6. Home Improvement Referrals
= If you’re a homeowner, one of the most
perplexing challenges is where to find reputable home repair or building
contractors, from painters to plumbers to architects. New contractors, on
the other hand, also find it difficult to find customers for their services.
Debra Cohen launched a profitable home-based niche business with her Home
Remedies of NY, Inc. http://www.hrnbiz.com/ , which is a homeowner referral network that matches
homeowners with reliable, prescreened home-repair workers. The referral
services are offered free to homeowners; while contractors pay a commission
to Home Remedies for any work secured.
With the success of her referral services, Debra now offers a business
opportunity where other entrepreneurs can replicate her service in different
areas. To date, there are more than 400 Homeowner Referral Network (HRN)
businesses operating in various parts of the United States.
7. Crocs Accessories
= Crocs are the very popular resin clogs dotted with holes and comes in
every color, from pinks to blues to yellows to blacks. They are ugly shoes,
but both adults and children love them. In fact, the company grew from $1
million in revenue in 2003 to a projected $322 million in 2007.
Given the tremendous popularity of these shoes, Sheri Schmelzer decided
to ride the wave and offer products that would allow users to customize
their crocs. One day, she decided to create charms to be used to fill the
holes of her family’s crocs shoes, which are plenty. Hence, Jibbitz
http://www.jibbitz.com was
born. Her business sold about 300 designs of charms for crocs and she was
able to sign up more than 4,000 retail outlets. In December 2006, Crocs the
company bought Jibbitz for $20 million with Sheri and her husband remaining
on board.
8. Dog Eyewear
= Eyewear and shades helps protect our eyes from sun
damage. So why not create UV-absorbent sunglasses or other eyewear to help
protect the eyes of pets from sun damage as well? Dogs in particular are
susceptible subjected to wind and airborne debris when they are transported
in open-windowed vehicles.
Veronica Dilullo and her husband created goggles for dogs – or Doggles
http://www.doggles.com – when they noticed that their own dog Midnight would
always be squinting and seemed really sensitive to the bright light. The
patented Doggles have flexible snug-fitting frames, foam padding for
comfort, and shatterproof & anti-fog lenses. Their product has been
featured in sites such as CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America and
other publications.
9. Speakers Bureau
= Non-professional speakers are always on the
lookout to find speaking engagements, typically combing through local
organizations and contacting companies themselves. On the flip side,
organizations (even big companies) are also struggling to find speakers for
their events. It’s a time consuming process for everyone involved.
Bryan Caplovitz, a former business technology consultant, saw the need
for a marketplace where non-professional speakers could find speaking
opportunities, and organizations could find speakers for their events.
Hence, he created SpeakerMatch.com http://www.speakermatch.com , an agency
that matches emerging public speakers and subject-matter experts with
meeting planners. Meeting planners list their events and speaker needs for
free, while speakers pay a small monthly fee to post their profile on the
site and pursue leads for possible speaking engagements. Today,
SpeakerMatch.com has become the go-to site for those looking for speaking
engagements.
10. Unconventional Beauty Product
= Nancy Jarecki was in a hair salon in
Rome when she noticed that some women after having their hair colored would
linger at the door, only to leave when given small doggie bags. Asking one
of the colorists, she learned that the women were waiting to get a hair
coloring kit so their hair "down there" can match their new hair color.
To address a silent problem of women (and men, too), Nancy launched her
company BettyBeauty http://www.bettybeauty.com offering her main product
line called "Betty" whose tagline is "Color for the Hair Down There."
Apparently, women everywhere get so frustrated with mismatched hair colors
in their bodies. Blondes want to be true blondes and have their hair down
there sport the same shade; and so do redheads and other colors!
Nancy's success comes from providing a great Nancy's BettyBeauty company
is expected to reach more than $1 million in sales this year, and she's
coming up with new products -- all for the hair down there.
Back
to 10 Profitable
Home Business Niche Ideas
About the Author:
Isabel M. Isidro is the Managing Editor of PowerHomeBiz.com. Read her
blog PowerHomeBiz Small and Home Business Blog at
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/blog/blog.html . For more entrepreneur
success stories, visit
Women Home Business
July 2008
