dollar Massage

Mark Eberhardt Story

http://www.firstclassseats.com/

Spending an uncomfortable afternoon in an airport inspired Mark Eberhardt, 51, to come up with a relaxing way to wait for a flight-he imagined how nice it would be to sit in one of those fancy massage chairs he'd seen before in high-end stores.

With a background as a stockbroker, however, it was a challenge for him to modify the chair to accept cash-not to mention the hurdle of getting it into malls and airports. Many people, without really understanding the concept of the chair, recoiled at the word massage, thinking it was something illicit.

And getting a foothold in airport concourses is not generally an easy prospect for any company-let alone a new business. Eberhardt had to meet with people face to face and actually show them the chair to get them to appreciate his idea.

In 1996, Eberhardt got the chair into Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. To date, First Class Seats are in 125 shopping malls, and Eberhardt has plans to expand into more airports and malls around the country. With annual sales expected to hit $4 million, it seems like relaxing is the way of the future.

Success Beyond Work: What Prosperous Massage Therapists Know--Minimum Work, Maximum Profits, and a Sellable Business

How A Stupid Joke Made One Man A Millionaire

Dan Goggin Story

http://nunsense.com/

Where do million-dollar ideas come from? Dan Goggin's began with a nun's habit -- a rather bizarre gift from a friend who thought Mr. Goggin, then a little-known composer and actor, might use it theatrically someday. Then, coincidentally, another pal offered up a Saks Fifth Avenue mannequin, which Mr. Goggin dressed in the habit and posed around his New York apartment (washing dishes was a favorite). Visitors laughed, and inspiration struck.

What follows is a true tale of how dead nuns, deadpan actors and an investor's $25,000 gamble turned into a small fortune. Twenty years after receiving his habit, the cherubic 60-year-old Mr. Goggin now heads an empire of musicals based on the premise that anything amusing is more amusing when a nun does it. His original 1980s off-Broadway production, "Nunsense," follows five sisters as they raise funds to bury convent members poisoned by bad vichyssoise -- cooked by none other than Sister Julia, Child of God. The production unfolds like a Carol Burnett variety show, with the sisters crooning through various skits, jousting with audiences and unleashing an unapologetic liturgy of tame ecumenical one-liners: "How do you make holy water? ... You boil the hell out of it!"

"Nunsense" ran for a decade. It became off-Broadway's second-longest-running musical, behind "The Fantasticks," before closing in 1995 and now is licensed to theaters world-wide. Real nuns and priests are among its most devoted fans. In fact, they often compete to land bit parts in performances where a portion of ticket proceeds go to charity. (One gutsy Baltimore sister recently sang "My God" to the tune of "My Guy," netting $1,200 for a nursing home.) Mr. Goggin has parlayed his idea into five equally irreverent spinoffs, including the all-male "A-Men"; the Christmas-themed "Nuncrackers" and most recently "Meshuggah-Nuns," which sticks the cast on a cruise ship.

To date, "Nunsense" and its sequels have grossed $300 million in ticket sales world-wide and earned Mr. Goggin some $7 million. The shows count Phyllis Diller, television's Georgia Engel and the late John Ritter among cast alumni. "I took a pay cut to play Mother Superior," says the 86-year-old Ms. Diller. "It's a funny show. A funny person can make it funnier. And I'm a funny person."

To put Mr. Goggin's success into some quick perspective: There were 1,192,967 would-be visionaries seeking a copyright, patent or trademark last year alone. While luck and timing certainly have a lot to do with creating hits, money-making visionaries share certain traits that distinguish them from the rest of us -- such as just how far they are willing to go to pursue a brainstorm.

Indeed, Mr. Goggin held on to his nun fixation through several incarnations before arriving at his theatrical cash cow. First, there was a line of greeting cards that featured a friend dressed in the habit. (One pictured her on a motorcycle with the message: "Hell, You're No Angel.") The friend made promotional appearances at stationery stores, doing some gags about raising funds for her poisoned convent sisters. "I remembered some people in New Jersey dying of botulism from canned vichyssoise soup in the '70s," Mr. Goggin says. By the end of 1981, he and three collaborators had sold 200,000 cards, each pocketing $5,000 after costs.

Not bad for a few laughs, but Mr. Goggin still didn't hang up the habit. Instead, he penned a tongue-in-cheek cabaret act, featuring three nuns, a priest and a brother. In 1983, the show landed a booking at a small Manhattan club called the Duplex, where it was scheduled to run four weekends; it ran for 38 weeks. Costs were covered but nobody was getting rich. Yet to his agent's dismay, Mr. Goggin wouldn't quit.

Intrigued that the nuns got all the laughs, he axed the priest and brother for the script that became "Nunsense." It featured five sisters, including Sister Mary Amnesia, a toothy country singer with a memory problem, and Sister Robert Anne, a reformed gang member who angles to get a bigger chunk of the spotlight. As Mr. Goggin conceived it, the sisters would do everything from singing (one standard: "Nunsense Is Habit Forming") to whipping up dishes from the "Baking with the BVM" cookbook -- BVM being the Blessed Virgin Mary, of course. That script got him space at a 99-seat theater -- at which point, Mr. Goggin recalls, "my agent made me promise that I'd give it one more shot and then move on to something else."

Eight weeks later, Mr. Goggin broke his promise. In the 1980s, when conspicuous consumption dominated the zeitgeist, theater-goers seemed taken with the nuns' simple humor, and the show played to nearly sold-out crowds. Believing his nuns had momentum, Mr. Goggin wanted to move "Nunsense" to off-Broadway. One problem: He needed $150,000. He didn't have any money, and he didn't know anyone who had money. So he gave away his entire producer's stake as a finder's fee to friends who turned up investors. One night someone brought a well-known financial writer, Andrew Tobias, to a performance. After sitting through an evening of wisecracks, the author cut a check for $25,000. "It was so much fun, and I thought, 'What is it doing at this silly little theater for five dollars?'" Mr. Tobias says.

With Mr. Tobias's blessing, Mr. Goggin made it to off-Broadway, only to have his faith tested once more. Audiences were enthusiastic, but they weren't big enough at first, and the theater moved to kick the production out. Still believing "Nunsense" had life in it, Mr. Goggin scrambled to raise $36,000 for a move to a more-trafficked location. Having already sold 100% of the production, he took the bold step of overselling the show by an additional 12% -- meaning if the show ever made real money, he'd have to make up the 12% to investors from his own pocket.

His bet paid off. In a bigger theater in Manhattan's bustling Sheridan Square, walk-in crowds kept audiences packed. A favorable New York Times nod, coupled with four Outer Critic's Circle Awards in 1986 -- including best off-Broadway musical -- pushed "Nunsense" to the tipping point. Mr. Goggin began licensing the show to amateur and stock theaters, including high schools and churches, and soon the royalties were coming in. "It's a cheap show to do," Mr. Goggin says. "At the end of the day, all you really need is five black sheets."

To date, the original $150,000 investment by early believers has brought them a $3 million return -- half a million dollars alone for Mr. Tobias, who now quips the best investment he ever made "was a comedy about dead nuns." Meantime, Mr. Goggin's sacrifices have cost him $1.5 million from his lost producer's stake; there are also continuing payouts for the extra 12% he sold. "My business manager cringes every time there's a royalty distribution, and I have to write a check back to those investors," he says. "But the whole thing wouldn't have happened otherwise." And it doesn't hurt, of course, that he's $7 million richer.

Reviews are occasionally less than divine. "What's missing is wit ... " sniped the Washington Post in January; "well-worn lines and wide-spaced gags," zinged the Louisville Courier-Journal. Mr. Goggin smiles patiently. "The critics have no say about 'Nunsense.' "

He also shrugs off suggestions that he's sold out creatively by milking one concept for so long. He estimates that about half of the audience members for the spinoff shows are repeat customers who've come to follow the sisters' next act. The brand awareness cuts back on the marketing costs most new shows face.

"Look, it wasn't broken," Mr. Goggin says of his original idea. "So I didn't fix it." What's more, he'll edit a work should anything offend his mainstay Bible Belt and Midwestern fan base. In previews of "Meshuggah-Nuns" in 2002, a nun asks a Jewish character: "If you're the chosen people, why did God make us?" The response: "Somebody has to pay retail." Says Mr. Goggin: "Minneapolis was horrified. So we took it out." He swears "Meshuggah-Nuns" will be his last nun-themed work -- then adds, "That's what I always say."

Overhead for his enterprise is virtually nil. There is no "headquarters," other than wherever Mr. Goggin happens to be -- which is usually either at his rent-stabilized Manhattan apartment or at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., condo he bought for $140,000 in 1997 and now shares with his partner, Scott Robbins. Mr. Goggin runs a small merchandise business, Nunstuff, which operates from a dilapidated rental house in tiny Garrison, N.Y., where he once had a home. The sole employee is Walter Johnson, a 64-year-old retiree and Mr. Goggin's former neighbor, who is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and does everything from rent habits and sell glow-in-the-dark rosaries to mow the lawn.

Nunsense still rules Mr. Goggin's life. Currently, he's financing a 20th-anniversary reunion tour of the original production out of his own pocket, with Mr. Robbins producing. They are in early talks with new investors about taking the show to Broadway. "To be that successful is not an accident," says Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theatres and Producers. "It's a rare and significant achievement in the business of theater."

Still, even Mr. Goggin doesn't expect his nuns' good fortune to last an eternity: The name of his company is TTM&R Inc. It stands for Take the Money and Run.

Watch Nunsense

How To Make Six Figures, Selling Cardboard Boxes

Marty Metro Story

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, 34, 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. Says Metro, "I'm a systems guy; my life revolves around using technology to enable business processes."

With a decade of experience working and consulting on large-scale business technology, Metro made it his goal to build an online marketplace that would allow big companies to get rid of their used boxes and scraps in an earth-friendly way, as well as offer companies and individuals the opportunity to buy used cardboard boxes at roughly half the price of new ones. Leaving the lucrative corporate life he had known, Metro traded in his BMW for a delivery truck and developed the web-based infrastructure that would help him fulfill his earth-friendly goals.

BoomerangBoxes.com, a U-Haul authorized dealer, has also netted contracts with large booksellers, clothing importers, manufacturers and even some real estate firms to pick up unwanted cardboard. Local deliveries are made to those who purchase cardboard boxes (the company also sells moving supplies), and when the move is done, BoomerangBoxes.com will pick up the used boxes.

Currently covering the area between Los Angeles and San Diego, the company plans to expand by franchising in the top 50 cities in the United States in the next three to five years. 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. "It makes me feel great," says Metro. "We have created a win-win environment."

Cash for Your Trash: Scrap Recycling in America

How To Make $3 Million A Year… Selling Towels

Susan Nichols Story

http://www.yogitoes.com

For Susan Nichols, success really was a combination of inspiration and perspiration. During a yoga class in New York in May 2000, her sweaty left foot slipped during the chaturanga pose, causing Nichols to take a faceplant.

She bought a Mysore rug, which is moistened and placed atop a yoga mat to prevent sliding. But when her office mates commented on the wet-puppy smell, Nichols went hunting for a fast-drying alternative. After turning up nothing, she decided to make her own.

Nichols set out to find the ideal material and stumbled upon a water bowl for dogs with rubber nubs on the bottom to prevent sliding. "That's it," she thought, figuring that the nubs could be affixed to microfiber for added grip.

After getting certified as a yoga teacher and moving to Santa Monica, she discovered a Korean factory that could manufacture microfiber with PVC nubs. In 2003 she founded Yogitoes to sell her Skidless-brand towels.

The towels, priced from $20 to $70, initially scored placement at 20 yoga stores and sold out within a few weeks. "I was surprised when I got a request from a studio in Nova Scotia," says Nichols, who relies solely on word of mouth.

Annual revenue went from $123,000 in 2004 to nearly $1 million last year, Nichols says. With sales set to hit $3 million in 2006, she no longer has to worry about falling on her face.

More on yoga

A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya

How To Make Good Money Buying And Selling Vintage Guitars

When Aaron Madsen isn't installing garage door openers or recording aspiring musicians in his home studio, he can often be found poking around in pawnshops, looking for guitars.

That's how he scored a beat-up 1974 Fender Stratocaster last October for $400 that he resold a few months later for $1,000. All told, Madsen says, he made $3,500 in recent months buying and selling guitars.

And he hasn't even sold his most valuable pieces, such as the 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom that's appreciated 750 percent to $8,500 in the five years he's owned it.

"That's something I'm hoping to put my kid through college with," says Madsen, soon to become a first-time father.

The idea of putting a kid through college on a guitar is not as far-fetched as it sounds. The value of guitars - electrics in particular, but acoustics too - is exploding.

Consider: A 1960 Gibson Les Paul, the model played by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, sold for $192,000 in May at a Christie's auction in New York; had it been a year older, it could have fetched $250,000.
A collectors' market

The Vintage Guitar Price Guide, the bible of such matters, indexes a collection of 42 guitars it bought in 1991 for $150,000. Today they're worth $540,000 - almost doubling in the past five years.

The key driver of this sizzling market: baby boomers with spare cash and a yen for the playthings of their youth, especially the sexy guitars played by their idols.

The market is made up of big dealers, big private collectors, newcomers excited about the idea of guitars as investments, and enterprising guys like Madsen. At the high end are those prized Les Pauls, along with 1950s Fender Stratocasters (picture Jimi Hendrix) and Telecasters (Keith Richards), which have soared 50 percent in the past year and command prices in the $40,000 range.

Such high-end guitars have risen in price so rapidly that most investors have been priced out of the market. But the lower end remains a fertile plain of opportunity, and that's where Madsen tends to focus.

He monitors prices on eBay , though he's cautious about buying there. He relies heavily on the Vintage Guitar Price Guide, as well as the Blue Book of Electric Guitars and Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars, which provides feature changes by year.

Such knowledge is crucial in this frothy and hence risky market. As an appraiser of instruments, Stan Jay of Mandolin Bros. in Staten Island, N.Y., says he often delivers "the bad news that a guitar purchased for $40,000 was worth only $4,000." (Here's a tip: Spend the $150 for an appraisal up front.)

A key part of Madsen's strategy is to try to anticipate tomorrow's in-demand guitars. A few years ago, Madsen noticed an upturn in the market for 1970s Fenders, guitars generally frowned upon because of the poor quality of Fender's mass production during that era.

He began scouring pawnshops, music stores, and Craigslist. He picked up three mint-condition Stratocasters - made in 1973, '76, and '79 -for a total of $2,200. Today those guitars could fetch about $6,300.

Madsen is also betting on a rise in the value of 1980s American-made guitars from Jackson and B.C. Rich that were staples of heavy-metal bands like Poison, because the teenage headbangers who couldn't afford them then will soon be able to. "I'm trying to scoop up all the ones I can," Madsen says.

Madsen plays a mean guitar himself, but you don't have to be a picker to mine the six-string boom. Still, it's critical to buy a guitar that sounds good and has a well-preserved neck.

Vintage guitars are functional beauty; they must be authentic and function optimally to increase in value. If you don't have the expertise to buy a good one, get help from someone who does. Otherwise you'll never get near the price in the guides, because a store won't pay top dollar for a guitar that doesn't play easily. And neither will Madsen.

For More Stories Like This One, visit nichegeek.com

How To Make Millions With Yoga Clothing

Chip Wilson Story

http://www.lululemon.com/

When Chip Wilson took his first yoga class in 1997, the fashions on the mats around him were abysmal. Everyone wore Lycra because it stretched, but it was hardly flattering. As Wilson points out, "Lycra only looks good on you if you're a 10 out of 10."

In 1998, Wilson founded Lululemon Athletica to give yoga clothes a makeover. His first step: devising a thicker, softer Lycra-nylon blend called Luon that wicks away sweat. Since then Lululemon, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has grown into a yoga powerhouse by churning out stylish apparel with attention to tiny details, such as flat seams and zipper covers that prevent chafing.

The company's secret is a research and development process that catches ideas as they bubble up from customers, yoga instructors, and employees. Lululemon boutiques, too, act as idea incubators; the company has 36 stores worldwide and plans to open 20 more this year. "Most designers look at the cosmetic elements and add gimmicks later," says Wilson, now Lululemon's chairman and chief product manager. "For us, design is the critical initiator."

Many of Lululemon's innovations--such as a seaweed-based fabric called Vitasea, which releases vitamins into the skin--appeal to male and female athletes of all stripes, including runners and rock climbers. In fact, only a third of the company's clothes are now purchased by yoga aficionados. That's one reason privately held Lululemon has doubled both revenue and earnings in each of the past four years, according to Wilson, who says sales exceeded $60 million in 2005. Last year he sold a 48 percent stake in the company to two private equity firms, Advent International and Highland Capital Partners, and hired a veteran Reebok exec as CEO.

Because highly functional and fashionable clothes aren't cheap--most of Lululemon's items retail for $50 to $120--the company each year recruits a number of yoga instructors as "ambassadors," who get free samples in exchange for providing regular e-mail feedback. In addition, Lululemon stores keep suggestion forms near their fitting rooms so shoppers can offer opinions or draw pictures of features they'd like to see. After several customers complained that Lululemon's bras didn't cater to curvy women, the company designed two cheekily named new models, LetmeHOLDthose4u and Bounce Breaker, the latter of which is adjustable in just about every direction. "We're not afraid to hear what we should be doing," says Andrea Murray, a Lululemon designer. "If we need to, we'll go back to the drawing board."

The Business of Yoga: How to Start and Grow Your Yoga Business

How To Convert Multiculturalism To A Cool $1 Million.

John and Cynthia Ham Story

http://www.culturalhangups.com/

When John and Cynthia Ham were expecting their first child in 1997, they knew they wanted to decorate the baby's room but couldn't find exactly what they were looking for. But when Cynthia saw celebrity mom Holly Robinson Peete in a TV interview talking about the multicultural mural she commissioned for her children's room, inspiration struck. Cynthia also wanted a border on her child's walls that would reflect their African-American heritage.

The Hams hired an artist to make that vision a reality, and when friends and relatives saw the beautiful multicultural border, they all wanted it for their own children. It was then, says Cynthia, that they knew they had a business idea. Cynthia researched the market and found that the leading wall-covering companies weren't interested in the concept. "They said it wouldn't work," she recalls. "And I thought 'How do you know?'"

Armed with passion for their idea, Cynthia, 35, and John, 38, enlisted the help of their friend Steven V. Jones, 36, to get the unique product off the ground. Their first offering was an alphabet border featuring different African-American characters for each letter. Marketing was the next order of business-so they took the product to their college sororities and fraternities and began to spread the word through that network of alumni. They also attended the national Black Expo, a trade show for African-American products and services held by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, to drum up business.

Today, Cultural Hangups, which now includes multicultural wallpaper borders for kids of African-American, Hispanic and Asian descents, can be found on Wal-Mart store shelves in North Carolina and Georgia. Year-end sales are expected to hit $1 million, thanks to a new décor line for teens and the addition of bedding and accessories.

Business As Unusual: My Entrepreneurial Journey, Profits With Principles

A Crazy Motorcycle Jacket Idea Makes Japanese Inventor $1.5 Million Richer.

Kenji Takeuchi Story

http://www.hit-air.com

Kenji Takeuchi used to drive his car every morning to Mugen Denko, the electrical services company he founded in Nagoya, Japan. One day in 1994, he witnessed a motorcycle accident along the way: The rider flew into the air and landed hard on the ground. Questions flooded Takeuchi's brain: "What if he has a family? How will his wife or girlfriend feel?" And then the one that would preoccupy him for the next decade: "How can I protect someone in a motorcycle crash?"

An airbag on the motorcycle wouldn't do. After all, riders usually fall far from their bikes in a crash. Takeuchi learned that upper-body impacts cause 90 percent of fatalities and serious injuries in traffic accidents, so he thought about sewing an airbag into a motorcycle jacket. But how to make it inflate before the rider hits the pavement?

While he was pondering that challenge, a friend invited him to go scuba diving. Takeuchi declined, but he noticed his friend's unusual vest. It had a key ring that, when pulled, would cause an emergency buoy to inflate and rise to the surface.

Takeuchi's company built its first prototype jacket in 1996. Like eventual production versions, it had an airbag inside that inflated automatically when a pin connecting the jacket to the bike was forcefully pulled from its socket. (A one-touch release button allows riders to get off their bikes without inflating the bags.) But when Takeuchi took his invention to motorcycle shows in Tokyo and Osaka, bike manufacturers shunned him. "They thought the jacket would remind people that riding a motorcycle was dangerous," he says.

Undeterred, Takeuchi began selling the jackets in Japan in 1999 under the name Eggparka; in 2001 he relaunched the brand as Hit-Air. Today, Mugen Denko sells 16 styles of airbag-equipped motorcycle jackets and vests for about $270 apiece in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. (Product liability laws have been an obstacle in the United States.) In 2003 the police department of Japan's Ibaragi Prefecture adopted Hit-Air vests for its motorcycle force, and Brazilian motorcyclist Jean De Azevedo, who finished seventh in the 2005 Paris-Dakar Rally, had a Hit-Air jacket custom-made for the race.

Total revenues from Hit-Air products reached about $1.5 million in 2005, and Takeuchi says his interest in safety products hasn't let up: He's currently working on extra protection for people on bicycles, skis, and skates, as well as for medical rescue personnel. But he's proudest of the testimonials he's received from Hit-Air buyers. As one happy Japanese customer reports, "I should be dead."

How to License Your Million Dollar Idea: Everything You Need To Know To Turn a Simple Idea into a Million Dollar Payday