True Business- real life for small businesses

I’m the sort of entrepreneur who just gets on with doing what (I hope) I’m good at. I’ve worked in media all my life.

But there’s a type of entrepreneur, a sort of pure businessperson, who can turn their hand to almost anything. They take concepts, market them properly, and turn ideas into money.

These people are always on the lookout for new ideas. One of my favourite sites for picking up these new trends is Springwise. As well as scouting the globe for interesting start-up businesses, they have a good feel for the trends which lie behind those businesses.

A few examples of what I mean:

Green is good: Eco-friendly businesses are ostensibly on the up. The current issue of Springwise includes bike-powered mobile phone re-chargers. I think the green world has taken a real knock in the past three months, as the recession starts to bite and people redirect their incomes from noble causes to survival; but there is still a great appetite for “doing the right thing”.

Demand-driven pricing: This is the system first seen in companies like EasyJet, where prices are dynamically variable according to demand. Happy to fly at 2am? You’ll pay less for your ticket. Technology allows more businesses than ever to be demand-priced. My local self-storage depot, for example, re-prices every unit every Friday morning according to local availability and demand.

Luxury is rarely out of style: No matter how bad the economy, someone will always have wealth to throw around. In the rarefied air at the very, very top end of the market; there’s plenty of money sloshing about looking for a home. Do something unique and desirable, with brand stability, and there’s probably a business in it. As well as the obvious Aston Martin or Dunhill, look to brands like Vertu for an example of this in action.

Time is as short as money: One trend that’s definitely not going away anytime is soon is poverty of time. When was the last time you sat back and felt like you had nothing to think about/worry about/do for a couple of hours? Businesses which save time, solve problems or come up with answers are always a strong bet. Wedding planners, for example, have been around for a while. But the same type of service has now evolved into event planning, dinner party planning, house move planning, indeed anything to take the stress of unfamiliar and complicated situations off weary shoulders.

None of the above are businesses in themselves; all of them are trends which spawn businesses by the hundred. Although, of course, I am no doubt way behind the curve: the sharpest entrepreneurs take advantage of trends long before they become mainstream; or even influence their birth. Clearly the best advice if you want to make money is from the unlikeliest of sources: The Fonz. “Be cool!”*

* If you’re under around 35, The Fonz will mean nothing to you. Here you go.

Filed under: marketing, sales | Tagged: aston martin, business, concept, demand-driven pricing, dunhill, eco-business, entrepreneurship, green business, ideas, luxury, marketing, planning, pricing, springwise, start your own business, strategy, the fonz, vertu